Zero To Travel Podcast

What does it actually take to step away from work, home, and your phone for five months to walk from Mexico to Canada?

Nina Butler is originally from South Africa and is the founder of InRetreat, a boutique travel and wellness company that runs small-group and private retreats in eco destinations around the world. A yoga teacher with a PhD in philosophy, she spent several years living in Oslo, Norway, before moving back to South Africa. In 2025, she and her husband, Chris, thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, spending 150 days walking from Mexico to Canada.

In this conversation, Nina and I talk about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and the planning behind it, from permits and visas to stepping away from work, budgeting, trail culture, and what five months off grid did for her mind, her marriage, and a big life decision.

Most of us will never walk 2,650 miles, but plenty of us dream about carving out a real chunk of time to step away, and the logistics are usually what stop us. Nina’s story is a reminder that the planning phase can be its own kind of journey, and that the work of getting ready can leave your life better organized than you found it. There’s also something here about what happens to the mind when the noise falls away for long enough, and why a couple of weeks might not get you there. If you’ve been sitting on a big decision or a big trip, this conversation might be the nudge.

Have you ever taken a big chunk of time away from everyday life? What did it change for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you’ll share by sending me an audio message.

Tune In To Learn:

Why a single social media post led to a snap decision to hike from Mexico to Canada

What had to be locked in before Nina and Chris let themselves get excited

How Nina prepared her business to run without her for five months

What a Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike cost them, and what drives the price up or down

Why daily, old-school map planning made the trail more meaningful, not less

What trail culture is really like, from trail angels to hitchhiking into desert towns

How long it took for Nina’s nervous system to truly settle off grid

How a months-long walk finally answered the question of where to live next

Advice for sharing a tent with your partner for 151 days (and the fight that broke out over food)

Nina’s top pick for a base town to get a taste of the PCT

Resources:

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InRetreat

InRetreat Instagram

Pacific Crest Trail Association

FarOut

Want More:

Top 10 Health and Wellness Destinations (The Best Places to Live in the World) with Nina Butler

How to Craft Transformative Retreats (For Yourself or Others) with Nina Butler

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

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Why have more people been to outer space than to every country in the world?

Ric Gazarian grew up in Boston and spent years in financial services before a 2008 layoff sent him on a year-long trip and into a remote real estate business that has funded his travels ever since. He has now visited around 190 countries on his quest to reach all 193 UN member states. Ric hosts the Counting Countries podcast, organizes the Extraordinary Travel Festival, and has turned his tuk-tuk and rickshaw road trips through Cambodia and India into films.

In this conversation, Ric and I talk about what traveling to every country in the world really involves, less crowded destinations worth visiting, unorthodox road trips by tuk-tuk and rickshaw, and how to get comfortable traveling to less visited places.

Only around 500 people have ever been to every country on Earth, and Ric spends a lot of his time with them. That gives him a rare view of where the world's most traveled people actually go, and which places deserve far more visitors than they get. It's also a reminder that the best travel stories rarely come from the smoothest trips. If you've been craving something a little less mainstream for your next adventure, Ric makes a strong case for stepping a bit further outside your comfort zone.

If you built a road trip around something you've never tried before, what would it be? I'd love to hear your ideas, and I hope you'll share by sending me an audio message.

Tune In To Learn

What keeps Ric going on his quest to visit all 193 UN countries, and why some people give up along the way

How the most traveled people in the world debate what actually counts as a visit

How one book about a priest in the slums of Bangkok changed the course of Ric's life

What Thailand's visa crackdown means for digital nomads and long-term visitors

Where to find a Thai island with no 7-Eleven and barely a working ATM

Why Ric calls Uzbekistan his favorite country in Central Asia, and the Tajikistan road trip he ranks as the best of his life

How a $1,000 tuk-tuk that keeps breaking down can beat a luxury road trip

Advice for getting comfortable with less visited countries, plus the safety systems Ric relies on

Advice for leaving a career behind to take a year-long trip

Which country surprised Ric most after he expected the worst

Resources

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GlobalGaz

Counting Countries Podcast

Extraordinary Travel Festival (code ZERO for $100 off!)

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Hit the Road Films

Mercy Centre

Mumbai Xpress Rickshaw Rally

Every Passport Stamp Facebook Group

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Visiting Every Country in the World…TWICE! With Gunnar Garfors

Finding a Quest That Can Change Your Life: An Interview With Chris Guillebeau

Independent Travel Gold With Graham Hughes

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What are successful people like before they become big? Before The Moment is hosted by music icon Nile Rodgers, who sits down with some of music’s biggest names to uncover the turning points that defined them, and, importantly, what was happening before everything changed. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Can you be culturally religious without being religiously religious? What if happiness had less to do with what you believe and more to do with what you notice?

Hiroko Yoda is a Tokyo-born author, translator and folklorist who first came to the US at 17 as an exchange student in rural Indiana. She went on to earn a master's degree in international peace and conflict resolution and co-founded AltJapan, a localization company, with her husband. A former Tokyo editor for CNN Go and a certified Shinto cultural historian, she has coauthored several books on Japanese folklore and is the author of Eight Million Ways to Happiness: Wisdom for Inspiration and Healing from the Heart of Japan.

In this conversation, Hiroko and I talk about the Japanese idea of 8 million kami, how spirituality became part of everyday culture in Japan, and how travelers can visit Japan's shrines and temples with more understanding.

Most of us grew up with the idea that you either believe or you don't. Hiroko offers a different way of seeing it, where Japanese spirituality and happiness grow out of a worldview that treats the sun, the wind, and even the words we speak with quiet respect. It's a worldview that shapes everything from how people eat to how they relate to nature, and it's hiding in plain sight for anyone traveling through Japan. Hiroko is honest that none of this makes life easy, which is exactly what makes her perspective feel useful.

What's one small thing in your everyday life you could start noticing, and appreciating, a little more often? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you'll share by sending me an audio message.

Tune In To Learn:

How an exchange year in rural Indiana in the 1980s sparked a lifelong mission to build bridges between cultures

What the ancient concept of 8 million kami reveals about the Japanese worldview

Why most Japanese people struggle to answer the question "Are you religious?"

How a Shinto priest's definition of kami turns gratitude into a daily practice

How losing her mother led Hiroko back to Japan's spiritual traditions

What Japan's mountain ascetics, the yamabushi, can teach us about our place in nature

Why the Japanese words for seafood and vegetables say so much about happiness

How the Seven Gods of Happiness reflect Japan's radical inclusivity

Advice for visiting shrines and temples respectfully, plus one major Tokyo spot Hiroko calls a textbook example of Japanese spirituality

What a 107-year-old calligraphy master taught Hiroko about happiness and perspective

Resources:

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Eight Million Ways to Happiness

HirokoYoda.com

Japan Happiness Newsletter

Hiroko Yoda Instagram

AltJapan

Youth For Understanding

Want More:

Exploring Kyoto Japan, Creative Expression Through Street Photography, Connecting With Your Heritage Abroad with Taro Moberly

How A Pilgrimage Can Transform Your Life w/ Paul Barach

The Spiritual Journey + Travel and Creativity with Karan Bajaj

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Norway is already known for its fjords, Northern Lights, and wide-open nature, so what makes Northern Norway an even better place to have it all to yourself?

Joël Schwalenstöcker is a Northern Norway native who grew up in Tromsø with a German father and a French mother. For about 15 years, he has worked as a music agent, booking tours and shows for artists across Norway and Scandinavia. He is also the founder of Noraventura, which designs tailor-made trips through Norway for travelers who want to see the country beyond the usual tourist stops.

Joël shares seven hidden gems in Northern Norway that most visitors miss, and why the region’s best-known spots have become so crowded. We also share Northern Norway travel tips on renting a car, packing for changing weather, and choosing when to go.

Northern Norway is bigger, emptier, and wilder than most people expect, with the midnight sun in summer and the northern lights in winter shaping the rhythm of life there. It’s also a region where a short drive can change the entire feel of a trip. If you’re planning a visit, or you like the idea of seeing Northern Norway off the beaten path, this conversation gives you plenty to think about.

Have you ever skipped the famous stop on a trip and found something you liked even better? I’d love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you’ll share by sending me an audio message.

Tune In To Learn:

Why a sailing trip toward the Arctic ended with Joël’s parents settling in Northern Norway for good

How Northern Norway’s light, milder-than-expected climate, and freedom-to-roam traditions set it apart from the rest of the country

Why the same few places dominate every search and social feed, and what that does to the travel experience

Why the stretch of coast most people just drive through might offer the best mix of beaches and mountains in the country

Where you can catch a concert inside a natural cave on a remote island community that has been inhabited for thousands of years

What you’ll find when you turn right instead of left on a famous island chain

How locals near the region’s biggest city escape to sandy beaches when the sun finally comes out

How to trek the far northeast by following reindeer trails, close to the Russian border

Advice on getting around, packing for weather that changes by the hour, and timing a summer trek to avoid the region’s fiercest insects

How to get a real shot at the northern lights, plus one Lofoten stop worth adding to any itinerary

Resources:

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Noraventura

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Instagram

Trænafestivalen

Ytri Island Retreat

Hov Gård

Varangerhalvøya National Park

Want More?

Hidden Norway: 7 Off The Beaten Path Gems You’ll Love, Popular Norwegian Concepts Worth Stealing, Trekking In Bhutan, & Living At The Crossroads of Magic & Science w/ Torunn Tronsvang from Up Norway

How To See The Northern Lights In Norway

Top 7 Hidden Gems in Oslo, Norway with Curtis Rojak of Viking Biking

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Explore 100% human-made itineraries at exploreworldwide.com

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