Episodes

  • Why Thousands of Solo Travelers Join Surf Yoga Beer Trips - With Founder Mantas Zvinas | #133

    Why Thousands of Solo Travelers Join Surf Yoga Beer Trips - With Founder Mantas Zvinas | #133
    Mar 18 2026
    Solo group travel and community trips are reshaping how people explore the world. Mantas Zvinas, founder of Surf Yoga Beer, shares how a lifestyle built around surfing, fitness, beer, and connection evolved into a global travel company bringing active, like-minded people together. Since 2014, SYB has designed high-energy itineraries packed with epic moments, spontaneous adventures, and friendships that last long after the trip ends. Most travelers arrive solo, but leave as part of the crew.

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    50 mins
  • Surprise Travel Company: The Pack Up + Go Story with Founder Lillian Rafson |#132

    Surprise Travel Company: The Pack Up + Go Story with Founder Lillian Rafson |#132
    Mar 11 2026
    What if you didn’t know where you were traveling until the day you left? Lillian Rafson, Founder and CEO of @packupgo_travel, shares how a random conversation in a hostel in Riga led her to move back to Pittsburgh and start a surprise travel company at 23. Turning a simple idea into a company that has sent more than 50,000 travelers to 300+ destinations across the U.S. takes more than good marketing — it requires trust, logistics, and a deep understanding of how people actually want to travel. The conversation explores how surprise travel works, why travelers willingly give up control, and what it takes to design trips that prioritize discovery over endless planning.

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    51 mins
  • Photowalk Nashville: How Christy Hunter Built One of Airbnb’s Top Experience Brands | #131

    Photowalk Nashville: How Christy Hunter Built One of Airbnb’s Top Experience Brands | #131
    Feb 4 2026
    Building a top-ranked Airbnb Experience takes more than aesthetics — it requires systems, hospitality, and trust at scale. Christy Hunter, Founder & Co-Owner of Photowalk Nashville and one of Airbnb’s top Experience hosts, shares how she turned photography into a multi-city travel business rooted in human connection. This conversation breaks down experience design, platform dependence, scaling with partners, and what both travelers and travel professionals can learn from businesses that prioritize transformation over transactions.

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    46 mins
  • Breaking Into the Travel Industry as a Creative: Community, Visibility, and Opportunity with Aspen Cierra | #130

    Breaking Into the Travel Industry as a Creative: Community, Visibility, and Opportunity with Aspen Cierra | #130
    Jan 14 2026
    BIPOC creatives are still underrepresented in the travel industry — Aspen Cierra shares how collectives like Black Women Photographers and the Black Travel Alliance unlocked grants, press trips, mentorship, and access that led to Iceland, Jordan, and beyond. From a Nikon-backed grant to tourism board work and creator press trips, her journey shows how representation, shared resources, and showing up in the right spaces can change who gets seen — and who gets hired. This conversation is about building a career through alignment, visibility, and belonging in an industry still catching up.

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    43 mins
  • From Gifting to Getting Paid: Building a Sustainable Travel Creator Brand with Angie Thomas | #129

    From Gifting to Getting Paid: Building a Sustainable Travel Creator Brand with Angie Thomas | #129
    Jan 7 2026
    Pretty travel content doesn’t pay the bills — value does. Angie Thomas of The Honest Passport unpacks the realities of building a sustainable travel creator business, from navigating rates and early mistakes, to understanding when gifting no longer makes sense. Grounded in her European upbringing and corporate IT background, Angie breaks down what providing value actually means beyond aesthetics and how genuine passion leads to better partnerships. With the creator economy projected by Goldman Sachs to approach $480B by 2027, this conversation is essential listening for creators and travelpreneurs who want to grow with integrity, intention, and leverage.

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    50 mins
  • Scaling Personalized European Travel with Tenon Tours CEO Bryan Lewis | #128

    Scaling Personalized European Travel with Tenon Tours CEO Bryan Lewis | #128
    Dec 17 2025
    Personalized European travel at scale requires more than technology — it demands expertise, trust, and intentional design. Bryan Lewis, founder and CEO of Tenon Tours, breaks down how he built an award-winning boutique travel company across 18 European destinations by balancing structure with flexibility and keeping the human touch at the center. From sourcing “farm-to-table” travel experiences and expanding during COVID to lessons from failed launches, motorcycle touring in Ireland, and evolving traveler expectations, this conversation offers practical insight into bespoke travel, experiential tourism, and scaling a high-touch service business without losing quality.

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    49 mins
  • Travel That Changes You: Solo Adventures, Culture Shock, and Life Lessons with Lauren Gibson | #127

    Travel That Changes You: Solo Adventures, Culture Shock, and Life Lessons with Lauren Gibson | #127
    Dec 3 2025
    In this conversational, story-driven episode, global traveler and communication strategist Lauren Gibson shares the journey behind her 44-country passport — from studying in France and China as a teen to solo breakthroughs in Canada and navigating culture shock in North Africa. Each chapter pushed her toward greater independence, resilience, and self-understanding. Rather than tactics, we explore the human side of travel: identity, safety, discomfort, curiosity, courage, and the spiritual wake-up calls that come from being far from home. Lauren’s experiences reveal how moving through the world can reshape how you see yourself. If you’ve ever felt that travel changes you in ways you can’t quite explain, this one will feel like a conversation you’ve been waiting for.

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    57 mins
  • Beating Jet Lag with Science: Inside FlyKitt with Founder Andrew Herr | #126

    Beating Jet Lag with Science: Inside FlyKitt with Founder Andrew Herr | #126
    Nov 26 2025
    Andrew Herr, founder and CEO of FlyKitt, breaks down the science behind jet lag and how his system helps travelers feel dramatically better after flying. He’s worked with Navy SEALs, business executives, and pro athletes at Inter Miami. From explaining how cabin pressure and low oxygen trigger inflammation to why most travel hacks get circadian rhythm timing wrong, Andrew shows how FlyKitt helps over 90% of travelers beat jet lag on both long-haul and short-haul flights. He shares what he’s learned from coaching elite performers and why everyday travelers lose 20–40% of a trip just trying to feel normal again. If you’ve ever landed foggy, bloated, or drained, this episode will change the way you travel.

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    40 mins