The Travelers

In this session, I have the privilege to talk to the person who holds the world record for being the youngest American to visit every country in the world. Lee Abbamonte appears regularly on Fox, Travel Channel, NBC, CNN, BBC, ESPN and many others as well as the New York Times, Washington Post, Conde Nast, to name merely a few. Arthur Frommer called him the Marco Polo of the 21st century and Samantha Brown said his ‘gumption is a jewel all travelers - would be and expert - can rely on.'” After earning his MBA, he took a career in Wall Street for 8 years. There he realized he could leverage his job to travel and work from the road. He got started and never looked back eventually crossing off every country from his list. What We Cover: Lee’s accidental start to world travel How Lee’s gone from traveler to embedded in the travel industry Lee's life changing experience with the people on Pitcairn Island Lee's take on the effects of travel Getting shot at trying to get into Libya during a war to complete his

Chris Backe left Kentucky for Korea, where he lived in Seoul and taught English as a way to create for himself an opportunity to make travel a bigger, more regular part of his day-to-day. Last year, he and his wife moved to Thailand -where they’ve been bouncing between cities and exploring as much as they can of a very popular country. But to make things interesting, Chris has this fascination with the WEIRD things he encounters on his  travels and he covers the beat of weird across Asia on his blog, One Weird Globe. In this session, we'll discuss why he’s choosing a life of travel, and how he does it — which includes what it took for him to get a job teaching English in Korea and manage his own classroom of children in a foreign country — along with what 'weird' means to him and his relationship to it, and how travel can help us redefine and become comfortable with the weirdness in all of us.  So, if weird’s your thing, let’s get weird. What We Cover: Chris left his job teaching computer classes at a librar

Today we're talking about the value of stories in travel or life and why they matter to the individual and society. I want us to explore why travel matters and today's guest gives us the chance to do exactly that. Lavinia Spalding is the author of two books, With a Measure of Grace: Recipes of a Small Town Restaurant and Writing Away: A Creative Guide to Awakening the Journal Writing Travel, which helps travelers find an authentic story and access tools to better chronicle their journeys as writers, bloggers, or storytellers. She's also the editor of the Best Women's Travel Writing collections and featured in a slew of publications including Gadling and the San Francisco magazine. I'm excited to talk to her today about what I mentioned today about stories and why they matter and how to look at them as something you can take home and share for the rest of your life, and why that matters. What We Cover: Why finding stories is important to personal growth. Being vulnerable to the world is the best way to let t

Did you know that if you need a new car, you can buy one, get flown to Europe and put up in a nice hotel, receive a tour of the factory with lunch, and can then drive it for as long as you'd like around Europe before the manufacturer will ship it overseas so you can pick it up back home? This is through the Volvo Overseas Delivery program. And while Volvo might be out of a lot of people's price range, today's guest has a creative spin on using the cost of the vehicle to defray the overall cost of taking an European adventure. Cori George blogs at Lets Eat Grandpa about a number of topics like home, life, sewing and craft projects, and travel. When a friend told me about this program, and her story, I wanted to get Cori on the show to learn more. And then, returning from episode 54, Stephen Warley from Unstuckable shares his experience with short term car lease programs in France, through which he was able to save over $1000 on a month long car rental. If you're planning an European roadtrip, or to travel and

Today I want to talk about a prevailing motif on this show which is the idea that adventure is relative. You don’t need to go far, like Jodi Ettenberg said in episode 10, “What does off the beaten path really mean? This idea that you can only satisfy the new by going to far flung places, I don’t think it’s very accurate… You can have really meaningful, messed up experiences right in your own backyard if you’re open to experiencing them. The only difference is the cultural gaps are smaller.” And what she means is that it’s the curiosity, the openness, the freeing of the mind that’s more important to exploration. Travel assumes distance, but exploration can happen anywhere - and wherever you explore there is adventure waiting for you. It’s an easily dismissed idea, this one that you can localize your travels to find adventure - but it’s realistic and actual. And you’re doing it. So I want to explore what we really mean when we say you can find adventure in your backyard, you can explore the world nearby, and st

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Soundcloud or TuneIn "The most rewarding travel experiences are the ones that are quite difficult and you’re slightly pushing your limits all the time." - Alastair Humphreys When I first conceived of this show, I was doing some preliminary research and I stumbled upon this trailer for a movie called Into The Empty Quarter in which these two British guys wandered across a barren portion of Earth spanning the width of the Rub Al Khali desert that runs across the Arabian Peninsula. They were doing this for no other reason than to live the adventure of it -- just to chase life. And today, I get to bring one of those two guys on this podcast. In 2001, Alastair Humphreys set out on his bike from his home in Yorkshire to pedal the length of each continent. It was an ambitious round-the-world journey that took him four years to complete. When he finally did complete it, he returned home to realize that he'd only taken the first step on a much larger personal quest. Since then, he'

This is part 2 of my conversation with Nora Dunn. Listen to Part 1. In 2006, today’s guest left a career in financial planning to embrace the desire of perpetual travel, which she has been doing for the past 8 years. This includes train journeys across Canada and Australia, relief work in Asia, life in New Zealand, on a boat in the Caribbean, wandering across Europe. And more. This show is about helping others to create lives of travel, whatever that means to you – and today’s guest is a shining example. Nora Dunn is an expert in full time financial stability — and doing so from the road, full time — and today she lives her message and helps others accomplish the same through her blog, TheProfessionalHobo.com. She’s released two books, How to Get Free Accommodation Around the World, and for any train journey lovers like me — Tales of Trains: Where the Journey is the Destination. I’m excited to get Nora on the line today to share with us her story, and how you might create for yourself a life of travel, full t

This is part 1 of my conversation with Nora Dunn. Listen to Part 2. In 2006, today’s guest left a career in financial planning to embrace the desire of perpetual travel, which she has been doing for the past 8 years. This includes train journeys across Canada and Australia, relief work in Asia, life in New Zealand, on a boat in the Caribbean, wandering across Europe. And more. This show is about helping others to create lives of travel, whatever that means to you – and today’s guest is a shining example. Nora Dunn is an expert in full time financial stability — and doing so from the road, full time — and today she lives her message and helps others accomplish the same through her blog, TheProfessionalHobo.com. She’s released two books, How to Get Free Accommodation Around the World, and for any train journey lovers like me — Tales of Trains: Where the Journey is the Destination. I’m excited to get Nora on the line today to share with us her story, and how you might create for yourself a life of travel, full t

Today’s guest recently quit her job to take the plunge and make travel a bigger priority in her life. Rachel Johnson and her husband couldn’t resolve their conflicting work schedules so they did what any perfectly rational couple would do: They both quit. Now they’re moving to Kuwait City, of all places, to teach english and feed their curiosity and explore an amazing and complex part of the world that scares many people to even visit. They’re writing about their experience over at The Might as Wellers. I’m excited to shake things and bring someone on the show who’s just beginning to take the steps necessary to make a life of travel, what’s exciting her, what’s scaring her, and how they’re making it happen together as a couple rooted in their lives here in the States. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Soundcloud or TuneIn What We Cover: Why Rachel and her husband are moving to Kuwait City, why the Middle East, and what's waiting for them there What's exciting Rachel the most right now about taking the le

Sarahlynn Pablo is a food and culture writer who covers the food scene in her home city of Chicago, which is an enormous and delicious food scene to cover — while also exploring her heritage as a second generation Filipino-American citizen. Sarahlynn is a contributor to multiple books on both the topic of Chicago food and Pinoy culture, and how travel and culture come together beautifully through the expression of food, and why this matters. We really connected on these topics - so I’m thrilled to have her here with us today to share her story about the discovery of self-identity, finding belonging through the exploration of travel and food. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Soundcloud or TuneIn What We Cover: How giving herself the permission to travel to Paris by herself changed her life How Sarah has found a home in both the States and the Philippines after struggling through it all The way Sarah uses food to connect the gaps within the exploration of her own culture, and how you can find this in any

In 2008, Shannon O'Donnell took off a year off from her career in to go around the world, supporting herself with her SEO, and make a travel a bigger priority in her life. Today, she's been on the road for five and a half years, and helps others get started doing the same at her blog A Little Adrift, while supporting herself along the way as an independent consultant, writer, and photographer. She is also the author of The Volunteer Traveler's Handbook and as such is a foremost expert online and off, in the topic of volunteer travel. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Soundcloud or TuneIn What We Cover: How Shannon takes a service-based approach to life What compelled her to take the step to make life a bigger priority, and a lifestyle The complications and nuances of selecting an overseas volunteer work opportunity Research and do your background work on what it means to develop a country. Don't assume that you're perfect for any job. Words from an Explorer: “All of this that is gonna happen and I don’

In 2007, Becki Enright left her career in Public Relations and set out from her home in England for her first solo-female travel experience to Vietnam. Seven years later, she has yet to stop. She’s been through China, Mongolia. India, Kenya, Magadgascar, the United States, Israel and the West Bank, Taiwan and the less visited places like Myanmar and North Korea. She's even lived in Cambodia and is on her way to see Iran. All of this by herself. Today she’s an expert in not just South East Asian travel, but the lesser known, more challenging destinations on Earth. To support her life of travel, she works as a freelance advertising, PR, and editorial consultant for hire. And she writes about her ongoing experiences from the road on her blog, Borders of Adventure. After three months in Turkey, Becki is currently traveling through Georgia. I'm thrilled she took time out of her trip to be on the show so I can share her unique approach toward solo-travel as a female to what are perceived by most to be challenging d

After two decades, today’s guest left his sales career, working for massive tech corporations like Symantic and McAfee, to pursue his own thing in a different place. That place was Singapore where he started his sales and marketing automation company, Linchpin. Damian Thompson is what you might call a digital nomad, and he’s here to talk about that lifestyle - He recently left the Philippines to go nomadic, and I’m excited to have him on to chat about the places he’s lived, and in his own way, how he took the step that so many dream to take into his untethered life beyond the borders of his home country. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Soundcloud or TuneIn What We Cover: How travel as a kid and professional helped make the jump to living as an ex-pat easier. Painting a picture of an ex-pat and digital nomad lifestyle Damian's original plan to create a life of travel was to write content for websites to support his journey A day in the life of an ex-pat entrepreneur in Ho Chi Minh City How Damian man

Noah Lederman was the grandson of Holocaust survivors who, as you might imagine and is often the case, were never keen to share their stories with those who have followed them in time. However, through his travels, he became more curious about these secrets, and set out on a physical journey to uncover the truth. Doing so led him to a life of travel and writing to explore some of humanities darker truths, and learn a lot about himself and people, and why stories matter, in the process. While in Cambodia, he was working on a novel; however, through interacting with the people he uncovered an unshared history of Cambodian culture as a result of what the Khmer Rouge did in the 1970s. His book became a non-fiction account of his travel experience and the admiration he has for a people who struggle to recount their own past. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Soundcloud or TuneIn What We Cover: While it was Noah's parents travel stories that compelled him to explore the world, it was the untold stories in his f

Stephanie Zito’s travels have taken her to over 100 countries. She is a wanderer, humanitarian, storyteller, business founder, evangelist for good, and all around beauty-seeker whose love of travel and involvement in relief and development have taken her to far flung places where she’s found purpose in helping the people of the world - which if you listen to this podcast, then you probably know that’s where I believe all the best stories happen. She’s lived in Cambodia, where she founded Cloud Color Hammocks, a beautifully colorful line of hammocks, volunteers to help children. She gives $10 every day to someone trying to make a difference in the world as part of the Give10 campaign which she founded and writes about on her blog, wanderingforgood.com. And she’s also a master travel hacker with 20 years of experience earning and redeeming frequent flyer miles to help her get out, seek beauty and do the amazing things that she does in her life of travel. And she teaches and encourages others to do the same. So

This is part 2 of my conversation with Uncornered Market. Listen to Part 1! Audrey Scott and Daniel Noll are husband-and-wife-adventure travelers and storytellers, writers and speakers, who took a creative sabbatical to Prague that wound up being the springboard they didn’t expect into a life of travel. Today, they’ve been the road for over 12 years to 80 countries, which is truly the stuff of legend. In their work, they like to cover so many of the things like to discuss and explore on this show. That’s why I’m so excited to have them on, coming from Berlin, Germany: To discuss the why and what ifs of travel as well as their own fascinating stories, all of which they share on their website, Uncornered Market. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Soundcloud or TuneIn What We Cover: How Dan and Audrey figured out how to support their travels while on the road What made their blog, Uncornered Market, successful and separate it from the rest. The truth about the fears we all have of travel experience Dan and

Audrey Scott and Daniel Noll are husband-and-wife-adventure travelers and storytellers, writers and speakers, who took a creative sabbatical to Prague that wound up being the springboard they didn't expect into a life of travel. Today, they've been the road for over 12 years to 80 countries, which is truly the stuff of legend. In their work, they like to cover so many of the things like to discuss and explore on this show. That's why I'm so excited to have them on, coming from Berlin, Germany: To discuss the why and what ifs of travel as well as their own fascinating stories, all of which they share on their website, Uncornered Market. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Soundcloud or TuneIn What We Cover: How Audrey and Daniel each got their start traveling, met on the road and survived long distance relationships. How catching Dengue Fever and nearly dying from it still didn't give Daniel any regrets from taking his first international trip to India. The transformative effects of travel, their importanc

This is part two of my conversation with Natalie Sisson. Listen to part 1! Special heads up! If you want to be one of the first to know about Natalie’s Freedom Plan, then  join the list! This show is about building your legend, and how travel provides you the opportunity to do so. And today’s guest is a shining example of what I mean when I say this. Natalie Sisson goes by the superhero moniker of The Suitcase Entrepreneur, as which she flies around the world saving people from the dull nagging ache of routine, that I talk about a lot on this show, by helping them to – in her words – choose freedom in business and adventure in life. She’s been to at least 70 countries, co-founded startups, played professional sports, been a pro bodybuilder, written multiple books, has her own podcast, blog, all of which converge to help her run her own lifestyle business. Today she sets an example and helps others find fulfillment and experience in life. I’m excited to delve into Natalie The Traveler, why travel’s important t

Special heads up! If you want to be one of the first to know about Natalie's Freedom Plan, then  join the list! This show is about building your legend, and how travel provides you the opportunity to do so. And today’s guest is a shining example of what I mean when I say this. Natalie Sisson goes by the superhero moniker of The Suitcase Entrepreneur, as which she flies around the world saving people from the dull nagging ache of routine, that I talk about a lot on this show, by helping them to - in her words - choose freedom in business and adventure in life. C’mon, how amazing is that? This is why - if you’re looking - you might run into Natalie in various corners of the internet, she has an amazing story to what she does. She’s been to at least 70 countries, co-founded startups, played professional sports, been a pro bodybuilder, written multiple books, has her own podcast, blog, all of which converge to help her run her own lifestyle business. Today she sets an example and helps others find fulfillment and

Sabrina Taylor is a former flight attendant turned accidental entrepreneur. After spending years working as a flight attendant, a job that took her all over the world, she needed a break from all the travel. So, she moved to Thailand where she, with no business experience and no creative skills, applied her talents as a writer to help a friend’s business. As a result, she fell into her own business. Today, despite the naysayers, and to her own surprise, she's a digital nomad having stepped into a connected world of location independent entrepreneurs, running her own branding and marketing marketing consultancy from her laptop in Thailand, and creating for herself a life of travel. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Soundcloud or TuneIn What We Cover: How Sabrina defines a digital nomad. What it was about travel that Sabrina fell in love with and her connection to travel Sabrina's advice for anyone interested in diving into a life of travel How her father being a pilot helped her gain a love of flying, t