Hear about travel to the South Side of Chicago as the Amateur Traveler talks to Amy Bugbee, author of "Suffering and Celebration of Life in America", about her hometown, the South Side of Chicago. The South Side of Chicago is more than just the White Sox and the stock yards just as Chicago pizza is more than just deep dish.

The Amateur Traveler talks to Benny the Irish Polyglot about Toulouse, France. Benny lived in the city for 3 months to work on his French. He was drawn to the University city culture but fell in love with the "pink" city.

Hear about travel to Extremadura in Spain as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sam from indefiniteadventure.com about living and working there. Extremadura is a lesser known region in southwest Spain on the border with Portugal and adjacent to Andalusia, Madrid and Castilla. Sam lived in the city of Medira for 3 months teaching English.

Hear about travel to Bucharest as the Amateur Traveler talks to Wandering Earl about visiting and living in that city. Earl calls Bucharest one of the most under-rated cities in all of Europe, certainly eastern Europe.

Hear about travel to Fort Worth, Texas as the Amateur Traveler  talks again to Jason Hull about Fort Worth Texas the "City of Cowboys and Culture". Sometimes over shadowed by it's neighbor Dallas Jason shows us why Fort Worth is worth a visit.

Hear about travel to Victoria Falls as the Amateur Traveler talks to Nir Ben-Dov about his trip to this spectacular falls on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. This was Nir’s second trip and his wife’s first trip from their home in Israel to this famed set of falls in southern Africa.

Hear about travel to Stockholm, Sweden as the Amateur Traveler talks to Malin from HauteCompass.com about Sweden's beautiful capital city.

Hear about travel to Slovenia as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Michael Soncina about his visit to the country. The country is independent, beautiful and deserves to see more tourists than it gets.

Hear about travel to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jodi Ettenberg from legalnomads.com.

Hear about travel to Amsterdam as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Erik Smith from onmyfeetorinmymind.com. Erik returned to Amsterdam for the seventh or eighth time recently.

Hear about travel to Oslo and Western Norway as the Amateur Traveler talks to Øystein about his native Norway.

Hear about travel to South Australia as the Amateur Traveler alks to Dave and Deb from ThePlanetD.com about their recent trip down under.

Hear about travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina as the Amateur Traveler talks to Leandro Gonzalez about his hometown. Buenos Aires is a large cosmopolitan city of 13 million people. Leandro tries to help us find options for travelers from the backpacker to the upscale traveler.

Hear about travel to Belarus as the Amateur Traveler talks to Velvet Dallesandro about his trip to this former member state of the Solviet Union. Belarus is very close to Poland and the Baltic states but does not get as much western tourism as those countries. Velvet is on a quest to see all the former Soviet countries.

Hear about travel to Kansas City (Kansas and Missouri) as the Amateur Traveler talks to Rob Walch about the Paris of the Plains. Kansas City has that nickname because of the many fountains in the city.

Hear about travel to the Isle of Man as the Amateur Traveler talks to writer and film maker Andrew White. The Isle of Man is a small island in between Ireland and England. "It's a fantastic place. It really is. It's often said it's like the British Isles in miniature."

Hear about travel to Vienna, Austria as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gerhard Strassgschwandtner who is a tour guide and owner of the Third Man Museum in Vienna.

Hear about travel to the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean as the Amateur Traveler  talks again to Gary Arndt of Everything-Everyhwere.com. Gary just finished an island hopping tour that took him to most of the islands in the Caribbean. We will cover the islands of St. Martin, Anguilla, Saba, St. Barts, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Barbuda, and Montserrat on this episode.

Hear about travel to the Island of Shikoku, Japan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dan from Chicago about his recent trip back to the island. Dan also worked teaching English on Shikoku in the city of Imabari. Shikoku is the 4th largest of the islands in Japan and just across the from Hiroshima. Shikoku is mountainous, more traditional and more rural than the areas of Japan more tourists know.

Hear about travel to the Andalucia region of Spain as the Amateur Traveler talks to Crawford Hill from Chill Expeditions about his adopted home in Southern Spain. Crawford traveled in that area and then fell in love and bought a second home here.

Hear about travel to Baton Rouge as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lindsay Thomas from TheTraveluster.com about her hometown. Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana. It can be a great gateway to Cajun food and culture.

Hear about trekking in Ecuador’s Quilotoa Loop as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kim Mance about her recent trip to that country. Kim spent 3 weeks in Ecuador including one week on the Quilotoa Loop.

Hear about travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mary Jo Manzanares about her recent trip there. Mary Jo was really interested in learning more about the history of "the troubles" and her husband about the Titanic.

Hear about travel to New Jersey as the Amateur Traveler alks to Lisa Luben about her home state. Lisa comes on the show to introduce us to the pretty parts of New Jersey that many people don't picture. The state is one quarter farmland and one quarter woodlands and filled with historic towns.

Hear about travel to the island of Vieques off Puerto Rico as the Amateur Traveler talks to Ira Winston from Philadelphia about his recent trip there. Vieques is an island thais 8 miles off the coast of Puerto Rico.

Hear about travel to the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt about his journey to visit many of the islands in the Caribbean on a single trip. In this episode we talk about Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados, and Trinidad. This episode is a continuation of episode 386 which talked about the Leeward Islands.

Hear about travel to the Island of Socotra and Yemen as the Amateur Traveler talks to Earl from WanderingEarl.com about a visit to this isolated island best known for its production of frankincense. The island is quite isolated and a third of its plant life is found nowhere else on the planet. With trees like the umbrella-shaped dragon’s blood tree it has been described as the most alien-looking place on Earth.

Hear about travel to Southern Alberta as the Amateur Traveler talks to Karl Andrews from Calgary about travel to his home province. The Canadian Rockies, Kananaskis Country, Waterton Park, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, The Calgary Stampede, and Dinosaurs.

Hear about travel to Sudan as the Amateur Traveler  talks to Nicholas Bori of the I Quit project about his journey through that remote African country. Nicholas visited Sudan on an overlanding truck that traversed Africa from south to north.

Hear about travel to Indonesia as the Amateur Traveler talks to repeat guest Chris Willis about his trip to Indonesia. The main objective of Chris’s trip was to photograph Komodo dragons in the wild. Komodo dragons live on 2-3 islands which are not near any airport so getting there is half the experience.

Hear about travel to Düsseldorf, Germany as the Amateur Traveler talks to Erik and Anne Hess about this city on the Rhine. Carnival, Christmas Markets and one of the most livable cities in the world.

Hear about travel to Nova Scotia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sherry Ott about her recent trip to this province in Eastern Canada. Sherry returns to to the show to talk about a trip around Nova Scotia she took last June.

Hear about travel to Southwest England as the Amateur Traveler talks to Edith about her adopted home. This episode will look at the area southwest of Bristol, two hours west of London. Edith says that the area of southwest England is “archetypical English”. 

Hear about travel to Saint Helena as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt about his visit to this isolated island between Africa and South America. Gary has come on the show a number of times to talk about obscure, out of the way and small places. Saint Helena qualifies as all three. 

Hear about travel to the Western Sahara as the Amateur Traveler  talks to Francis Tapon about this disputed region as part of his trip to every country in Africa. 

Hear about travel to Lassen National Park in northern California as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dick Jordan about this spectacular if less visited destination. Lassen is in northeastern California. It is just as easy to get to from San Francisco as Yosemite National Park but with fewer tourists and one more volcano. The park centers around the dormant volcano Mt. Lassen and features other geothermal active areas.

Hear about travel to Memphis, Tennessee as the Amateur Traveler talks to Lance from tripsbylance.com about this city where he has lived on and off for 20+ years. Lance tells us that there is more to Memphis than Elvis and Graceland.

Hear about travel to the South Tyrol region of Italy as the Amateur Traveler talks to Alison and Andrew Cornford-Matheson from CheeseWeb.eu about their recent trip to this lovely region in Northern Italy. This predominantly German speaking region of Italy includes portions of the Dolomites mountain range, a wine road and some great vistas.

Hear about travel to Tasmania in Australia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Robert Reid, the Offbeat Observer for National Geographic Traveler, about his recent trip to Van Diemen’s Land.

Hear about travel to Paris, France as the Amateur Traveler talks to Annie Sargant and Elyse Riven from JoinUsInFrance.com. Annie and Elyse do a wonderful podcast about France and guide us through a city they love.

Hear about travel to South Africa on safari as the Amateur Traveler talks to Susan Portnoy from theinsatiabletraveler.com about her recent experience in the Timbavati Game Reserve. This is the 5th time that Susan has traveled to Africa on safari to "shoot" animals... as a photographer. 

Hear about travel to Charleston, South Carolina as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jen Leo from This Week in Travel and her husband John Caldwell about their many trips to one of their favorite U.S. cities.

Hear about travel to Salzburg, Austria as the Amateur Traveler talks to Gina Czupka about her time living in Salzburg. Salzburg is a "compact walkable city. Everywhere you go there is incredible architecture. It's got a beautiful mountain setting. It's just a picturesque easy place to experience the old-world feel of Europe."

Hear about travel to the Silk Road in China's Gansu Province as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Lee Moore from Silk Road Hitchhikers about his trip to this historic and remote part of China.

Hear about all of Canada's UNESCO World Heritage Sites as the Amateur Traveler talks again to Gary Arndt of Everything-Everywhere.com about traveling to all 17 sites. Some sites like Old Québec are easy to reach and others like Wood Buffalo and Nahanni National Parks (the last two that Gary visited) are quite remote.

Hear about travel to West Sweden as the Amateur Traveler  talks to Bret Love from GreenGlobalTravel.com about both his recent trip and my recent trip to this beautiful part of Sweden.

Hear about travel to Slovakia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Julie Callahan from TheWorldInBetween.com. When Julie's family moved to Bratislava, Slovakia 3 years ago they didn't have a single friend who knew where this central European country was located. 

Hear about travel to Northern Australia (Northwest Territories) as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sam Guerra from EscapeFromTheBay.blogspot.com. The "Top End" is "one of the more exotic parts of Australia for sure and it's definitely the closest place you can go to get an authentic feel for aboriginal culture which in my opinion is something that makes Australia unique. There is a lot of natural beauty and a lot of wildlife up there. It is nearly untouched."

Hear about travel to Canberra, Australia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Tenele Conway from www.hungryplanetblog.com about Australia's capital city and the Australian Capital Territory.

Hear about travel to the island of Madeira as the Amateur Traveler talks to Jörgen Abrahamsson who is a tour guide from Tue Nordic in this small Portuguese possession.