Zero To Travel Podcast

With centuries of layered history and some of Europe's most uncrowded natural beauty, why isn't Bosnia and Herzegovina on more travelers' radars yet?

Nermin Numic grew up in Sarajevo and spent over a decade living and working abroad in South Africa and Europe, where he met his wife Kathrin, who is originally from Germany. In 2020, the couple returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina during the pandemic and decided to stay. They went on to found .Cheyf, a boutique travel agency built around the Bosnian concept of ćejf, showing travelers the local side of Sarajevo and the country beyond it.

Nermin and Kathrin share seven hidden gems in Sarajevo, Bosnia, that most visitors miss, along with the history behind the city's mix of Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, and Yugoslav influences. They also talk about day trips into the surrounding mountains, must-try local food, and starting a travel business together as a couple.

Sarajevo is a city where four major religions have lived side by side for centuries, where the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand helped ignite World War I, and where the Bosnian War left scars that are still part of daily conversation decades later. Nermin and Kathrin don't shy away from any of that history, but they also refuse to let it be the only story visitors hear. By the end of this episode, you'll understand why they believe this is exactly the right moment to experience it for yourself.

What's a place you discovered by accident that ended up being the highlight of your trip? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you'll share by sending me an audio message.

Tune In To Learn:

Why Nermin and Kathrin decided to build their life and business in Bosnia after meeting abroad

What the Bosnian concept of ćejf means and how it shapes the way they run their tours

How Sarajevo's layout reveals itself once you leave the old town behind

Why a quiet riverside walkway just outside the old town is worth the detour

How a centuries-old bridge and a Viennese-style coffeehouse capture the city's cultural blend

A thousand years of Sarajevo history, from the Bosnian kingdom through Ottoman rule, Austro-Hungarian rule, and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand that helped spark World War I

Why Nermin and Kathrin built their tours around food and culture instead of the Bosnian War, and how that decision paid off

Why a mountaintop observatory and a rooftop terrace offer some of the best views in the city

How to see one of the world's most valuable religious artifacts during a narrow weekly window

Advice for exploring the mountains, canyons, and villages just outside Sarajevo

Resources:

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.Cheyf

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What does it take to become the first person ever to complete a full source-to-sea kayaking trip down Madagascar's longest river?

Oscar Scafidi is a history teacher, travel writer, and expedition leader who has lived and worked across more than 30 African countries since 2006. He has written guidebooks to Angola, Equatorial Guinea, and Tunisia, and holds a Guinness World Record for the first source-to-sea kayak expedition along Angola's Kwanza River. In 2022, he and a fellow expedition partner completed the first source-to-sea kayak trip along Madagascar's longest river, the Mangoky, an adventure now documented in his book and film.

In this episode, I talk with Oscar about his years living and working across Africa, and the story behind his recent Madagascar kayaking adventure.

This conversation moves between two very different worlds: the classroom, where Oscar spends his days teaching, and the wild, unmapped stretches of Africa where he pushes himself to the edge. There's a real thread of humility running through it, a reminder that no expedition succeeds without the people who make it possible along the way. It's also a great reminder that a regular person with a full-time job can still build a life full of big, audacious adventures. If you're drawn to stories of grit, humor under pressure, and what it feels like when a plan falls apart in real time, this one's for you.

Have you ever pushed yourself into a situation where you genuinely weren't sure how things would turn out? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you'll share by sending me an audio message.

Tune In To Learn:

How a string of rejected job applications accidentally launched a two-decade career in Africa

What it was really like moving straight from Western Europe into a country facing serious political instability

How teaching and travel writing compete for Oscar's time and attention

Why staying humble matters when writing about places that aren't your own

What it takes to prepare for a multi-week kayaking expedition with almost no prior experience

How a mountain range with no water nearly ended the trip

Advice for handling corrupt officials and checkpoint shakedowns without losing your cool

Why local guides and communities deserve more credit than the explorers themselves

What's next for Oscar's expedition career

Resources:

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Watch the documentary

Scafidi Travels YouTube

Kayak the Mangoky

Our Kids, Our Future Madagascar

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Why would anyone choose to travel across two continents alone, with nothing but a cat and no real plan?

Mia Kercher is a copywriter, marketing strategist, and hypnotist who traveled overland from Serbia to Vietnam as a solo female traveler. She crossed twelve countries by car, foot, bicycle, and tuktuk, all with her cat, Cleo, by her side. Prior to this trip, Mia spent two and a half years backpacking through Europe, eventually settling in Serbia, where she built her energetic copywriting business, Evoke Writing. She recently finished writing a book about her journey.

In this episode, I talk with Mia about her journey, including the weeks she spent in Afghanistan, and how she kept her business running while living off-grid.

This conversation is about what happens when you choose curiosity over a plan. Mia's approach to travel has never been about research or certainty, and that mindset gets tested in a big way on this journey. We talk about the discomfort of being an outsider, the surprising kindness that can meet you in the most unexpected places, and how solo travel builds a kind of trust in yourself that is hard to find any other way. It is also a conversation about intuition, and how tuning into your subconscious mind can change the way you make decisions, both on the road and in business.

What would it take for you to say yes to an adventure with no plan and no idea how it would turn out? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you'll share by sending me an audio message.

Tune In To Learn:

Why Mia decided to leave her expat life behind and drive across two continents

What it means to travel by "chaotic order" instead of a plan

The single overlooked document that completely rerouted her entire trip

How she prepared to enter a country most of her friends begged her not to visit

What changed the moment she stopped fearing the attention she was getting everywhere she went

The stranger who gave her a private tour most tourists never get to see

A roadside encounter that turned from friendly to alarming in seconds

How one man's dream of becoming an actor led to an unexpected fundraiser

Her strategy for traveling with a pet without drawing a crowd, and when it backfired

Mia's business strategy for making money on the road when she knows she's going to be off-grid or without wifi for a while

And so much more

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What would it take to visit every country in the world, and could a journey like that actually help you heal from unimaginable loss?

Following the sudden loss of his wife Jackie in Botswana in 2017, Barry Hoffner set out to visit every country in the world, a journey that became the basis for his memoir, Belonging to the World. He has since traveled to 192 of the 193 UN member countries, an experience that included exploring his own heritage as an Iraqi Jew who grew up in the United States. Barry also founded Caravan to Class, a nonprofit that provides access to education for young women across West Africa through the Bourse Jackie scholarship program, named in her honor.

In this episode, Barry shares how grief led him to a global quest to visit every country in the world, and what he learned about identity, connection, and healing along the way.

This conversation is a reminder that grief doesn't follow a straight line, and that the way we choose to move through it can shape everything that comes after. There's a lot of honesty here about what it means to rebuild an identity from the ground up after everything familiar is gone. And there's a genuine sense of wonder in hearing how one goal, however unlikely it seemed at the start, can turn into a life fully lived.

What might it look like for you to begin again from year zero? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you'll share by sending me an audio message.

Tune In To Learn:

Why one spontaneous coin flip during high school set the course for a lifetime of travel

How an early scam abroad taught a hard lesson about travel awareness

Why working overseas early in his finance career reshaped his approach to life and work

What it was like to survive a real plane hijacking

How exploring his family's Middle Eastern heritage as an adult changed his sense of identity

Advice for processing grief and using travel intentionally as part of healing

Why he calls the period after his loss "year zero" and what that mindset can offer anyone starting over

How a chance encounter with a stranger became one of the most meaningful moments of his journey

Why the goal of visiting every country mattered less in the end than what he discovered along the way

Advice on transitioning from decades of nomadic living to putting down roots in one place

And so much more

Resources:

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Belonging to the World

Caravan to Class

Barry's Instagram

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