The Travelers

Today’s guest is on an open-ended trip around the world with his family and covering his adventures on National Geographic and The Huffington Post. Back in 1994, he founded the internet’s first business travel website, and in 1996, he started blogging before it was even called blogging. He became ABCNews.com's first travel columnist in 1997, when he founded his consumer advocacy company to empower travelers to solve their service problems. His writing has been published by National Geographic Traveler, USA Today, Washington post, NPR, and many other massive publications. Most recently, he’s the author of a book called How to Be the World's Smartest Traveler (and Save Time, Money, and Hassle)and author of The Travel Troubleshooter, a weekly Q&A syndicated on National Geographic. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Soundcloud or TuneIn Explorer Quote: "You have to travel now while you still can because when you're 65 you might not be able to... don't wait, go now. Get lost!" What We Cover: Why you shouldn’

Kevin Le is a travel hacking expert. He’s traveled to over 20 countries as well as over 40 cities, priding himself on the fact that as a child of refugee parents fleeing Vietnam in the 80s, he’s come and gone a long way. Today, he’s a former corporate salesperson who now hosts his own show, The Travel Hacking Podcast which is helping his listeners travel smart, save money, and see the world in style. On this episode, we explore how travel provides Kevin with the ability to search for who he is in this world, and how travel has only inspired him to continue to build a life of travel for himself and his family. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Soundcloud or TuneIn Explorer Quote: “That's why I like being around travelers... There's this beautiful chaos amongst all of us that somehow makes sense.” "Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable has its intrinsic rewards." "If you have a little street smarts and you follow your curiosity, the sky is truly the limit." What We Cover: Why Kevin left corporate to

Today we’re bringing you the man who owns the word polyglot. He wasn’t raised multilingual - he spoke English, but after 10 years spent in a life of travel, he now speaks 12 languages fluently. After working as a freelance translator, he started his youtube channel and successful blog and created a business for himself that supports his travel lifestyle while helping others learn languages and actually have fun doing so. He has a course called Speak in a Week, and recently he published his book, Fluent in 3 Months, named after his website, fluentin3months.com. The book dispels the reasons why you ‘can’t’ learn a language, and provides practical tips and tactics for doing so. So let’s get right into it and welcome Benny Lewis to the Daily Travel Podcast. Explorer Quotes: "From the very first day that you start learning a language, get in touch with a native speaker and start speaking to them... Make as many mistakes as possible." - Benny Lewis What We Cover: Why the Gap Year is an important opportunity to get

“No matter where you go, make sure you go for at least a year.” After receiving that advice from another traveler, Jackie Laulainen took off for Costa Rica to spend an academic year abroad at just 18. She was immediately enamored with the country and experience, and the effect travel had on her. Today, she is the host of The Budget Minded Traveler’s Podcast, which is helping you to travel more for less. Jackie studied abroad when she was 18, and got hooked on travel as a teenager. She’s lived in Italy, as well as nomadically, moving on every 6 months to somewhere new. She’s been to at least 35 countries, and is an expert in budget travel strategies. Her podcast and website are helping her audience save money in a very practical way while making their travel dreams come true. She also wrote The Aspiring Travelers Handbook, striving to inspire and equip others to travel this beautiful world as well, on a budget. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Soundcloud or TuneIn Explorer's Quote: "There are so many peopl

What are the downsides to housesitting? "There are none!" says Dani from GlobetrotterGirls.com. In today's episode, it's a deep dive into Housesitting. What is it, how does it work, why is it safe, and how can it open up a world of free, authentic travel opportunities? We cover everything you need to know to get started. Dani Heinrich started her website to chronicle her travels at GlobetrotterGirls.com when she left her life in London back in 2010 to find a new one that embraced travel as a much bigger part. Her mission is to inspire curiosity about the world and provide the tips and tools to help you see as much of the world as you can for yourself.More recently, she’s released the Ultimate Guide to Housesitting, a topic that’s gaining steam in the travel world because of the way it offers a free accommodation in an authentic setting for an extended duration of travel. So, want a free week anywhere in the world? Listen to this episode and what Dani from globetrottergirls.com has to share with us today. Thes

This is part 2 of my conversation with Gary Bembridge. Listen to part 1 in which we discuss unusual cruise experiences. Today, I change up the show a little to bring on Gary Bembridge and pick his brain on what travel bloggers can do to create a better resource for their readers. We also discuss the future of travel media and whether a podcast or web video series might be a better choice of format for tomorrow's audiences. Gary has been traveling every month of every year for the past 20+ years. It used to be as a business traveler, doing global marketing. Nowadays, he’s a independent consultant. For the past 9 years, he’s been running tipsfortravelers.com, a website and podcast to share his best advice from his travels. The man is an expert on cruises, and he’s the author of The Cruise Traveler’s Handbook, which provides advice & tips on finding and having unforgettable cruise vacations. And a couple years ago, he launched the better bloggers podcast at travelbloggerspodcast.com, to share his best tips t

Gary Bembridge has been traveling every month of every year for the past 20+ years. It used to be as a business traveler, doing global marketing. Nowadays, he’s a independent consultant. For the past 9 years, he’s been running tipsfortravelers.com, a website and podcast to share his best advice from his travels. The man is an expert on cruises, and he’s the author of The Cruise Traveler's Handbook, which provides advice & tips on finding and having unforgettable cruise vacations. And a couple years ago, he launched the better bloggers podcast at travelbloggerspodcast.com, to share his best tips to help travel bloggers do what it is they do even better. Gary knows his stuff because he speaks from experience. So, for anyone who’s a travel blogger and wants to find out how to be a better resource, and partner with brands as he has with much success, you might want to be sure to hear what Gary has to say on part 2. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Soundcloud or TuneIn What We Discuss Why avoiding a life w

"That is the basic motif of the hero journey: leaving one condition, finding the source of life to bring you forth in a richer condition." - Joseph Campbell From his time spent as a Boy Scout growing up in Boston, Jason Karas got an early start to becoming an explorer. While exploring the outdoors, he developed a sense of curiosity about the small things in life, the things hidden in our daily routine that most people don't notice. Acknowledging this curiosity led to a fascination with curiosity itself and Jason began to ask the question, Can we somehow heighten the perception of this curiosity? Today, Jason is an explorer, entrepreneur and father. He's also the CEO and co-founder of Trover, whose mission is to capture the traveler's desire for curiosity and new experience -- to reawaken that childlike sense of wonder -- and technologically distill it into an app. In a simpler sense, Trover is a website and app for sharing and cataloguing your travel photography by allowing you to upload and geo-tag your imag

When Matt Long was a little kid, he memorized the geography sections of the world from the old Peanuts encyclopedia. He had the flag of Scotland hanging on his wall. Flash forward to 2010, and Matt was miserable as a lobbiest for a non-profit in Washington DC. He started his blog, Landlopers.com and two years later, he reached a point where he could take the blog full time. Within a short time, he found out what he wanted to do in life and how to make it happen: A life that makes travel a bigger priority. Today, he runs Landlopers.com where he writes about his travels and works with luxury travel brands, understanding that most people can't take more time than the two weeks they have to travel. On this episode we discuss his life of travel, why he's made it a reality, and his best travel advice. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Soundcloud or TuneIn What We Discuss How Matt left his career to start a career in travel writing, blogging aExploring the world is one of the best educations you can get. Why Tr

Food can provide you a sort of cultural topography of a place through the people living there and the stories behind the things they produce. Food, whether specialty products or a homecooked meal, is an expression not only of a culture, but of the individual preparing it for you. Food is not only a component of travel, but a journey in itself - and one that can be as adventurous as you want. And travel can provide you a context with which to connect your food with certain memories, or touchstones, throughout your life. Nicole Taylor was a picky eater growing up who credits her mother for taking her downtown to places a little kid wasn't expected. This early exposure to interesting food challenged her and quickly gave her an obsession for food. Nicole not only loves food but has actually worked in the specialty food industry, making chocolate, and now brings this passion into a life of travel and exploration, as well as her website, foodculturist.com, and her show, Hot Grease, which she describes as a ‘progres

This is part 2 of my conversation with Mike Corey. Listen to part 1. Mike Corey is a host, travel blogger, videographer, photographer, breakdancer, and enthusiastic world explorer. He’s currently serving as the first travel brand ambassador for Skype, which Skype calls Moment Makers, and Mike definitely is that. His videos include him eating all kinds of weird foods and participating in rich, life-changing experiences — like shark diving, the worlds biggest tomato food fight festival, or sleeping on the great wall of China. In yesterday's episode, we discussed how to overcome travel fears, and how Mike became Skype's first travel ambassador, and the unbelievable scavenger hunt-style trip they sent him on across Europe. Today we discuss solo travel and Mike's best travel advice. On this episode, we discuss… Why solo travel might seem scarier than it is, and why it might seem unaccepted. How you can find best friends for life almost immediately on the road How to choose an unconventional life should you not

"The cool thing about life is that the more you open yourself up to life, the more life opens itself up to you." Mike Corey is a host, travel blogger, videographer, photographer, breakdancer, and enthusiastic world explorer. He’s currently serving as the first travel brand ambassador for Skype, which Skype calls Moment Makers, and Mike definitely is that. His videos include him eating all kinds of weird foods and participating in rich, life-changing experiences — like shark diving, the worlds biggest tomato food fight festival, or sleeping on the great wall of China. I asked him to come on the show when I stumbled on his adventure videos, particularly an 80 day round the world journey with Cathay Pacific airlines. On this episode, we discuss… How Mike became Skype's first travel ambassador, and the amazing stories that came from it How to overcome fear that might be stopping you from getting out there Why it's important to filter the messages from those who have never taken the journey Words from an Explor

After building a lot of frequent flyer miles from his business-related travel, Chris McGinnis applied his skills as a consultant to teach his coworkers about maximizing their experience. When he realized this was something he could do full time, he jumped at the opportunity. He wrote for local news outlets before picking up a regular gig with CNN, which cemented his expertise as a business travel expert. Today, he is one of the leading authorities on business travel as the director the Travel Skills group, and the host of the Travel Skillz chat on Twitter. He’s an expert in business travel, having been featured inn CNN, BBC, the Wall Street Journal and many more. On this episode, we discuss how Chris stays relevant in today's changing landscape, the future of frequent flyer mile programs, how business travelers can get the most out of their work travel opportunities. Note: Chris mentions that he expects United Airlines to follow Delta in their revenue based model -- in which you earn miles for how much you sp

In this short update, I just want to say thank you! Thank you for listening. Thank you for subscribing, and leaving a review on iTunes. I’m thrilled to have you as a founding member of a community of explorers. With all of you listening, I’m humbled - but I’d love to hear from you. Why are you listening? What do you love? What would you like to hear about? I want this show to get better. To help you more. So please let me know how I can help by emailing me directly at nathaniel@dailytravelpodcast.com, or hitting me up on twitter. Or just leaving a comment on any of the show notes. Today's Quote “Often I feel I go to some distant region of the world to be reminded of who I really am. There is no mystery about why this should be so. Stripped of your ordinary surroundings, your friends, your daily routines, your refrigerator full of your food, your closet full of your clothes -- with all this taken away, you are forced into direct experience. Such direct experience inevitably makes you aware of who it is that is

Michael Turtle is an explorer and writer. Like me, Michael quit his job as a TV producer at age 30 to create a life of travel, to finally experience the complexity of the world at his own pace. On his website, Time Travel Turtle, he invites you to explore the people, culture and stories that happen to him on the road. That is, until he gets bored — which I’m predicting will never happen. In his own words, his posts “are the stories behind the brochures. They tell the tales of the history and the culture of the countries I visit.” He’s even been over to North Korea and I might ask him about that. Words from an Explorer “Sometimes a chat can open up these little doors and you either be invited to go through them or ask.” What we discuss Michael shares his travel stories and exposure to the cultures he’s come across in his journeys His weirdest stories, including Cat Cafes and an animal penis restaurant How travel has changed his perspective on the world How the effects of travel have changed Michael, making

The desire to travel independently is a feeling that stirs within a lot of us. It's a big step that not everyone will take. But at 19, Alexandra Baackes wanted it badly enough to make it a reality. She cobbled together a "DIY Summer Abroad" to volunteer and backpack in South East Asia. Along the way, she met a collection of folks living a life of travel, working on the road to support themselves. She knew then that was how she wanted to live her life as well. Like me, Alex spent time bartending abroad to support her travels only to learn she didn't want to continue with that work when she got home, and instead wanted to learn a skill that she could do from anywhere in the world. So she studied graphic design and travel writing and rather than look for a job out of college, she created a life of travel. In 2011, Alex left her life in New York for one of exploration, more dedicated to adventure. Since then, she hasn’t stopped traveling and writing about her experiences over at AlexInWanderland.com. She’s a dive

"Some people have the idea that if you travel nonstop you must be a trust fund baby with endless funds or a travel blogger making money from that and in reality, there are so many ways that people can make money online now," says today's guest, Billy Taylor, the Senior Editor of Travel Longer magazine, "The benefit of starting the magazine was hearing all of these different, diverse ways that people are able to perpetuate their travel." Equal parts journalist and photographer, Billy has been traveling the world writing, taking pics and eating anything he can find since 2010. He's a diver, designer, a former stunt performer, and a perpetual world traveler. Before that he got his start in his teens and then after a round-the-world trip, he realized how badly he wanted to travel more while also longer, to slow down and experience his destinations longer. Part of Billy's drive to explore and document is his pure love of people and their cultures, along with a belief that there are far more similarities that unite

Michael Hodson quit his career as a lawyer in Arkansas to seek fulfillment on the road. His goal? To circle the globe without using an airplane and write about it. He completed it in 16 months. Starting his blog to document his journey, he returned and took up the blog as a way to continue building a life of freewheeling travel. His travels include an overland trek from Cape Town to Cairo, from Lisbon to Saigon by train in a month, the Middle East, South America, across Europe... "A little bit of everywhere," in his words. Today, he aspires to find experiences through overland travel - which is travel without flying. Today's episode is a casual conversation between Michael and I about why we travel, how he manages his form of "slow travel" and what he gets out of it. We swap hitchhiking stories and compare notes about the Transsiberian and Michael explains to me how (and why!) he booked himself five times on a cargo ship to cross oceans. Check it out and let me know where you land in all of this in the commen

In episode 32, we discussed how Elisa left her job and went from never living outside the state of Maine to running her own freelance writing agency out of Bali, Indonesia. And how she didn't let a debilitating motorbike wreck stop her from continuing her journey, so for anyone interested in traveling more and becoming an Explorer, Elisa is an example of how to do so. Have a listen to part one or sit back and enjoy part two of our conversation. Elisa Doucette is a location independent entrepreneur, running her own freelance writing agency from Bali, Indonesia, who has untethered herself from any one particular location, in the interest of finding better stories to not just write about, but to live. The decision to do this got her syndicated by multiple publications and she’s been featured in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Forbes, Huffington Post, and more. She was the managing director for Tropical MBA in Bali, Indonesia before launching her own business to live a fulfilling life. Elisa wants to change the

How does a small-town, girl-next-door working in Maine as an insurance salesperson become a digital nomad, living in Thailand, visiting friends and clients in Saigon, and freelancing to support her freedom? Her adventures weren’t always as seductive. Almost immediately upon arrival in Bali, she was involved in a harrowing motorbike wreck that left her hospitalized in Indonesia and nearly having her leg amputated. After overcoming a trauma, four surgeries and the biggest challenge of not only her travels, but her life, all within the first week of her journey, Elisa dusted herself off and continued where many would have given up and gone home. Elisa describes her satisfaction with her globetrotting lifestyle as a different kind of happiness, one in which she still needs to make sacrifices, but different sacrifices. In the end, she believes she’s doing what she feels is best for herself and the people close to her, and she’s proud of it. On this two part episode, Elisa brings a grounded perspective to shatter a