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The Unexpected Road To An Unconventional Life With Brianna Madia

How can we step away from the established patterns of life and choose a path that makes us truly happy? How can we redefine travel to find it in our own country, and choose a home in a place that calls to our soul?

Brianna Madia talks about her unexpected road to an unconventional life in the desert of Moab with her four dogs.

Brianna Madia is the author of Nowhere For Very Long: The Unexpected Road to an Unconventional Life.

Show notes

Questioning the established patterns of life — even when that’s hard
The freedom and challenges of #vanlife
Travel as an attitude, even without your own country
Highlights of the desert in Utah
The power of feeling insignificant in the face of natural beauty and how it helps to find perspective
Traveling with four dogs — and redefining happiness
Recommended travel books

You can find Brianna Madia at BriannaMadia.com and on Instagram @briannamadia

Love, Wanderlust, And Sailing Around The World With Liz Alden

Podcast

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What does it take to sail around the world — and stay in love with your partner? Liz Alden talks about how she and her husband circumnavigated the globe over four years, the places they loved, and how wanderlust and a love for the ocean is something that never leaves us.

Liz Alden is the author of the Love and Wanderlust series of romance books, as well as a travel writer. She circumnavigated the world over several years with her husband, which we’re talking about today.

Show notes

Planning to sail around the world as a couple
Highlights and favorite places from the circumnavigation
How romantic is it to be with a partner for so long on a small boat?
The challenges of sailing
Financing life at sea
Wanderlust and love of the ocean
Recommended travel + romance books

You can find Liz Alden at LizAlden.com for her books and Out Chasing Stars for the sailing information.

Traveling Carnivals With Michael Sean Comerford

Podcast

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Sometimes you don’t have to leave your own country to find a culture that is different from your own. Michael Sean Comerford talks about the unique language, lifestyle, and attitudes of the carnies, the people who work on the traveling carnivals.

Michael Sean Comerford is an award-winning journalist and travel writer. His latest book is American OZ: An Astonishing Year Inside Traveling Carnivals.

Show notes

The differences between carnivals in different countries
The unique languages of carnies
Attractions and difficulties of the carnival life
The sense of belonging — and how that’s hard to leave behind
Darker side of carnival life
Recommended travel books

You can find Michael Sean Comerford at MichaelSeanComerford.com

Visiting Places That Other People Try To Leave. Weird Travel With Adam Fletcher

Podcast, Unusual Places

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Weird travel is visiting places that other people try to leave or places that are not usually thought of as tourist destinations. Adam Fletcher talks about North Korea, the unexpected beauty of Chernobyl, a tuk-tuk race across India, and the death rituals of Sulawesi, as well as the peculiarities of being British, and how to notice the unique weirdness of your own country, wherever that is.

Adam Fletcher is the best-selling author of Weird Travel books and humorous memoirs, including Don’t Go There, Don’t Come Back, and Tuk-Tuk for Two. You can find all his books on Amazon.

Show notes

What is weird travel — and why is it a different way to approach the world?
How travel can help us notice strange things about our own culture — and a discussion on being British
Travel in North Korea
Questioning the morality of travel to places where the money goes to a regime you might not want to support
Weighing the danger of a trip against the desire for something unique
Respecting a culture’s rules, even if you don’t agree with them
Learning to tune into the weird and unusual in every place
Driving 1000km in India in a tuk-tuk race
Recommended travel books

You can find Adam Fletcher at Adam-Fletcher.co.uk and his books on Amazon.

Myanmar With Jessica Mudditt

Podcast

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How does Myanmar’s complicated history shape the country today? What are some of the wonderful places to visit — if tourists are able to travel again?

Jessica Mudditt talks about her experience in Myanmar, as well as facing fears around travel, and the experience of reverse culture shock on returning to Australia.

Jessica Mudditt is an Australian freelance journalist and travel writer. Her latest book is Our Home in Myanmar: Four Years in Yangon.

Show notes

Myanmar / Burma, and the complicated history and politics that shape the country
Diversity of the landscape and places to visit — once tourists can visit again
Dealing with fears when traveling — and how people are mostly wonderful, even if a country has a bad reputation
Reverse culture shock — and how we both struggled with Australia
Respecting local culture when traveling
Recommended travel books about Myanmar

You can find Jessica Mudditt at JessicaMudditt.com

Hooked On The Horizon. Sailing Blue Eye Around The World With Tom Dymond

Podcast

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Can we ever be satisfied with life if we are always ‘hooked on the horizon?’

Tom Dymond talks about some of the highlights and challenges of sailing around the world — as well as the mindset issues around living for a future state, and returning to real life after years away.

Tom Dymond is the author of Wrongs of Passage and Hooked on the Horizon: Sailing Blue Eye Around the World.

Show notes

Preparation for the circumnavigation — and when you just have to get going
Life aboard a 32-foot yacht
High points and memorable places on the journey
Challenges along the way
Traveling with a friend for several years
Wanderlust — and being ‘hooked on the horizon’
Re-entry to ‘real life’ after years away
Recommended travel books

You can find Tom Dymond at tsdymond.com

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