Episodes
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Today we are speaking with Bruce Wallin, an award winning editor, writer and producer and the host of the podcast, Travel That Matters, which was named one of the 10 Best Podcasts for 2022 by Men's Journal. Bruce has made a name for himself as a leader in travel journalism, a reputation that began when he and a group of friends launched their own publication called, Trip, in the 1990's. It was an incredible experience but eventually they ran out of funds. It was right around this time when Bruce and his former girlfriend decided to travel through Central America to enjoy what they imagined to be their last big adventure before settling down. It was a trip that gave Bruce a new travel ethos, that travel gets better the more effort you put into it. This episode outlines all of the ways effort paid off on that trip, from planning a very romantic proposal to discovering Mayan ruins off the beaten path. It's also worth mentioning that Esme and Bruce did a podcast swap! So after you finish this episode, head over to Travel That Matters where you can listen to Bruce interviewing Esme on a trip that changed her life.
Check out Bruce on Instagram @brucewallintravel and his website, www.sweetwallmedia.com. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting https://www.fulltimetravel.co/ and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
This week’s guest is TV writer Kristin Newman, who has spent the last 25 years working on shows like, How I Met Your Mother, That 70's Show and Only Murders in the Building. As a lifelong traveler, Kristin used the breaks between seasons to explore the world, often alone, as more and more of her friends settled down. Her memoir, What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding, details her years as a single woman traversing the globe and enjoying commitment-free romances along the way. In this episode, Kristin shares two very different trips to Argentina. The first, a two month stint in which she attempted to live like a local, fell in love, and decided to commit the next decade of her life to travel instead of marriage and babies. Eighteen years later, she returned to Argentina to shoot a TV show based on her memoir, this time with her parents, husband and child in tow. (Spoiler alert: She did eventually breed.) Join us as we discuss how to meet people as a solo traveler, the complexities of memoir writing, the weird feeling Kristin experienced while watching her life story acted out for the screen, and the ways travel lets you try on new identities and take a vacation from yourself.
Check out Kristin on Instagram @theotherkristinnewman and her website, www.theotherkristinnewman.com. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting https://www.fulltimetravel.co/ and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
Episodes manquant?
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Today's guest is the writer, Blythe Roberson, author of How to Date Men When You Hate Men. As you can tell from that title, Blythe is best known for her witty comedic voice and has contributed to publications like The New Yorker, New York Magazine, and GQ. Her latest book, America The Beautiful?, was inspired by a two-month road trip from Wisconsin to the West Coast and back again. The road trip aimed to examine the American obsession with freedom, travel, and the open road via 30 national parks. In this episode, Blythe talks about quitting her cushy job on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to pursue this adventure, her desire to write a book that didn’t conform to the healing journey narrative of most female-authored travel memoirs, and how humans can reconcile their need to be in nature with the environmental impact of our collective presence.
Check out Blythe on Instagram @blythelikehappy and her website, www.blytheroberson.com. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting https://www.fulltimetravel.co/ and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
Today we are speaking with Meg Stafford, a clinical social worker, award-winning writer, and mother to two adventurous daughters. As a lifelong traveler, Meg has been on many expeditions with her kids over the years. One particularly meaningful trip would go on to inspire a memoir: Who Will Accompany You? My Mother Daughter Journeys Far From Home and Close to the Heart. When Kate's daughter opted to visit Nepal and Bhutan for a high school project researching the meaning of happiness, Meg decided to go with her. It was a mother-daughter trip that pushed Meg outside of her comfort zone. She found herself avoiding avalanches while climbing to Annapurna basecamp and dodging paint at the Holi Festival in Kathmandu. It also gave her the opportunity to examine what it means for a parent to love and to let go.
Check out Meg on Instagram @megstafford2183 and her website, www.MegStafford.com. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting https://www.fulltimetravel.co/ and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
Today's guest is Christine Winebrenner Irick, the entrepreneur behind the group travel company, Lotus Sojourns and the host of The Soul of Travel podcast, which features guests making a positive impact on the tourism industry. In this episode, Christine shares the story of her first big trip to Asia. In the midst of a period of rebirth, as her career and marriage were crumbling, Christine took inspiration from Alex Garland's book, The Beach, and set off for Thailand with one good friend and no solid plans. What unfolded was a perspective-shifting experience that would, in Christine's own words, "reveal who she would become." Fast forward to 2023 and Christine was recently named one of the most influential women in travel, an accolade that speaks to her work highlighting how sustainable tourism can support gender equality. After you've finished listening to this conversation, be sure to check out Christine's podcast, Soul Of Travel, where you'll find an interview with our very own host, Esme Benjamin.
Check out Christine's website, www.lotussojourns.com and follow her on Instagram @lotussojourns and @souloftravelpodcast. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting https://www.fulltimetravel.co/ and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
Today we are speaking with Yulia Denisyuk, who was overworked and unfulfilled at her well-paid job as a brand manager when she took a trip to Morocco – a place she had always fantasized about visiting. It was an eye-opening experience from start to finish and one that would set her on the path to a whole new life. One starlit night in the desert, Yulia made the decision to leave her job and pursue her dream of becoming a travel journalist. The rest is history. Eight years later, Yulia's work has been published in the New York Times, National Geographic, CNTraveler, and many more. She is also the founder of NOMAD + JULES, a small group travel company offering trips to the middle east, and Travel Media Lab, a platform and podcast helping aspiring travel writers get their big break. Join us as we discuss common misconceptions about Morocco, how to delve deeper and really get to know a place, and the power of looking for signs when you need confirmation you're on the right track. If you're harboring a dream but it never quite feels like the right time to make the leap, this episode is for you.
Check out Yulia's website to get 10% off all products, programs, and events at https://travelmedialab.co/esme and follow her on Instagram, @travelmedialab. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting https://www.fulltimetravel.co/ and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
Today we are talking with Jimmy Carroll, a former British Army officer who now puts his precision planning expertise to good use as the co-founder of Pelorus, a travel company that creates bespoke trips for travelers seeking unique experiences. In 2020, Jimmy and three friends embarked on the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge, a 3,000-mile unsupported rowing race from the Canary Islands to Antigua, known as the world's toughest rowing competition. For 36 days, the team rowed in alternating two-hour stints for 24 hours a day, through storms, sleep deprivation, and an unexpected attack from a 12-foot blue marlin. It was an experience that pushed them to the limit of their resilience but one that was also full of profound beauty and awe. Join us as we discuss the importance of building a united team, the ferocious magic of close encounters with wildlife, how challenges help us grow as individuals, and why we should all be taking better care of our mental health.
Follow Jimmy on Instagram @jimmyalexandercarroll & @pelorusx and check out his website https://pelorusx.com/. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting https://www.fulltimetravel.co/ and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
Today, Esme speaks with Samantha Brown, who is the host of some of TV's most popular travel shows. Samantha has been traveling the world professionally ever since landing her first job on the Travel Channel's show, Great Vacation Homes. She has since visited 250 cities in 62 countries and has created over 160 hours of programming, including on PBS for her own Emmy award-winning show, Samantha Brown's Places to Love. As you can imagine, Samantha's life has been full of meaningful trips, but a trip to China ahead of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 altered her mindset as a traveler. In this episode, Samantha shares how a brief encounter with two young girls helped her to understand that travel isn't about the must-sees, it's about the connections you make along the way.
Check out Samantha's website, https://samantha-brown.com/. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting https://www.fulltimetravel.co/ and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
In this episode, Esme speaks with writer and performer Lane Moore. Lane juggles multiple creative projects at the same time and earns rave reviews for all of them. She is the award winning former sex and relationships editor of Cosmopolitan magazine and the author of two books, How To Be Alone, and the recently released, You Will Find Your People: How to Make Meaningful Relationships as an Adult. She is also the host of a podcast, I Thought it Was Just Me, front person for the band, It Was Romance, and she tours a comedy show called, Tinder Live, which has been praised by critics from the New York Times, New York Magazine and CBS. In this episode, Lane shares the story of a solo trip to Prince Edward Island, an idyllic maritime province in eastern Canada, best known for being the setting of Anne of Green Gables, Lane's favorite book from childhood. As somebody who always thought they'd be alone in the world, Lane was surprised to discover through this trip that you can find kindred spirits in the most unlikely of places.
Check out Lane's website, lanemoore.org. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting https://www.fulltimetravel.co/ and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
This week Esme is speaking with Lisette Austin, host of the award-winning podcast, The Globetrotter Lounge, which features diverse women sharing their most creative ways to travel. Lisette is best known for her travel hacking expertise – skills she shares in her online course, "Jetset 101: Becoming a Travel Hacker" – but it's her personal passion for DNA travel that she is sharing with us today. Lisette is an adoptee from Seattle, who, with the help of consumer DNA testing, managed to track down her birth parents. The experience of delving into her roots inspired Lisette to explore her family geography, traveling to the places her biological ancestors lived hundreds of years ago. In this episode, Lisette tells the story of a family reunion in Charleston, South Carolina, an experience that stirred complex emotions as she grappled with family stories, Black history, the immigrant experience, and the integration of her own identity in light of everything she was learning and experiencing.
Check out Lisette's website https://jetsetlisette.com and visit travelingmyroots.com to learn about her current DNA project and sign up for the substack email newsletter. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting https://www.fulltimetravel.co/ and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
This week Esme speaks to Pico Iyer, the prolific travel writer and brilliant mind behind 16 books, hundreds of essays, and several TED Talks. Pico's work touches on globalism, Islamic mysticism, the Cuban Revolution, and the Dalai Lama - a personal friend and travel companion of his. In his latest book, The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise, Pico weaves together travel experiences with the decades he's spent in monasteries to explore how each of us can find paradise amidst the complexity of real life. In this episode, Pico shares stories and impressions from Iran, a place he's been fascinated by since he was a boy and which defied his expectations in the best possible way.
Check out Pico's website https://picoiyerjourneys.com. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting https://www.fulltimetravel.co/ and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
This week Esme speaks to Juliana Bühring, an ultra-endurance cyclist, best-selling author, and children's rights activist. Juliana's life story is one of triumphing over adversity. Raised in a cult known as the Children of God, Juliana developed the necessary survival skills of resilience and adaptability from a young age – qualities that would prove instrumental to her future achievements. After escaping the cult at the age of 23, Juliana wrote the book, Not Without My Sister, which contributed to the group's eventual demise in 2010. While building a new, radically different life for herself in the wake of all this, Juliana reconnected with an old flame – an explorer named Hendri – and the two developed a long-distance romance. In another tragic turn of events, Hendri was killed while on an expedition in the Congo after being pulled from his kayak by a crocodile. His body was never recovered. Reckless with grief and determined to make the most of her one precious life, Juliana embarked on her first ultra-endurance ride – an 18,000-mile journey through 19 countries which she completed in just 152 days, earning her a world record. In this episode, Juliana discusses using mental fortitude to push through physical pain and meet her goals, learning to put faith and trust in strangers, and being coerced into rum-filled evenings in Australia in exchange for free accommodation.
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Welcome to Season 4 of The Trip That Changed Me! Our first guest of the new season is Laurie Woolever, writer, editor, public speaker, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute (now the International Culinary Center) in New York, and former assistant to Anthony Bourdain, with whom she co-wrote several books. The most recent of those books, World Travel: An Irreverent Guide, Laurie sadly had to complete alone following Bourdain’s death in 2018.
In this episode, Laurie shares memories from Sri Lanka, where she joined Bourdain (or “Tony,” as she affectionately calls him) on a shoot for the TV show “Parts Unknown.” For Laurie, this trip was part business and part pleasure; an opportunity to explore the lush island nation with her friend and mentor while working on a story about Sri Lankan home cooking, but it was especially significant because she was newly sober. Navigating triggers and travel rituals that involved alcohol was challenging, but the experience shifted Laurie’s perspective. To her surprise, the world was bigger and better without the booze. This interview is full of wonderful, personal anecdotes about Anthony Bourdain the traveler, plus loads of insider tips that food-obsessives will appreciate.
Follow Laurie on Instagram @lauriewoolever and visit her website lauriewoolever.com to find her books and more information. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting https://www.fulltimetravel.co/ and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
Elizabeth Becker is an award-winning journalist and author who started out as a war correspondent at The Washington Post before going on to work for public radio and The New York Times. She is also the author of three books including Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism, which was an Amazon book of the year, and You Don’t Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War, which won the 2022 Goldsmith Award from Harvard. But long before the achievements and accolades, Elizabeth was a graduate with a dream of visiting India, a country she’d never been to but knew a lot about thanks to her degree in South Asian Studies. In this episode, Elizabeth shares the story of the eventful year she spent living and learning in India, and how that first real travel experience would go on to shape her career and views about tourism. Buckle up, because Elizabeth has got some wild anecdotes to share!
You can learn more about Elizabeth and purchase her books by visiting https://www.elizabethbecker.com. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting fulltimetravel.co and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
Colin O’Brady is probably best known for being one of the world’s most recognized endurance athletes and explorers. He’s a 10-time world record holder and two-time Everest summiteer, and the first person in history to cross the continent of Antarctica solo, unsupported and completely human-powered – an experience he wrote about in his best-selling memoir The Impossible First.
In this episode, Colin shares the story of a post-college, round-the-world trip that, unfortunately, ended in tragedy. In Thailand, Colin was severely burned in an accident. His injuries were so bad that doctors believed he’d have trouble ever walking normally, but Colin proved them all wrong thanks to what he calls a “possible mindset.”
Esme and Colin also discuss rejecting comfortable complacency, the importance of goal setting, and the concept behind his latest book The 12-Hour Walk, which aims to inspire 10 million people to take a one-day transformative journey to conquer their minds and unlock their best lives.
You can learn more about Colin by visiting https://www.colinobrady.com/. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting fulltimetravel.co and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
Gabby Beckford is the Gen Z travel opportunity expert behind Packs Light, a content brand designed to empower others to seek risks, seize opportunity, skip debt, and see the world ASAP. Although Gabby was raised in a family of travelers, it was her first solo vacation – a backpacking trip through Iceland which she took right before starting college – that solidified her aspirations to see as much of the world as possible. Gabby is now a TEDx speaker and a travel expert whose work has been published in Travel + Leisure, National Geographic, Lonely Planet, and Huffington Post. In this episode, Gabby shares with Esme the highs and lows of her experience in Iceland and how even the terrible parts were instrumental to her personal development. Plus, how she used scholarships, grants, and contests to travel the world while in college, the transformative effects of solo travel, and how to cultivate a ‘why not me?’ mindset and go after what you want in life.
You can find Gabby on TikTok and Instagram @packslight and visit her website packslight.com. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting fulltimetravel.co and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
Rachel Signer was an aspiring author living in Brooklyn and cobbling together a living by freelance writing and working various jobs in hospitality when she was invited on a food and wine themed press trip to Burgundy and Paris. It was a trip that would affirm her deep appreciation for the French language, culture, cuisine, and wine – specifically, natural wine. Rachel spent the next few years following her heart, first to Paris where she dreamed of opening a bar with her best friend, and then to Australia to pursue a relationship with a natural winemaker – the story she recounts in her book, You Had Me at Pét-Nat: A Natural Wine-Soaked Memoir. As she tried to figure out which life path and which place to commit to, Rachel channeled her knowledge and her passion into launching a natural wine-themed publication, Pipette Magazine, and her own label of hand-produced natural wine, Persephone. In this episode, Rachel shares with Esme how that trip to France took her deeper into the world of wine and inspired her to move to Paris, the importance of listening to her gut and making inconvenient choices, and how a relationship with a city can be its own kind of love story.
You can find Rachel on Instagram @rachsig and her magazine at @PipetteMagazine, and purchase her memoir wherever books are sold or by visiting her website www.rachelsigner.com/book. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting fulltimetravel.co and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
Cheryl B. Engelhardt is a composer and songwriter whose new age, ambient music has been featured in films, ads, tv shows, and on meditation apps like Insight Timer. Cheryl began music lessons as a toddler; since then, her career has taken her all over the world but it’s always been unique places and experiences that inspire her most creative work – experiences like a nine-day, cross country train trip from New York to Los Angeles and back, during which she composed and recorded her new album, The Passenger. With nothing but a laptop and a USB keyboard, Cheryl created twelve tracks while passing incredible views and roving wildlife. In this episode, Cheryl shares the highs and lows of that journey, which served as a creative experiment and an opportunity to process grief following the recent loss of a dear friend. Plus, Esme and Cheryl discuss the magic of train travel, how being physically in motion gives us the momentum to get emotionally and creatively unstuck, and the importance of relinquishing control in travel and in life.
To learn more about Cheryl and listen to her music, visit her website www.cbemusic.com and her Instagram @cbemusic. You can purchase The Passenger on Amazon at www.cbemusic.co/amazon. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting fulltimetravel.co and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
Michael Baldwin is a luxury real estate agent who made a lucrative living in Texas until the financial crisis of 2008 temporarily derailed his career. Ever the optimist, Michael decided to use the opportunity to live abroad, and set about speed-dating all the international destinations within a four-hour flight of Houston. Ultimately, it was Los Cabos, Mexico that stole his heart. In this episode, Michael shares the story of road-tripping down the Baja California peninsula to start a new life in San José del Cabo, and why he’s never looked back. Plus, Esme and Michael discuss Michael’s ethos of turning lemons into lemonade, the logistics of setting up a new life in Mexico, and why the local community is what really makes a place feel like home.
You can learn more about Los Cabos by going to www.visitloscabos.travel/featured-offers/. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting fulltimetravel.co and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! -
Ahmad Ward is the Executive Director for Hilton Head Island’s Historic Mitchelville Park. If you’ve never heard of Mitchelville, then prepare for an eye-opening history lesson. Established in 1862, a year before Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, it was the first self-governed town of formerly enslaved people in the United States. In this episode, Ahmad shares how his five-year plan to exit the world of museums was quickly discarded when he began interviewing for a role at Mitchelville Freedom Park while on vacation in New Orleans. How a moving visit to the Whitney Plantation, the only Louisiana plantation that centers the experiences of the enslaved population, helped shape his ideas for the project. Plus, Ahmad and Esme discuss how to communicate hard topics in a palatable way, creating spaces for authentic expression and respectful listening, and the ongoing important work of highlighting Mitchelville, a piece of American history that deserves to be widely known, honored, and celebrated.
You can learn more about Mitchelville by visiting exploremitchelville.org. Learn more about Full-Time Travel by visiting fulltimetravel.co and follow us on Instagram @full_time_travel. Be sure to rate, review, and follow so that you don’t miss out on travel tips, inspiration, and your potential next adventure! - Montre plus
