389 How Travel Transforms Our Thinking

The more I travel (and the older I get!), the more I realise how little I know, and how wrong I've been about so many things! In this episode, I chat with three guests about various ways their travel experiences have transformed their thinking and perspective, and the general consensus is that everything's more complicated than we first think. I speak with Nikki Padilla Rivera about her experiences in Vietnam and Cuba, two very different work trips that introduced her to local knowledge and culture in varying ways and smashed her preconceived ideas about these places. Next, my discussion with Tom Sykes harks back to our younger years of travelling and how we now reconsider our old thoughts and attitudes, and in general how much travel teaches us about the nuances of the world, politics, culture and more. Finally, I round out the episode with a story from James Ward about a perspective shift in his daughters after he took them to Zambia. Links: Nikki Padilla Rivera of She Shapes History NYC - Tom Sykes - Tom's book The Years of Travelling Anxiously - James Ward - James' Rewild Safaris - Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - Show notes: *Full disclosure: Amazon Services LLC Associates Program NotABallerina.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Support the show:

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389 How Travel Transforms Our Thinking is an episode from The Thoughtful Travel Podcast by Amanda.

This episode is 22:04 long.

This episode was published on Apr 15, 2026.

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