Indie Travel Podcast is one of the blogs that I’ve been reading online even before I became a blogger. I got a lot of useful information from the travel tips that Craig and Linda have shared.
Craig together with his wife Linda, has been travelling the world since 2006 and have acquired a vast amount of knowledge about the ‘how to’s’ of travelling.
Get to know Craig more and visit him at Indie Travel Podcast.
Here’s Flip’s short interview with Craig.
How did you discover your passion for travelling?
“It’s something that I’ve always really wanted to do. As a child I travelled quite a lot between New Zealand and the UK; home and family. It was long, boring flights with similar cultures on either end, but it started a travel-lust that hasn’t died yet.”
What’s the most horrible experience that you’ve had on the road?
“Being sucked in by a con artist in Bucharest was terrible. Just off a flight, no sleep for over 24 hours … just not able to deal with a smart, well-rehearsed script. Romania is a beautiful country, but — even apart from the con — I didn’t enjoy any of my time in Bucharest … the main attraction seemed to be the packs of wild dogs roaming the streets.”
What’s the most outstanding travel experience that you’ve ever had?
“That one’s impossible to answer! Some pictures that come to mind are road-tripping in New Zealand with wine-tasting, bungy jumping, hiking on a glacier, and camping on the beach; walking 1,000km of the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain; hanging out with a bunch of travel bloggers at TBEX and La Tomatina this year.”
What’s the biggest realization that you’ve got out of travelling?
“I think I’ve realised that I want to accrue experiences rather than things. I’ve been happily living out of a backpack for almost five years now. I’d like to have my library and wine cellar on a large estate, and a yacht to sail the world on but I’m really, really happy without those things. Life is too short to trade time for money in order to collect things.”
What keeps you going? What keeps you motivated?
“An almost pathological addiction to ‘the new’ keeps me going. I love to try new food, new scenes, new places. I’d like to do more hiking, but at the moment we’re having to stay tethered to wifi while we get our online businesses off the ground. That’s fine: short-term pain for long-term gain … but we’ve been to over 20 countries so far this year, so it’s beautiful to have an ‘office’ with that much freedom.”
This is a silly and hypothetical one. If you would be given a chance to travel with a popular person or a celebrity, who would it be and why?
“I don’t know who I’d like to travel with. It’s not something I’ve really thought about. It might be fun to travel somewhere new with Stephen Fry: explore all day and swap stories and witticisms over cocktails in the evening.”
What could stop you from travelling?
“If Linda and I stay healthy and financially solvent, I think we’ll continue to travel. We might slow down a little: we’re hoping to spend longer in more places next year, but the road keeps calling.”
Among the places that you’ve been to, which one fascinated you the most?
“I’d love to revisit Chachapoyas in northern Peru. We only gave ourselves a few days there, after a tip from another group of travellers. I’d love to spend a month up in the jungle, exploring the ruins of Kuelap, the world’s third-highest waterfall, and enjoying the local festivities which I’ve only ever seen in their small town museum.”
What’s the best travel advice that you could give a novice traveler?
“Only take carry-on luggage and keep the weight under 12kg. Pack light.”
“Craig Martin and his wife Linda have been travelling full-time since February 2006, visiting around 50 countries in that time. They run a series of blogs including the award-winning Indie Travel Podcast, Make Money Travel Blogging. Their company, Indie Travel Media Ltd publishes ebooks like the Art of Solo Travel and makes other companies look good with kick-ass design, website consulting and content.”
“The Indie Travel Podcast serves as an online home to backpackers, expats, digital nomads and career breakers. We continue to find interesting stories from people on the road, amazing opportunities to fund people’s travels, and practical advice from every continent in the world.
We’re now publishing audio, video, photos and articles. There’s an amazing, worldwide community of indie travellers and many of them contribute their stories to the podcast. It’s become much bigger than us, but we’re glad to be caught up in the adventure with so many interesting people. Come and say hi on site, Facebook or find us in iTunes for our free weekly travel podcast. “” – Craig
Next: Linda Martin of Indie Travel Podcasts. Previously: gael Hilotin of The Pinay Solo Backpacker. For more interviews with travel bloggers, check out the archives of Meet the Nomads.
[...] “I think I’ve realised that I want to accrue experiences rather than things. I’ve been happily living out of a backpack for almost five years now. I’d like to have my library and wine cellar on a large estate, and a yacht to sail the world on but I’m really, really happy without those things. Life is too short to trade time for money in order to collect things.” – Craig Martin of Indie Travel Podcast [...]