Hear about travel to Toronto, Ontario as the Amateur Traveler talks to Erin Hynes from PinaTravels.org and the Alpaca My Bags podcast about her hometown and Canada's largest city.
Hear about sailing in the Saronic Islands and the Peloponnese as the Amateur Traveler talks about his recent yacht charter with Navigare Yachting.
Hear about travel to Washington D.C. as the Amateur Traveler talks to Rob from TripHacksDC.com about the city where he is a tour guide and podcaster.
Hear about travel to the western part of Michigan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Veronica Bareman from HipGrandmaLife.com and Holland Michigan about her neck of the woods.
Hear about things to do in San Diego California as the Amateur Traveler talks to Maria Hasse from SanDiegoExplorer.com about her adopted hometown.
Hear about travel to Cambodia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Matt from XpatMatt.com about a 10-day itinerary in this rapidly changing Asian country.
Hear about travel to the Caribbean on the Windstar Sea Breeze as the Amateur Traveler talks about small ships cruising to St Maarten, Barbados, St Lucia, and Antigua.
Hear about a 7-day itinerary in Puglia in southern Italy as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kate Storm from OurEscapeClause.com about her trips to this up-and-coming destination.
Hear about travel to the Island of Montserrat as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dan Dekker about his visits to this island with an active volcano.
Hear about a one-week itinerary for your travel to Tamil Nadu in Southern India as the Amateur Traveler talks to Girin Nayak about his native region.
Hear about going on safari in Uganda as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jagdeep Sahni about his recent trip to this East African country.
Hear about travel to the state of Wisconsin as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dannelle Gay from TravelingCheesehead.com about her home state.
Hear about travel to Fiji (the islands of Viti Levu and Taveuni) as the Amateur Traveler talks to Justin Barnes about his recent trip to this island nation including some pretty amazing scuba diving experiences.
Hear about luxury barge cruising on the Canal de Briare in the Loire Valley of France as the Amateur Traveler talks to Rose Palmer from quilttripping.com about her recent adventure.
Hear about travel to the Queensland Outback as the Amateur Traveler talks to Melissa from Queensland about a destination she discovered during the pandemic when she could not leave her home state.
A special feed drop episode from another podcast. This episode is from my podcast brother Jason at Zero to Travel
Hear about travel to the province of Galicia in Northern Span as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lisa Rose Wright about her adopted home.
Hear about travel to Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sharezal Abdul Wahid the Director of Concierge at the Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur about his country.
Hear about travel to the island of Grenada in the West Indies as the Amateur Traveler talks to Caleb Sedam about the tropical paradise where he recently finished med school.
Hear about things to do in Istanbul and in Trabzon on the Turkish Black Sea coast as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kimberly from The Art of Living in Turkey about her adopted country of Türkiye.
Hear about fun things to do in Edinburgh, Scotland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dan from the Zipping Around the World podcast about his recent trip to the capital of Scotland.
Hear about travel to the Peloponnese Peninsula in Greece as the Amateur Traveler talks to travel writer Sally Jane Smith about a great alternative to visiting the Greek Islands.
Hear about travel to Athens, Greece as the Amateur Traveler talks to travel writer Sally Jane Smith about Athens as a stop on the way to the Peloponnese Peninsula.
Hear about travel to Calabria as the Amateur Traveler talks to expat Skyler Mapes from exauoliveoil.com who now lives in the region of southern Italy.
Hear about travel to Bangkok, Thailand as the Amateur Traveler talks to Michael Desrosiers from the Ear Goggles Podcast about his adopted hometown.
Hear about travel to the San Juan Islands and Whidbey Island as the Amateur Traveler talks to Seattle local Alex Shoemann about these beautiful islands in the Puget Sound.
Hear about cruising the islands of Melanesia (Papua New Guinea, The Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu) as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sherry Ott from OttsWorld.com about an unusual expedition cruise.
Hear about a road trip in Nebraska from Omaha to Scott's Bluff along the Oregon Trail as the Amateur Traveler talks to Olivia Wieseler about her home state.
Hear about travel to Tanzania on safari as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jane Horlings about her recent trip to 3 of Tanzania's National Parks.
Hear about traveling to Oaxaca, Mexico as the Amateur Traveler talks to Susan Metenosky from brooklyntropicali.com about the city she now calls home.
Hear about Puerto Rico travel tips as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jessica from The Dining Traveler about her home island of Puerto Rico.
Hear about travel to Eswatini as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sam and Theo about the small African country (formerly known as Swaziland) they both used to call home.
Hear about things to do on the Island of Bonaire as the Amateur Traveler talks to Eric Gietman, owner of the Cadushy Distillery, about his adopted home of Bonaire.
Hear about travel to Okinawa as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mike de Jong about his visits to this tropical corner of Japan.
Hear about travel to Morocco as the Amateur Traveler talks to Azdean Elmoustaquim from the Destination Morocco site and podcast about his native country.
Hear about an itinerary for travel to Bolivia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jaybe Dear from The Only Way is Not Essex about her recent trip to this landlocked South American country.
Hear about things to do in Thessaloniki, Greece, as the Amateur Traveler talks to Carol from Ambrosia Travel about the city that was for centuries the largest city in Greece and is still Greece's second-largest city.
Hear about travel to Asturias, Spain, as the Amateur Traveler talks to Leanne and Lyle from BeachTravelWine.com about this less-visited region of Northern Spain.
Hear about travel driving the Carretera Austral in Chile as the Amateur Traveler talks to travel journalist and guidebook author Steph Dyson about a country she literally wrote the book on.
Hear about travel to Volos, Greece, and the Pelion Peninsula as the Amateur Traveler talks to Heather Cowper from HeatherOnHerTravels.com about her recent visit to this picturesque part of Greece.
Hear about travel to Cape Verde as the Amateur Traveler talks to Paulina from paulinaontheroad.com about this island nation off the coast of Africa.
Hear about travel to Eastern Slovenia as the Amateur Traveler talks to travel writer Mark Baker from MarkBakerPrague.com about a recent press trip that he took to less visited parts of Solvenia.
Hear about travel to Astypalaia and Amorgos as the Amateur Traveler talks to Michael & Cassandre from @JourneyOfMC about these two less touristed Greek Islands.
Hear about an Austria road trip as the Amateur Traveler talks to Michael January about driving Empress Sisi's Road.
Hear about travel to London, England, as the Amateur Traveler talks to Julie from ALadyInLondon.com about her adopted hometown.
Hear about travel to South Tyrol, Italy as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lynne Nieman about this beautiful region in northern Italy.
Hear about hiking the Alta Via 1 in the Dolomites in northern Italy as the Amateur Traveler talks to Morgan Fielder from CraveThePlanet.com about a multi-day hike she has taken more than once.
Hear about driving the Natchez Trace Parkway in Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi as the Amateur Traveler talks to journalist and southerner Kristin Luna.
Hear about travel to Kurdistan in northern Iraq as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mansoureh Farahani from travelwithmansoureh.com about her travels in this off-the-beaten-path destination.
Hear about travel to the Silicon Valley (Santa Clara Valley) of California and San Jose as the Amateur Traveler talks about his hometown of 38 years.
Hear about travel to the Jaén province of Andalucia Spain as the Amateur Traveler talks to Molly Sears-Piccavey who lives in Andalucia.
Hear about travel to Havana Cuba as the Amateur Traveler talks to Talek Nates, a Cuban-American, about the capital of the country of her ancestors.
Hear about things to do when you travel to the Brittany region of France as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kristin Montgomery from GrowingGlobalCitizens.com about this less-touristed corner of the country.
Hear about things to do when you travel to Queretaro, Mexico as the Amateur Traveler talks to Ray Blakney about his adopted Mexican home.
Hear about travel to northern Vietnam as the Amateur Traveler talks to Paul B. Kennedy from VietnamTravelWithUs.com about the country he has adopted as home.
Hear about travel to Death Valley National Park in California as the Amateur Traveler talks to former park ranger Jeff Ohlfs about the largest of the national parks in the continental United States.
Hear about travel to the South of Iceland as the Amateur Traveler talks to hotelier Friðrik Pálsson about his native land.
A sample episode of my friend Gary Arndt's Everything-Everywhere podcast
Hear about a Tennessee Road Trip as the Amateur Traveler talks to Stephanie Craig from HistoryFanGirl.com about a recent family trip across the Volunteer State.
Hear about travel to Alaska in winter as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sherry Ott from OttsWorld.com about the state that has captured her heart.
Hear about travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kenan from Highlander Adventures about his country.
Hear about travel to Yosemite National Park and the region as the Amateur Traveler talks to travel writer and California native Jill Robinson about her experiences in the park.
Hear about travel to Cyprus as the Amateur Traveler talks to Audrey Scott and Daniel Noll of UncorneredMarket.com about their active Cyprus itinerary.
Hear about things to do in Wellington, New Zealand as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kate from KateAbroad.com about her former home.
Hear about travel to the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda as the Amateur Traveler talks to former park ranger Jeff Ohlfs about his recent trip.
Hear about traveling to Guatemala as the Amateur Traveler talks to Susan Metenosky from brooklyntropicali.com about this Central American country that keeps drawing her back.
Hear about a Texas Hill Country Road Trip as the Amateur Traveler talks to Michael Desrosiers from the Attempt Adventure Podcast about his home state.
Hear about travel to the Atlantic coast of Morocco from Casablanca, thru Essaouira, to Agadir as the Amateur Traveler talks to Amanda Ponzio-Mouttaki from marocmama.com about this country she calls home.
Hear about a one-week itinerary for Tenerife as the Amateur Traveler talks to Justin Barnes from justinandcrystal.com about the Spanish island he called home.
Hear about travel to the region of Abruzzo in Italy as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jackie Parsons about an area where she leads hiking and culinary tours.
Hear about travel to Quebec Maritime as the Amateur Traveler talks to Margarita Ibbott from DownShiftingPro.com about her recent trips to Quebec's maritime "thumb".
Hear about travel to Estonia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Betty Reed from BettyReedWrites.com about her recent trip to this Baltic country.
Hear about travel to Amsterdam in the Netherlands as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jessica from AWanderlustForLife.com about her adopted home.
Hear about travel to St Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kat Roy and Phil Shantz from stayingafloatblog.com about their trip to this tropical island.
Hear about a vacation in Laos on the Mekong River and in Luang Prabang as the Amateur Traveler talks to Alexis Rubenstein aka @redstonealexis.
Hear about travel to Togo as the Amateur Traveler talks to Philipp Muders about this small West African country.
Hear about travel to Zaragoza as the Amateur Traveler talks to Cat Driver about this historic but under-visited region of Spain.
Hear about travel to the Mendocino coast in California as the Amateur Traveler talks to Brooke Herron who is a travel blogger and wine industry expert.
Hear about travel to Bulgaria as the Amateur Traveler talks to Tom and Patty Burkett about their road trip from Sofia to the Black Sea.
Hear about travel to the state of Chiapas in Mexico as the Amateur Traveler talks to Shelley from TravelMexicoSolo.com about this beautiful tropical region.
Hear about travel to Gujarat, India as the Amateur Traveler talks again to James Schomburgk about festivals, temples and Asiatic lions.
Hear about an itinerary for Ladakh and Kashmir as the Amateur Traveler talks to Agnes Simigh from voiceofguides.com about these less visited regions of India.
Hear about a Maine Windjammer as the Amateur Traveler talks to travel writer Sharon Kurtz about her recent experience sailing the coast of Maine on the Lewis R. French.
Hear about travel to The Kimberley region of Western Australia, Broome, and the Gibb River Road as the Amateur Traveler talks to James Schomburgk about this unique destination.
Hear about travel to Munich, Germany as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dan from the Zipping Around the World podcast about his recent trips to the capital of Bavaria.
Hear about travel to Ghana as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jacky Habib from JackyHabib.com about this African country that she fell in love with.
Hear about travel to the island of Bermuda as the Amateur Traveler talks to Victoria Heinz about a place where she has spent many special vacations.
Hear about travel to the Island of Mallorca in Spain as the Amateur Traveler talks to Erin Carey from Roam Generation PR about Mallorca and the time she spent anchored off this beautiful island.
Hear about travel to Montreux and the Swiss Riviera as the Amateur Traveler talks to Chantal Patton from GrowingUpWithoutBorders.com about her adopted home country.
Hear about travel to Berlin as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dan Noll and Audrey Scott from uncorneredmarket.com about the city they now call home.
Hear about the best things to do in Oahu as the Amateur Traveler talks to Denny and Nikki from dennyandnikki.com about this Hawaiian Island they recently called home.
Hear about travel to places of interest in Sabah as the Amateur Traveler talks to Howard Stanton from the Tampat Do Aman eco-adventure lodge about his adopted country.
Hear about travel to Adelaide as the Amateur Traveler talks to James Schomburgk about places to visit in South Australia, his home.
Hear about travel to Western Ireland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Adam Ryan about his beautiful country.
Hear about travel to New Hampshire as the Amateur Traveler talks to Cathy Merrifield from NothingButNewEngland.com about her home state.
Hear about travel to Sri Lanka as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mike Powers of SmallOfTheRoad.blogspot.ca about his recent trip to the island nation.
Hear about travel to the Northland in New Zealand as the Amateur Traveler talks to Heather Markel from HeatherBegins.com about the country where she spent the pandemic.
Hear about Rafting the Grand Canyon as the Amateur Traveler talks to patrons of the show Robin Perry and Randy Rohrer about this bucket list trip.
This episode of Amateur Traveler is sponsored by Expedia‘s flagship travel show Out Travel The System. Learn where to stay, what to do, and how to live like a local.
Hear about travel to the Caribbean on the Windstar Sea Breeze as the Amateur Traveler talks about small ships cruising to St Maarten, Barbados, St Lucia, and Antigua.
Hear about travel to Croatia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kate McCulley from AdventurousKate.com who recently won an award from Croatia for her writing about the country.
Hear about things to do when you travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina as the Amateur Traveler talks to digital nomad Rax Suen from NomadsUnveiled.com.
Hear about travel to Slovenia as Chris Christensen (the Amateur Traveler) talks about his solo road trip through western Slovenia as a guest of the Slovenia Tourism board.
Hear about things to do when you travel to Cleveland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Daniel Carcioppolo who was born and raised in the city.
Hear about travel to the Pyrenees Mountains in France as the Amateur Traveler talks to Penny Walker from conciergepyrenees.com about the area she now calls home.
Hear about travel to the western part of the Republic of Georgia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Emily Lush from wander-lush.org about the country she now calls home.
Hear about travel to the West African country of Benin as the Amateur Traveler talks to Rachel Decoste who traveled there as part of a journey to discover her roots.
Hear about travel to western Tanzania to Katavi National Park and Mahale Mountains National Park as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jen Curran from globeandtribe.com about these less visited destinations.
Hear about travel to Florida's Space Coast as the Amateur Traveler talks to Stacey Marmolejo about the area of the coast near Cape Canaveral.
Hear about travel to the Galapagos Islands as Chris Christensen, the Amateur Traveler himself, talks about a live-aboard cruise of the Galapagos Islands on Quasar Expeditions M/V Evolution.
Hear about travel to the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia as the Amateur Traveler talks to award-winning photographer Susan Portnoy about her visit to this remote and beautiful corner of Canada.
Here about a trip on the Canal du Midi in the south of France including the medieval city of Carcassonne. What cruising on a luxury hotel barge is like.
Things to do and see in Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, Alpine, and Marfa, Texas. This is an area of open space, mountains, and desert along the U.S.'s southern border.
Jordan is a country with crusader castles, canyoneering, the lost city of Petra, Roman ruins, Bedouin camps, deserts, and the Dead Sea.
Hear about travel to Rome, Italy as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt from Everything-Everywhere.com about travel to the eternal city.
Hear about travel to the Azores as the Amateur Traveler talks to Maria Lawton from Azorean Green Bean about these Portuguese islands that her family has called home for 500 years.
Hear about travel to Calgary, Alberta, and vacations from Calgary as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jody Robbins from Travels with Baggage about the area she calls home.
Hear about Carnival in Guadeloupe and more as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mickela Mallozzi from the PBS show Barefeet with Mickela Mallozzi about her visit to these Caribbean islands.
Hear about travel to Guadalajara Mexico as the Amateur Traveler talks to food, travel, and surf enthusiast Paul Hudson about the city he calls home.
Hear about driving the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks to the Arctic Ocean as the Amateur Traveler talks to Erick Smith about his journey.
Hear about travel to Nicaragua as the Amateur Traveler talks to Michael Cobb who spent 14 years in the country.
Hear about travel to Bend and Central Oregon as the Amateur Traveler talks to Catherine Ryan Gregory from To & Fro Fam about this adventure travel playground.
Hear about travel to the Yamaguchi Prefecture of Japan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dr. Corinne Devine who is stationed there with the U.S. Navy.
Hear about walking Hadrian's Wall as the Amateur Traveler talks to Larissa Milne from Changes in Longitude about their 10-day trek of this old Roman Wall across Northern England.
Hear about travel to the Tohoku Region of Japan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sandra Thomas-Comenole from the Behavior Economics in Marketing Podcast about her travels in the region.
Hear about travel to Mysore, India as the Amateur Traveler talks to Rahul Iyer about the city of palaces in the Indian highlands.
Hear about travel to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada as the Amateur Traveler talks to David Brodie from the Travel In 10 podcast about his hometown.
Hear about travel to Slovakia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Anna Fay and Peter Dlhopolec from the Spectacular Spectator and the Spectacular Slovakia Podcast about this beautiful country in Central Europe.
Hear about travel to Massachusetts as the Amateur Traveler talks to Henry Suski about the state where he was born and where he has traveled his entire life.
Hear about travel to French Polynesia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Caleb Sedam about his recent trip to the islands of Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Rangiroa.
Hear about travel to the Amazon River in Peru and Colombia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Will Conway from the Baggage Claim Podcast about his slow boat journey from Leticia, Colombia to Iquitos, Peru.
Hear about visiting Lithuania as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jay from JayWay Travel about this beautiful country on the Baltic Sea.
Hear about travel to the island of Fernando de Noronha off the coast of Brazil as the Amateur Traveler talks to Nina from TheGlobeTrottingAccountant.com about the "Galapagos of Brazil".
Hear about travel to the Virginia Coast (Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, Norfolk, Virginia Beach) as we talk to Michelle Rao from The Traveling Chzhed YouTube channel about her area.
Hear about things to do in Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel, and the rest of the Monterey Peninsula in Calfornia as Chris the Amateur Traveler and return guest Jeff Ohlfs talk about this terrific vacation spot.
Hear about travel to Bangkok, Thailand as the Amateur Traveler talks to Michael Desrosiers from the Ear Goggles Podcast about his adopted hometown.
Hear about travel to Houston, Texas as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kerwin McKenzie of passrider.com, cruisinaltitude.com, discoveringhouston.net about his adopted home town and the 4th largest city in the USA.
Hear about travel to Egypt as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sally Elbassir from PassportAndPlates.com about this unique and wonderful country.
Hear about travel to the province of Kanchanaburi, Thailand as the Amateur Traveler talks to Michael Desrosiers from the Ear Goggles Podcast about this historic and beautiful region.
Hear about travel to Wales in the United Kingdom as the Amateur Traveler talks to Pip Jones from pipandthecity.com, walesbucketlist.com, and the Travel Goals Podcast about her home country.
Hear about things to do when you travel to Bogota, Colombia as the Amateur Traveler talks to ex-pat Lauren Pelky from wanderluluu.com who calls the city home.
Hear about travel to the island, city, and country of Singapore as the Amateur Traveler talks to Ashley Hall who lives there.
Hear about a road trip to Dinosaur National Monument and Rocky Mountain National Park as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sam and Mina Oppenheim about this part of their western road trip.
Hear about travel to the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy as the Amateur Traveler talks to Audrey and Manlio from TravelsWithAudrey.com about Manlio's home region.
Hear about travel to the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Justin Barnes from justinandcrystal.com about this country that gets only 7,000 visitors a year.
Hear about traveling to Oaxaca, Mexico as the Amateur Traveler talks to Susan Metenosky from brooklyntropicali.com about the city she now calls home.
Hear about travel driving the Carretera Austral in Chile as the Amateur Traveler talks to travel journalist and guidebook author Steph Dyson about a country she literally wrote the book on.
Hear about a 2-week itinerary for Kerala, India travel as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mariellen Ward from BreatheDreamGo.com and IndiaForBeginners.com about this popular tropical destination.
Hear about sightseeing in the island nation of Malta as the Amateur Traveler talks to Michelle and Nikki from cheekypassports.com about their native country.
Hear about travel to Iowa as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sara Broers from travelwithsara.com about her home state.
Hear about travel to Nebraska as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gina Imm about her home state.
Hear about travel to Penang, Malaysia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Ruth about the city she called home for about a year.
Hear about travel to Comoros as the Amateur Traveler talks to Fiona Jones about this small island nation off the coast of Africa.
Hear about things to do when you travel to the Brittany region of France as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kristin Montgomery from GrowingGlobalCitizens.com about this less-touristed corner of the country.
Hear about travel to Alabama as the Amateur Traveler talks to travel writer Larry Bleiberg about his adopted home state.
Hear about what to do in Plymouth, England, Devon, and Cornwall as the Amateur Traveler talks to Ryan Duffield about his home region in southwestern England.
Hear about travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kenan Ćatović from Highlander Adventures about his country.
Hear about things to do when you travel to Lebanon as the Amateur Traveler talks to Vanessa Hobeika about her native country of Lebanon.
Hear about things to do when you travel to Paraguay as the Amateur Traveler talks to Angel Hernandez about the South American country he called home for a decade.
Hear about travel to Uruguay as the Amateur Traveler talks to Karen Higgs from guruguay.com about her adopted country of 20 years.
Hear about travel to Oslo, Norway as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jason from ZeroToTravel.com about his adopted hometown.
Hear about travel to the National Park of South Dakota as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt from Everything-Everywhere.com about the other Sunshine State.
Hear about travel to Saudi Arabia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Flo Müller from the FLO youtube channel about travel to this rapidly changing country.
Hear about walking the South Downs Way in England as the Amateur Traveler talks to Aaron Millar about this week-long trek.
Hear about travel to Tbilisi and the eastern part of the Republic of Georgia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Tommo & Megsy from FoodFunTravel.com who have settled in Georgia.
Hear about travel to West Africa to Senegal and the Gambia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Brian Asher from theworldhiker.com about this under-visited region.
Hear about travel to southern West Virginia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Ethan Starcher from WaywardWings.net about his home state.
Hear about travel to Arizona's National Parks as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt from Everything-Everywhere.com about the many and varied parks in the Grand Canyon State.
Hear about climbing Mount Kilimanjaro as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kylie Chenn from Acanela Expeditions about what you should know about climbing the tallest mountain in Africa.
Hear about travel to Costa Rica as the Amateur Traveler talks to Costa Rica travel experts Sam and Yeison from mytanfeet.com about their beautiful country.
Hear about travel to the Alsace Region of France as the Amateur Traveler talks to Brighde Reed from worldvegantravel.com about this lovely wine region.
Hear about things to do in Asheville, NC as the Amateur Traveler talks to music journalist and cocktail aficionado Bill Kopp about his adopted hometown.
Hear about places to visit in Ecuador on your Ecuador vacation as the Amateur Traveler talks to Keenan Ennis about this country that he now calls home.
Hear about travel to Northern Pakistan and the Karakoram Highway as the Amateur Traveler talks to David Harden from travelwornsatchel.com about his road trip in this remote and beautiful country.
Hear about an Oregon Coast road trip as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jessica Baker from BoundlessBakers.com about a portion of their year and a half long road trip.
Hear about travel to the Yunnan province of China as the Amateur Traveler talks to Zach and Leah from peregrination-travel.com about their trip to this mountainous corner of the country.
Hear about travel to Bulgaria as the Amateur Traveler talks to Tom and Patty Burkett about their road trip from Sofia to the Black Sea.
Hear about what to do in Tainan, Taiwan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Katy Liang from photospired.com about her native Taiwan.
Hear about travel to Namibia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Karthik Iyer about his most recent trip to this desert country.
Hear about travel to the Mississippi Gulf Coast as the Amateur Traveler talks to Charles McCool from McCoolTravel.com about this tasty area with great beaches.
Hear about travel to Switzerland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Zack Best about this beautiful country where he has studied and worked.
Hear about travel to Moldova as the Amateur Traveler talks to Christina Lutcan from findingelevation.com about her country of origin.
Hear about travel to Lombok in Indonesia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jason Andrew Jenkins from AnEpicEducation.com about his family's recent 5 week trip to this island paradise.
Hear about travel to Krabi, Thailand as the Amateur Traveler talks to Annette Fortner from chaseforadventure.com about this tropical paradise.
Hear about travel to Berlin as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dan Noll and Audrey Scott from uncorneredmarket.com about the city they now call home.
Hear about travel to Saint Lucia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Keiwa Simpson from discoverstluciatours.com about her beautiful island.
Hear about travel to Virunga National Park as the Amateur Traveler talks to Niall from Ireland about his visit to this stunning national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Hear about travel to Chennai India as the Amateur Traveler talks to Amanda from millennialtraveller.com about this city in southern India.
Hear about travel to the Canary Islands as the Amateur Traveler talks to Alice Ford from alicesadventuresonearth.com about the best of the Canary Islands.
Hear about traveling the Dempster Highway as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lisa from TheHotFlashPacker.com about this iconic drive into the Arctic Circle in Canada.
Hear about travel to the Yukon Territory in Canada as the Amateur Traveler talks to Stephen Reynolds from Tourism Yukon about a recent trip that I did to his home.
Hear about travel to Porto, Portugal as the Amateur Traveler talks to João Reis and Sara Silva from nofootprintnomads.com about their home city.
Hear about travel to Nagoya, Japan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lena Yamaguchi from nagoyafoodie.com about her adopted home.
Hear about travel to La Rochelle, France as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jacob Kell from facilitateluxury.com about this beautiful medieval city. What things are there to do in La Rochelle.
Hear about a road trip in Kansas as the Amateur Traveler talks to John McKenzie of johnthetraveler.com about the state of his birth.
Hear about travel to Istanbul, Turkey as the Amateur Traveler talks to Christopher Mitchell from travelingmitch.com about the city where he lived for 3 years.
Hear about travel to the Le Marche Region of Italy as the Amateur Traveler talks to Chantelle and Giovanni from theitalianontour.com about this off the beaten path destination.
Hear about places to visit in Kenya as the Amateur Traveler talks to Shane Dallas from TheTravelCamel.com about his adopted country.
Hear about hiking the Kumano Koto trek in Japan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sherry Ott about her experience on this trail that was used by medieval emperors on the Kii Peninsula.
Hear about travel to Lafayette, Louisiana as the Amateur Traveler talks to Susan Moore from solotripsandtips.com about this center of Cajun culture.
In this special episode of Amateur Traveler, I get to introduce to you some of the wonderful people who joined me in Africa last May. We drove overland from Johannesburg, South Africa to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
Hear about the best of California's state parks as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jeff Ohlfs who has been to all the parks in the state park system.
Hear about travel to Lima, Peru as the Amateur Traveler talks to Maggie O’Reilly from the Mayta Collection about a city she has come to love.
Hear about travel to Sri Lanka as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mike Powers of SmallOfTheRoad.blogspot.ca about his recent trip to the island nation.
Hear about travel to Saskatchewan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Ashlyn George from thelostgirlsguide.com about her home province of Canada.
Hear about National Parks in Washington D.C. and the vicinity as the Amateur Traveler talks to Erik Smith about monuments, memorials, mansions, battlefields, gardens and more.
Hear about a cruise on the Danube, Main and Rhine Rivers from Budapest to Amsterdam as the Amateur Traveler talks again to travel writer Mark Baker.
Hear about travel to Southwest Colorado as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kelly Beasley and Marshall Wendler about road trips they have made to Durango and Silverton.
Hear about travel to Barolo and the Piedmont region of Italy as the Amateur Traveler talks to Betsy and Greg Ball from eurotravelcoach.com about this wine region that they love.
Hear about travel to the Algarve region of Southern Portugal as the Amateur Traveler talks to Eileen Cotter Wright from purewander.com.
Hear about travel to Manchester England as the Amateur Traveler talks to Helena Ringstrom about her adopted home.
Hear about travel to Wyoming's national parks, state parks, and tourist sites as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jennifer Melroy from nationalparkobsessed.com about her love for the state.
Hear about travel to Mantua, Verona, Padua Italy as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gina Mussio from ginamussio.com about these wonderful cities in her adopted country.
Hear about travel to the Northern Mississippi River Valley in Minnesota and Wisconsin as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dean Klinkenberg from MississippiValleyTraveler.com about this stretch of America's mightiest river.
Hear about travel to Bath, England as the Amateur Traveler talks to Karen Warren about her new hometown.
Hear about travel to Slovenia as Chris Christensen (the Amateur Traveler) talks about his recent solo road trip through western Slovenia as a guest of the Slovenia Tourism board.
Hear about travel to The Canal du Midi and Carcassonne in southern France as Chris from the Amateur Traveler talks about his recent luxury hotel barge cruise.
Hear about travel to Curaçao as the Amateur Traveler talks to Wendy Blumenstein-Elliott from adventurousretirement.com about her favorite Caribbean island.
Hear about travel to Thailand as the Amateur Traveler talks to Taiss and Rob from togethertowherever.com about the country where they lived as expats for some time.
Hear about travel to Alaska's National Parks as the Amateur Traveler talks once again to Gary Arndt about his visits to each of the 8 National Parks in Alaska.
Hear about travel to the Island of Sicily in Italy as the Amateur Traveler talks to Barbara Riedel from barbaralicious.com about the home of her mother's family and the "home of her heart".
Hear about travel to the northern India state of Rajasthan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dr Pankaj Jain about his native region.
Hear about travel to Tokyo as the Amateur Traveler talks to family travel blogger / podcaster Jason Andrew Jenkins from AnEpicEducation.com about a city he called home for 13 years.
Hear about travel to the Island of Bali in Indonesia as the Amateur Traveler talks to David Brodie from TravelIn10.com about a recent family trip to this popular tropical destination.
Hear about a Route 66 road trip as the Amateur Traveler talks to Austin Coop from 2laneamerica.com and guidedroute66tours.com about the Mother Road.
Hear about travel to Phoenix, Arizona as the Amateur Traveler talks to Cindy Carlsson about Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun.
Hear about travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the Amateur Traveler talks to Keri Hedrick from ourglobetrotters.com and familytravel-middleeast.com about her adopted country.
Hear about travel to The Island of Samos in Greece and the vicinity as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dan from the Zipping Around the World podcast about this part of the Greek Islands.
Hear about travel to an Idaho road trip as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jaime Mazur about her honeymoon in Idaho.
Hear about travel to Serbia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Stephanie Craig and Allison Green from sofiaadventures.com about one of the Balkan countries that they love.
Hear about what to do in Guangzhou as the Amateur Traveler talks to Bill Abbott about a somewhat less well known area for tourists in China.
Hear about a two week New Zealand road trip as the Amateur Traveler talks to Hanson Cheng.
Hear about travel to Chad as the Amateur Traveler talks to Francis Tapon about his travel to Chad as part of a 5 and a half year journey to all 54 countries in Africa.
Hear about travel to Botswana on safari as I, the Amateur Traveler, relates stories from his recent experience on mobile safari in Botswana's Okavango Delta and a Safari Camp experience in the Kalahari desert on a press trip with Botswana Trek.
Hear about travel to Beijing, China as the Amateur Traveler talks to Daniel Rickleman who calls Beijing Home.
Hear about travel to Scotland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sarah from www.thegirlwiththemaptattoo.com about travel to this beautiful and historic country.
Hear about visiting Universal Orlando Resort as the Amateur Traveler talks to Eric Stoen from travelbabbo.com about he and his kids favorite theme parks.
Hear about travel to Hong Kong as the Amateur Traveler talks to Marianne Rogerson from mumonthemove.com about the city where she lived for 4 years.
Hear about things to do in the Hudson Valley in New York as the Amateur Traveler talks to Adrien Behn from the Stranger's Abroad Podcast about this beautiful region where she grew up.
Hear about travel to Mauritius as the Amateur Traveler talks to Corinne Vail from ReflectionsEnroute.com about her visit to this warm island paradise.
Hear about travel to Seoul, South Korea as the Amateur Traveler talks to Spencer Zentzch the CEO of Hacker Paradise about a city where he has live for 3 years over 6 different trips.
Hear about travel to Central Europe (Prague, Krakow, Budapest) as the Amateur Traveler talks to 4 people who joined me on this year's Amateur Traveler trip: Darrell, Derrick, Loraine and Holly.
Hear about travel to Patagonia in Chile as the Amateur Traveler talks to Talek Nantes about her recent trip to the bottom of South America.
Hear about travel to Boston, Massachusetts as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lillie Marshall from AroundTheWorldL.com about her hometown.
Hear about travel to the Big Island of Hawaii as the Amateur Traveler talks to Justin Barnes from justinandcrystal.com about his island home.
Hear about travel to the island, city and country of Singapore as the Amateur Traveler talks to Ashley Hall who lives there.
Hear about travel to Minas Gerais, Brazil as the Amateur Traveler talks to Juergen Keller from southamerica.travel about the colonial heart of Brazil.
Hear about travel to some of the WWII sites in Western Europe as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt from everything-everywhere.com about the Liberation Route.
Hear about travel to Langkawi Malaysia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Rod Sanchez from The Jetsetting Family Travel Podcast at thejetsettingfamily.com about this island paradise.
los ángeles,hollywood,california,southern california,travel
Hear about travel to Switzerland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt from everything-everywhere.com about his recent trip to visit all the UNESCO sites in Switzerland.
Hear about travel to San Francisco, California as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jill Robinson and Kimberley Levato authors of 100 Things to Do in San Francisco Before You Die.
Hear about travel to Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania as the Amateur Traveler talks to Tom Shaner about his hometown.
Hear about travel to the U.S. and British Virgin Islands as the Amateur Traveler talks to Captain Shane McClellan about a sailing trip to the area.
Hear about travel to Valencia, Spain as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jason Jenkins from AnEpicEducation.com about the 2 years his family lived in Spain's 3rd largest city.
Hear about travel to Western Australia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Erica Carrico from ericacarrico.com about her trip to the wild and surprising Pilbara region.
Hear about travel to South Florida (Miami, Everglades National Park, and the Florida Keys) as the Amateur Traveler talks to Erik Smith from onmyfeetorinmymind.com about this diverse region.
Hear about travel to the island of Sumatra in Indonesia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Luke Mackin from wildsumatra.com about this far-flung destination he now calls home.
Hear about travel to the coffee region of Colombia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Alejandro from Bogota about an area of his country that he thinks doesn't get enough attention.
Hear about travel to Qingdao as the Amateur Traveler talks to Joseph Weiner about travel to the coastal city in China.
Hear about travel to Alabama as the Amateur Traveler talks to travel writer Larry Bleiberg about his adopted home state.
Hear about travel to the Crystal Coast of North Carolina as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kit Parks from the Active Travel Adventures Podcast about the area.
Hear about travel to the Basque Region of Spain as the Amateur Traveler talks to David Bumstead about his adopted country and region.
Hear about travel to the Guna Yala region of Panama as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lynn Smith from lynnsmithdestinations.com about a small boat cruise in these remote islands.
Hear about travel to Shanghai, China as the Amateur Traveler talks to Carissa who is an American living in the city.
This episode of the Amateur Traveler talks about the recent Amateur Traveler trip to Cambodia. 7 of the 9 people who joined me on this trip also join me for the podcast to share the highlights, surprises and challenges of the trip.
Hear about travel to Jamaica as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dave and Deb from theplanetD.com about their trips to the island.
Hear about travel to Budapest, Hungary as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jennifer Dombrowski from luxeadventuretraveler.com about her trips to the city.
Hear about travel to Denmark as the Amateur Traveler talks to Joe Trevillion about a country where he has lived at times and where he has traveled recently.
Hear about travel to Russia along the Volga River as the Amateur Traveler talks to travel writer Mark Baker about this destination that he recently wrote about.
Hear about travel to Montenegro as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt from everything-everywhere.com about his recent trip to this beautiful mountainous country in the Balkans.
Hear about travel to Mongolia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Patricia from zewanderingfrogs.com about travel to this remote destination.
Hear about travel to Merida and the Yucatan Peninsula as the Amateur Traveler talks to Tommo & Megsy from foodfuntravel.com about their recent homebase.
Hear about travel to the Island of Crete in Greece as the Amateur Traveler talks to Elizabeth from compassandfork.com about her travels to this special Greek Island.
Hear about travel to Chengdu, China as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jessica Elliot from howdareshe.org about her recent trip.
Hear about travel to Madagascar as the Amateur Traveler talks to Corinne Vale from reflectionsenroute.com about her travel to this island nation off southern Africa.
Hear about travel to the borough of Brooklyn in New York City as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jessica Festa from jessieonajourney.com who used to live in the city and still leads tours there.
Hear about travel to Chicago, Illinois as the Amateur Traveler talks to Francesca Mazurkiewicz about her hometown of Chicago.
Hear about travel to Tucson, Arizona as the Amateur Traveler talks to Misty Foster from Green Suitcase Travel about her adopted desert home.
Hear about travel to Columbus and central Ohio as the Amateur Traveler talks to Matthew Caracciolo from matthewcaracciolo.com about what to do in the Buckeye State.
Hear about travel to Joshua Tree National Park in southern California as the Amateur Traveler talks to retired chief ranger from the park, Jeff Ohlfs.
Hear about travel to Bhutan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Beth Whitman from WanderlustAndLipstick.com about this country that she has fallen in love with.
Hear about travel to Mechelen, Hasselt and Leuven in Northern Flanders (Belgium) as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sofie Couwenbergh from WonderfulWanderings.com about her country.
Hear about travel to Rwanda as the Amateur Traveler talks to VJ from imvoyager.com about his trip to that country.
Hear about travel to India as the Amateur Traveler talks to participants from the Amateur Traveler trip to India in November of 2017.
Hear about travel to Lombok in Indonesia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jason Andrew Jenkins from AnEpicEducation.com about his family's recent 5 week trip to this island paradise.
Hear about travel to New Caledonia as the Amateur Traveler talks to CJ Johnson from the MOVIELAND ABC Radio Show and Podcast about his recent trip to this part of France in the South Pacific.
Hear about the United States UNESCO World Heritage Sites as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt from Everything-Everywhere.com and The Global Travel Conspiracy podcast about these best of the best sites.
Hear about travel to the province of Quebec as the Amateur Traveler talks to Margarita Ibbott from downshiftingpro.com about a 7-10 day Itinerary to Montreal, Quebec City and Quebec Maritime.
Hear about travel to Belize as the Amateur Traveler talks to Allison Greene from eternalarrival.com about her time in this small tropical country filled with shades of blue and green.
Hear about travel to Northern Chile as the Amateur Traveler talks to Steph Dyson from worldlyadventurer.com about her adopted country.
Hear about travel to Belarus as the Amateur Traveler talks to Megan Starr from meganstarr.com about her travels to a country that is transitioning from the "last Soviet dictatorship" to a high tech powerhouse.
Hear about travel to Albuquerque as Chris Christensen, the Amateur Traveler himself, talks about his trip to Albuquerque during the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.
Hear about travel to California's premier wine region of Napa and Sonoma as the Amateur Traveler talks again to free lance journalist Jill Robinson about this area with more than just wine... but a lot of that
Hear about travel to Providence, Rhode Island as the Amateur Traveler talks to Tamara Gruber from we3travel.com and the Vacation Mavens podcast about travel other home town.
Hear about travel to Kiev in the Ukraine as the Amateur Traveler talks to Amy Butler from thewayfarersbook.com about her adopted city.
Hear about travel to Mexico City as the Amateur Traveler talks to Patrick Muntzinger from GermanBackPacker.com about the city where he lived for 4 months last Spring on a semester abroad.
Hear about travel to Istanbul, Turkey as the Amateur Traveler talks to Christopher Mitchel from travelingmitch.com about the city where he lived for 3 years.
Hear about travel to Southern New Brunswick as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kirsten Maxwell from kidsareatrip.com about her recent travel to the Province with her family.
Hear about travel to Barbados as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jane and Duncan from totraveltoo.com about the time they spent on the island recently.
Hear about travel to the state of Washington as the Amateur Traveler talks to Anne and Mike Howard from HoneyTrek.com about their recent road trip from the ocean to the mountains to the wine region.
Hear about travel to Albania as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dina Rabiner about her visit to the country where she originally went as a Peace Corps volunteer.
Hear about a western Mediterranean cruise to Spain, Gibraltar, France, Monaco and Italy on Holland America's Westerdam where I just attended a press trip.
Hear about travel to the Yukon Territory in Canada as the Amateur Traveler talks to Stephen Reynolds from Tourism Yukon about a recent trip that I did to his home.
Hear about travel to the Lofoten Islands of Norway as the Amateur Traveler talks to David Nikel, author of the Moon guide to Norway, about one of his favorite regions in that beautiful country.
Hear about travel to Uzbekistan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Latish Sharma about his travels on the Silk Road to ancient cities including Samarkand.
Hear about travel to Sofia, Bulgaria as the Amateur Traveler talks to Stephanie Craig from historyfangirl.com about her time in that country.
Rio de Janeiro, Iguazu Falls and Manaus on the Amazon
Hear about hiking the Camino Ronda in Northern Spain as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sherry Ott about her trek along the coastline of the Costa Brava region.
Hear about travel to The Hebrides as the Amateur Traveler talks to Matt Higgs about his trip to these remote islands in Scotland.
Hear about travel to Algeria as the Amateur Traveler talks to Ric Gazarian from GlobalGaz.com about travel to this "off the beaten path" destination.
Hear about travel to Madrid, Spain as the Amateur Traveler talks to James Blick from DevourTours.com and Yolanda Martin from TheFlamencoGuide.com about their city.
Hear about a road trip in Central Mexico as the Amateur Traveler talks to Amie from thetravelingtogetherjournal.com about a trip they took near Mexico City.
Hear about travel to the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jennifer Dombrowski of luxeadventuretraveler.com about her recent trip to this island paradise.
Hear about travel to Northern Arizona as the Amateur Traveler talks to journalist Mark Smith about his recent road trip to beautiful Northern Arizona including half a dozen different parks in the National Park system.
Hear about travel to Nanjing, China as the Amateur Traveler talks to Wendy Werneth from thenomadicvegan.com about a city she has grown to love.
Hear about travel to Baja Sur in Mexico as the Amateur Traveler talks to author and travel writer Stuart Gustafson about his love affair with the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula.
Hear about travel to Poland as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Chris Bogdon about his recent trip to Poland. Chris brought his kids and his parents to experience the country where his family came from. Chris did an overview of the country on a bus tour.
Hear about travel to Mumbai India as the Amateur Traveler talks to Stephanie Hays of RealityToursAndTravel.com about travel to this crowded, noisy, vibrant city. With the background sounds of the horns of auto rickshaws we find out why a girl from Chattanooga, Tennessee ended up in India's largest city.
Hear about travel to the German state of Baden-Württemberg as the Amateur Traveler, Chris Christensen, talks about his recent press trip there to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the bicycle.
Hear about travel to Israel and Palestine, and particularly the world heritage sites of that region, as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt from everything-everywhere.com about his recent visit.
Gary just finished up a trip to Israel and Palestine.
Hear about travel to the "Sea Islands" off the coats of Georgia and South Carolina as the Amateur Traveler talks to Ruby & Peter from ajourneywelove.com about their travels in this archipelago.
Hear about travel to Loja and Southern Ecuador as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lily Ann Fouts about her visit to this lesser known region of Ecuador.
Hear about travel to the Northeastern region of the Netherlands as the Amateur Traveler talks to Rachel Heller from rachelheller.org about her adopted country.
Hear about travel to Gdansk Poland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Roma and Russell from RoamingRequired.com about travel to this historic and beautiful city on the Baltic coast of Poland.
Hear about travel to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula as the Amateur Traveler talks to tour guide Mareth Griffith about her adopted home.
Hear about travel to Mantua, Verona, Padua Italy as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gina Mussio from ginamussio.com about these wonderful cities in her adopted country.
Hear about travel to Zambia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Graham Wales from outboundclan.com about their epic honeymoon in Africa and how they fell in love with Zambia.
Hear about travel to Tokyo as the Amateur Traveler talks to family travel blogger / podcaster Jason Andrew Jenkins from AnEpicEducation.com about a city he called home for 13 years.
Hear about travel to Scotland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sarah from www.thegirlwiththemaptattoo.com about travel to this beautiful and historic country.
Hear about Cruising Southeastern Alaska on Un-Cruise Adventures as the Amateur Traveler goes on a cruise where dressing for dinner and bingo are replaced with kayaking and bushwhacking.
Hear about travel to Northern Vietnam as the Amateur Traveler talks to Cindy Carlsson about her trip to some popular sites and some way off the beaten track places.
Hear about travel to 4 national parks in British Columbia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Carolyn B. Heller author of "Moon Vancouver & Canadian Rockies Road Trip".
Hear about travel to Geneva, Switzerland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Leyla Giray Alianak about the region where she lives.
Hear about travel to Oklahoma City as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sheila Scarborough from Tourism Currents about what she calls a "tremendously underrated destination".
Hear about travel to Ethiopia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Anwar from beyondmyfrontdoor.com about travel to this country rich with beauty and history.
Hear about travel to Perak, Malaysia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jub from TikiTouringKiwi.com about this region that Lonely Planet named as one of the 10 best regions to visit in 2017.
Hear about travel to the Sultanate of Oman as the Amateur Traveler talks to Claire Robinson from zigzagonearth.com about her trip to this middle eastern country.
The Amateur Traveler talks to David Grenewetzki about his first trip to India. His itinerary covered Mombai, Bangalore, Rajasthan, Delhi and then ended at the Indian wedding of friends. They started in Mumbai where they saw sites like the arch of India and Elephanta Caves. Near Bangalore they made a side trip to see the Jain pilgrimage site of Shravanabelagola and the palace of Tipu Sultan at Mysore. In Udaipu they splurged and stayed in both the City Palace and the Lake Palace Hotels.
Hear about travel to The Republic of Georgia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Samantha Guthrie about this ancient country in the corner of Europe.
Hear about travel to the Kansai Region of Japan (Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, etc) as the Amateur Traveler talks to Amanda Kendle from the Thoughtful Travel Podcast about one of her favorite parts of the world. Amanda originally came to Kansai to teach English and fell in loved with it.
Hear about travel to Cape Town, South Africa as the Amateur Traveler talks to Annika Ziehen from Midnight Blue Elephant about her former hometown
Hear about travel to Milwaukee as the Amateur Traveler talks to Barbara Ali about her hometown on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Hear about travel to Sydney, Australia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Roma Small from RoamingRequired.com about her hometown.
Hear about travel to Bordeaux, France as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jennifer Dombrowski from luxadventuretraveler.com about her new hometown in one of France's most famous wine regions.
Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Learn what to see and do, where to hike and when to come.
Hear about travel to the countries of Kiribati, Tuvalu and Nauru in Micronesia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Stefan from Rapid Travel Chai about these small difficult to reach island nations.
Hear about travel to Eastern Taiwan as the Amateur Traveler talks to freelance travel writer Robert Kelly about a destination he literally wrote the book on.
Hear about travel to Jordan as the Amateur Traveler himself, Chris Christensen, relates stories about his visit to the country.
Hear about travel to Helsinki, Finland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Inna from the Finnish Family Travel Blog about her hometown.
Hear about travel to Patagonia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jackie Nourse about this region of southern Argentina.
Hear about travel to Qatar as the Amateur Traveler talks to Richard Parr from the Best In the World Podcast about this middle eastern country where he lived for 6 years.
Hear about travel to the Finger Lakes in New York as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lillie Marshall from Around the World "L" about this area of water and wine.
Hear about travel to Tibet as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lee Deitesfeld & Travis Bingaman about their trip to this complicated and fascinating country.
Hear about travel to California's premier wine region of Napa and Sonoma as the Amateur Traveler talks again to free lance journalist Jill Robinson about this area with more than just wine... but a lot of that
Hear about travel to Richmond, Virginia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Becky Pekora from TheGirlAndGlobe.com about her adopted hometown.
Hear about a Baltic Cruise on Viking Ocean as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mary Jo Manzanares from travelingwithmj.com about their recent Viking Homelands cruise on the Viking Sea.
Hear about hiking the Peaks of the Balkans trail in Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dan and Audrey from uncorneredmarket.com about this off the beaten track route in Europe.
Hear about travel to North Dakota as the Amateur Traveler talks to resident Derrick Schiff about this often ignored state.
Hear about travel to the Dordogne region of France as the Amateur Traveler talks to Laurence Norah about this region known for it's picturesque villages and castles.
Hear about travel to the Russian Far East as the Amateur Traveler talks to freelance travel journalist Robert Reid about his numerous journeys to this remote part of Russia.
Hear about travel to Greenland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Matthew Karsten from expertvagabond.com about his recent visit to this remote island.
Hear about travel to Turks and Caicos as the Amateur Traveler talks to author Donna Seim about her favorite archipelago.
In preparation for the 2017 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Chris (the Amateur Traveler) took a road trip through "Luther Land" and the heart of Germany.
Hear about travel to Flanders in Belgium from the Amateur Traveler. I recently traveled to 5 cities in Belgium: Antwerp, Ghent, Ieper, Bruges and Brussels. Each of these historic cities is wonderfully picturesque, even on a grey November day.
Hear about travel to the Island of Kauai as the Amateur Traveler talks to Betsy and Pete Wuebker from PassingThru.com about the Garden Island.
Hear about travel to the Danube Delta in Romania as the Amateur Traveler talks to Christian Cummins about traveling to this UNESCO biosphere in Europe.
Hear about travel to Sardinia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Max Hartshorne from gonomad.com about this off the beaten path part of Italy.
Hear about travel to Far West China (Xinjiang) as theAmateur Traveler talks to Josh Summers from FarWestChina.com about his adopted home where China meets Central Asia.
Hear about travel to Naples and the Amalfi Coast in Italy as the Amateur Traveler talks to Beth Rubin from SelectItaly.com about how to plan a trip to this beautiful region.
Hear about travel to United Arab Emirates as the Amateur Traveler talks to travel writer Zora O'Neill about her recent trip to these small states on the Persian / Arabian Gulf.
This episode of the Amateur Traveler talks about the recent Amateur Traveler trip to Cambodia. 7 of the 9 people who joined me on this trip also join me for the podcast to share the highlights, surprises and challenges of the trip.
Hear about travel to Cincinnati, Ohio as the Amateur Traveler talks to Erin Hinsen and Seth Walsh from UnlockCincinnati.org about the Queen City.
Hear about travel to Provence, France as the Amateur Traveler talks to Wendy Jaeger from blisstravels.com about her adopted home in the south of France.
Hear about cruising to Cuba as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Dave Grenewetzki about his trip on a ship based People to People trip to Cuba.
Hear about travel to Dallas, Texas as the Amateur Traveler talks to Penny Sadler from adventuresofacarryon.com about her hometown of Dallas, Texas. Penny tells us why we might be surprised at all Dallas has to offer and why we should leave our cowboy hats at home.
Hear about travel to Buffalo, New York as the Amateur Traveler talks to Larissa Milne from changesinlongitude.com about why she fell in love with this significant American city.
Hear about travel to Basel, Switzerland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Claudia McCoy about her hometown.
Hear about travel to Mozambique as the Amateur Traveler talks to Simon Lewis from TarvelConceptSolution.com about this long thin country in Southeastern Africa.
Hear about travel to the Auvergne region of France as the Amateur Traveler talks to Allison and Andrew Cornford-Matheson from CheeseWeb.eu as we talk about their visit to this central but overlooked area of France.
Hear about travel to the National Parks in Utah as the Amateur Traveler talks to Scot and Emily McKay from wingitworldwide.com about their travels in the Beehive State.
Hear about travel to Seattle, Washington as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mary Jo Manzanares from travelingwithmj.com about her hometown.
Hear about travel to Barcelona, Spain as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lauren Aloise from devourspain.com about traveling to this capital of the region of Catalan.
Hear about travel to the Maldives Islands as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jennifer Dombrowski of luxeadventuretraveler.com about her visit to this tropical paradise.
Hear about travel to Guizhou China as the Amateur Traveler talks to travel writer Gina Czupka from thistimetomorrow.net about her trip to this off the beaten path destination.
Hear about travel to Indianapolis, Indiana as the Amateur Traveler talked to Nancy Parode the Senior Travel Expert at about.com about travel to this mid-western capital.
Hear about travel to the Westfjords of Iceland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Katie Hammel of Vaitor.com about her trip to this remote region of the island.
Hear about travel to remote parts of Alaska as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Sherry Ott from ottsworld.com about travel to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in the east, above the Arctic Circle to Coldfoot Camp and far to the west to Nome Alaska.
Hear about travel to the Dominican Republic as the Amateur Traveler talks to guidebook author and travel writer Lebawit Lily Girma who is working on the Moon Guide to the Dominican Republic.
Hear about travel to San Diego as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mike from MikesRoadTrip.com about this beautiful city in Southern California.
Hear about travel to the Aeolian Islands as the Amateur Traveler talks to Rick Zullo from rickzullo.com about these historic but lesser known islands off the coast of Sicily.
Hear about Trekking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal as the Amateur Traveler talks to the Su Family from sufamilyadventures.com about tackling this well known route.
Hear about travel to El Salvador as the Amateur Traveler talks to Joe Baur of joebaur.com about his recent visit to this Central American country.
Hear about travel to Moscow as the Amateur Traveler talks to Alex Block of alexblocktravels.com about his home town and Russia's capital.
Hear about travel to Croatia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jay Ternavan of JaywayTravel.com about this country on the coast of the Adriatic.
Jay says, "for me Croatia has everything you could look for in a travel experience"
Hear about travel to Northern Romania as the Amateur Traveler talks to Ralph Velasco of photoenrichment.com about the region that he visited leading a recent photo tour.
We talk about the regions of Maramureş and Bukovina, north of Transylvania.
Hear about travel to the borough of Queens in New York City as the Amateur Traveler talks to Brian Cicioni from imayroam.com about this less visited part of the city.
A special live episode of the Amateur Traveler with three guests, Aaron Saunders, Jonathan Souza and Mary Quincy talking about the recent VikingSocial, Viking River Cruise on the Douro River in Portugal.
Hear about travel to northern South Korea as the Amateur Traveler talks to Katie of aroundtheworldinktdays.com about the area of South Korea where she is living.
Hear about travel to Michigan's Upper Peninsula (the UP) as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jennifer Schuitema from Grand Rapids Michigan about travel to the northern remote part of the Great Lake State.
Hear about travel to Cameroon as the Amateur Traveler talks to Francis Tapon and Rejoice Mubarak from TheUnseenAfrica.com about Rejoices' native country and Francis' recent trip to this West African country on his quest to explore every country in Africa.
Hear about hiking the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) in northern Spain as the Amateur Traveler talks to Linda Martin from The Indie Travel Podcast.
Linda says, "the thing about the Camino is that it is as long as you wanted to be."
Hear about travel to Santa Barbara, California as the Amateur Traveler talks to Heather Simon from wellplannedtravel.net about the "American Riviera".
Hear about travel to Santa Barbara, California as the Amateur Traveler talks to Heather Simon from wellplannedtravel.net about the "American Riviera".
Hear about the United States UNESCO World Heritage Sites as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt from Everything-Everywhere.com and The Global Travel Conspiracy podcast about these best of the best sites.
Hear about hiking Japan's Nakasendo Trail as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dave Grenewetzki about his experiences on this trip into the Japanese countryside between Kyoto and Tokyo.
Hear about travel to Kyrgyzstan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Eric Anderson about the central asian country where he has been serving as a Peace Corp volunteer.
Eric admits that he might not have been able to find Kyrgyzstan on a map before being sent to this beautiful mountainous country just west of China...
Hear about travel to Hyderabad India as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sean Whiting about the city he has called home for more than 4 years.
Hear about travel to New Orleans Louisiana as the Amateur Traveler talks to freelance journalist Jill Robinson. Jill agrees with Earl King "There ain't no city like New Orleans".
Hear about travel to the Philippines as the Amateur Traveler talks to Julie Longland about her travel to the Cordilleras mountain region and the island of Palawan which was just named the "Best Island in the World".
Hear about a road trip around Ontario as the Amateur Traveler talks to guidebook author Carolyn Heller, author of the Moon guide to Ontario.
Hear about Cruising Southeastern Alaska on Un-Cruise Adventures as the Amateur Traveler goes on a cruise where dressing for dinner and bingo are replaced with kayaking and bushwhacking. Chris and his wife explored with 84 other passengers on the Safari Endeavor the islands, inlets, and glaciers of the Alaskan panhandle.
Hear about travel to Atlanta, Georgia as the Amateur Traveler talks to return guest Chris Willis about his hometown. Chris has been on the show talking about distant and exotic places but this time we talk about the land of Margret Mitchell and Coca-Cola.
Hear about travel to Austin, Texas as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mike Hinshaw of nomadictexan.com about his hometown. Mike says of Austin, “it is a fun place. It has wonderful food. It has great music."
Hear about travel to Hamburg, Germany as the Amateur Traveler talks to Romy Mlinzk from snoopsmaus.de about her hometown, the second largest port in Europe and Germany's second city.
Hear about travel to Munich Germany as the Amateur Traveler talks to Laurel Robbins of monkeysandmountains.com about her adopted city.
This episode of the Amateur Traveler talks about the recent Amateur Traveler trip to southern Morocco. 9 of the 10 people who joined me on this trip also join me for the podcast to share the good and bad of the trip.
Hear about travel to Louisville, Kentucky as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jason Falls, social media author and speaker about his home town.
Jason says, "Louisville is a fantastic city, it also has a lot going on from a tourism standpoint.
Hear about travel to Namibia's Skeleton Coast as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Susan Portnoy of theinsatiabletraveler.com about her trip to this memorable reagion of Africa. Namibia is the size of France and Great Britain combined but with only 2 million people.
Hear about travel to the Czech Republic as the Amateur Traveler talks to Anthony Hennen from anthonyhennen.com about his trip to the areas of the country outside of Prague.
Hear about travel to the Tennessee River Valley as the Amateur Traveler talks to Chuck Prevatte from foodwinebeertravel.com about the region from Chatanooga, Teneesee to Huntsville, Alabama.
Hear about travel to the Cayman Islands as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kendra Pierre-Louis from kendrawrites.com about her trip to this island paradise.
Hear about travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the Amateur Traveler talks to Larissa and Michael Milne of changesinlongitude.com. They recently authored the "Philadelphia Liberty Trail" book.
Hear about travel to North Carolina as the Amateur Traveler talks to Karen Dawkins of familytravelsonabudget.com about the Tar Heel State. We cover from Mount Mitchell in the west to the Outer Banks in the east.
Hear about cruising from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Valparaiso, Chile around Cape Horn in South America as the Amateur Traveler relates stories of a recent Holland America cruise on the Zaandam.
Hear about travel to Tel Aviv, Israel as the Amateur Traveler talks to Shimrit Elisar from diytelavivguide.com about her home city.
Hear about volunteer travel with the Peace Corps as the Amateur Traveler talks to Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet. Director Hessler-Radelet not only served in the Peace Corps herself in Western Samoa but 4 generations of her family have done so.
Hear about travel to the region around Island of Cebu as the Amateur Traveler talks to Tommo & Megsy from fivedollartraveller.com about their vacation in Visayas, the central group of islands in the Philippines. They visited the islands of Bohol, Cebu and Negros.
Hear about hiking the Kings Trail (Kungsleden) in Swedish Lapland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Agata from nullnfull.com about this northern and rugged portion of Sweden. Agata says, “Lapland is all about nature and wilderness”.
Hear about travel to Haiti as the Amateur Traveler talks to Daniel Noll & Audrey Scott from uncorneredmarket.com about travel to this rather ignored Caribbean country.
Hear about travel to Mumbai India as the Amateur Traveler talks to Stephanie Hays of RealityToursAndTravel.com about travel to this crowded, noisy, vibrant city. With the background sounds of the horns of auto rickshaws we find out why a girl from Chattanooga, Tennessee ended up in India's largest city.
Hear about travel to the state of Guanajuato Mexico (including San Miguel de Allende) as the Amateur Traveler talks to Tim Leffel of perceptivetravel.com about his adopted home.
Hear about travel to Delaware as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mara Gorman from MotherOfAllTrips.com about traveling to her small but historic adopted home state.
Hear about travel to Seville, Spain as the Amateur Traveler talks to Cat Gaa from sunshineandsiestas.com about life in her adopted city. Hear about what to see, do and eat in Seville.
Hear about travel to Little Rock, Arkansas as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sara Beth Jones & Alison Chino from sarabethjones.com and alisonchino.com about their home town.
Hear about travel to the mainland of Greece as the Amateur Traveler talks to Margherita Ragg from thecrowdedplanet.com about one of her favorite countries. Margherita comes from Italy so she has traveled to Greece on numerous occasions. We talk at length about Athens, Delphi and Meteora.
Hear about travel to Lisbon, Portugal as the Amateur Traveler talks to Nelson Carvalheiro about the capital of his native country.
Hear about travel to the island of Madeira as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jörgen Abrahamsson who is a tour guide from Tue Nordic in this small Portuguese possession.
Hear about travel to Canberra, Australia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Tenele Conway from www.hungryplanetblog.com about Australia's capital city and the Australian Capital Territory.
Hear about travel to Fiji as the Amateur Traveler talks to David Brodie from Travel in 10 about his trip to this Island Paradise. David says "of all the places I have been around the world, Fiji is one of the ones that really drew me back. "
Hear about travel to Northern Australia (Northwest Territories) as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sam Guerra from EscapeFromTheBay.blogspot.com. The "Top End" is "one of the more exotic parts of Australia for sure and it's definitely the closest place you can go to get an authentic feel for aboriginal culture which in my opinion is something that makes Australia unique. There is a lot of natural beauty and a lot of wildlife up there. It is nearly untouched."
Hear about travel to New York City as the Amateur Traveler talks to Pauline Frommer about her hometown. Pauline was born in New York City and never moved away. She also just finished the Frommer's Easy Guide to New York City guidebook.
Hear about travel to Slovakia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Julie Callahan from TheWorldInBetween.com. When Julie's family moved to Bratislava, Slovakia 3 years ago they didn't have a single friend who knew where this central European country was located.
Hear about travel to Poland as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Chris Bogdon about his recent trip to Poland. Chris brought his kids and his parents to experience the country where his family came from. Chris did an overview of the country on a bus tour.
Hear about travel to Vermont as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dana Freeman of findandgoseek.net about her adopted home state. Dana has lived in Vermont for 14 years and someday her children's children may be Vermonters.
Hear about travel to West Sweden as the Amateur Traveler talks to Bret Love from GreenGlobalTravel.com about both his recent trip and my recent trip to this beautiful part of Sweden.
Hear about travel to Baltimore, Maryland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Nancy Parode from about.com. Nancy has lived in the Baltimore area for a total of about 12 years and tells us about her adopted hometown.
Hear about all of Canada's UNESCO World Heritage Sites as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Gary Arndt of Everything-Everywhere.com about traveling to all 17 sites. Some sites like Old Québec are easy to reach and others like Wood Buffalo and Nahanni National Parks (the last two that Gary visited) are quite remote.
Hear about travel to the Silk Road in China's Gansu Province as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Lee Moore from Silk Road Hitchhikers about his trip to this historic and remote part of China.
Hear about travel to Iran as the Amateur Traveler talks to Shara Johnson from sjktravel.net about her recent trip to that country. George W. Bush called it part of the Axis of Evil but Shara found a warm and inviting country.
Hear about travel to Luxembourg as the Amateur Traveler talks to Rosie Titterington about her adopted country. Rosie had never heard of Luxembourg before moving there, but loves this small but lovely country in the heart of Europe.
Hear about travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as the Amateur Traveler talks to Chris and Sasha Rosencranz about their recent trip to this African country. The DRC is located along the south bank of the Congo River. This large country used to be the Belgian Congo. Chris was previously on the Amateur Traveler talking about the Republic of the Congo as well.
Hear about travel to Salzburg, Austria as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gina Czupka about her time living in Salzburg. Salzburg is a "compact walkable city. Everywhere you go there is incredible architecture. It's got a beautiful mountain setting. It's just a picturesque easy place to experience the old-world feel of Europe."
Hear about travel to Orlando, Florida as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jason Cochran who is the editor of Frommers.com and the editor to the Frommer's Guide to Orlando Florida about vacationing in America's favorite destination spot. We talk about Walt Disney World, the increasingly popular Universal Studios, with a mention of some of the other things to do in Orlando.
Hear about travel to Charleston, South Carolina as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jen Leo from This Week in Travel and her husband John Caldwell about their many trips to one of their favorite U.S. cities.
Hear about travel to South Africa on safari as the Amateur Traveler talks to Susan Portnoy from theinsatiabletraveler.com about her recent experience in the Timbavati Game Reserve. This is the 5th time that Susan has traveled to Africa on safari to "shoot" animals... as a photographer.
Hear about travel to Lazio, Italy as the Amateur Traveler talks to Nancy Parode from about.com and sixtyandme.com about one of her favorite regions in Italy. Lazio is the region of Italy that includes Rome but this episode will feature all the things outside of Rome.
Hear about travel to Tasmania in Australia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Robert Reid, the Offbeat Observer for National Geographic Traveler, about his recent trip to Van Diemen’s Land.
Hear about travel to the South Tyrol region of Italy as the Amateur Traveler talks to Alison and Andrew Cornford-Matheson from CheeseWeb.eu about their recent trip to this lovely region in Northern Italy. This predominantly German speaking region of Italy includes portions of the Dolomites mountain range, a wine road and some great vistas.
Hear about travel to Memphis, Tennessee as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lance from tripsbylance.com about this city where he has lived on and off for 20+ years. Lance tells us that there is more to Memphis than Elvis and Graceland.
Hear about travel to Jordan as the Amateur Traveler himself, Chris Christensen, relates stories about his recent visit to the country.
Hear about travel to Lassen National Park in northern California as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dick Jordan about this spectacular if less visited destination. Lassen is in northeastern California. It is just as easy to get to from San Francisco as Yosemite National Park but with fewer tourists and one more volcano. The park centers around the dormant volcano Mt. Lassen and features other geothermal active areas.
Hear about travel to the Western Sahara as the Amateur Traveler talks to Francis Tapon about this disputed region as part of his trip to every country in Africa.
Hear about Hiking the Lycian Way in Southern Turkey as the Amateur Traveler talks to authors Warren and Betsy Talbot from MarriedWithLuggage.com about the month they spent hiking this amazing trail. The Lycian Way runs for a little over 500 km (not counting getting lost) from Fethiye in the west to Antalya in the east. We talk about their whole journey as well as segments people with much less time could hike.
Hear about travel to Denver, Colorado as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lance Longwell from TravelAdicts.net about his home town, the "Mile High City". Denver is the capital of the state of Colorado and sits where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains.
Hear about travel to Winnipeg, Manitoba as the Amateur Traveler talks to return guest Michael Soncina of Sonchy’s Adventures about this city on the great plains of Canada.
Hear about travel to Saint Helena as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt about his visit to this isolated island between Africa and South America. Gary has come on the show a number of times to talk about obscure, out of the way and small places. Saint Helena qualifies as all three.
Hear about travel to Southwest England as the Amateur Traveler talks to Edith about her adopted home. This episode will look at the area southwest of Bristol, two hours west of London. Edith says that the area of southwest England is “archetypical English”.
Hear about travel to Riga, Latvia as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Spud Hilton, the travel editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, about his recent trip there. Riga is a surprisingly beautiful European city and the 2014 Capital of Culture for Europe.
Hear about travel to Nova Scotia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sherry Ott about her recent trip to this province in Eastern Canada. Sherry returns to to the show to talk about a trip around Nova Scotia she took last June.
Hear about travel to Düsseldorf, Germany as the Amateur Traveler talks to Erik and Anne Hess about this city on the Rhine. Carnival, Christmas Markets and one of the most livable cities in the world.
Hear about travel to Mazatlan, Mexico as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Craig Zabransky about this Mexico seaport. Mazatlan is on the west coast of Mexico.
Hear about travel to Arctic Manitoba as the Amateur Traveler talks to Marybeth Bond from GutsyTraveler.com about her recent trip to Churchill Manitoba to see polar bears.
Hear about travel to Indonesia as the Amateur Traveler talks to repeat guest Chris Willis about his trip to Indonesia. The main objective of Chris’s trip was to photograph Komodo dragons in the wild. Komodo dragons live on 2-3 islands which are not near any airport so getting there is half the experience.
Hear about travel to Mobile, Alabama as the Amateur Traveler talks to Carla Rountree from theinconsistentnomad.com about her home state. There are beautiful beaches. It is an area that was founded in the early 1700s so there is lots of culture, lots of history and it is even the area where Mardi Gras actually started in the USA.
Hear about travel to Sudan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Nicholas Bori of the I Quit project about his journey through that remote African country. Nicholas visited Sudan on an overlanding truck that traversed Africa from south to north.
Hear about travel to Montana as the Amateur Traveler talks to Donna Hull from MyItchyTravelFeet.com. Donna and her husband visited Montana in 2001 as part of a National Park tour and fell in love with the Big Sky state. Finally in 2010 they moved to the Bitterroot Valley of Montana, the so called “banana belt” of Montana. They had planned to live there only in the Summer but did not want to leave when the end of Summer came.
Hear about travel to the Russian Far East as the Amateur Traveler talks to freelance travel journalist Robert Reid about his numerous journeys to this remote part of Russia. Robert does not describe a country that is easy to see or necessarily always approachable, but one that can still be seductive. Learn why Robert has “Russia Love”.
Hear about travel to The Pantanal in Brazil as the Amateur Traveler talks to Daisy about her recent trip to this vast wetlands area. The Pantanal is south of the Amazon in Eastern Brazil and also extends into Bolivia and Paraguay.
“The Pantanal is a basin that is the world’s largest wetlands. It is about ten times the size of the Everglades. It’s really a great site to see wildlife.” The Pantanal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Hear about travel to Southern Alberta as the Amateur Traveler talks to Karl Andrews from Calgary about travel to his home province. The Canadian Rockies, Kananaskis Country, Waterton Park, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, The Calgary Stampede, and Dinosaurs.
Hear about travel to the Island of Socotra and Yemen as the Amateur Traveler talks to Earl from WanderingEarl.com about a visit to this isolated island best known for its production of frankincense. The island is quite isolated and a third of its plant life is found nowhere else on the planet. With trees like the umbrella-shaped dragon’s blood tree it has been described as the most alien-looking place on Earth.
Hear about travel to the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt about his journey to visit many of the islands in the Caribbean on a single trip. In this episode we talk about Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados, and Trinidad. This episode is a continuation of episode 386 which talked about the Leeward Islands.
Hear about travel to the island of Vieques off Puerto Rico as the Amateur Traveler talks to Ira Winston from Philadelphia about his recent trip there. Vieques is an island thais 8 miles off the coast of Puerto Rico.
Hear about travel to Panama as the Amateur Traveler talks to Chaundra from London about her recent trip to that country. She spent a week in Panama before a SilverSeas Silver Explorer cruise in the area to see wildlife. As part of the cruise they visited the Pearl Islands as well as the Darien Gap. On their own they visited Panama City, the Old Panama City, Casco Viejo, Fort Sherman, Colon and Soberania and Chagres National Parks.
Hear about travel to Flanders in Belgium from the Amateur Traveler. I recently traveled to 5 cities in Belgium: Antwerp, Ghent, Ieper, Bruges and Brussels. Each of these historic cities is wonderfully picturesque, even on a grey November day.
Hear about travel to New Jersey as the Amateur Traveler alks to Lisa Luben about her home state. Lisa comes on the show to introduce us to the pretty parts of New Jersey that many people don't picture. The state is one quarter farmland and one quarter woodlands and filled with historic towns.
Hear about travel to Morocco as the Amateur Traveler talks to Ralph Velasco about his recent photography tour of the country. Ralph tells us about some of his favorite cities in the country Chefchaouen and Essaouira in a trip that also included Tangier, Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech, and Fes.
Hear about travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mary Jo Manzanares about her recent trip there. Mary Jo was really interested in learning more about the history of "the troubles" and her husband about the Titanic.
Hear about travel to Ottawa, Ontario as the Amateur Traveler talks to return guest Michael Soncina of Sonchy's Adventures about Canada's capital city. Michael was in Ottawa as a part of a press trip looking a new eco district the city is setting up in its downtown.
Hear about travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kay from TheKayDays.com who is a University student in Rio.
"Rio has a culture and a aura that is completely different from anywhere I have seen before."
Hear about travel to Arequipa, Peru as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sam from Indefinite Adventure. Arequipa is Peru’s second largest city after Lima. It is in the south, inland, west of Lake Titicaca and south of Cusco. Sam heard about Arequipa from other travelers and lived and worked there for a month as a temporary local.
Hear about trekking in Ecuador’s Quilotoa Loop as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kim Mance about her recent trip to that country. Kim spent 3 weeks in Ecuador including one week on the Quilotoa Loop.
Hear about travel to Baton Rouge as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lindsay Thomas from TheTraveluster.com about her hometown. Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana. It can be a great gateway to Cajun food and culture.
Hear about travel to Ireland as Chris, the Amateur Traveler himself, talks about a recent trip to the Emerald Isle. Chris did a driving tour with 7 family members and friends from Dublin to the west point of Ireland and of Europe.
Hear about travel to the Andalucia region of Spain as the Amateur Traveler talks to Crawford Hill from Chill Expeditions about his adopted home in Southern Spain. Crawford traveled in that area and then fell in love and bought a second home here.
Hear about travel to the Island of Shikoku, Japan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dan from Chicago about his recent trip back to the island. Dan also worked teaching English on Shikoku in the city of Imabari. Shikoku is the 4th largest of the islands in Japan and just across the from Hiroshima. Shikoku is mountainous, more traditional and more rural than the areas of Japan more tourists know.
Hear about travel to Macedonia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kelsey of CineTraveler.com about her recent trip to this country in the Balkans. Macedonia is just north of Greece and probably best known as the home for Alexander the Great but Kelsey found much more to recommend in this much too overlooked country. In a week they were able to see much of the country.
Hear about travel to the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Gary Arndt of Everything-Everyhwere.com. Gary just finished an island hopping tour that took him to most of the islands in the Caribbean. We will cover the islands of St. Martin, Anguilla, Saba, St. Barts, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Barbuda, and Montserrat on this episode.
Hear about travel to the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) as the Amateur Traveler talks to Chris Rosencranz about his recent visit to this country in equatorial African. The Republic of the Congo sits in the rain forest just north of the Congo River from its better known, and less stable neighbor, the Democratic Republic of Congo. “In the past few years the Republic of the Congo has emerged with some new infrastructure to let tourists access some of the best parks that the continent has going for it plus the rain forest itself which is really quite special, and the river.”
Hear about travel to Vienna, Austria as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gerhard Strassgschwandtner who is a tour guide and owner of the Third Man Museum in Vienna.
Hear about travel to the Navajo Nation as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mark Carrara from markstravels.com about his recent visit. The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory the size of the state of Connecticut located mostly in Arizona. It can be described as desolate, majestic, barren and spacious.
Hear about travel to Azerbaijan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mason Wiley of Community Based Tourism Azerbaijan about his time spent in the country during the Peace Corps. Even though he has come back to the USA he still loves and misses Azerbaijan and its people. Mason had not even heard of Azerbaijan until he was posted there by the Peace Corps.
Hear about travel to the Isle of Man as the Amateur Traveler talks to writer and film maker Andrew White. The Isle of Man is a small island in between Ireland and England. "It's a fantastic place. It really is. It's often said it's like the British Isles in miniature."
Hear about travel to Kansas City (Kansas and Missouri) as the Amateur Traveler talks to Rob Walch about the Paris of the Plains. Kansas City has that nickname because of the many fountains in the city.
Hear about travel to Belarus as the Amateur Traveler talks to Velvet Dallesandro about his trip to this former member state of the Solviet Union. Belarus is very close to Poland and the Baltic states but does not get as much western tourism as those countries. Velvet is on a quest to see all the former Soviet countries.
Hear about travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina as the Amateur Traveler talks to Leandro Gonzalez about his hometown. Buenos Aires is a large cosmopolitan city of 13 million people. Leandro tries to help us find options for travelers from the backpacker to the upscale traveler.
Hear about travel to South Australia as the Amateur Traveler alks to Dave and Deb from ThePlanetD.com about their recent trip down under.
Hear about travel to Oslo and Western Norway as the Amateur Traveler talks to Øystein about his native Norway.
Hear about travel to Amsterdam as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Erik Smith from onmyfeetorinmymind.com. Erik returned to Amsterdam for the seventh or eighth time recently.
Hear about travel to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jodi Ettenberg from legalnomads.com.
Hear about travel to Slovenia as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Michael Soncina about his visit to the country. The country is independent, beautiful and deserves to see more tourists than it gets.
Hear about travel to Stockholm, Sweden as the Amateur Traveler talks to Malin from HauteCompass.com about Sweden's beautiful capital city.
Hear about travel to Victoria Falls as the Amateur Traveler talks to Nir Ben-Dov about his trip to this spectacular falls on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. This was Nir’s second trip and his wife’s first trip from their home in Israel to this famed set of falls in southern Africa.
Hear about travel to Fort Worth, Texas as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Jason Hull about Fort Worth Texas the "City of Cowboys and Culture". Sometimes over shadowed by it's neighbor Dallas Jason shows us why Fort Worth is worth a visit.
Hear about travel to Bucharest as the Amateur Traveler talks to Wandering Earl about visiting and living in that city. Earl calls Bucharest one of the most under-rated cities in all of Europe, certainly eastern Europe.
Hear about travel to Extremadura in Spain as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sam from indefiniteadventure.com about living and working there. Extremadura is a lesser known region in southwest Spain on the border with Portugal and adjacent to Andalusia, Madrid and Castilla. Sam lived in the city of Medira for 3 months teaching English.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Benny the Irish Polyglot about Toulouse, France. Benny lived in the city for 3 months to work on his French. He was drawn to the University city culture but fell in love with the "pink" city.
Hear about travel to Vanuatu as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Chris Willis who comes back on the show to talk about a recent trip to the remote, tropical paradise of Vanuatu.
Hear about travel to the South Side of Chicago as the Amateur Traveler talks to Amy Bugbee, author of "Suffering and Celebration of Life in America", about her hometown, the South Side of Chicago. The South Side of Chicago is more than just the White Sox and the stock yards just as Chicago pizza is more than just deep dish.
Hear about travel to Japan on the Amateur Traveler as I relate stories from my recent trip to Tokyo, the ancient capitals of Nara and Kyoto, the castle at Hikone, the shrines and temples of Nikko and Kamakura.
Hear about travel to Puerto Rico as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kaleb Garcia about his home country of Puerto Rico. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory in the Caribbean with its own culture, language (Spanish), history and food.
Hear about travel to the Guianas (French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana) as the Amateur Traveler talks to Marcello Arrambide from wanderingtrader.com about his recent trip to these three South American countries.
Hear about travel to North Korea as the Amateur Traveler talks to Matt from England about his recent trip to this closed and insular country. This may be one of the most unusual episodes of the Amateur Traveler as this may be one of the more unusual countries.
Hear about volunteer travel in Uganda as the
Hear about travel to London as the Amateur Traveler talks to Amber from americantourguideinlondon.com. In this second part of a two part episode on London
Hear about travel to Perth, Australia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Carmen from double-barrelledtravel.com. Carmen grew up in Perth and lived for 21 years in this city on Australia’s Western shore. Perth is a beautiful city located where a river his the white sand beaches.
Hear about travel to Samoa as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jade Johnston from OurOyster.com about their recent trip to this remote pacific destination. Samoa is composed of two islands just north of New Zealand.
Hear about travel to Santa Fe, New Mexico as the Amateur Traveler talks to Billie Frank from SantaFeTravelers.com about her city, the second oldest in the United States and the oldest capital city in the U.S.
Hear about travel to Guatemala as the Amateur Traveler talks to Shannon O’Donneal from alittleadrift.com about her recent trip to Guatemala. Shannon went to Guatemala to attend a language school but was surprised by the breath of diversity in the culture.
Hear about Myanmar as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dustin Main from SkinnyBackpacker.com about Myanmar (Burma).
Hear about Queensland's Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane Australia from Annabel Candy. Long white sand beachs, hiking trails, a tropical zoo in the tropics.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Amber, an American Tour Guide in London, about her adopted city. Amber is an American expat from London who now takes people on walking tours of London.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Jim Lutz from Via Adventures about the Ecuador's Galapagos Islands. "The Galapagos has to be one of the most unique and wonderful wildlife destinations in the world."
TheAmateur Traveler talks to Mary Jo Manzanares about 4 of her favorite hill towns in southern Tuscany: Contignano , Montalcino, Montepulciano and Pienza. Experience the food, the wine and the slower pace of some of these hill towns.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Nick Stanziano, co-founder of SA Luxury Expeditions and newly minted Peruvian citizen about his new country of Peru. We talk about Lima, Machu Picchu and other well known Peru landmarks as well both ancient and modern.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Christian Cummins about his bicycle trip across Uganda. Christian is a British expat who lives in Austria where he works for radio station FM4. He had recently returned from the African state of Uganda where he was raising money for a children’s education charity called Link Community Development.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Gretchen about her two trips to Kenya. Gretchen's husband is a wildlife photographer and they both are birders. They went on a wildlife photography safari that emphasized bird watching and fell in love with Kenya.
The Amateur Traveler talks to David Lee about his parttime home, the “City of the Eternal Spring”, Medellin Colombia. If you just Medellin as a dangerous city and the home of drug lords, then your information is about 20 years out of date
The Amateur Traveler talks to Nathan from Wand’rly Magazine about Great Smoky Mountains National Park and about his current home of Western North Carolina. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited U.S. National Park.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Lee Abbamonte, the youngest American ever to travel to every country in the world, about 3 islands off the coast of Australia: Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island, Christmas Island.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Noah Lederman of SomewhereOrBust.com about his recent trip to Cambodia. Noah visited Anchor Wat, Rabbit Island near Kep, Battambang and the bamboo trains and Phnom Penh and the sobering Tuol Sleng - S21 memorial.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Michael Soncina again about his trip to Tajikistan in Central Asia. Tajikistan is smack dab between Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Unlike the other countries Tajikistan is mostly mountainous. A lot of its influences, history and culture is influenced by Persia while its neighbors have more Mongolian or nomadic influences.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Erik Smith about his month long visit to New Zealand. We focus in this interview about the South Island of New Zealand. Erick started in Christchurch and then visited The Banks Penninsula, Lake Tekapo, the Dunedin, the Otago Peninsula, the Southern Scenic Route including the Catlins, Fiordland National Park (including cruising both Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound) Queenstown, the rainy west coast, Abel Tasman National Park, Kaikoura, and Picton.
The Amateur Traveler talks to to Gary Arndt about the 4 micro-states in Europe: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino. "They all have very unique histories and the one thing that they are all very small"
The Amateur Traveler talks to Sherry Ott about Costa Brava Spain. Costa Brava is in Catalonia north of Barcelona on the rugged coastline of Spain. It also extends as far inland as the Pyrenees and includes farming country and medieval towns.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Hunter Hillegas author of the Vegas Mate iPhone app about Las Vegas. The Amateur Traveler has covered Las Vegas before but the city is constantly changing.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Photographer Ralph Velasco about two of his favorite cities in Spain, Toledo and Segovia. Both Toledo and Segovia are a short distance from Madrid and both offer interesting and historically significant cities with UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Shawn Farris about his trip to Serbia and Kosovo. Shawn either visited two countries (or one) in this contested area of the Balkans.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Janice Waugh from Solo Traveler about solo travel as a woman, particularly solo international travel. Janice did not set out to be a solo traveler but after the death of her husband she gained her courage to travel again.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Elspeth about her native Yorkshire in northern England.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Lash from LashWorldTour.com about the Island of Java in the nation of Indonesia. She cycled through the countryside and visited the major cities of this populous island in Indonesia.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Marc Barach about his recent trek around Monte Blanc. Hiking around the giant mountain on the tour Monte Blanc took him through portions of France, Italy and Switzerland.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Andrew about the Island of Kyushu, the southern island in Japan. Kyushu is one of the warmer parts of Japan. Nagasaki is probably the best known city on the island for its tragic history as the second city targeted with an atomic bomb. The island has is green and hilly with a number of active volcanos. Andrew and his wife had a chance to visit a number of museums, the peace park in Nagasaki, visit a volcano, be buried in hot and and take in a local soccer game. They toured its large cities but also headed into the countryside.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Jen Russell about the 3rd smallest state in the U.S. Connecticut. Connecticut, the Constitution State, is located halfway between New York and Boston. It has a coastline sheltered by Long Island so more suitable for family frolicking than for surfing. Connecticut also has a long maritime tradition which is celebrated at Mystic Seaport. It's forested rolling hills are popular with people who come to New England in the Fall to see the Fall colors. Connecticut is rich in U.S. history producing people such Revolutionary War patriot Nathan Hale ("My only regret is that I have but one life to give to my country"). It is rich in natural history as evidenced by Dinosaur State Park.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Neil Kristianson about one of his favorite travel destinations Savannah, Georgia. Neil and his wife were drawn to Savannah originally because of the movie and the book “Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil”. They fell in love with the Antebellum architecture, the many public squares, the Southern hospitality and pace, and, strangely enough, with the cemeteries. Savannah is rich in history and has been a destination for travelers even before Sherman’s March to the sea. Learn where to eat and what restaurant is overrated. Stay in a local historic inn one one of the city squares in the walkable historic downtown.
The Amateur Traveler talks about adventure travel in Costa Rica. From rafting on the Pacuare river and ziplining through the Monteverde Cloud forest to snorkeling off the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica can be a great destination for adventure travel.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Scott E. Jordan of Scottevest about his home in Sun Valley Idaho.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Sam Oppenheim who returns to the show to talk about a recent trip to Belgium. Starting in Brussels, Sam and his wife Mina also visited Ghent, Antwerp, Brugge, Bouillon and Orval.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Kirk Horsted in a two part episode on the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. In this second half Kirk looks at the state capital of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Kirk Horsted in a two part episode on the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. This first episode focuses on Minneapolis with day trips west of the Mississippi river.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Katie Aune from KatieGoingGlobal.com about her recent trip to Lithuania. Katie visited Lithuania as part of a year traveling through countries that were part of the former U.S.S.R. She spent much of her time in and around Vilnius, the capital.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Antonello Losito from Southern Visions Travel about his native region of Puglia (Apulia) in Italy. Puglia is the boot of Italy and does not get the same number of tourists as Northern Italy. But Antonello recommends his rugged coastline and mountain towns as a way to see the Italy that “most American’s picture”.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Rebecca about her adopted home of Umbria in Italy. Umbria is known as the green heart of Italy. Perhaps less well known than its neighbor of Tuscany to the North Umbria is a verdant region of hill towns, farms and national parks located in the center of Italy.
The Amateur Traveler talks about traveling to the Hawaiian Island of Lana’i. I recently spent a week in Lana’i as a guest of the Lana’i Visitor’s Bureau as one of their 2012 “Artists in Residence”. Lana’i only has 3,000 residence and a small town feel. I talk about some of the more unusual (for me at least) activities that I tried on the Island including riding a horse, going on a ride and shoot (to Lana’i Pines Sporting Clays), snubing, learning to play the ukulele, getting a lomi lomi massage, volunteering at a cat sanctuary and going 4 wheel drive tour. You don’t have to do this much when you go to Lan’i. You could also just golf or lie on the beach.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Lee Moore again about China. Lee comes back on the show to talk about his time in the Yunnan Provence in the southwest corner of China. Yunnan is on the border with Laos, Myanmar and Tibet.
The Amateur Travelertalks to Chaundra about her trip to Southern Israel, a barren but "stunning" land where every rock is full of history.
The Amateur Traveler talks to David Grenewetzki about his first trip to India. His itinerary covered Mombai, Bangalore, Rajasthan, Delhi and then ended at the Indian wedding of friends. Along the way they visited alaces, temples, forts, grand hotels, ancient caves, and acted as Tiger bait.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Carrie from cruisebuzz.net about a popular vacation spot just off the coast of California, Catalina Island.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Richard Graw about his experiences cruising the canals of England in a canal boat (or narrow boat). The canals traverse through tunnels, up staircases of locks and even up over aqueducts.
The Amateur Traveler talks to JD Andrews about his recent trip to Trinidad and Tobago. JD, who used to work for a cruise line, has visited many of the islands of the Caribbean but this was his first visit to Trinidad.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Michael Tieso about his recent trip to Bolivia. He was traveling from Argentina to Peru and at first Bolivia was just in the way, but he discovered a country worth seeing.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Craig Zabransky fro StayAdventurous.com about his recent trip to Bulgaria. He traveled with a Bulgarian friend and visited picturesque towns as well as the amazing blue waters of the Black Sea.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Dave Kerwin about his recent trip to Northern Queensland. Dave recommends 2 main stops on your trip: the Atherton Tablelands, Daintree National Park and the Great Barrier Reef.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Carlos Gutierrez about his home town of San Antonio, Texas. Carlos gives us a guide to some of the obvious spots like the Alamo but also shares some of his favorite hole in the wall restaurants, a tip about the best time to come to San Antonio, and a great drive in the Texas countryside.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Audrey Scott and Daniel Noll about their recent trip to Bangladesh. Bangladesh is the most densely populated country, but all those people are one of Bangladesh's strengths."
The Amateur Traveler talks to well-known travel writer / editor Don George about his first visit to the Champagne region of France. Despite having lived in France after college, Don had never visited the area made so famous by the blind monk Dom Perignon and his sparkling wine. Don discovered a beautiful agricultural area and learned the secret to a good life is one bottle of Champagne a day.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Mike about his recent trip to Kazakhstan. He explored this large area on a backpacker's budget. Kazakhstan is the 9th biggest country in the world. "In the very West end of the country you have old mosques. In the new capital Astana you have futuristic buildings."
The Amateur Traveler talks to Colm Hanratty from HostelWorld.com about Dublin, Ireland. Colm has been living working and studying in Dublin for the last 17 years.
“Dublin is the gateway to Ireland. It is a very welcoming city. It is a very compact city. You can see the main sites and the more off the beaten track sites in about 3 days."
The Amateur Traveler talks to Shannon Martin from Two Who Travel about her hometown of Tampa Bay (and St Petersburg) Florida. Shannon recommends the Tamp Bay area for a beach vacation, possible combined with a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Jessie Voigts from Wandering Educators about County Kerry and the Ring of Kerry in Ireland. County Kerry is a popular tourist region in Ireland.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Matt Long from LandLopers.com about his recent trip to St. Kitts (officially part of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis) which is part of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. Matt was on a press trip to the Marriott resort on the island.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Alan from Jacksonville about St. Augustine Florida which is the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in what is now the United States. St. Augustine was founded in 1565 and is 42 years older than Jamestown.
Chihuahua is also known for the beautiful Cooper Canyon which is best seen from the train that transverses it. Copper Canyon is a popular tourist destination with Mexicans. Copper Canyon is larger and portions are deeper than the Grande Canyon.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Ira Berstein again, this time about the Canadian Provence of Quebec. Ira suggests seeing both Montreal and Quebec City because of the contrasts in the two major cities in this French-speaking part of Canada.
Ira would personally recommend spending more time in Montreal but would understand those who like Quebec city better. Montreal is an international city with more than just French and English influence, all of which add their influence to a lively restaurant scene. Montreal sits on the Saint Lawrence River and at the base on Mount Royal from which it derives its name.
Quebec City is possibly the most European city in North America and one of the only walled cities. The city is so popular with American’s that we tried to capture it during both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Le Chateau Frontenac dominates the Quebec skyline as it has for more than 100 years.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Francis Tapon about European Russia west of the Ural Mountains. Most people only know 2 cities in Russia – Moscow and St Petersburg. In St Petersburg he recommends the Hermitage and the Peterhof. Moscow is so central culturally to Russia that the trains all run on Moscow time across the 9 timezones of Russia. Francis extends the suggested itinerary to include Kazan and Kaliningrad. Kazan is the capital of Tatarstan which is a mostly Muslim area of Russia. Kazan is over 1000 years old. Kazan is right by the Volga river with a large mosque and classic cathedral. Kaliningrad is a Russian exclave in what used to be East Prussia.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Bethany of the Nevada Tourism Bureau about Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is a high elevation alpine lake on the border of California and Nevada. It is surrounded by 18 ski areas so it is a popular winter destination. In the winter it is also a great place for back country hiking, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. In the Summer, Tahoe is a popular area for hiking, fishing and outdoor activities. But, there is another side to Tahoe which is the casinos, restaurants, and entertainment of Nevada's South Tahoe.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Phil Smy about his second home in Kyoto, Japan.
"Japan is organized and meticulous and perfect. Kyoto is the number one tourist destination outside of Tokyo in Japan. The former capital of ancient Japan, it is history and I think you get a real sense of Japan's psyche by going to Kyoto."
Phil talks about the temples, palace, geisha culture, and food of Kyoto.
The Amateur Traveler talks to travel blogger Candice Walsh about St Johns and her her home province of Newfoundland (and Labrador). "In my opinion Newfoundland is maybe the most underrated unappreciated province in Canada".
The Amateur Traveler talks to Robert Reid from Lonely Planet about his home state of Oklahoma. Robert recommends when you are driving through Oklahoma on your great American road trip you get off the interstate and explore for a few days. From the hills and woods of Eastern Oklahoma, to the tall grass prairies, to the oldest mountains in the United States (The Wichita Mountains) Oklahoma has more variety than you might have guessed from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical of the same name. Even the shape of the state holds clues to its unusual history. It is a state shaped by treaties made and broken with the Native Americans and by slavery and the Compromise of 1850. Its people are influenced by its history, its oil, its tornadoes, and of course its football. Ever a storyteller, Robert talks about African American towns, football upsets, buffalo, songwriters, authors, cowboy poets, onion burgers and Route 66.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt of Everything-Everywhere.com about his recent trip to the Canary Islands. The Canary Islands are tropical volcanic islands that are part of Spain but are located off the coast of Northwestern Africa.They are not named after birds.
The first thing that struck me when I got off the plane was how much the weather was like Hawaii and I have heard a lot of people call it Europe's Hawaii. It is a part of Spain. There are two provinces that constitute the Canary Islands. One with its capital on Grand Canaria Island and the other on the island of Tenerife. Columbus's last stop over was in the Canary Islands. Each of the islands, and there are 7 main islands, have a very different character.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Anil Polat who blogs under the name foxnomad about a recent trip to Northern Iraq. Anil is out to visit every country in the world which might lead him to visit a country before some others would deem it safe. Anil did not travel to the green zone but traveled in the Northern or Kurdish region of Iraq. Anil’s trip was made all the more interesting as he is ethnically Turkish. Says Anil:
Honestly that was one of my concerns before going. I did not know how people would respond to me, if people would not like me being there. The whole idea of a Kurdistan in Northern Iraq is a very controversial topic in Turkey to say the least.And also I had some security and safety concerns just because of the location. However, people were very friendly to me and it was a much more normal experience than I was expecting.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Kim Mance about traveling to the mountain kingdom of Losotho in Southern Africa. Losotho is a small mountainous region surrounded by South Africa but is an independent constitutional monarchy. The country has a very rural population. Kim got around via rental car but also did a pony trek with guide out into the small mountain villages. Riding a small hearty and nimble Bosotho pony they headed out into a landscape of shepherds and glacier carved mountains.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Matt Wall about traveling to and living in Honduras. Matt recommends the Bay Islands in the Caribbean for a beach resort vacation, scuba diving and snorkeling. The main island of Roatan have everything from all-inclusive resorts to backpacking accommodations in West End. Matt lived in the town of Copán Ruinas near the Guatemala border named after the "pretty incredible" Mayan ruins there. For the very adventurous who are willing to rough it Matt also suggests the Mosquito Coast at the far Western edge of Honduras which is a rain forest area sometimes called the "little Amazon". "You go there if you want to have a jungle experience".
The Amateur Traveler talks to New York travel writer Jeanine Barone about the Azores. The Azores are a chain of islands belonging to Portugal. Your travel agent will extol the beauty of the beaches but Jeanine says that the best of the Azores can be seen through hiking its craggy islands.
If you want to be in a place that feels very unspoiled, but is so close actually to fly there, a place where you feel like you stepped back to another era, then that’s why you should go to the Azores.
These are just gorgeous islands. Each island has its own personality and character. I just adore them.
The Amateur Traveler talks to David from London about his home country of Nigeria. David recommends, against the advice of others, that people who visit Nigeria visit the largest city which is Lagos. Lagos is the second most populous city in Africa after Cairo.
David says “it’s chaotic, it’s crazy, it’s exuberant, it’s everything turned up to eleven, it’s the maddest place I’ve been. That is why you should go there. You’re not going to get a relaxing holiday going to Lagos. But if you want to see human life at the extreme, and I don’t mean extreme in a bad way, but just millions of people in a small place, everyone full of life, everyone exuberant, everyone seemingly happy, Lagos is the place to go”.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Andy Steves about Rome, Italy. Andy talks about practical issues like how to get into and around Rome, how to connect to the Rome of the Roman Empire (the Coloseum, Forum and Circus Maximus, Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine, Pantheon). He also talks about a tour of the Sistine Chapel without all the crowds and not easy to do. Andy also gives us his favorite spots from Renaissance Rome like the Galleria Borghese and how to get under Saint Peter's to the excavation of older Saint Peter's. Follow Andy to places where you can meet modern Romans on your evening passeggiata to Campo di Fiori, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. And then meet one of his favorite Romans who runs a hang out for students near the Pantheon.
Andy is the son of travel author and tour guide operator Rick Steves and is following in his father's footsteps running weekend tours for students studying in Europe.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Joe Bickley of Alaska Backcountry Consulting about traveling to Alaska, particularly the interior and back country. Alaska is a bug state and Joe lives in the center of it near Fairbanks but at the northern end of the Alaskan road system. Joe gives us some directions on places to go to see Alaska’s vistas and encounter its wildlife. He takes us above the tree line at Denali National Park (aka Mt McKinley) which is not quite half the size of the state of Rhode Island. At that Denali is not even the largest National Park in Alaska. That honor goes to Wrangell-St. Elias. Alaska also has the largest National Forest which is Tongass National Forest. Joe takes us to one of his favorite spots off the Denali “highway”. He also directs us down to the Kenai Peninsula known for great fishing and also to the town of Homer with its artist culture. Learn what some Alaskans call those bells that a tenderfoot might wear to scare off bears.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Rease from 2 Nomads, 1 Narrative about South Korea. Rease and his girlfriend Nicki taught English for a year in Southern South Korea and also took time t travel around the country. We start in the city of Busan which also called Pusan and the only part of South Korea not to fall to the North in the Korean Conflict. Rease recommends we see Busan fish market and some of the old temples and then move on from Korea’s second largest city to the ancient capital of Gyeongju. Gyeongju is over 2000 years old and includes ancient temples and burial tombs and also has the largest of the Buddist temples in the country. Then Rease recommends we move along to some of the beaches, seaside towns and islands on the south coast which most western tourists don’t visit.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Rease Kirchner about her hometown of St. Louis Missouri. St. Louis is known for its iconic Arch and is known as the gateway to the west. Rease claims that St. Louis has the largest urban park in the U.S., and now boasts about a surprising array of ethnic restaurants including a Little Italy area with toasted ravioli and a Little Mexico around Cherokee street. The city has an art museum made of entirely recycled materials, and Rease’s favorite the City Museum. Rease also tells us where we can find traditional St. Louis food including gooey butter cake and a slinger which she describes as “everything that can kill you all on one plate”. St. Louis is famous for Budweiser and for the associated Busch stadium which is the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, but now also boasts micro-breweries and NFL and NHL teams.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Keith Kellet about the area around his home in Wiltshire England. Wiltshire has been inhabited since the end of the last ice age and has a rich depth of history including the icon site of Stonehenge. Averbury which is an even older stone circle can also be found there as well as the Salisbury Cathedral and the ancient town of Sarum. Keith describes this verdant region with its chalky hills, its rich lowlands, its ancient barrows, and its industrial age canals. Wiltshire is only about an hour out of London on high speed train so it can even be visited as a day trip from your stay there. We have forgotten more about its history than we have remembered so its ancient sites are covered in mystery and speculation.
The Amateur Traveler talks to San Francisco Chronicle Travel Editor Spud Hilton about Gibraltar. This little patch of England at the bottom of Spain is more than just a place where you can see a large rock and get good fish and chips with your tapas. Explore the "rock" and meet the "apes" of Gibraltar. Hear about some of the history as well as the unique traffic challenges of this tiny peninsula. Also learn about Winston Churchill's secret World War 2 monkey plan for Gibraltar. Along the way let me introduce you to Spud Hilton who is one of my favorite travel editors.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Shawn Farris about his recent trip to the Guangxi region in China. Guangxi is a lesser known but spectacular region in south western China known for its rugged karst mountains and green terraced rice paddies. Shawn explored the area hiking, biking and even kayaking through the countryside. Shawn describes it as a region that still has that “wide open, blue sky, rural feel to it.” The region can be accessed through the cities of Guilin or Yongshuo. During his trip Shawn met the strongest lady he had ever met as well as two of the most enterprising sellers of soda.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Alix (of Alix and Jace’s Amazing Adventure) about her hometown of Sydney Australia. Alix has many ideas about fun things to do in Sydney so you don’t just end up with the rest of the tourists on Darling Harbor. After you have climbed the Harbor Bridge and visited the Sydney Opera House she recommends a beach walk by word famous Bondi Beach, a chance to sleep with the animals of the Taronga Zoo and the out of the way Manly Beach. She tells us what’s the best day of the year to see Sydney (although also the most expensive). Alix also gives us a dizzying list of Sydney restaurants to try.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Zoë Dawes from TheQuirkyTraveler.com about England’s Lake District. This beautiful pastoral area was made famous by the poets and artists in the romantic period, most notably William Wordsworth. Not far from industrial Manchester, the lake district is still a refuge for hikers and and other tourists tucked away in northern England. Zoë describes some of her favorite hikes like the coffin trail along the shores of Lake Windermere and favorite villages like Ambleside.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Roni Weiss about his visit to the divided country of Cyprus. Roni went to Cyprus in part to complete a quest to visit every country in Europe. Roni couchsurfed which gave him a chance to stay with Turkish and Greek Cypriots as well as a Turkish resident. T
The Amateur Traveler talks to Erik Smith again about his trip to the Four Corners area in the American southwest. Four Corners is the spot where 4 U.S. states meet: Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. While the Four Corners spot itself is just a photo op (an probably at the wrong place), the area around it contains some amazing scenery and historic sites. Erik gives us a state by state break down of the area. He tells us about National Parks nearby like Arches Canyonlands, Hovenweep, Moab, Canyon de Chelly, Rainbow Bridge, Mesa Verde , Chaco Culture, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Petrified Forest and Aztec Ruins. The area also boats the spectacular and iconic scenery of Monument Valley and a stretch of road known as the “Million Dollar Highway”. It has many Native American sites including those like Canyon de Chelly run jointly by the Navajo nation and the U.S.
The Amateur Traveler talks again to Jason and Janie about their hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia. Charlottesville was has deep historic roots and the homes of Presidents Jefferson and Madison with the home of Monroe close by as well. Charlottesville is also the home of the University of Virginia and Thomas Jefferson was more proud of founding the institution than of being president. The area is now the home to numerous wineries and numerous restaurants and hosts a thriving food culture. Charlottesville is also a gateway to the Shenandoah Valley as well as other areas for hiking and outdoor activities.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Michael Soncina who returns to the show to talk about his recent travels in Southern Taiwan. Michael took advantage of a Taiwan promotion targeting backpackers that opened up army barracks to provide inexpensive housing in this less visited region of Taiwan. The highlight of Kaohsiung City is the Lotus Pond, an area surrounded by temples old and new. Usually the older style temples seemed to be dedicated to Confucius, but there are giant temples in the image of the Jade emperor, which you can climb inside, and each floor offers unique art, as well there are the famous Dragon and Tiger pagodas. Michael also celebrated New Years on Cijin Island with its famous seafood street.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Michael Kenney about traveling to Normandy in France. Michael talks about at least two different invasions associated with this region of France. The oldest was the Norman invasion of England which left from Normandy and is documented in the 224 foot long Bayeux Tapestry which is exhibited in a museum in Bayeux. The more recent was the Allied invasion of Normandy in World War 2. Michael describes visiting the invasion beaches (codenamed Juno, Gold, Omaha, Utah, and Sword), the cemeteries, and the village of Sainte-Mère-Église which was the first French Village liberated. Michael also talks about visiting the medieval fortress and monastery.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Spencer Quong who is a adventure travel guide about his recent trip to Botswana in south central Africa. After reading the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency his traveling companions were drawn to this country and its incredible wildlife.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Sherry Ott again about a very recent trip to Lebanon. Sherry traveled to Lebanon as part of a program with a cultural exchange program with Geovisions which involved in a home stay. She stayed much of her visit in Beirut which at least used to be known as the “Paris of the Middle East”. Since that time Lebanon and Beirut in particular has come through a horrific civil war as well as a war with Israel. Now that peace has come again to the country Sherry could still see the scars from the prolonged conflict but also could enjoy the recovering city, the nightlife, shopping and food in Beirut. In March in Lebanon you can ski in the morning and go to the beach in the afternoon. She also had a chance to visit the historic city of Tripoli where she say the traditional souk and the ancient city of Sidon (Saida) which is over 6000 years old.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Chris Guillebeau from the Art of Non-Conformity about his years volunteering in West Africa with the NGO (non-governmental organization) Mercy Ships. Chris and his wife volunteered with this organization in Sierra Leone and Liberia which gave them a very different view of West Africa. For those not familiar with Mercy Ships, they provide medical services in under-served areas of the world from their floating hospital ships. Chris was in Sierra Leone shortly after the end of its costly civil war. This episode is not about travel to lie on the beach and work on your tan (although Chris does recommend bringing your sunscreen) but about life changing travel. And no, Chris is not a doctor.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Uluç from Indianapolis, originally form Istanbul, about his trips to Bodrum, Turkey. Bodrum is a popular Turkish beach resort but has been receiving tourists as long as there have been tourists. It is the home to the ruins of the Mausoleum of Mausolus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It is also the site of a 15th century crusader castle which includes a museum of underwater archeology. Uluç encourages us to adapt to the slow pace of Bodrum, stroll its markets, linger at its cafes and done forget to take a sail on a gullet from its harbor.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Andrew Hickey of TheBrooklynNomad.com about his home town. Andrew gives us reasons to visit this borough of New York City next time we are in town from some of the neighborhoods like DUMBO, Williamsburg, GreenPoint, Brownsville, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bay Ridge to Prospect Park and Coney Island. The second largest of the New York Boroughs offers good pizza and Italian food for sure, but Andrew will also direct us to a local chocolatier, coffee houses, ice cream parlors and of course Nathan’s Famous hotdogs. Along the way we will visit the Brooklyn Museum, mention where the American War of Independence nearly ended (badly) and ride the classic Coney Island Cyclone.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Vicente Perez about his home city of Pamplona, Spain. Pamplona is best known for the festival of San Fermin and of course for the running of the bulls. Vicente tells us more about that colorful festival, of which, the running of the bulls is actually a very small part. From the Txupinazo, the ceremonial firing of a rocket on July 6th until July 14th the population of Pamplona swells with celebrants. Processions of giant figures (the Comparsa), music, bull fights and lots and lots of partying fill the days and nights. But Vicente also tells of some of the other features of Pamplona and the Navarre region that can be enjoyed any time of year including wonderful food, beautiful mountains, castles, and the nearby cave of Zugarramurdi (Known for the Basque witch trials).
The Amateur Traveler talks to Francis Tapon from WanderLearn.com about Albania which has gone from a totally closed society 20 years ago to a destination that Lonely Planet ranked as the #1 destination for travel this year (that was before some of the recent protests. Francis says the because it was isolated for so long it created an exotic and unique culture. Abandoned bunkers still line the country from back when their fear of invasion had nothing to do with tourists. He recommends we start in the capital of Tirana and from there go to Krujë and its legendary Skanderbeg castle.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Jeff Steiner from Americans in France to talk about a lesser known part of France which is the island of Corsica. The island is better known to Americans as the home of Napoleon Bonaparte but the French call the island L’isle Beauté – the Island of Beauty. Corsica boasts a mountainous interior, with a hiking trail from one end to the other, but is surrounded by gorgeous beaches. South of France, in the Mediterranean Sea, the island is sun-drenched in the Summer. Driving on the island can be scary with narrow winding mountain roads with wonderful views. The Corsicans also boast that Christopher Columbus was born there (The Genoese do not agree).
The Amateur Traveler talks to Eric Schwartzman (author, educator and podcaster) about his hometown of Los Angeles. In this second part of a two part series of episodes Eric will give us the last two days of his sample itineraries for 4 days in the Los Angeles area. In this insider’s look at LA Eric points out the cafes, coffee shops, restaurants, hotels and movie locations that he thinks you should know about.
Day 3: Hollywood – Sunset Strip, Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Roosevelt, L.A.’s best chili dog, Academy Awards theater, Sunset Grill, Hollywood Cemetary and more.
Day 4: Downtown – Chinatown for dim sum, Olvera St. for Mole, Union Station for breathtaking Mission Architecture, Santee Alley and Los Angeles St. for discount children’s formal wear, Disney Hall for magnificent modern architecture and Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Eric Schwartzman (author, educator and podcaster) about his hometown of Los Angeles. Over a two part series of episodes Eric will give us sample itineraries for 4 days in the Los Angeles area. Be forewarned that no theme parks will be involved in Eric's tour but instead an insider's look at LA. So pack up your swim suit, a sport coat and nice shoes and get in your car to explore LA. Along the way Eric points out the cafes, coffee shops, restaurants, hotels and movie locations that he thinks you should know about.
Day 1: Eric starts us at the beach at Santa Monica. We visit the Santa Monica Pier, the rides and the aquarium and then head to Venice with its pier, canals, and famous muscle beach.
Day 2: We follow Eric to Beverly Hills and Westwood. We look over the valley from the Getty Center above the valley. We visit Century City which is now the home for high rises but one was where John Wayne shot westerns. We go shopping on world famous Rodeo Drive.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Kara Williams of TheVacationGals.com about Aspen, Colorado. Like so many locals who live in that area of Colorado, Kara came for the winters but stayed for the summers. She tells us about this historic silver-mining town that is better known as a winter playground for the wealthy now than for its mining past. Whether you are skiing, hiking or fly fishing it has a wealth of outdoor activities. It offers great, if not always inexpensive, food and a wealth of artistic events set in a gorgeous mountain valley. Kara describes side trips to the Ghost towns of Ashcroft and Independence, to the continental divide at Independence Pass and to the caves at The Grottos. She also tells you whether the Aspen Crud is something you want to get. Aspen also hosts festivals as diverse as the Aspen Institute, Jazz Aspen Snowmass, the Aspen Music Festival and School and Aspen Summer Words.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Jeff Jung from Career Break Secrets about a trip to Northwest Argentina that left an impression on this intrepid traveler. Jeff, an expat, who lives in Colombia, traveled to the provinces of Salta and Jujuy, far away from the normal tourist spots of Buenos Aires and Patagonia.
The Amateur Traveler talks to intrepid “20 something” traveler Stephanie Yoder about the country that she thinks is the most beautiful in the world – Bosnia. In an area that was well known for first the winter Olympics and then a devastating war Stephanie found Roman ruins, medieval cities and beautiful mountains. She found a country that has recovered (or at least is recovering) from war and is ready to receive visitors again. Bosnia has deep Ottoman roots in its faith, architecture and its food. Visit Dervish monasteries, hidden tunnels, and the beautiful city of Sarajevo.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Andy Dye about his adopted hometown of Melbourne Australia. Andy grew up in England but fell in love with Melbourne. Sure the weather was better but Andy also discovered a city with street art, vibrant cafes, culture and sport. Melbourne is the home of Australian Rules Foolball which was apparently invented by people who thought that rugby was too tame. Andy talks about wandering around the Central Business District (CBD) and discovering out of the way cafes. Melbourne has museums (like the Melbourne Museum, the Australia Center for the Moving Image), galleries (like the National Gallery of Victoria) and an aquarium. Melbourne is a multi-cultural city and no places show it off better than the Queen Victoria Market or Sydney Road Brunswick. He also talks about side trips such as going to see the penguins at Phillip Island.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Ben Dixon about biking the route of the Camino di Santiago in northern Spain. The Camino di Santiago is a an ancient pilgrim trail that runs across northern Spain from the border with France to Santiago di Compostella. The cathedral in Santiago di Compostella reputedly holds the remains of St. James. Modern day pilgrims are sometimes drawn by faith and sometimes just drawn by the journey itself to trek for a month across the varied landscapes of northern Spain. As an American, Ben did not have a month of vacation but rather than be one of those pilgrims who only traverses the very end of the trail he chose to take on the pilgrim route on a bicycle. Along the way he stayed in the hostels that house the many pilgrims where he met people who had been walking from far beyond the border with France. Through countryside, cities and picturesque towns he rode in both sunshine and driving rain, but the highlight of the trip might not be what you think.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Chris Bogdon who talks to us about his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This former steel capital has undergone a renaissance since its steel business went away and Chris tells us some of the reasons to visit this city at the headwaters of the Ohio River. Pittsburgh boasts both historic Fort Pitt and nearby Fort Necessity where George Washington made a name for himself. It is the home to many different ethnic neighborhoods which it celebrates with food and festivals and commemorates in an Immigration Museum in the Carnegie Library of the University of Pittsburgh. The town now hosts students in greater numbers than steelworkers. It is near Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwaters and a wine region. Chris also talks about side trips to Bethlehem, PA and Jim Thorpe, PA.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Brook about her recent trip to Xi’an China. Xi’an is the capital of the Shaanxi province of China and is perhaps best known for the Terracotta Army of Chinese emperor Liu Bang, but what Brook and her husband discovered was a city that warrants more time to explore. Xi’an has a wonderfully rich history as the Chinese terminus of the famous Silk Road trading route. This link to the middle creates a Muslim influence still obvious in the mosques and markets of the city. The city is also still surrounded by its ancient wall which provides a great place for biking around its nearly 12km distance. Brook tells some of the story behind the Wild Goose Pagoda. She also dubs Xi’an the dumpling capital.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Karl Anders who returns to the show to talk about travel to Western Montana and in particular to the majestic Glacier National Park. Karl encourages us to drive the Going to the Sun Highway but then to get off the blacktop and hick some of the back country of the park (preferably in a group large enough to discourage the curiosity of bears). He describes some of his favorite hikes such as the trail to Hidden Lakes. Glacier is often rated as one of the top places in the United States to hike or backpack. The valleys of Glacier are carved by glacial activity although there aren't as many glaciers still in the park. Karl also talks about some nearby destinations like the National Bison Refuge, Bitterroot Valley and nearby Missoula with its museum to Smokejumpers.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Matthew Long from LandLopers.com about his trip to the West Bank or the Palestinian Authority. Mathew did day trips into this emerging state from Jerusalem and tells us about visiting Jericho and Bethlehem, the city of David. The Dead Sea was a well known highlight while Hisham’s Palace proved to be an unexpected highlight. The area boasts monuments dating back to the Jewish patriarch’s such as Rachel’s Tomb, where childless woman come to pray, and the ruins of the community of Qumran, where the dead sea scrolls were found. Do you know what you should skip doing the morning before you go to the Dead Sea? Matthew will tell you.
Chris, the Amateur Traveler himself, talks about the recent Ralph Velasco / Amateur Traveler Photo Tour of Egypt which was a guided tour of Egypt run by Cosmos. The tour started in Cairo with the Pyramids and the Sphinx, the Egyptian museum, old mosques, churches and synagogues before moving on to the port city of Alexandria. After seeing the historic sites in Alexandria like Pompey’s Column and the Catacombs we continued on to the site of the battle of El Alamein and then to Marsa Matruh in the Northwest corner of Egypt on the Mediterranean. We continued back to Cairo with a stop at a Coptic Monastery and then flew to Aswan to tour Upper Egypt. We saw temples from the Greek period and the New Kingdom from Aswan to Luxor including the Temple to Ramses at Abu Symbel, the temple to Isis, the temple of Etfu, the Luxor temple and the great temple of Karnak. We also visited the Valley of the Kings and a Nubian village. Along the way we shopped and photographed.
The Amateur Traveler talks about his recent fam cruise on the Avalon Luminary down the Rhine River from Basel in Switzerland through France and Germany to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Along the away he visited three UNESCO World Heritage sites: Strasbourgh in France, the Rhine River Gorge in Germany and Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He talks about the castles, the history and what it is like to take a river cruise.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Jeremy from Palm Beach Gardens Florida who talks to use about cruising up the Norwegian coastline into the Arctic Circle on a Hurtigruten cruise. Jeremy lives someplace warm so when he and his wife travel they often travel someplace cold so cruising into the small fjords of Norway during the Winter appealed to them. Hurtigruten started as the boat that delivered the mail to the isolated villages on the coast of Norway (which it still does) but added passenger and ferry service also.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Fred who talks about a road trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Fred and his wife went to Mt Rushmore for sure, but also to other sites in the area that are less well known like Devil’s Tower, Deadwood, Wall Drug, Wind Cave National Park, Buffalo Gap National Grassland and Wind Cave National Park. There are a surprising number of sites to see in the Black Hills and Badlands of Southwest South Dakota.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Beth Whitman of Waderlust and Lipstick about her recent Papua New Guinea. Beth was attracted to this remote country that produced more languages than any other country because of people separated by its rugged terrain. She tells us about the wonder, beauty and yes danger of Papua New Guinea. Beth was preparing to take a tour to the island nation and to the Mount Hagen Show which is a sing sing which allows the different tribes to compete with songs and costumes.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Chuck Prevatte about vacationing in the warm waters and on the white beaches of the panhandle of Florida. This is a vacation for those who want to slow down and relax. There are nightclubs in Panama City and water parks but this part of Florida is a good spot to take the family, eat some good sea food, rent a beach house and bath in 90 degree water. Tourism is off because of the gulf oil spill but Chuck and his family did not see much evidence of the oil on the beaches.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Jessica Spiegel of BootsNAll’s Italy blog “Why Go Italy” and the Eye on Italy podcast about one of her favorite cities in Italy: Milan. Jessica tells us about the fashion industry, the spectacular cathedral, and the first mall as well as some quiet neighborhoods and parks. She also tells us how far in advance you should get tickets to see Leonardo di Vinci’s Last Supper, what to expect when you watch soccer in Italy, and what to do when you see movie stars walking down the streets of Milan. We talk about wonderful Italian people and the joys of learning Italian.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Corinne from Have Baby Will Travel who is a life-long Torontonian (that is to say that she lives in Toronto, Ontario). Corinne gives us an introduction to her city and its many parks, its great ethnic food, its iconic skyline punctuated by the CN Tower. Its neighborhoods includes two different Chinatowns, Greektown, the Irish-influenced Cabbagetown, Distillery District, Kensington Market, Harbourfront and St. Lawrence Market, She particularly suggests you visit during Thanksgiving (Canada's which is in October) or Toronto International Film Festival. Corinne also describes side trips from the city heading out towards Niagra and Ontario's wine country. The city houses both a working farm in Riverdale Farms and a warren of underground shops in the Toronto Underground PATH.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Jodi Ettenberg of legalnomads.com about her trip to Chile. Jodi left the corporate world as a lawyer and started her trip around the world with a visit to Chile. She first went mountain climbing in Patagonia (both in Chile and Argentina) marveling at the glaciers and appreciating the view if not the taste of lama. She then took a 42 hour bus ride to Santiago for a wild soccer game (which is not for the faint of heart) before flying north to visit San Pedro de Atacama, Valle de la Luna. She also dipped into Bolivia to visit Salar de Uyuni, the immense salt flats. Along the way she saw the largest copper mine in the world at Calama. She dealt with bronchitis (brought from New York) and food poisoning (did I mention the lama?). She met locals including a helpful taxi driver and practiced the difficult Spanish dialect of Chile. Jodi also talks with great affection about the UNESCO World Heritage site of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar which were hit hard in the big earthquake earlier this year. Valparaiso is a colorful city of art built on the side of a hill and sloping down to the Pacific.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Seth Oakley about traveling to his birthplace in Northern Ohio. Years ago Ohio and Northern Ohio in particular, had a very bad reputation for pollution that one can only get when a river (the Cuyahoga) catches fire. But these days Lake Erie is cleaner than it has been in maybe a hundred years and boasts sites like the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame, Cedar Point, surfing, and even a burgeoning wine region. The area is rich in history as the site of the Battle of Lake Erie, the birthplace of Thomas Edison and one of the first states added to the new United States. Seth also gives us a glimpse of small town life with a side trip to his hometown of Milan which is the home for both the Milan Melon Festival and the little-known superhero Melon Man.
News
Chris takes a new job
Show Notes
Northwest Territory
Cuyahoga River
Moon Handbooks: Ohio
Ohio: Off the Beaten Path
Milan, Ohio
Lake Erie
Zebra mussels
Ohio on Wikipedia
Firelands
History of Ohio
City of Cleveland
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Great Lakes Science Center
Ohio’s sports misery
LeBron adds to Cleveland sports setbacks
A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor
LeBron signs with Miami
Sandusky, Ohio
Cedar Point Amusement Park
Cedar Point
Destination: Cedar Point Amusement Park
Soak City
Sandusky Hotels
Lake-effect snow
Lake Erie Islands
Battle of Lake Erie
Paper Moon Vineyards
Paper Moon Vineyards, Vermillion, Ohio
Thomas Edison
Ohio Festivals and Events
Milan Melon Festival
Firelands Wineyards
Great Lakes Brewery
Melon Man’s Facebook
The Amateur Traveler talks to Kara from Miami about her hometown of Miami. Kara tells us Miami is not as it is pictured in TV shows like Miami Vice and Burn Notice (except perhaps that it is filled with beautiful people). She tells us about some of her favorite hotels and restaurants as well as cafes where you can sit and people watch. Miami is known for its beach life and Kara tells us where the daring can go to bare all or where you can find a quiet spot away from the tourists. Increasingly Miami is known for its fashion district and its food scene. The summers are hot but offer some of the best bargains on restaurants, hotels and spas… if you can deal with the humidity. Miami defines hot in all senses of the word. So whether you want to see snowbirds or eat stone crabs, Miami might be a place you should check out.
News
Muslim hostess and Disney still at odds over headscarf
French Flight Attendant Arrested for Stealing Cash and Jewels From Sleeping Passengers’ Pockets and Carry-Ons
Show Notes
Diamond PR
Miami Vice
Burn Notice
Haulover Beach
South Pointe Park
Top Ten Miami Restaurants
Brickell, Miami
Key Biscayne
Miami Museums
Miami Design District
Van Dyke Cafe
Miami Spice Restaurant Month
Miami Spa Month
Neighborhoods of Miami
Miami Design District
Michael’s Genuine Food and Drink
Calle Ocho Festival
South Beach Food and Wine Festival
Miami Public Transportation
Fontainebleau
Miami Heat
Miami Heat Tickets
Smith and Wollensky
Red, the Steakhouse
Joe’s Stone Crabs
Adrianne Arsht Center
Snowbirds
Community
Scott enjoyed the group interview in Travel to Namibia – Episode 243
Tricia hits the road
Amateur Traveler guest post guidelines
Amateur Traveler site redesign to add countries
The Amateur Traveler talks to Christine Cantera about her time living in the Languedoc region of France in the city Montpellier. Montpellier is sometimes called the San Francisco of France. Christine shares with us a few thoughts about cafes, bars, which museums are worth it (and which aren’t), beaches, fortified cities, when to visit, and the one day of the year when nobody in France gets any work done. She discusses what are her favorite 3 places to see in Languedoc including one seaside town that still has jousts but with a very nautical twist.
News
Southwest attendant takes baby after slap from mother
American Airlines to Charge for Front-Row Seats
Nursing at Sea
Show Notes
France Travel Guide
Montpellier
Languedoc
Jardin des plantes de Montpellier
Le Petit Train Touristique du Centre Historique
Languedoc wine
Le Jardin du Champs de Mars
Paparazzi
La Dolce Vita
Aigues-Mortes
Carcassonne
Parc naturel régional de Camargue
Musee Fabre
Antigone District
Palavas-les-Flots
Sète
Nîmes
Beaujolais nouveau
Bar le Saint-Roch
MissExpatria’s photostream
Community
Sam was looking for a show on Malta
Don't use the first LukeDon’t use the first Luke
The Amateur Traveler talks to Carla, Jason and Janie about their trip to Nambia. While traveling in southern African to attend some of the games of the World Cup the three made a visit to nearby Namibia after hearing from friends that it was one of their favorite African countries. Come with us as we learn about a country that is perhaps surprisingly prepared for tourists. We will talk about seeing 4 out of the "big 5" safari animals. Our trio talks about miles of sand, sand storms and riding camels but also talks about visiting the show and seal colonies. The camping was easier than expected and the food was more diverse (you won't believe what they found on pizza).
The Amateur Traveler talks to Italophile Ira Bernstein who returns to the show to talk about day trips in Tuscany that you can take from Florence. We talk about visiting the walled city of Siena and its famous bareback horse race the palio, viewing the many towers of San Gimignano, climbing the leaning tower of Pisa (after you take the obligatory picture of someone holding it up), and walking on the walls of Lucca. Each town has its own character and attractions. Arezzo has a jewelry museum and the home of the “Father of Humanism” Petrarch. Fiesole is a rich enclave, a suburb of Florence with views of the city and a roman theatre. Montepulciano and Montalcino are both known for their wines. Ira talks about some of the events that the locals enjoy like the palios, flea markets and flag throwing competitions. So even if you just get as far out of Florence as Piazzale Michelangelo there are many places to explore in Tuscany.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Dan Stromberg about his recent trip to Mali. Mali is a destination so remote that Dan says “I couldn’t imagine myself being here when I was there”. Dan started in the capital city of Bamako, before heading out to Bandiagara and Dogon country. The highlight of the visit was a trek along the Bandiagara Escarpment which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Dan and his girlfriend, along with a guide, walked and hiked along the cliffs and then stayed in the local villages of the Dogon people at the base of this 200 km long sandstone cliff.
Chris, the Amateur Traveler himself, talks about a recent trip to New Zealand’s North Island where he went to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and took a dolphin watching cruise up by the Bay of Islands. He visited the Coromandel Peninsula with Cathedral Cove and Hot Water beach, toured but can’t talk about Hobbiton near Matamata, climbed Mt Maunganui, saw (and smelled) the geysers and baths at Rotorua, journeyed south to the Capital at Wellington, visited a ski area on a volcano and rafted the caves of Waitaomo.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Pamela Beck of the Department of Tourism for Prince Edward Island in Eastern Canada. Pamela describes Prince Edward Island (or PEI) as a get away from it all location that is easy to get to. Surrounded by beaches this 140 mile long island features wonderful seafood and champion oyster shuckers. It has miles of bike trails and relaxed helpful locals. Pamela also describes it as a wonderful golf vacation or a place where you can try your hand at lobster fishing (be ready to get up very early), oyster raking or chocolate making through one of their experience tourism programs.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Melanie Waldman of TravelsWithTwo.com about a recent trip to the Cook Islands in the Pacific. Think of the Cook Islands as Tahiti without the French language and using the New Zealand dollar to make it more affordable. Melanie tells us about this corner of Polynesia with beautiful resorts that she and her husband visited for their 10th anniversary. They hiked the mountainous spine of Raratongo with Pa who knows all of the plants and their uses and cruised the small outer islands of Aitutaki with a guide named Captain Awesome. They also took an archeology tour, drove the ring roads, shopped in the farmer’s market and just hung out on the beach drinking the cocktails of the moment.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Sam Oppenheim who makes a rare 4th appearance on the show to talk about Bali in Indonesia. Sam started his exploration of Bali in Ubud which is the cultural capital of the area. He met two of the people mentioned in the popular book Eat, Pray, Love: Wayan and Ketut Liyer. In Ubud he attended some of the traditional Balinese dances (Legong, Barong and Kecak). Sam explored the Hindu temples and the resort area of Kuta Beach with its famous nightlife, dove a ship wreck and explored the island by motorcycle. Sam’s does regret was not getting down to Nusa Dua on the southern tip with its wonderful sunsets or out to Komodo.
News
Gun Taken From Suicidal JetBlue Pilot in Crew Lounge
Pushy fliers may show up on TSA’s radar
Show Notes
Around the World L – Lilly Marshall’s blog
Ghana
@WorldLillie – Lilly on twitter
Couchsurfing.com
Youth Creating Change
Cape Coast Slave Castle
Hostels in Ghana
Ahh!!! A White Person!!!
How to Get a Custom-Made Dress for $15
What the Heck is Fufu?
Ghana Student Life Stories Project
Community
Allan disagrees with Ralph in Travel to Montenegro – Episode 232, says “rent a car”
Sean says Travel to Kerala, India – Episode 147 missed catholic history
Kathy and John, Yemen warnings
Amateur Traveler Egypt Photo tour slots available - http://AmateurTraveler.com/tours
iTunes reviews of the Amateur Traveler needed
No Maimi Meetup in June 2010
NYC meetup June 23 2010
save 10% off Globus Tours - http://AmateurTraveler.com/globus
sponsored by Auidble - http://AmateurTraveler.com/freebook
The Amateur Traveler talks to Melody who has been living as an exchange student in Hong Kong. Melody tells us what to see in Hong Kong from the very western feeling Central neighborhood of Hong Kong island, the peak and the mid-level escalators to the more Chinese neighborhoods in Kowloon and the less populated New Territories. She also takes us out to some of the outlying islands like Lantau island with the Big Buddha & Po Lin Monastery, Cheung Chau Island with its famous bun festival, and the nearly uninhabited Po Toi island.
We talk about the 10,000 Buddha Monastery and eat dinner on plastic stools in the middle of the Temple street night market. We explore the fish, flower, bird and jade markets. Melody recommends the Star Ferry for a great view of Hong Kong island, especially at night.
For nightlife Melody recommends Wednesday and Thursday nights when ladies often get free drinks. Her favorite night spot is the Cavern and a famous one is the Fringe.
The Amateur Traveler talks to photographer Ralph Velasco about a trip to the very new country of Montenegro. When Ralph visited the country it was the newest country on the planet after it split off of Serbia. This mountainous country boasts the southern most fjords in Europe, old walled Venetian towns, fortresses, island churches, hikes, rafting, and some wonderful photography. Ralph stayed on the coast and visited the coastal cities of Kotor, Budva and Perast among others.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Matt Anderson about a recent trip to Taiwan during the Chinese new year celebration. Matt, who is an English teacher in South Korea, started his trip in Taiwan’s capital of Taipei before exploring the eastern coast and the rich heritage of Taiwan’s aboriginal people in the south.
In Taipei Matt recommends eating at the Shilin night market where the fried chicken and the sausage are particularly good. Matt and his girlfriend also went to Taipei 101 (which is now the world’s 2nd tallest building), the Chiang Kai-shek memorial, and an assortment of temples including the Confucius temple, the Bo-an temple and the Longshan temple.
Matt explored the rugged and less populated east coast on a bike trip that started in Hualien. He visited the Taroko Gorge near to Hualien and nearly spent a night in jail… but it’s not what you think.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Sean Keaner of the BootsNAll travel network about the city of Portland Oregon. Sean describes the independent character of the city that is expressed in its brew pubs, food carts and hip culture. It is also evident in the famous Powell’s bookstore. Portland has a reputation for being rainy but Sean tells us when to come to Portland, where to ride a bike and where to find some good Vegan food. If Vegan is not your style find out where to find a pork chop over 4 inches thick.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Matthew Stone about his home in Northern Virginia. Matthew describes things to do in Northern Virginia either as a side trip from Washington D.C. or a trip in its own right. We start at the famous monuments and Arlington National Cemetary just south of the District of Columbia and proceed to George Washington’s home of Mount Vernon. Matthew then describes some parks and places to escape the city a short drive away. Sure you know that the National Cemetery is in Virginia but did you know you can find a Black History museum, an Apothecary museum and a Tony award winning regional theater all within walking distance of the Metro? Add in some National Parks, Civil War Battlefields, and the SR 71 Blackbird and you may just have to rearrange your plans for your next vacation to the nation’s capital.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Lee from Atlanta about side trips that you can take when you travel to Shanghai this year for Expo 2010. Lee is currently living in China and talks about 3 different weekend trips to destinations that are located near Shanghai. Lee starts us the in history-rich city of Nanjing the site of “China’s Holocaust” in WW 2. Nanjing has been the capital for 6 different Chinese governments and still retains its ancient walls in addition to modern shopping and the tomb of Sun Yat-sen. It was also the location of the world’s worst civil war, the Taiping Rebellion. After Nanjing we explore the many gardens and the canals of Suzhou. Finally Lee takes us to Hangzhou with its beautiful West Lake which the Chinese compare to heaven.
News
Spirit Air to experiment with carry-on bag fees
Airlines losing 3000 bags – every hour of every day
Women try to smuggle dead relative onto flight
Paying to use the plane potty?
Ky. Judge Rules in Favor of Online Travel Sites
Show Notes
Expo 2010 Shanghai China
Travel to Shanghai, China – Episode 26
Nanjing
Nanjing, China
Nanking Massacre
John Rabe – a German businessman and Nazi party member who is best known for his efforts to stop the atrocities of the Japanese army during the Nanking Occupation
Sun Yat-sen – “Father of the Chinese Nation”
Ming Dynasty
Cheongsam or Qipao – traditional Chinese dress
Taiping Rebellion – largest civil war in history started by Hong Xiuquan who declared himself the brother of Jesus.
Restaurants
Skyway Bakery and Deli
Les 5 Sens
Tairyo Teppanyaki
Suzhou
Gardens – Master of the Nets, Lion’s Forest, Humble Administrator
Mingtown Suzhou International Youth Hostel
Hangzhou
Tea Museum
A History of Chinese in California
Braised Pork Belly – Hangzhou Dongpo Pork
Sweet and Sour Pork Recipe
Wushanyi International Youth Hostel
Shanghai
Captain Youth Hostel
elong.com, ctrip.com – for accompodations
Community
Egypt Photo Tour
Amateur Traveler Newsletter
Does Amateur Traveler work for you at work?
The Amateur Traveler talks about a recent trip to Maui as the guest of the Maui Convention and Visitors Bureau. In this second half of a two part episode Chris talks about some of the local culture, food and festivals. He had a chance to explore his rancher roots at one of Maui’s cattle ranches, dine on local produce at some high end restaurants, mix with the locals at the Maui Ag Festival and learn more of Maui’s culture at the Celebration of the Arts.
The Amateur Traveler talks about a recent trip to Maui as the guest of the Maui Convention and Visitors Bureau. In this first half of a two part episode Chris gives an overview of the island and talks about the Hawai’i Nature Center, the beaches and the road to Hana. Learn about swimming or hiking in lava tubes, hidden beaches and some of the naive plants of Maui.
Show Notes
Visit Maui Blog
Rainfall map of Maui
Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua
Kamehameha I
Hawaiian Language
Beaches:
* Makena (big beach)
* Chang’s Beach
* ‘Ahihi Bay
* Maluaka Beach
* Wai’ anapanapa State Park
* Ka’eleku Caverns
The Amateur Traveler talks to George Wendt from Oars.com about white water rafting down the Grand Canyon which is one of Chris’s dream vacations. The Grand Canyon can be traversed in motor pontoon boats, oars rafts, paddle boats or dories. Each has different advantages and disadvantages. The water is fast and cold and the rapids get up to class 5. All the while you are drifting through one of the wonders of the world with massive red stone walls on either side. You come around the corner and are surprised by waterfalls and a green oasis. You explore the side canyons where you can see fossils and the ruins of the ancient people who called this canyon home.
Pauline Frommer’s London and the second edition of Pauline Frommer’s New York City were named “Best Guidebook of the Year” by the North American Travel Journalists Association (2007 and 2008, respectively).
News
Free aiport wi-fi
Travel Tip Tuesday : American Airlines Announces $8 Blankets
Dirty Hotels
This Week in Travel
Show Notes
Pauline Frommer
Pauline Frommer on Budget Travel – Episode 123
Houe of the Redeemer in NYC
UK Airports face chaos over departure tax rise
Argentina Visa Fee To Hit Tourists Starting Jan 1
ShoreTrips.com
Jamaica – Meet the People
Tlaxcala, Mexico
Oaxaca, Mexico – Felipe the Weaver (part 1) – Video Episode 46
Reciprocity in Brazil Tourist Visa Fees for American and Canadians
Internet Resources
oster.com – hotel reviews
Community
Celeste has Marquesas corrections
David has Marquesas corrections
David, “you break up the monotony”
* telling a story
* depth of field
* giving your self assignments
* giving a sense of scale
* adding a human touch
* reflections
* avoiding the crowds
* embracing the weather
* seeking the unique picture
* capturing the essence of a place
I talk about my recent trip to Berlin and Prague in December. This trip was just after the 20 year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall and 20 years after my last trip to Berlin. We will look at a 3 hour free walking tour of Berlin and at a paid private tour of Prague (a gift from OurExplorer.com). We will talk about the history of World War II, Communism and even the Hussite Wars. We will talk about the Christmas markets which are everywhere in both cities in December with their booths, crafts, food and mulled wine. I will tell you of some of the sites of these cities including museums, castles, churches, memorials, and even an Art Nouveau stain glass window in a very old yet also very new cathedral.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Jon Miller of the Rest of Everest podcast about his journeys in Nepal. Jon originally went to Nepal as part of a film he was shooting on an Everest expedition, but as Jon tells it you come for the mountain but fall in love with the people and the culture. Jon describes Kathmandu with is various temples or stupas like Swayambhunath (the monkey temple) and Boudhanath with crowds of people performing a kora around them. He tells us places to get a good meal in Thamel (the tourist district) and suggests a day trip to the well preserved city of Bhaktapur. After Katmandu Jon tells us about trekking and also hiking up to Everest basecamp where the altitude can be very challenging (and Jon lives up at 6000 feet at home in Colorado).
The Amateur Traveler talks to Sarah from Whitehorse in the Yukon about that corner of Canada with long winters but dramatic scenery. She tells of of Winter festivals like the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous as well as Summer festivals like Dawson City Music fest, Atlin Arts and Music Fest and the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival. We talk about sporting events like the 24 Hours of Light and Kluane to Chilkat (Haines to Haines) bike races because Sarah says you have to like the outdoors to come to the Yukon. Sarah also gives us some itineraries for road warriors like the Top of the World Highway to Dawson (and the Dempster Highway for the bold among you) and the Golden Circle route into Alaska. We walk the Chilkoot Trail but without the requirement to bring 1,000 pounds of supplies like in the Yukon gold rush. It is the beauty of Kluane National Park that you will remember but strangely enough it was something else that Sarah was looking at when she decided to move to the Yukon.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Carole Terwilliger Meyers the author of Weekend Adventures in San Francisco and Northern California. Carole comes on the show to talk about California’s traditional wine country of Napa and Sonoma Valleys. This episode focuses primarily on the Napa Valley and the many wineries that can be found there. We explore recreated castles, wine tasting , tours as well as other none wine related sites like mud baths, petrified forests, and the CIA (The Culinary Institute). We talk about restaurants and hotels, picnics and the wine train. Whether you are a connoisseur, a foodie or just a tourist, the Napa Valley has much to offer.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Ira Bernstein about why he continues to go back to Venice and the Veneto (the Italian state where Venice is) annually. Learn about other parts of Venice besides the tourist filled Saint Mark's square. We talk about the Gheto in the Cannaregio sestieri. We talk about how to get around, where you can stay for less money and why you might want to stay outside of Venice. We talk about the glass blowers of Morano and the lace makers of Borano. Then we get outside of Venice to Padua, Verona, and Bassano del Grappa. We will stand in Galileo's lectern at the university of Padua (where they paid him his weight in gold to come teach). And we will visit the (fake) balcony of Juliet in Padua where we will rub a statue of Juliet for luck.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Shawn about his trip to Transylvania in Romania. We talk, of course, about Vlad III the Impaler (Dracula) but also about the green rolling hills, walled towns, castles and people of this beautiful country.
The Amateur Traveler compares two very different cruise options, a Royal Caribbean cruise with formal nights and midnight buffets and the Windjammer Barefoot Cruise. Which cruising option is right for you?
The Amateur Traveler goes to St Georges on the island of Bermuda. This World Heritage town is the 5th oldest European settlement in the new world and the home of the oldest English speaking church. This visit was part of a cruise to Bermuda on Royal Caribbean.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Deanna about cruising to Alaska aboard a small boat from Cruise West In a nights ashore / days at sea program.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Beth Whitman, author of Wanderlust and Lipstick for Women Traveling to India, about the joys and challenges of traveling to India, especially solo travel as a woman. Learn what iconic image Beth has in her house, how she can go to the sub-continent with only the clothes on her back and how to fall in love with India
The Amateur Traveler talks to Richard Miller of the SparkleTack podcast (about San Francisco history) about San Francisco. Richard guides us in a driving/walking tour from west to east. We start at lands end and end up near fisherman's wharf while talking about the sites and history of many of the places in between. This is a great companion episode with the 2 part soundseeing walking tour of San Francisco.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Alex Lindsay about his adventures in Zimbabwe. Alex has been traveling to Zimbabwe twice a year for a number of years where he has built friendships with the people there including some notable artists and musicians. Alex talks about the struggles of life in Zimbabwe and the beauty of the country and the people.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Rachel about Seoul, South Korea. Rachel is a college student from Hong Kong who studied in Seoul for the Summer. She talks about historic palaces, museums, customs and shopping in this city that she describes as a "kaleidoscope."
The Amateur Traveler talks to Robin Noelle (author of next year’s edition of the Moon Guidebook for Puerto Vallarta) about Puerto Vallarta. Robin talks about the beach, the food, the jungle and 12 foot wide Manta rays.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Brad Hugg soon to be the host of the Colorado Podcast about his state. He talks about the citieson teh frontal range and gives us a great circle route that takes in 14ers (peaks over 14 thousand feet), huge sand dunes, buttes, Mesa Verde, and the ski resorts near the continental divide.
Faroe Islands
Georgia
The Outer Banks of North Carolina
The Bahamas
Siberia, Russia - (Mis)Adventure Travel
Tokyo, Japan
The Island of Dominica
Ireland
Singapore
Colombia
Madagascar
Lancaster County Pennsylvania
Enlgand and Greece Revisited
Valencia, Spain
Western Australia
Iran by Bike
Croatia Backroads
Tunisia
Walt Disney World
Finland
Thailand
Micronesia
Malta
Nicaragua
Barcelona, Spain
America's National Parks
Biking Through Honduras, Guatemala and Belize
Tahiti and French Polynesia
London, England
Syria and Jordan
Costa Rica
Sweden
Boston, Massachusetts
Mongolia
Puerto Rico
Barbados
Portugal
Solo Travel as a Woman
New Mexico
Rhode Island
New Zealand
Baja California
Italy - The Cinque Terra, Lake Como and Milan
The French Riviera (Nice, Cannes, Antibes) and Monaco
Rothenberg Germany, Zurich and Interlaken Swizterland
Malaysia
The Netherlands and Belgium
The Seychelles (and Dubai)
Greece
Andalusia, Southern Spain
The Greek Islands
Life as an Exchange Student in Northern Italy
Around the World, Family Style
Rudy Maxa - Savvy Traveler
Brazil
The Galapagos Islands
Travel Photography tips
Kingston, Ontario
Everglades
Burma / Myanmar
A Year In Europe
Istanbul Turkey
Turkey, Asia
Jamestown, Williamsburg, Yorktown
Mountain Gorillas in Uganda and Rwanda
Ethiopia
Philadelphia
Teaching English in Japan
Vietnam
Authors of "Europe From a Backpack"
Denmark with Howard Shepherd of the Word Nerds podcast
Bike tour from Vancouver, B.C. to San Jose, CA
Joe d'Eon, Airline Pilot and host of "Fly With Me"
Liverpool, England
Cycling in Tuscany, Italy
Peru and Ecuador in South America
Lake Louise, Banff and Calgary, Alberta Canada
Edmonton and Jasper, Alberta Canada
Norway
Seattle, Washington
Cape Town, South Africa
Trekking in the Himalayas in India
New York City (part 2)
New York City (part 1)
Vancouver, Birtish Columbia (plus Victoria, Whistler)
China, Rob from Podcast411
Madrid, Spain
Kauai, Hawaii
Maui, Hawaii
Hawaii, the big island
Chicago, Illionois
Chicago, Illionois
Tanzania, Africa as a guest
Tanzania, Africa as a tourist
Washington D.C.
Antarctica
San Diego, California
Las Vegas, Nevada
Turkey
Travel Photography (interview with Chris Marquardt)
Argentina (part 2)
Argentina (part 1)
Paris, France - The City of Lights
Marrakesh, Morocco
Berlin, Germany
DuVine Adventures - Bike and Wine Tours
Swimming with Whales off Tonga
Ashland, Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Egypt
Disneyland (Strategy)