Join host Ged Brown for a timely and thought-provoking conversation with Tricia Duffy, strategy consultant, singer-songwriter, and founder of In Ten Years Time. Together, they explore how rethinking time, specifically, looking 10 years ahead, can help the tourism industry better navigate today’s complex challenges.

This isn’t a theoretical chat, it’s a deeply practical and inspiring look at how creativity and long-term thinking can foster more balanced, sustainable, and meaningful tourism.

From destination planning to personal fulfilment, Tricia shares insights that are just as relevant to policymakers as they are to passionate travellers.

About Tricia Duffy

Tricia Duffy is the founder of In Ten Years Time, a podcast and consultancy helping people and organisations create intentional long-term plans. A former BBC and Sky strategist turned creative entrepreneur, Tricia blends business insight with artistic sensibility. She's also a touring musician and advocate for creativity as a tool for personal growth and social change. Learn more at intenyearstime.com

Key Discussion Points

Long-Term Thinking in Tourism

• Why most tourism strategies stop at 3 years, and what’s lost as a result
• How 10-year planning helps destinations prepare for overtourism, climate shifts, and economic turbulence
• Bhutan's Gross National Happiness model as a radical alternative to GDP
• How long-term thinking improves agility, not just vision

The Creativity Crisis

• Why creativity is often undervalued in tourism and business strategy
• How a daily creative practice supports mental health and innovation
• The neuroscience of imagination and how it helps solve real-world problems
• Creativity as cultural heritage: why it's essential to protect and promote

Personal Transformation Through Travel

• What Madagascar taught Ged about joy, poverty, and western assumptions
• Tricia’s life shift: from corporate strategy to songwriting and speaking
• How creativity helped Tricia redefine her professional identity after the pandemic

Sustainable Tourism & Cultural Resilience

• Why rain, reflection, and “off-season” magic matter more than we realise
• The overlooked beauty of quieter seasons and the value they offer both visitors and communities
• How embracing the arts and slowing down can enhance travel experiences
• Using imagination as a tool for more ethical and empathetic tourism policy

Memorable Quotes

🗣️ “Ten years is far enough away that you can imagine freely without limits. That’s where the magic starts.” – Tricia Duffy
🗣️ “If you don’t know where you’re going, how can you pivot?” – Tricia Duffy
🗣️ “Good songs are written. Great songs are rewritten.” – Tricia Duffy
🗣️ “Quiet cities are beautiful cities.” – Ged Brown

Key Takeaways

1. Plan further ahead – Destinations need longer-term visions, not just quick wins
2. Creativity isn’t optional – It’s essential for innovation, resilience, and wellbeing
3. Encourage imagination – Give communities and teams the freedom to dream big
4. Think beyond visitor numbers – Consider happiness, cultural heritage, and environmental health
5. Celebrate low seasons – Find and promote the magic in quieter times and places

Why This Episode Matters

In a sector often caught in short-term cycles, driven by annual budgets, election timelines, or quarterly KPIs - this episode is a call to zoom out. Tricia Duffy offers a powerful case for reintroducing imagination, creativity, and long-term visioning into the way we design tourism.

If we want better tourism outcomes for people, planet, and places, we must learn to think bigger and longer. Whether you're a tourism board exec, DMO strategist, travel journalist, or conscious traveller, this conversation is a gentle but firm push to see beyond the next season—and shape the decade ahead.

Join host Ged Brown for a fascinating conversation with Rajan Datar, BBC presenter and host of the acclaimed Tourist Trap Podcast. Rajan shares insights from decades of travel journalism, explores the psychology behind our wanderlust, and tackles pressing challenges facing tourism today.

From his transformative gap year in Jamaica to wrestling with Mongolian athletes in the Gobi Desert, Rajan's stories illuminate both personal and professional sides of travel. This isn't just adventure tales – it's a deep dive into what drives us to explore and what the future holds for sustainable tourism.

About Rajan Datar

Rajan Datar is a veteran BBC presenter known for "Rough Guide to the World" and "The Travel Show." He's creator and host of the Tourist Trap Podcast, examining modern tourism challenges. Beyond broadcasting, he's an accomplished musician whose band has toured internationally. His unique perspective combines journalistic rigour with philosophical depth. ⁠Learn more about Rajan here⁠

Key Discussion Points

The Psychology of Travel

• Why humans are evolutionarily programmed to explore

• Curiosity vs. fear: competing forces that drive or inhibit travel

• The transformational travel movement beyond transactional tourism

Personal Travel Evolution

• Growing up in "boring" London suburbia with internationally mobile parents

• Buddhist monastery experience in Thailand and lessons about gratuitous pleasure

• Professional adventures: from Mongolia to Rio's favelas

Industry Challenges

• The Tourist Trap investigation into tourism's dark side

• Over-tourism case studies: Hallstatt, Austria's devastating impact

• Industry denial vs. acknowledgment of problems

• Aviation emissions vs. built environment debate

Memorable Quotes

"The source of all human unhappiness is the search for gratuitous pleasure" - Buddhist monk's wisdom

"We are custodians of this planet and we've got to make sure it stays good for the next generation"

"People who are naturally curious are better travellers. They travel with a positive framework"

Key Takeaways

1. Embrace curiosity over comfort - Rewarding experiences come from stepping outside your comfort zone

2. Consider your impact - Think about how your presence affects local communities

3. Travel off-season - Help reduce over-tourism by visiting during quieter periods

4. Seek transformation, not transaction - Look for experiences that challenge and change you

5. Build deeper connections - Use travel to understand different cultures genuinely

Why This Episode Matters

In an era where travel is more accessible yet controversial due to environmental and social impacts, Rajan offers a nuanced perspective that neither demonises nor glorifies tourism. Whether you're a frequent traveller, tourism professional, or simply curious about human nature, this episode offers valuable insights into why we travel, how we travel, and what impact we want to have on the world.

In this insightful episode of the Balancing Tourism podcast, host Ged interviews Stuart McDonald, founder of Travelfish, a comprehensive online travel resource focused on Southeast Asia. Stuart shares the evolution of Travelfish from its humble beginnings in 2004 to becoming a trusted guide for independent travelers, his journey into responsible tourism through his master's degree, and his upcoming ambitious 64-day overland journey from Bali to the UK.

Guest Profile: Stuart McDonald is the founder of Travelfish, an independent online travel guide focused on Southeast Asia. With nearly three decades of experience traveling in the region since 1993, Stuart has transformed from a backpacker and guidebook writer to an advocate for "less bad travel" - his term for more sustainable and responsible tourism practices. He recently completed a Master's degree in Responsible Tourism Management at Leeds Beckett University in the UK.

Notable Quotes

"Travel fish is like an old school guidebook, like a Lonely Planet or Rough Guide or whatever. But only online."

"The pandemic wasn't great for business. I went back to school, back to do my masters at Leeds in the UK in responsible tourism management, and that sort of turned me on to a lot more of the stuff around sustainable tourism and responsible travel."

"A lot of the issues that we face today in tourism are not new... they were writing about them in the seventies in academia... This knowledge has sort of been sitting around for perhaps 50 years, half a century. And the industry side of things, they're only just sort of starting to think about maybe getting on board with some of these concepts in the last decade."

This episode offers valuable insights into the evolution of sustainable tourism in Southeast Asia through the lens of Stuart McDonald's extensive experience. His journey from traditional guidebook writer to advocate for responsible tourism practices demonstrates how the industry is slowly shifting toward more sustainable models. Stuart's upcoming overland journey represents his commitment to "less bad travel" and provides a fascinating case study in making more responsible travel choices despite the inconveniences they may present. Listeners interested in sustainable tourism, Southeast Asia travel, or alternative modes of transportation will find this conversation both informative and inspiring.

Resources Mentioned:

• ⁠Travelfish website⁠: A comprehensive online travel guide for Southeast Asia
• ⁠Couch Fish Newsletter⁠: Stuart's regular updates on travel and tourism in the region
• ⁠Glass⁠: The photo-sharing platform Stuart now uses instead of Instagram
• ⁠Seat61⁠: Helpful resource for train travel planning
• ⁠Caravanistan⁠: Resource for travel in Central Asia

⁠Uncornered Market⁠: Development work in Uzbekistan and Central Asia