

A funny, raw and honest chat with traveller and writer Anna Hart. A Vicar’s daughter from Belfast, Anna’s adventurous spirit was ignited by her childhood in the back streets of Singapore and been untameable ever since. She’s seen Shakespearean scenes amid gorillas in Rwanda, lived as a digital nomad in Bali, New Zealand and California, been transformed by a shamanic haircut in LA and even been an ice road trucker. For Anna, travel has the power to heal and transform, fuelled not only by wanderlust but also seasonal depression when life lacks adventure and sunshine. Unmissable.
On this episode we cover
Coming from Margate by way of Belfast
Her work at FHM, The Guardian, Conde Nast Traveller, Stylist, Grazia
Why writing broadly can make better writers
How this dream job came about
Her university newspaper in Glasgow
Being happier as a writer rather than an editor
The tough decision of going freelance
The freedom of being flexible and freelance
Moving to Singapore age 5
The culture shock of moving back to Belfast in the 1990s
Growing up with the troubles and a curfew in Northern Ireland
The wall of heat and humidity in Singapore
Falling in love with the sights, smells and sounds of Singapore
The good and bad of International School
How International School and living abroad makes you good at faking confidence
Going to school with everyone from ambassadors to bank robbers
Being a vicar’s daughter
The bible college her father taught at in Singapore
Mistakenly believing Northern Ireland would feel like home
Being excited at ‘cows in the wild’
Why teenagers don’t like school (and is Lisa a sociopath?)
Teenager anxiety and angst
Moving to Warsaw, Poland age 17
Developing a lifelong love of Eastern Europe along with posh tastes in Poland
William Sutcliffe’s book – Are You Experienced
Not affording to go backpacking
Eventually going backpacking to Bangkok and onwards
Lisa’s experience of not backpacking either (getting to Amsterdam and Belgium)
How there are many different ways to go travelling if you can’t afford to backpack
How jobs and other commitments can get in the way of travel
Gorilla trekking in Rwanda and Uganda
Being a wildlife and safari nut
The life-changing experience of watching Shakespearean gorilla melodrama
Was gorillas shagging should be high on Tripadvisor
Her book Departures – about 13 trips that changed her life
Loving adventure travel and emerging destinations
How travel changes people
How we can have adventures anywhere
How to get maximum bang for bunk – emotionally
Learning to dive
Dancing at full moon parties with cute Australian boys
How travel can heal a broken heart.
How travel has fixed her
Feeling vulnerable as a solo female traveller
How to thrive as a solo female traveller
Staying safe abroad
How bonding with strangers can transform a trip
The importance of interacting with people when travelling
How even a meal out can be an opportunity for adventure
Being a social adventurer
Driving the ice roads through the Canadian arctic
Being an Ice Road Trucker! Just after learning to drive. In Hackney.
Not losing sight of how lucky she is
Phoning her dad to say she’s in Namibia or wherever
Fighting to keep the definition of adventure broad
Dive bars with strangers met in a bar in Madrid
Ray Mears and Bear Grylls
Emotional adventures in art galleries
The adventures in your own town
Being a digital nomad
Lisa and Anna struggling with grammar
Leaving her job as features editor at Sylist
Struggling the seasonal affective depression every winter
Wanting to base herself somewhere sunny in the winter
Trying to stay of antidepressants
Not expending jet fuel
Not being able to afford to travel unless working
Being more of an ethical consumer, travelling more sustainably
Immersing herself in the culture
Co-working spaces abroad
Getting an Airbnb in Barcelona for three weeks rather than a weekend in a hotel
Travel writing and journalism not paying well
How freedom is her asset
Writing about the modern mystic scene and hipster witches in LA for Conde Nast Traveller
Crystal healers and Shamens
How everyone in LA has a Shamen. Not to be confused with The Shamen
Having a chakra cleanse combined with a haircut
Changing your inner life along with your hair
How a haircut made her feel like a warrior
Hooking Lisa up with white witches
Hubud co-working space in Ubud in Bali
Swapping Hackney for Bali
Yoga
Not being able to afford a holiday but affording to work somewhere different
How she should Airbnb her flat
How Instagram has changed travel
The digital nomad life-style being a mixed bag
Messing up her work life balance getting stressful emails late at night
Social media giving people FOMO
Not being a Bitcoin media
How social media is a double edged sword
How small independent tour operators and hotels can benefit from social
Redistributing tourism wealth
Influencers levelling the playing field
The pressure to document everything rather than enjoying themselves
People judging each other by follower numbers
People running business from their phones
How woke teenagers think Instagram and Facebook are naff
Having fingers in lots of pies
Simon Calder’s view that it’s the best and safest time to travel
Being a wide-eyed hippy
How responsible execute travel has the power to change the world
The power of travel for good
Being a big believe in solo travel
Some surprising stats about solo travel from a Travelzoo survey
How solo travel is increasingly the chosen way to travel
Auditioning to do her own audio book
How Roam by the B52s saved her a lot of tears