Nowhere is truly ‘hidden’ or ‘undiscovered’, but there are many places that typical travelers don’t know about. After all, on your first couple of trips to a country, you want to see the ‘must-see’ sites, and that keeps the vast majority of travelers on a similar path. On Ep. 116: Hidden Travel Gems in Asia, we not only shared some of our favorite spots but also restaurants and activities. On this episode we’ll dig deeper, focusing particularly on spots we enjoy but many travelers may not know about. Get ready to add a host of spots to your ‘must-see’ list.
Continue readingExploring a country by motorbike is one of the best ways to experience a new destination. Typically, however, one doesn’t think of a group of women or a solo female adventurer on a bike in a far-flung foreign land. Fortunately, we know better than to make such assumptions and we even know two women, Maeve Nolan and Andrea Vinsonneau who enjoy traveling by motorcycle as one of their personal passions. Today they will share some of their stories and their travel advice for exploring Asia by motorcycle.
Continue readingWe’ve collectively lived and worked in Asia for more than 40-years. After that long, one begins to wonder where ‘home’ is? Is it where you were born? Where you grew up? Where you’re living now? Or a combination of all of those? And the longer one is away from their country of birth, and continent for that matter, the stranger it can feel when you return for a visit. On this episode we’ll chat about things we’ve found odd, uncomfortable, and just plain strange about returning to the west after recent visits. Today we’re chatting about Reverse Culture Shock!
Continue readingHotels can make or break a trip. Sometimes they bring you closer to a destination, sometimes they elevate your experience, and other times they are the destination themselves. Trevor and I have been lucky enough to stay at a lot of interesting and memorable properties across Asia over the years, and today we’re going to share some of those experiences with you. From high-end to charming and local, there’s a wide range of winners here you’re sure to want to make a part of your next trip to the region.
Continue readingHere we are, nearing the end of 2021, the future looks brighter around the world, and we hope to all get traveling again. Travel is one of life’s great joys. We learn about the world. We learn about ourselves. Sometimes in the best possible ways, occasionally in horrifically bad ways, but with some perspective, hopefully in a memorable way. Today, Scott and Trevor share some of their Best, Worst, Scariest & Strangest Travel Experiences.
Continue readingLanguage screw-ups, weird taxi driver stories, and warning signs we wish we could tell our younger selves are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this special cross-over episode between Talk Travel Asia and Bangkok Podcast. Scott and Trevor have each spent the majority of the past 20 years living in Bangkok, as have our guests, Greg and Ed, whom they’ve known nearly as long as they’ve been living in Asia. Over the past two decades, the City of Angels has changed nearly as much as the four have, and, while three of the four are still experiencing it as a home, there’s an old expression that continues to summarize this expat life: the good, the bad, and the things that can only be explained by saying, TIT, “This is Thailand.”
Continue readingExperiencing animals in Asia can be one of the most interesting parts of your travels. The animals you will encounter while traveling in Asia are often exotic: certainly different from the animals found in most visitor’s home countries. From elephants to street dogs, you’re bound to have at least a couple interesting animal encounters and experiences as you travel through Asia (and a few animal tales to take home as souvenirs). After living in the region collectively for more than four decades, Scott and Trevor have had some fun, at times unnerving, and often unique animal experiences in Asia, which they share on this week’s episode of Talk Travel Asia podcast: Animal Tales: Experiencing Animals in Asia.
Continue readingVisiting areas of Asia with monkeys can be very exciting. As monkeys are such intriguing creatures, people often consider them to appear friendly, especially if they’re not scared of humans. These monkeys usually expect people to give them food, whether the humans want to or not and they can be very cheeky if not dangerous in certain circumstances. Want to hear Scott and Trevor’s monkey stories? Listen to our Monkey Tales episode now!
Continue readingAlthough we love to share travel tips and advice about travel around Asia with expert guests, there’s nothing like sharing travel stories. As Scott and Trevor have been living in Asia for 41 years, they’re well-worn, traveled, and traversed expats with quite a few travel tales. But despite spending so much of their lives in Asia, Trevor and Scott are still amazed by how often there’s something wild just around the corner on a weekly, if not sometimes daily basis. Life continues to amaze and these experiences make for good stories. In this episode of Talk Travel Asia Podcast, Scott and Trevor share some wild stories about life living and traveling Asia in the fourth part of our Tantalizing Travel Tales series. Get a comfy seat, pour yourself a drink, and get ready to be transported throughout Asia.
Continue readingThis Talk Travel Asia podcast interview with Joe Cummings discusses Joe’s trip to Mount Kailash. Mt. Kailash, located in western Tibet, is considered sacred by Hindus, Bons, Buddhists, and Jains. It towers at 6,638m, represents Mount Meru to Hindu and Buddhists, is central to Buddhist cosmology, and is a major pilgrimage site for various worshippers. One of the religious traditions of pilgrims involves trekking 52km around the base of the mountain, clockwise for Buddhists and Hindus, in order to attain good luck and future fortune along the way. The trip passes through remote lands, over a 5,500m pass, and typically takes about four-days. Today we’ll chat with legendary traveler and writer, Joe Cummings, about his circumambulation of Mount Kailash in 2015.
Continue readingTalk Travel Asia podcast welcomes back Phillip Cornwel Smith to talk about his latest publication: Very Bangkok. There’s no doubt that Bangkok is one of the world’s most visited cities. Its sites are some of the most featured on Instagram, and almost everyone will come up with some mental pictures of the city, good and bad, the moment they hear the name. Founded in 1782 when the Chakri Dynasty established Bangkok as Thailand’s capital, it’s a vibrant, dynamic city that dazzles the senses at every turn. Some love it, others hate it, and all with good reason. Today we’ll explore the City of Angels well beyond the surface with longtime resident and author Philip Cornwel Smith, who will share insights from his book Very Bangkok.
Continue readingScott and Trevor recount their adventure to the remote Preah Khan temple in Kompong Svay, central Cambodia, which they visited in September 2018 by motorcycle. Remote, out-there, far-flung. All these words perfectly describe this temple complex. While located just 100 km east of Angkor Wat, it’s a lot further away from civilization than that. Located in Preah Vihear province, it is the largest single religious complex ever built during the Angkor Era. Constructed during the 11th century, it’s about 5km square, with what initially would have been a massive moat around it. We talked about going for years and finally made the journey in September 2018. We share how it all went down!
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