The more I travel (and the older I get!), the more I realise how little I know, and how wrong I've been about so many things! In this episode, I chat with three guests about various ways their travel experiences have transformed their thinking and perspective, and the general consensus is that everything's more complicated than we first think.

I speak with Nikki Padilla Rivera about her experiences in Vietnam and Cuba, two very different work trips that introduced her to local knowledge and culture in varying ways and smashed her preconceived ideas about these places. Next, my discussion with Tom Sykes harks back to our younger years of travelling and how we now reconsider our old thoughts and attitudes, and in general how much travel teaches us about the nuances of the world, politics, culture and more. Finally, I round out the episode with a story from James Ward about a perspective shift in his daughters after he took them to Zambia.

Links:

• Nikki Padilla Rivera of She Shapes History NYC - https://sheshapeshistory.com/nyc
• Tom Sykes - https://tomgsykes.co.uk/
• Tom’s book The Years of Travelling Anxiously - https://amzn.to/4cbKPPC
• James Ward - https://jameswardphotography.com/
• James’ Rewild Safaris - https://rewildsafaris.com/
• Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
• Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
• Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com
• Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/389

*Full disclosure: Amazon Services LLC Associates Program

NotABallerina.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Iceland is a place many travellers dream of visiting; if, like me, you've been lucky enough to see Iceland, you probably desperately want to return. In this Chats with Locals episode, I talk with three Icelanders about their country: why they like living there, what Icelanders are really like, and all about their favourite Icelandic traditions. I also ask them what surprises visitors to Iceland, why they think it's such a popular place for travellers, and what important information we need to know before we go.

The Chats with Locals series, sponsored by Slowly, a global penpal app, is something I've been wanting to do for ages: some of the best moments of our trips come from speaking with local people, learning about what's the same or different where they live compared to us, and getting the unexpected stories that you don't know about (for me in this episode, it's about the fame of cats in Reykjavik - there's an intriguing reason!). Since Iceland is one of my all-time favourite places, it seemed a great place to begin! A huge thank you to my three guests Ragnhildur, Alda and Halli for so openly and warmly sharing information about their home country, Iceland.

Links:

• Thanks to sponsor, Slowly - download Slowly to start building genuine friendships today -available for free on the App Store and Google Play - https://notaballerina.com/slowly
• Ragnhildur Jóhanns, artist -

  https://www.instagram.com/ragnhildur_johanns/

• Ragnhildur's shop The Heart of Reykjavik -

  https://www.hjartareykjavikur.com/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theheartofreykjavik/

• Alda Sigmundsdóttir - https://aldasigmunds.com/
• Alda's books about Iceland - https://amzn.to/4s8cXYC
• Alda's new book The Shape of Silence, coming soon
• Haraldur (Halli) Thorleifsson - https://www.haraldurthorleifsson.com
• Halli's Ramp Up - https://www.rampup.team

• Iceland reading list on Amazon https://amzn.to/4dpAyR3

• Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
• Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
• Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com
• Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/388

*Full disclosure: Amazon Services LLC Associates Program

NotABallerina.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A decade ago to the day - 25th March 2016 - I launched the first episodes of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. Somehow, I have just kept interviewing great people about their thoughts on travel, put together episodes almost every week, and magically, I've now been running this podcast for a full ten years!

To celebrate, I've compiled some of my very favourite snippets of stories my guests have told me over the years. I've got the sad stories, the hilarious stories, and the ones that gave me advice I've both ignored and also followed!

A huge thanks to every listener and every guest over this decade - I appreciate you all so much, because without guests and listeners, this would be a very boring podcast indeed. Here's to another decade!

Links:

• James Mwenda in Episode 246 - Deep Dive Interview https://notaballerina.com/246
• Dean O’Shea in Episode 133 - The Big Trips That Changed Everything https://notaballerina.com/133
• Nicci O’Mara in Episode 174 - Life Lessons from Travel https://notaballerina.com/174
• Matt Eakin in Episode 78 - Border Crossings https://notaballerina.com/78
• Bex Thomas and Angela Correll in Episode 344 - Learning Languages and Making Mistakes https://notaballerina.com/344
• Stephen Henson in Episode 1 - Food in a Foreign Language https://notaballerina.com/01
• Tim Tricker in Episode 224 - Big Purchases on Your Travels https://notaballerina.com/224
• Narelle Wilson in Episode 128 - Travel Planning and Research https://notaballerina.com/128
• David Soto Jr in Episode 13 - Slow Travel https://notaballerina.com/13
• Heidi Brown in Episode 358 - Solo Travel for Women https://notaballerina.com/358
• Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
• Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
• Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com
• Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/387

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.