Zero To Travel Podcast - podcast cover

Zero To Travel Podcast

Jason Moorezerototravel.com
✈️ The Zero To Travel Podcast has been downloaded 12+ million times and named a "Best Travel Podcast" by The Washington Post, Travel + Leisure, The Telegraph, and Forbes. Packed with life-changing perspectives, inspiration, and practical advice for everyone from travel newbies to nomads, this podcast will give you everything you need to travel the world on your terms, regardless of your situation or experience. Welcome to our amazing global listening community! Since 2013, "Travel Ambassador" Jason Moore from zerototravel.com has been picking the brains of adventurous people living an unconventional life on the road so you can discover new ways to travel endlessly. Along the way, you'll get actionable advice and key resources that will improve your life AND help you travel more as we get down and dirty on topics like; starting and running an online business from anywhere, the best off-the-beaten-path destinations to visit, travel and work opportunities, gutsy budget travel strategies, surprising ways to earn free travel, the digital nomad life, unconventional travel based lifestyles, fun travel jobs, how to plan epic adventures, backpacking, remote work, how to take a gap year or a career break, 4-hour work week inspired topics, ex-pat life, slow travel, travel hacking, sustainable travel, human-powered adventures, trips worth planning, and everything in between. Host Bio: Jason wandered the planet as a nomad for over a decade and spent 15+ years on the road as a tour manager in events/music, a seasonal adventure travel tour guide, and a digital nomad. Originally from the USA, he is now a dual citizen (Norway/USA) based in Oslo. He is obsessed with helping YOU explore our planet on your terms. Follow the show (it's FREE!) and welcome to the global community. 🙏 PS - To sign up for our free newsletter to get travel tips, tricks, destination advice, and more visit zerototravel.com/newsletter.
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Episodes

11 European Dishes You Must Try Before You Die (Plus Movie Pairings) with Kenny Dunn

Which European dish is so good you’d plan a trip around it? Kenny Dunn is the founder of Eating Europe, a food tour company that has guided over 400,000 travelers to the best local eats in 17 of Europe’s greatest cities since 2011. In this episode, Kenny shares 11 European dishes you must try before you die, including cultural context, restaurant tips, and personal stories from his years of travel. Kenny explains how each dish connects to its place and people, how everyday locals enjoy them, and...

Dec 02, 20251 hr 24 min

Remote Roundup: Bangkok & Oaxaca, Remote Career Trends, Missing Out at Home, Practical Holiday Gift Guide (November 2025)

How do you choose where to live, what to do, and when to go home when your life is fully remote? Remote Roundup is a monthly series hosted by Zero To Travel’s associate producer, Caitlin Sunderland, and partnerships manager, Janessa Klatt. Explore what's new in remote work and travel, including helpful tools and resources, need‑to‑know trends, destinations, and insight into what it really means to live and work around the world. In this episode, they’re reporting in from two wildly different cor...

Nov 27, 20251 hr 5 min

Top 10 World’s Most Difficult Countries to Visit (How and Why to Go) with Gunnar Garfors and Jacqui Kunz

What are the most difficult countries to visit, and why do some require months of effort just to get in? Gunnar Garfors is an author, journalist, and the first person to travel to every country in the world twice. Jacqui Kunz was named “World’s Most Intrepid Traveler” in 2023 and is also well on her way to visiting every country in the world. In this Zero To Travel Host Collective episode, Gunnar and Jacqui go through ten of the world’s most difficult countries to visit from a visa and access st...

Nov 25, 20251 hr 10 min

Independent Travel as a Female in Afghanistan, Hitchhiking Iraq, and Ex-Pat Life in Sudan with Jacquelyn Kunz

IMPORTANT: This episode was recorded before the conflict in Sudan, and Jacqui has since left the country. For additional information and ways to support the Sudanese people, you can visit eyesonsudan.net and follow Jacqui on Instagram . Why would someone choose to travel to the world’s most dangerous places? Today I’m joined by Jacquelyn Kunz, the first female to travel independently through Afghanistan after the Taliban regained control. In this episode, Jacqui shares some of the toughest momen...

Nov 20, 20251 hr 30 min

Beginner's Guide to Travel (No Matter Your Age) + How to Travel with Diabetes with Jason Robinson

What does it really take to build a travel lifestyle from scratch, especially if you’re starting later in life or managing a serious medical condition? Jason Robinson is the founder of The Nomad Experiment and author of The Beginner Traveler’s Guide . After digging out of debt and selling his home, he now travels full-time while living with type 1 diabetes. Jason joins me to explore his updated beginner travel guide, how the nomad lifestyle has become his way of life, and how we can all learn to...

Nov 18, 20251 hr 18 min

Top 7 Destinations to Visit (Before They Get Crowded) with Gunnar Garfors

Need some inspiration for your upcoming travels? Gunnar Garfors is the first person to travel to every country in the world not once, but TWICE. As the ultimate travel expert, he’s with us to share his list of the best places to visit before they get too popular. You’ll hear about seven out-of-the-ordinary destinations spanning all seven continents to help you plan for the coming year and beyond. Whether it’s beach life, mountain hikes, big cities, or relaxing getaways, there’s something on the ...

Nov 13, 20251 hr 29 min

The Revival of Night Train Travel and Launching a European Sleeper Train Startup with Thibault Constant

Is night train travel making a comeback? Trains have long been seen as a romantic or nostalgic way to explore a destination, but what if it could also be the most practical, comfortable, and climate-friendly way? Thibault Constant is a French train enthusiast turned entrepreneur who built a following of 300k on his YouTube channel, Simply Railways. He’s the author of Trains de Nuit and co-founder of Nox, a new sleeper train company aiming to revolutionize overnight travel across Europe with affo...

Nov 11, 20251 hr

How To Be a “New Tourist,” the Powers and Perils of Tourism, Embracing Tourist Traps, and the Impact of Travel with Paige McClanahan

How is tourism impacting communities, and what can we do about it? Paige McClanahan joins me to talk about the dualities of the tourism industry and how we can have deeper travel experiences while benefiting the world. Paige McClanahan is the author of The New Tourist: Waking up to the Power and Perils of Travel. She is an American journalist based in France and a regular contributor to The New York Times, where she reports on the impacts of tourism. She is also the host of The Better Travel Pod...

Nov 06, 20251 hr 40 min

7 Chile Hidden Gems: Off-the-Beaten Path in Patagonia, Mapuche Culture, and More with Steph Dyson

Want to explore volcanoes, wine valleys, remote wilderness, and vibrant indigenous cultures, all in one country? Why not make Chile your next adventure? Steph Dyson is a travel journalist, guidebook author, and founder of the website Worldly Adventurer. She has spent nearly a decade living and travelling across Latin America, including three years in Chile, and is the author of Moon Chile With Patagonia & Rapa Nui (Easter Island). In today’s episode, we explore Chile’s incredible geographic ...

Nov 04, 20251 hr 35 min

Remote Roundup: True Costs of Long-Term Travel, Taxes & Borderless Living, an Underrated Productivity Habit, + More (October 2025)

What tools and routines make the biggest difference for nomads? What really drives down your cost of living abroad, and what are you giving up to get there? On this month’s episode, Caitlin and Janessa swap stories on budgeting, daily tradeoffs, and what it takes to feel comfortable in constant motion. You'll hear their thoughts on shifting priorities, overlooked productivity habits, tax residency trends, and why your “normal” might not be so normal elsewhere. Remote Roundup is a new monthly ser...

Oct 30, 20251 hr 17 min

7 Epic Travel Fitness Adventures (For All Levels) and Solo Travel for Transformation with Heidi Nicklaus (+ Jason’s Ultimate Travel Blunder)

What would your travels look like if you planned them around the most epic, life-shaping active adventures you could dream up? Heidi Niklaus is the founder of Heidi Runs Abroad LLC, where she helps travelers, expats, and digital nomads maintain their wellness routines on the road. With a background in higher education at Rutgers University, she pivoted into fitness instruction, became a long‑term traveler, and is now planning her move to Sofia, Bulgaria. In this episode, Heidi shares how a divor...

Oct 28, 20251 hr 12 min

Top 15 USA National Park Hikes: From Iconic Must-Dos to Hidden Wilderness Gems with Jason Frye

What if the best hikes in America’s national parks aren’t the ones you’ve already heard of? Jason Frye is a travel and outdoor writer who grew up in the mountains of West Virginia and now lives in North Carolina near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. His latest book with Moon Travel Guides, USA National Parks Hiking: The Top 100 Trails , covers 100 hikes across 40 U.S. national parks. Jason takes us through some of the best hikes in America’s national parks, broken down into three helpful...

Oct 21, 20251 hr 34 min

How to Harness the Power of Your Intuition (Using the Icelandic Concept of Innsæi) with Hrund Gunnsteinsdottir

What would life feel like if you could reliably tap into your intuition, even when your logic is pulling in another direction? Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir is an Icelandic author, speaker, and creative leader known for popularizing the concept of InnSæi , the Icelandic approach to intuition. She spent years working in international development (including the UN) before shifting into coaching, writing, and teaching how to access inner wisdom. Her book InnSæi: Heal, Revive, and Reset with the Icelandic ...

Oct 14, 20251 hr 29 min

Peru’s Hidden Gems, Why NOT to Hike the Inca Trail + Amazing (Less Crowded) Alternatives with Heather Jasper

Is it possible to hike the Inca Trail ethically? Heather Jasper is a travel writer and photographer who has been based in Cusco, Peru, since 2019. She has written for BBC Travel, Fodor’s, Frommer’s, and other major outlets, leading readers off the beaten path across Peru. In this episode, we dig into why Heather believes it’s nearly impossible to hike the Inca Trail ethically, and she offers lesser-known, more respectful alternatives and hidden gems across Peru. This episode may help you become ...

Oct 07, 20251 hr 17 min

Surviving On a Desert Island + Transformative Travel with Tom Williams from Desert Island Survival

Do you have the skills to survive on a deserted island? Tom Williams is the founder of Desert Island Survival, an adventure travel company that maroons people on desert islands, and the winner of the TV survival show Alone UK 2023. In this episode, Tom traces his path from wealth management to remote survival guiding, explains how he designs his desert island expeditions, and shares the deep transformations that he's witnessed in his participants. Tom shares how he went from being at the bottom ...

Oct 02, 20251 hr 18 min

Top 7 French Riviera Hidden Gems (A Local’s Guide) + A Lifestyle Redesign Built Around Travel with Cédric Pages

What if the French Riviera you’ve seen in photos is only half the story? Cédric Pages is the founder of WhatToDoRiviera.com , a local tour entrepreneur driving discovery across the Côte d’Azur by partnering with small operators and curating authentic experiences. In this episode, we dive into seven hidden gems of the French Riviera that most visitors miss, plus Cédric’s journey from IT to tour guide and how he’s building a travel business that’s rooted in human connection. Cédric shares seven of...

Sep 30, 20251 hr 3 min

Remote Roundup: Intentional Travel, Nomadding Berlin, Work Setups, Co-Living Trends, Overhyped Destinations (September 2025)

What if every choice as a digital nomad, from where you live, to how you work, to the people you surround yourself with, was made with more intention? Remote Roundup is a new monthly series hosted by Zero To Travel’s associate producer, Caitlin Sunderland, and partnerships manager, Janessa Klatt. Explore what's new in remote work and travel, including helpful tools and resources, need‑to‑know trends, destinations, and insight into what it really means to live and work around the world. In this e...

Sep 25, 20251 hr 1 min

Traveling with No Destination and No Goals: Lessons from a 3-Year, 38,000-Mile Solo Bike Ride Around the World with Jacob Lemanski

What would happen if you left home with no destination, no goal or deadline, and simply just went until you couldn’t go any further? Jacob Lemanski is an engineer-turned-world traveler who bicycled 38,000 miles over 999 days, crossing six continents and circling the earth twice. After returning home, he turned his travel journal into a video podcast, How To Move The Stars . He also founded an art and clothing company inspired by the experience and now runs a bike touring business in Colorado. Ja...

Sep 23, 202557 min

Safari Planning 101 + How to Build Your Life Around Travel with Scott Brills

What does it take to plan an unforgettable African safari? How can one trip lead to building a life and business around travel? Scott Brills is a long-time digital nomad, international entrepreneur, and co-founder of Pamoja Safaris, a locally run company offering custom wildlife safaris in Tanzania. Over the past 20 years, he’s lived at the intersection of travel, business, and service — running trips, participating in charities, and creating a location-independent lifestyle before “digital noma...

Sep 18, 20251 hr 33 min

10 Steps to License Your Product Ideas for Location Independent Passive Income (No Manufacturing Required) with Courtney Laschkewitsch

Could you turn a product idea into passive income, without starting a business or having to do it all yourself? Courtney Laschkewitsch is a serial inventor who, with no prior experience, licensed six products after facing 51 rejections. Now, Courtney helps everyday inventors bring their ideas to life and earn passive income through the free resources on her website, Serial Inventing, and the company she works for, inventRight. Courtney lays out the inventRight 10-step product licensing business ...

Sep 16, 20251 hr 36 min

Adventures in Urban Exploration with Greg Abandoned

Have you ever had the urge to explore the world beyond the boundaries of society? Greg Abandoned shares his passion for urban exploration, including stories of some of his most challenging journeys, most cherished experiences, and all about the URBEX movement. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to visit lost parts of society and want to know more about finding beauty in decay, then you don't want to miss this episode. We discuss how Greg discovered a new perspective on life through ...

Sep 11, 20251 hr 35 min

Counterintuitive Advice on Selling Online, Starting Before You’re Ready, & Building a Fiction Career with Nat Eliason

What if the best time to start your business or creative pursuit was before you felt fully ready? And what if you didn’t need to follow all of the current “best practices” to market yourself? Nat Eliason is an entrepreneur and author based in Austin, Texas. Over the past decade, he’s built a career that gives him location freedom through writing, course creation, and now fiction. His debut sci-fi novel Husk: Book 1 of the Meru Initiative, was released in May 2025. In this episode, Nat returns to...

Sep 09, 20251 hr 25 min

The Elements of AlUla: Arabia’s Lost City and the Heritage of Earth

Today, I’ve got a special episode from The Elements of AlUla , a travel docuseries produced by Armchair Productions. The company was founded by Aaron Millar, who you may know as the host of The Armchair Explorer podcast. In this series, Aaron is going to take you on a journey into the heart of one of the most ancient kingdoms on Earth. Located in the northwestern corner of Saudi Arabia, Alula is an oasis in the desert, layered in 200,000 years of human history. Until recently, it was closed to o...

Sep 04, 202549 min

15 Years of Sacrifice, Secrets, & Sleeping with Cobras: Refusing an “Ordinary” Life to Build a Lost Paradise with Martin Vrana

What happens when someone gives up security to build a tropical dream on a tiny island, with no job, no plan, and only one light bulb for power? Martin Vrana is the founder of Lost Paradise, a boutique resort he spent nearly 15 years building from scratch on a small island off Bali’s coast. Born and raised in Scandinavia, Martin left a safe life behind to follow an adventurous dream, one that taught him resilience, determination, and the art of creating a life on his own terms. In this episode, ...

Sep 02, 20251 hr 16 min

Remote Roundup: Future Hotspots, Productivity Experiments, Digital Nomadding 2.0 (August 2025)

What does thriving as a long‑term digital nomad look like in 2025? Welcome to our debut episode of Remote Roundup - a new monthly series exploring what's new in remote work and travel, including helpful tools and resources, need‑to‑know trends, destinations, and insight into what it really means to live and work around the world. Caitlin Sunderland is the associate producer, and Janessa is the partnerships manager of the Zero To Travel podcast. Both are digital nomads who’ve embraced the ups and...

Aug 28, 202557 min

100 Documentaries Project: Traveling the Globe to Find Extraordinary Humans + Changing the World One Story at a Time with Robin Danehav

What can happen when a filmmaker decides to spotlight invisible geniuses and hidden stories that change how we see the world? Robin Danehav is a Swedish documentary filmmaker known for embarking on a bold quest to create 100 short films revealing the everyday impact-makers whose stories remain untold. Based in Stockholm and often traveling worldwide, Robin explores humanity, creativity, and empathy through compelling, intimate films. In this episode, Robin shares how the “100 Documentary Project...

Aug 26, 20251 hr 6 min

Disrupting Travel and Building Community with Beth Santos

Do you ever feel limited by society’s expectations and stereotypes surrounding travel? When Beth Santos started a travel blog, her goal was to challenge norms by exploring the diverse and shared experiences of women traveling the world. It has since morphed into Wanderful , an international community and social network with over 40,000 active members composed of women and non-binary people of all ages and backgrounds. Aside from this booming online community, Beth has also created WITS Travel Cr...

Aug 21, 20251 hr 2 min

The 5 Best Hacks of “All the Hacks”: Travel, Money & Life Optimization with Chris Hutchins

What if the secret to unlocking a better life and travel experience lies not in more, but in smarter choices? Chris Hutchins is the host of the “All the Hacks” podcast, where he distills practical strategies across life, money, and travel. An optimizer by nature, Chris has saved millions by breaking down every aspect of life to maximize happiness at the lowest cost. Chris joins me to share the top hacks from his podcast - life-changing mindset shifts that shape how we experience travel, time, an...

Aug 19, 20251 hr 24 min

7 Ways to Improve Your Next Road Trip (Lessons from our Norway Family Road Trip) with Anne Dorthe

Could a loosely planned road trip actually turn out better than a perfectly mapped itinerary? Anne Dorthe is my wife and travel partner of over 11 years, and a Norwegian local with roots in Trøndelag. In this episode, Anne and I share the story of our recent open-ended family road trip through Norway. We talk about the lessons we learned along the way, sharing insights that can be applied to anyone planning a more relaxed, rewarding road trip, whether in Norway or somewhere else. If you’ve ever ...

Aug 12, 202546 min

Top 6 Hidden Gems in Riga, Latvia (From Ancient Saunas to Secret Markets) with Lelde Benke-Lungevica

What are the best hidden gems in Riga, Latvia, and how can you experience this Baltic city like a local? Lelde Benke-Lungevica is a Latvian writer and cultural storyteller who was born in Australia and moved back to Riga in her teens. Since 2013, she’s run the blog Life in Riga, offering a personal and authentic look at life in Latvia’s capital through stories, guides, and reflections on identity and homecoming. This episode explores what makes Riga unique and how to see the city (and beyond) th...

Aug 07, 20251 hr
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