Mon, 29 November 2010
Travel can be stressful, physically, mentally and emotionally. You're constantly moving, and being exposed to new foods and diseases, which puts stress on your body. Your mind is being exercised as well, as you plan your trip and deal with challenges as they arrive - maybe you have to speak a new language, or alter your plans at the last minute. All of these stressors will have an impact on your emotional health, which is subject to its own problems - after all, you have to interact with people, which can be tough on your emotions.
For more, visit
Direct download: Episode2017620-20Emotional20energy20and20travel.mp3
Category:Travel, Psychology -- posted at: 9:32am EDT |
Tue, 23 November 2010
World travel as a way to cut down your debt? That's exactly what this family started doing a few years ago. We talk family travel, work and travel and debt reduction.
When they set off, the plan was to work in Cairns, Australia and make the most of the amazing diving opportunities right next to their apartment. What they didn't realise was that having a "dependent" (a child, in non-government parlance) meant they couldn't get the work and holiday visas they were relying on. With no time to change their plans, they still went to Australia hoping to make something work.
It was next to impossible, so they moved down to Auckland, New Zealand where they were quickly able to find work and -- although the diving didn't happen -- a lifestyle. Travelling from there the three of them found a workable pattern of travel and Baker put a pile of work into his personal finance blog, Man Vs Debt. The family proved it was possible to cut down their US consumer debt and travel the world with a child.
To read more, visit http://indietravelpodcast.com
Direct download: Episode2017520-20Travel20and20money20with20Man20vs20Debt.mp3
Category:Travel, Money -- posted at: 5:07am EDT |
Fri, 12 November 2010
Travel Cambodia with us: we visit Phnom Penh, Battambang, Phnom Penh and cross borders on the way to and from Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok.
Direct download: Episode2017420-20Cambodia20-20Siem20Reap2C20Battambang20and20Phnom20Penh.mp3
Category:Travel, Cambodia, Asia -- posted at: 10:16am EDT |
Mon, 8 November 2010
If you travel for any length of time, it's likely that at some point you'll encounter rain. Be prepared for it.
A lightweight or heavy-duty jacket. If you're heading into summer, just pack a lightweight shell for emergencies. But if you'll be spending a winter or a rainy season somewhere, get a really good waterproof layer. Goretex is a good choice. Consider something that has a warm inner shell and a waterproof outer shell, then you can mix and match depending on the weather.
An umbrella. Definitely not an essential, but if you plan on spending a lot of time in cities it might be worth carting one around. I like to be able to put it up and down without changing my clothes or carrying around a wet jacket (for some reason, a wet umbrella isn't as bad). We just have one between the two of us.
For more, visit http://indietravelpodcast.com
Direct download: Episode2017320-20Travel20clothes20for20packing20light.mp3
Category:Travel, Packing -- posted at: 9:04am EDT |
Fri, 29 October 2010
Two subjects today: Denver, Colorado and community-centered tourism with Milan Doshi from the Queen Anne BnB located in the city.
We talk about waste and ecological developments in hospitality then move on and get a great overview of things to see and do in the "mile high city".
Direct download: Episode2017220-20Denver2C20Colorado20and20community-centered20hospitality.mp3
Category:Travel, Colorado -- posted at: 1:29am EDT |
Mon, 18 October 2010
Washing your clothes while travelling is something you'll have to do if you're travelling for more than a week. And even if you're travelling for a week, you can pack lighter if you're prepared to do a little bit of washing along the way.
The most important thing to remember when travelling is to pack light. This means you need to take fewer clothes, but you should also consider what each item weighs, and how easy it will be to wash - and of course, since you will have fewer clothes with you, you'll need to wash what you do have more often.
Avoid very heavy things like jeans and bulky jumpers, as they are hard to wash and even harder to dry. Leave the big towel at home and pack a sports or travel towel, which takes up a fraction of the space and dries quickly.
If you're going somewhere cold, the trick is layering. Pack lightweight trousers and thermal underwear to put under them. Instead of one thick jumper, pack three thin ones - it'll weigh the same or less, you can rearrange them for a change of wardrobe, and they'll dry so much faster when you wash them.
For more, visit http://indietravelpodcast.com/
Direct download: Episode2017120-20Travel20clothes20-20packing20and20cleaning.mp3
Category:Travel, Living -- posted at: 7:41am EDT |
Fri, 8 October 2010
Scandinavia is a fantastic region of the world. We'd been wanting to
spend time there for a while, and apart from a weekend in Helsinki in
2007, didn't manage to get there until earlier this year. Mostly, we'd
been put off by prices - we'd heard that everything was expensive,
especially accommodation, transport and alcohol, and this had been
proven correct during our brief time in Finland. But thanks to
eurail.com and couchsurfing.org, we managed to have a great time on a
leaner budget than we'd expected.
For more, and links to everything we talk about in this show, visit http://indietravelpodcast.com/
Direct download: Episode2017020-20Scandinavia20travel20advice.mp3
Category:Travel, Scandinavia, scandinavia travel,scandinavian travel,scandanavia travel,sweeden travel,norway travel,sweden travel,finlan -- posted at: 7:49am EDT |
Tue, 5 October 2010
Benny the Irish Polyglot isn't your typical crazy Irishman. He spends his time completing language missions and currently speaks eight languages. Learn how to learn a language with Benny.
When he graduated from university with a degree in electronic engineering, he was fluent in only one language - English. He'd studied German at school, but didn't get anywhere with it, and after six months living in Spain was in a similar situation. But one day, he made a dramatic decision - he *really* decided to learn Spanish. He cut English out of his life as much as possible (he still had to work and talk to his parents) and spent the rest of the time speaking Spanish. It was the start of an epic journey.
Benny learned that the big secret to learning a language is to speak the language from day one. Don't wait until you're "ready" - you'll never feel ready. But you can communicate immediately, using what you have. In Spain, he used his body and extrapolated new words from ones he knew and ones other people used.
He learned that it's important to be confident and social. Just start talking to people with confidence and it will seem like you speak better than you actually can. To start, learn some phrases (Benny likes Lonely Planet phrasebooks) and leave the grammar to later - the point isn't to speak perfectly, it's to communicate. Break each task into small pieces and use creativity to help you learn - singing, for example, will help you remember phrases faster.
It can be difficult to get around the problem of people wanting to practice their English by talking with you, but it's possible. Benny always helps them by explaining how they can improve their Enlgish (websites, couchsurfing etc.) but he explains it in their language - giving him more chance to speak his target language.
Download Benny's book from http://indietravelpodcast.com/fluent
Direct download: Episode2016920-20Fluent20in20three20months2C20learning20a20language20with20Benny20Lewis.mp3
Category:Travel, Language -- posted at: 4:37am EDT |
Thu, 23 September 2010
Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and the second most-visited city in the UK - and for good reason. Our Edinburgh travel guide features Edinburgh-based travel writer Andy Hayes.
Direct download: Episode2016820-20Edinburgh20travel20guide.mp3
Category:Travel, Edinburgh -- posted at: 7:42am EDT |
Thu, 16 September 2010
As we travelled using the Eurorail/Eurail Global Pass, we took note of what we would have spent buying point-to-point tickets. Is a Eurail Pass worthwhile, or is it too expensive? Eurorail or Eurail? There's a little confusion over the terms Eurorail and Eurail. Basically, they're two terms for the same thing! The term Eurorail was replaced with Eurail a few years ago, so we're going to stick with that from now on. Our Europe train travel We had a 15-day Global Eurail Pass each, which meant we could travel in any of the countries covered by Eurail on fifteen individual days spread across the two-month validity of the pass. Every day that we wanted to use the pass, we wrote the date in the space provided. Our passes were checked every day that we used them, and usually stamped by the conductor - we'd heard stories of people trying to cheat the system using removable ink on their passes - this isn't going to work anymore.
Direct download: Episode_Eurorail_Eurail_and_train_travel_Europe.mp3
Category:Travel -- posted at: 12:49pm EDT |