Linda King caught the travel bug at an early age. She also grew up in a family of writers. After working in the travel and banking industries—and discovering that there was an appetite for her travel advice—she started The Smart Travelista: a website and series of travel books to help people travel wisely and save money doing it. Linda tells me more about that journey and about her more recent foray into creative nonfiction, and also offers some travel tips and a pep talk for anyone who needs a little motivation to give travel a try. We also talk about how travel influences your creative process.
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Transcript
Please note: This is an unedited transcript, provided as a courtesy, and reflects the actual conversation as closely as possible. Please forgive any typographical or grammatical errors.
Nancy Norbeck [00:00:06]:
Welcome to Follow Your Curiosity, where we explore the inner workings of the creative process. I’m your host, Nancy Norbeck. Linda King caught the travel bug at an early age. She also grew up in a family of writers. After working in the travel and banking industries and discovering that there was an appetite for her travel advice, she started the Smart Travelista, a website and series of travel books to help people travel wisely and save money doing it. Linda tells me more about that journey and about her more recent foray into creative nonfiction, and also offers some travel tips and a pep talk for anyone who needs a little motivation to give travel a try. We also talk about how travel influences your creative process. Here’s my conversation with Linda King.
Nancy Norbeck [00:00:55]:
Linda, welcome to Follow Your Curiosity. I’m really glad you’re here today.
Linda King [00:00:59]:
Thank you, Nancy. Thanks for having me.
Nancy Norbeck [00:01:01]:
Sure. So I always start everybody out with the same question, which is, were were you a creative kid or did you discover your creative side later on in life?
Linda King [00:01:12]:
I was always a creative kid. I was the 1 in in school that was writing short stories, funny short stories. Probably the first story I can remember writing was about my nana, my grandmother, and about her neighbor and the relationship they had together, which was quite a funny relationship, a bit of a love hate relationship, but observing it as a child and then writing a story about it. So, yes, I’ve always been creative, I think, even as a child. I think with what I’m doing now, probably started doing it seriously in the last 5 years, but always had ideas, always had story ideas. My imagination always running wild with different stories. And I would write them down, but I think seriously, probably in the last 5 years, and I’ve done probably more with it.
Nancy Norbeck [00:02:08]:
Fair enough. Did anybody encourage you when you were writing those stories as a kid, or would they just kind of think, oh, so this is just her little kid thing and no big deal?
Linda King [00:02:16]:
It’s funny because my, I come from a family of writers. So, my grandmother wrote a children’s book. I’ve got a cousin on my father’s side who’s a journalist. And both my father and his uncle and his brother were writers. So I think it might have been in the blood. But I think as a kid, you know, I think as a kid, you’re really innocent and you. I think you’re really receptive to creativity. I think when you get a little bit older, it’s like a couple of got to work, going to do this for work and all that.
Linda King [00:02:53]:
But as a kid, you get more freer, I think. But, yeah, I used to write a lot of short stories and I think my father still got probably all of them that I, that I write. But,
Nancy Norbeck [00:03:02]:
oh, wow.
Linda King [00:03:05]:
I think, I think, you know what I think, Nancy? I think everyone’s creative. It’s just whether they tap into it or not.
Nancy Norbeck [00:03:12]:
Yes.
Linda King [00:03:14]:
So I think everyone’s born with it. And I think if you learn how to tap into it, it’s marvelous.
Nancy Norbeck [00:03:21]:
Absolutely. Did, did the other writers in your family inspire you in any way, whether they knew it or not?
Linda King [00:03:29]:
I think they might have. Yeah. I think growing up saying that and I think growing up reading a lot, because obviously if you’re a writer, you need to do a lot of writing as well. But I think I did I did a lot of writing as a kid. And always probably in the background, you know, that we talk about my uncle and my grandmother and the writing that they were doing. So I think you absorb everything as a child, I think. And it, and then you become what you become later on. But with all that influence, I think.
Nancy Norbeck [00:04:00]:
Right. And you ended up in fields that don’t tend to, or we don’t tend to think of as being writing related fields.
Linda King [00:04:09]:
Yeah. So it’s funny, with the writing, there was all the other influences in my life. So as a child, we did a lot of traveling. And so that influenced me as well. So as a child, you know, we went around Australia on a 4 month road trip. My family and that really opened my mind. I was like, This is amazing. I want to do this as a as a life, you know, if I can.
Linda King [00:04:35]:
So I think probably the writing took a bit of a back step to the travelling. But then, you know, within the last few years, I think they’ve married up really nicely, the writing as well as the traveling. So I think, yeah, it happens when it’s meant to happen. I think.
Nancy Norbeck [00:04:53]:
Absolutely. And I wanna talk at some point about how the traveling influences the writing and vice versa because I’m so very sure that it does. But I know you also worked as a banker, and I’m curious to I mean, did that also mean that you kind of, for want of a better word, abandoned the creative side for a while, or were you still doing creative things on your off hours?
Linda King [00:05:17]:
Yeah. I’ve always been doing creative things. So I think what happened was I was in the travel industry, then left the travel industry and then went into banking and sort of more finance. The writing was still on the periphery. It’s funny because with the travel and then also the money management, that’s how the smart travel list became, because it was another thing that my family are really good at as money managers. They’re really good at money. So I think that was also another influence. So you go back to the childhood.
Linda King [00:05:48]:
All these influences, they’ve always been really good with money also. So that sort of attracted me with the banking. It was like, Okay, let me see what I can learn more about. So, yeah, the smart travel is just sort of the blending of the travel. Also, the money management, and the writing fits in really nicely as well. So I think, you gravitate to things that you’re interested in, I think, in life. And you, you know, you might have a passion. So my passion writing as well as traveling, but also who doesn’t like money.
Linda King [00:06:23]:
Right. And we like money and maybe, learning how to save it is, you know, it’s always been a thing with me, especially, I don’t know, when you go shopping. I’m a bit of a shopper. The challenge for me is to find something really, really valuable for a really low cost. And I really enjoy that as well. So, but yeah, I think the influence that you have in life, you become, I think sort of molds you and you become what you end up sort of being. I know life’s a bit of a journey, but it’s, you know, you tend to blend in with everything that you’ve had influences with, I think. Mhmm.
Nancy Norbeck [00:07:07]:
And I’m curious because the the idea of a 4 month trip around anywhere is something that sounds so immediately out of reach to a lot of people. And I’m I’m curious if you know how it is that your family, you know, found the the resources to make that happen.
Linda King [00:07:27]:
My father was banking up all his annual life, so he had been at a company for quite a long time and they had had a lot of long service life. So his idea and, it was just his his idea at the time. He thought, right, we’re going to get in the car, we’re going to pay for the petrol. We’ll have a tent. So we’ll tent everywhere. We might caravan, you know, do the van as well. And then if we’re really lucky, we might stay in a motel. That was sort of our sort of special, but the trip.
Linda King [00:08:02]:
But, yeah, his idea was he wanted to go around Australia and see as much as he could in 4 months. We, as children, were quite pleased because we weren’t gonna be at school for 4 months.
Nancy Norbeck [00:08:13]:
Right.
Linda King [00:08:13]:
But what we didn’t know was that he went to the teachers and got all our homework for the 4 months. Sneaky dad. Sneaky dad. And then so we had a table that we used to sit on, you know, have our meals, you know, with the tension, everything. And he goes, oh, I’ve got a surprise for you. And I went, oh, okay. He goes, you’ve got homework to do tonight. I was like, oh, surprised.
Linda King [00:08:41]:
Not a big not a good surprise. So it’s me and my brother just looked at each other and went. But it was good because we didn’t we didn’t miss any school. And then when we got back, we were probably ahead because of all the content the teachers had given him. So, so that was good. And you can’t buy the life education that we had traveling around and seeing everything that we saw. Like, you can’t put a price on that. So, it was a really, really good experience.
Linda King [00:09:09]:
1 that I’ll always remember, I think.
Nancy Norbeck [00:09:12]:
Are there things from that experience that you still draw on now?
Linda King [00:09:17]:
Yeah. It was the first time I ever met indigenous people. And, and they are the most lovely, loveliest people, that you could ever meet. Just the pristine, scenery and the, you know, just the Outback. We’d never seen Red Earth before. We’d never seen Uluru. Just just so many things. And the Great Australian Bight.
Linda King [00:09:48]:
Between Perth and the East Coast of Australia, you have this Great Australian Bight, which is southern the southern bit. And it’s sort of like the the bit out part of Australia. We can buy that, and it’s like a big, big bite mark. The the the scenes there and the water and and just yeah. Which is mind blowing. As a kid, we were like, we just didn’t believe we were there. And the thing about the nullable plan, so you go across the Great Australian by, but from Perth through to the East Coast, you don’t see many people because it’s such a vast stretch of land and road. So if we saw someone would be like this waiting to them because we hadn’t seen anyone for at least a few hours.
Linda King [00:10:35]:
But, you know, we gold mine, in Kalgoorlie. So that’s a really, really big industry now, for Western Australia with all the gold mining. But, you know, we’d had our metal detectors and we were trying to find gold and we found, you know, probably a few old, nuts, rusty nails. And we found some really nice, old style bottles, like blue, really bright blue bottles from, you know, the early 1900, 1800. So as you know, as it rains, a lot of the things are hidden under the ground. But when we were using the metal detector, we were finding all these little things. But I found this blue bottle. I remember, dad said to us, be really careful when you find anything that’s blue.
Linda King [00:11:23]:
Just, you know, you don’t be too hard when you dig in there. I found a bottle, an old, old fashioned bottle. Apparently, it was worth a lot of money. And this lady in the town said, oh, I’ll buy a pay $50 for the bottle. And I said to my father, I think this bottle is valuable. I’m keeping it
Nancy Norbeck [00:11:42]:
Good for you. But,
Linda King [00:11:45]:
and I’ve still got the bottle, but it’s yeah. It was just amazing. It was I I can’t put it into words, Nancy. It was just such a an amazing trip that we went on, and I think it probably started me on my travel journey for the rest of my life, really.
Nancy Norbeck [00:12:00]:
That sounds amazing. I’m I’m sitting here trying not to turn too green on you with envy because I just I can’t imagine what that you know, how that must have felt to have that much time to just go and explore and see places, especially in Australia
Linda King [00:12:22]:
Yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:12:25]:
Good good for your dad.
Linda King [00:12:28]:
Yeah. And yeah. Good for him. And I think my life might have turned out differently had we not had that experience. You know? Absolutely.
Nancy Norbeck [00:12:37]:
Yeah. So so you went into the travel industry, and then you left, which kind of surprises me since you’re so, you know, travel centric. So I’m curious to know how how that was.
Linda King [00:12:50]:
Yeah. So initially, so I was born in Sydney in Sydney and the airline that I worked for had the head office in Sydney. So I moved down to Melbourne for personal reasons and then that there was no jobs. So what I did was use a lot of my transferable skills and went into that industry. And as it turned out, jobs then became available. So I sort of went back into the airline industry, and actually going back into it again. So I’m going back to my roots. So it’s funny how the circle goes round.
Linda King [00:13:27]:
But, yeah, I think sometimes you just gotta take your opportunity. So if, you know, the, in the industry that you’ve got, the the experience in it, the jobs aren’t available. Okay? You’ve got transferable skills. What can you do? Because obviously you’re still going to earn money and pay the bills. But I’m glad that I did it because it showed me that the skills that I’ve got can be transferred through to different industries, which I think is very powerful in your career because you can be in 1 industry for the whole of your life. And then if something happens to that industry, you could be stuck and not be able to, you know, get another job. So I think it’s worked out in a really great way because I’ve tested myself, challenged myself, probably learn a few things as well along the way, which is then might be more valuable Going back into the travel industry. So, so, yeah, it’s I don’t regret anything, Nancy, in life.
Linda King [00:14:28]:
I think your journey is sometimes predestined. I think I think you’ve got choices in life, but, the choices you make sort of then I think there’s always going to be a benefit from that. It’s positive outcomes of that. So the positive of going out of the travel industry and going into other industries has meant that I’ve learned a lot of skills, a lot of different things that now might be more valuable to an employer. So, yeah, it’s, funny how your career and life go, but never regret. That’s my big my big thing about it.
Nancy Norbeck [00:15:05]:
Yeah. I think that’s a good 1.
Linda King [00:15:08]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:15:09]:
So then how did you come to start the Smart Travelista?
Linda King [00:15:16]:
So it’s really funny. I used to get asked quite a bit, quite a few tips from family and friends. And then it was on a trip through Europe, probably just before COVID. And I was getting tips all the time from other travel. So you get into conversations with people and they’re like, we know you’re on that flight, but how did you get out so quickly? I was traveling in business class and they wanted to know how I was traveling in business class. And then there was other places that I’d stayed at that were 5 star and I was getting them really cheaply. And they, so I was getting asked all these questions. And 1 lady said to me, when I was in Dubai, she said, do you have a blog? Do you have a website? Or have you got, you know, do you write about this stuff? And I went, you know, I don’t.
Linda King [00:16:07]:
But I was having a lot of these conversations. And then I thought to myself, on the flight, back to London, I thought, I have to write all this down. So, look, it’s it’s common. I don’t know. It’s common sense to me because I’ve got all this travel expertise, but to other people, it’s not. So that’s when I started writing it down. And I’ve got the outline for the first book done on that flight. And then it just led from there.
Linda King [00:16:34]:
And then so what I did was I was the books that are right, topics that are going to resonate with the traveler. So if I was putting myself in those shoes and going, okay, what would be a book that I’d really wanted to write to save my money on certain aspects of travel? And that’s the sort of books that I’ve written. So I’ve written 4 books in a Smart Travelista series. I’ve got a 5th 1 coming out also probably within the next month. But they’re all on topics that resonate with people. So everyone wants to learn how to save money before they travel and then also while they’re traveling. 1 big thing that I use a lot of is, airline miles. So I’ve written a book about that.
Linda King [00:17:21]:
Health and safety is always a really important 1. If you’re traveling solo, and health, especially, you know, with everything we’ve been through. And then the next 1 that I’m bringing out is about food allergies, which I’m a food allergy sufferer. And there’s a lot of people out there that I’ve spoken to that suffer food allergies. So I’m bringing that 1 out shortly. But also, I’ve done something a little bit different and I’ve got a bit of a travel, short stories books that I’ve brought out as well, which just got launched this week, called Annex Abroad. So, yeah, I’m stretching myself as a writer. So, you know, obviously I focus on the travel tips in the in the series, but also looking at creative nonfiction now.
Linda King [00:18:05]:
So I think as a writer, you’ve got to challenge yourself. Because, you know, you grow and then you learn, I think if you do that. So but, yeah, it’s just I don’t know whether this makes sense, Nancy, but it’s all up here. All the knowledge is up here, and I’m just translating it into, a book, but making it in a nice, attractive package. And, you know, and and and a nice rate for somebody. Yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:18:33]:
Well, you’re definitely into territory that interests me because when I started this podcast, my my original idea was to use it as an excuse to travel and to go around to different places and meet creative people and then say, you know, tell me your story. And when you’re done, tell me who else I should talk to, and that’ll be the next stop on wherever I go. Except that, obviously, that requires a bunch of money that I did not have when I started the podcast. So Zoom it is. But, but, yeah, I I love I love to go any anywhere that I can get away with going. I usually travel on my own, which sometimes when I was in New Zealand staying in an Airbnb with an older couple, they told me I was the bravest person they’d ever met. And I thought I’m really not, but okay. But, you know, I I’m not big on package tours and things like that.
Nancy Norbeck [00:19:26]:
I wanna be able to go out and explore things on my own. And if you put me on a tour bus for too long, it’s not good for anybody. Yes. So I’m I’m always curious to know about what else I might not know when it comes to picking a destination or how to get there without going broke or or anything like that. But I’m I’m wondering, like, what what things have people asked you that have surprised you the most or just surprised you that you think are noteworthy?
Linda King [00:19:59]:
I think 1 thing that I think is really, chapped and thing that I get asked about is the miles. How to how to do that. And like I’ve been doing it for a long time, I was 1 of the jobs in the travel industry was as a travel agent. So I used to teach other people how to do it. So that’s 1 big tip. I get asked a lot about People don’t know where to start with it, how to actually get into it. And yeah, it’s just about taking it step by step. So you’ve really got to think about, okay, what airline am I traveling most on? And that’s potentially then joining up with their program and then doing a bit of an analysis and a bit of research and seeing what fits in with your lifestyle.
Linda King [00:20:43]:
And then it becomes a no brainer after that. Just, you know, doing using the partners that will get you the points. Thing that surprised me. Someone actually asked me the most amount of money that I’d saved on an airline ticket. And I would have to say business class. So what I do is I set my points up to go to long haul because stress is so far away from everywhere else. And so I would normally set my points up for London. So if I paid for an airfare from, say, Melbourne to London.
Linda King [00:21:20]:
Business class, I’ll probably be looking about $6, 000 $7, 000, for May, building the points up and then utilizing them to get a business class ticket is a massive saving for me. And it just gives you all that extra money to spend on other things.
Nancy Norbeck [00:21:38]:
Absolutely.
Linda King [00:21:38]:
1 thing I would say that I think is what everyone should do is use their points or build points and then use some. But I’ve got so many other travel tips that I could share. So I mean, 1 big thing and the travel agents won’t like me with this, but book it online yourself. You’re going to save so much money. And yes, it takes a bit of organisation and a bit of research and a bit of time. But that time’s money Really well spent. What else could I tell you? People go in. People make the mistake of traveling in peak season, which is when the prices are most expensive.
Linda King [00:22:20]:
And what I would say is try if you can do lower shoulder seasons. Obviously, the weather’s probably not as nice, so it might be a little bit colder or a bit more rainier. But it’s also going to save you a lot of money. But, yeah, no question is really off limits when people ask me for travel tips. I get It’s funny. I get common questions, and then they end up being book titles, the common ones I get asked. And then people come through and then say to me, I’d like to know about this. I was like, okay.
Linda King [00:22:57]:
Well, that’s another book title as well. So it’s really good, Nancy, with engaging with people and people engaging with you. Some of the best ideas come from conversations that you’ve had with people. And I’m 1 for keeping out of every, every idea. I think as a writer and you probably think the same. Once you open up the floodgates with your creativity, it just doesn’t stop. Inspiration just comes flowing out of you. And I have notebooks everywhere and also obviously my mobile.
Linda King [00:23:31]:
And I write down things because if you don’t write them down, you’ll forget. And then you can use that as a, as a building block or something, whether that be a blog post or a new book.
Nancy Norbeck [00:23:43]:
So when you started putting the books together, did you think that you were just doing 1 book, or did you realize that you had a bunch of different topics that would lend themselves to a series right off the bat?
Linda King [00:23:54]:
You know what? I at the the that point in time, I thought it was just gonna be the 1 book. But then as that sort of went organically from that, I just realized, well, the first book there’s so many topics that I speak about in the first book that I could actually make hooks out of them. And it was only after the fact, of of publishing that when I thought, Yeah, there’s absolutely some more books that I can write. And then that, yeah, just turned into a series after that.
Nancy Norbeck [00:24:22]:
And how do you find writing the travel book since that’s a nonfiction kind of writing versus your fiction writing?
Linda King [00:24:32]:
It’s the process similar.
Nancy Norbeck [00:24:34]:
Okay.
Linda King [00:24:36]:
Very different because the thing, well, they’re not different writings, writing. But I think with this series, it’s more about informational gods. So it’s more when it’s more, it’s nonfiction, but it’s probably not. It’s not business writing and it’s not academic writing. It’s sort of, sort of more conversational how to books. The non creative nonfiction, you’re putting a bit more of a story into that. So with the other books, you are putting a bit of a story and but it’s more informational content, tips, strategies and all that sort of thing with the other 1. The creative nonfiction fiction if there’s more showing and telling, and all that sort of stuff.
Linda King [00:25:30]:
So you’re showing and you’re creating a picture for the writer and taking them through the journey of what happened in that story. So it is a little bit different. And I think it’s a little bit more challenging also too, because you’re using more of your writing in it. Not to say that the other writing is not good, but it’s, it serves its purpose. It’s more of a traveling guide. The other 1 is. You want to make it entertaining for people. You want it to be something that they’re going to go away and and be entertained by, have a bit of a laugh about.
Linda King [00:26:08]:
So, yeah, it is a little bit different. But I’ve actually enjoyed doing it because it’s now giving me ideas about other things that I can get into. So, yeah, it’s sort of like the writing journey started 1 place, but it’s going down the down the path and leading into other things. And I think as a writer, in my opinion, to be a good writer, you should go do all sorts of things. Not just 1, but, you know, 1 thing might be your line and you might like that. But for me, I like to be challenged. So, you know, it’s good because I’m constantly writing, whether it’s I’m writing a blog, I’m writing content for my website or I’m writing a book. Is building that that writing muscle.
Linda King [00:26:55]:
And I feel that as you go along, you’re getting better and better.
Nancy Norbeck [00:26:59]:
Definitely. How how does your blog influence your travel book series, or are they completely different things for you?
Linda King [00:27:09]:
Some of the, well, some of the blog articles of how do I do use, like people have said to me, can you write about this? So that sent me communication. I would really love it if you can write about this. I’m also through conversations on social media. So the allergy book came about because someone had actually had a conversation with me. And it’s something that I suffer from. And, you know, not everyone suffers, but you know, you’ve got a percentage of people that do. And I, firstly, I wrote a blog post about that and got a really good reception. And I thought, absolutely need to write a book about this, expand on that.
Linda King [00:27:44]:
So I think some of the blog posts that I’ve done have ended up being books. But you started as a blog and I’ve actually noticed a lot of other authors have done that to the kind of blog and they’ve written blog posts that have been and sort of gone into and become a book. So I think it’s like a bit of a tester, I suppose. Something out to the universe and see what sort of reception you get. And I’m big, I’m big 1 on research. So I ask questions on social media. And I get responses back. And then it gives me a, it gives me a, a little bit of a, a trend on what’s happening out there, and whether there would be a need for that information as well.
Linda King [00:28:28]:
So I think use all the tools that you’ve got. So communication you’ve got with people, the social media, people responding on your blogs. I think it’s all very helpful and useful. And then, you know, if you want to expand on it, then that becomes something more.
Nancy Norbeck [00:28:47]:
Do people come to you on social media and and say, can you write a post about I mean, I’m sure they do now that I’m asking this question that might be kind of silly. But I’m just wondering since you’re you’re asking them questions, is it is it a real back and forth or does it mostly stay in the vicinity of whatever you’ve asked?
Linda King [00:29:05]:
No. Back and forth all the time. I actually had what happens is people come in by my website and they’ll send me a message. And 1 lady said to me, because I write about trouble, but then I sometimes do a bit of few blogs about writing because I think it’s good to put tips out there about that. She asked me, she said, oh, can you write about, tips for new writers? And I thought, well, that’s a great idea for a blog post. So I did the blog on that, but it came from someone sending me a message from my website and saying, oh, really love a bit. I really love your blog. I really love if you could write a bit, you know, do a blog about this.
Linda King [00:29:47]:
They ask, I deliver. So, but yeah, it’s it’s I really love the engagement. And whether it’s by people sending me messages or whether it’s via social media or even, you know, talking on a podcast, the engagement is wonderful because I always get ideas from any sort of engagement that I have with anybody. And I think it’s wonderful, actually. And I love it. Like people give me feedback. And I just think, well, it’s worthwhile. When you get that feedback from people, you think what I’m doing is valuable and people are liking it.
Linda King [00:30:25]:
It just gives you the gives you the momentum to keep going.
Nancy Norbeck [00:30:31]:
It’s a really good energy source.
Linda King [00:30:34]:
Absolutely. And, you you know, I know there’s a bad side of social media. I don’t get involved in that. I always try and look for the positive, out of it. And I’ve got so much out of it, that I think it’s a wonderful if you use it for the right reasons. It’s absolutely wonderful. And great communities like, travel and writing communities. Amazing.
Linda King [00:30:57]:
There’s the support that you get from each other and the support you give each other. It’s it’s priceless. It’s really, really good.
Nancy Norbeck [00:31:07]:
That’s great. I can actually see you ending up writing a book about, you know, how to Yeah. I’ve gotta write that down now. I’ll do a lot of
Linda King [00:31:19]:
you. Yeah. I gotta write that down now. I’ll do what I’m doing. Yeah. Absolutely.
Nancy Norbeck [00:31:29]:
So have you ever done any sort of standard travel writing? I mean, you have the the creative, you know, short story nonfiction side, but have you ever done, like, magazine articles or anything about destinations?
Linda King [00:31:45]:
No. I haven’t. But it’s something that I’m looking into. I think having a full time job, this travel sort of is my side hustle. So there’s never enough hours in the day to do everything. But absolutely. Yeah, I think, absolutely. Writing for magazines.
Linda King [00:32:02]:
It’s always good to add to your portfolio. Right. I did a travel writing course, which was really, really invaluable. There was some people that taught us that were actually travel writers for magazines in Australia. Oh, great. And it was such a great course. But it’s something that I haven’t officially done. But yeah, what I’m looking at now, I’m looking at travel from a different perspective.
Linda King [00:32:28]:
Now when I travel, I’m thinking, okay, what can I do? Do once I get back, whether it’s the blogs, whether it’s, you know, looking at the photos, I’m probably looking at travel. I know it’s leisure also, but I’m looking at more of a business perspective now and thinking, okay, what can I do on this trip? What ideas for other calls? Can I write, blog posts? Will it be a book? And I’m looking at from that perspective, which I didn’t do when I first started travel. But I suppose it’s because I’m now in the business that I look at it from this perspective. But it’s not to say that I’m not going to enjoy as well the trips, but I’m also going to look at what I can. You know, make content from as well. So, yeah, absolutely. Looking at the magazines. I think that will be in my future, writing, articles for them as well.
Nancy Norbeck [00:33:26]:
How how did you end up making that leap from writing the how to guides to writing the creative?
Linda King [00:33:35]:
So the stories were percolating in my mind probably for a few years. So I’d written, I’d written a few of them really, really rough drafts. And then there was a few other. And, you know, as you travel, you think of the experiences that you’ve had. So the book is more about some of the it’s called Annex Abroad. So it’s antics, obviously, when things don’t go so right, when you’re traveling, because when things go perfect, that’s pretty boring. In my opinion, the things that go wrong are more entertaining. So there’s some, stories in there that actually happened to me.
Linda King [00:34:16]:
And but there’s stories of people that I’ve met as well. So it’s a combination of the 2 and their stories because I’ve spoken you know, you obviously speak with people when you travel, and they’ve told me their stories. So, some of these stories are in there as well. So it’s probably a combination of
Nancy Norbeck [00:34:35]:
the 2.
Linda King [00:34:37]:
Yeah. I’ve tried to be as honest and true to what’s what happened, but obviously make it in a an entertaining sort of package. But, yeah, that’s all true stories. And I think they’re entertaining. Some of them are, oh my God, I wouldn’t. I don’t know whether I’ve ever been in this situation or whether I want to be in that situation again. But yeah, they’re just as bit of a collection of short stories. And, and, yeah, I think it’s really about the people that I’ve met.
Linda King [00:35:12]:
I think they’re the ones that bring the book to life. Mhmm. You know, obviously, I’ve had some some situations as well. But it’s the people that you may. I think that I think that that’s an important part of travel. The people that you may make the travel, the experiences that you have, and the unknown. Right? We go out there. We might have a plan about our trip, but then the unknown might happen.
Linda King [00:35:42]:
It’s unknown to us. Right?
Nancy Norbeck [00:35:44]:
Yeah. You
Linda King [00:35:45]:
don’t expect bad things to happen to you when you travel. If you get out of them, that’s great. Obviously, I’ll get out of them because I’m talking to you right now. But but you always learn from those experiences. I think, you learn stuff about yourself. You learn, that you’ve got strength that you didn’t think you had. And, it makes you I think it helps you in your travels, actually, going through those experiences. They might seem a bit frightening at the time, but then you’d look back at them and go, okay, well, I’ve learned something from that.
Linda King [00:36:23]:
I won’t do that again. But, yeah, no, it’s it’s it’s the fun of travel, I think. And yeah, the books books about that. I think it’s really celebrating, travel and the things that happen to us when we travel.
Nancy Norbeck [00:36:41]:
In the process of writing those stories down, did you learn new things about those experiences or or learn new things about travel in general?
Linda King [00:36:53]:
I I learned that it’s always good to write it down when it happens because it becomes very fresh in your mind. But then in hindsight, when I was, you know, obviously writing them, getting them together, was quite shocked that, how how calm I was through the whole situation that happened. I’m a pretty calm person by nature, but, yeah, I think I was probably calm. Probably freaking out at the time, but calm, if anyone saw me, but I think what really surprised me is that I must have 9 lives because some of those things could have ended my life at any at any point. You know, but I would say I’ve got some angels up there looking out for me, or a cat with 9 lives. I don’t know. But, you know, you can’t push your luck too far, I think, in life, because if you, take too many chances and, you know, things bad things really bad things happen. But, but, yeah, I think I must I must I don’t know.
Linda King [00:38:05]:
I feel like a cat with 9 lives, actually. I’m not the 9th life life yet, but I reckon I’m probably close to it. But, yeah, it’s funny looking back. You look at it look back at at it from a different perspective, I think, because time’s passed. Mhmm. But it’s obviously more raw when that happens, I think. And that’s the time to write it down, write down about it, because it’s you’ve got those emotions. It’s raw.
Linda King [00:38:36]:
It’s with memories over time. You might not be able to recall those those feelings and those emotions. So, I’ve learned that now when situations happen like that, I write them down immediately because the memory is always going to be fresher when it, when it’s just happened. But if you think about it maybe a year or 2 down the track or even 5 years, you know? But, yeah, blown away. I think with this 1 word, I think when you’re young, you do some crazy things. And I think that’s probably youth, right? Would you do them when you’re older? Maybe not. But when you’re young, I don’t know. You’re a bit carefree and yeah.
Linda King [00:39:28]:
You just you think you’re invincible. Right?
Nancy Norbeck [00:39:30]:
Yeah. You don’t know any better. And sometimes that’s not a bad thing and sometimes it is.
Linda King [00:39:36]:
That’s right. I would agree with that.
Nancy Norbeck [00:39:39]:
Yeah. Is, is there something that, you know, I have like a particular incident that, you know, you think of right off the top of your head in terms of, oh, I am never doing that again, and no 1 else ever should either.
Linda King [00:39:54]:
Yeah. Never go to a country when there’s a hurricane about or it’s hurricane season.
Nancy Norbeck [00:40:06]:
Sounds like good advice.
Linda King [00:40:08]:
I thought I’d done my research, but obviously not. Yeah, that was an experience. So, yeah, I’ve always remembered that that lesson. If I’m going to go to the States, if it’s, you know, make sure it’s not hurricane season where I’m planning to travel there. So yeah. But, you know, you live and learn. It was an experience.
Nancy Norbeck [00:40:30]:
Oh, absolutely. I bet.
Linda King [00:40:33]:
We we have similar probably not as as large as hurricanes, but we have cyclones in Australia, which is similar. So, yeah, so I knew about cyclones, but I’d never actually been in the middle of a hurricane. But, you know, it was a live and learn, experience. And look, I got a story out of it, so you know, in my book.
Nancy Norbeck [00:41:00]:
Yeah. Is that
Linda King [00:41:01]:
not all bad, is it?
Nancy Norbeck [00:41:02]:
No. I think that that’s true of a lot of live and learn experiences. I don’t think those tend to come without stories.
Linda King [00:41:08]:
That’s right. That’s right. But, but yeah. Look. Look. I don’t regret anything. I think all the experiences I’ve had made me who I am today. So, you know Mhmm.
Linda King [00:41:20]:
I can laugh about them now, and enjoy it, really. Enjoy the memories.
Nancy Norbeck [00:41:27]:
Yeah. I think I think that’s that’s the way to do it, whether it’s travel related or not, is just to say this made me part of is part of who I am and, you know, smarter this time and won’t do that again, in general, as opposed to specifically in terms of those stories, have you noticed that traveling influences your creativity and or vice versa?
Linda King [00:42:08]:
I think it does. But it’s, I think I’m creative all the time. So, you know, at the moment, obviously I’m not traveling, but I think the travel opens it up. I think because you’re getting such a whirlwind of differences. So you’re traveling, You might be traveling to a new country that you’ve never been to. You might have researched it and done all that before you’ve gone. But actually, being there is a different circumstance altogether. So it’s like and I think you’re very receptive to all the different newness and the differences to your own life, really.
Linda King [00:42:46]:
You know, they they’re different culture. It’s a different place. People are different. So I think when I travel, that just goes up another notch. It just explodes because what the ideas have kept running around in my head. And I think once I’ve opened up the to be since I’ve opened up my creativity officially, I’ve got all these ideas all the time. And, you know, I pursue them and write. But I think because 1 also you’re on holidays, you’re relaxed.
Linda King [00:43:23]:
Mhmm. Being relaxed, it tends to open it up even more. And then you get all these other ideas and they just bombard you. And I find that I have multiple notebooks over there and I’m just writing down ideas about blog ideas. If something happens, I’ll write that down. It’s just yeah, I think the newness is what stimulates more of that sort of writing productivity and stimulates it. I think I’m open to anything. So, you know, I could be at work and someone will say, say a comment.
Linda King [00:44:02]:
And then that comment, I will think about something else, which will lead into an idea. So it’s like every day life can also give you those ideas. So, you know, you have a conversation with somebody. And then that’ll lead to something else. So it’s what someone says then triggers something in your brain or your mind. And then that leads you down a path of another idea. So I can’t turn it off, Nancy. It’s on now all the time.
Linda King [00:44:30]:
I don’t mind it. But it’s just about capturing those ideas. And then sometimes you’ll have a I’ll be at breakfast at breakfast and something will come to me and then I’ll just be writing down while I’m eating my breakfast, because if it comes to me, I just write it down. And so it’s like the shell of something, like the shell of a of a blog post or of an idea. And then you just flesh that out later. So, yeah, it’s, it’s bizarre. Once you open this creativity, it just comes out. It’s just like you’re living right.
Linda King [00:45:07]:
You’ll, you’ll live, live in your brain. It’s just like that. It just comes out of you. I’m pretty sure other writers would say the same, you know, that there’s things that, their ideas and ideas for books and things come really, really organically just from, you know, everyday life, I suppose. Mhmm.
Nancy Norbeck [00:45:29]:
It’s interesting because as you’re talking, it’s occurred to me that travel, especially to a place you’ve never been before, but also if you haven’t been there for a while or, you know, is is kind of like a palate cleanser for your eyes and the rest of your brain. But I’m I’m thinking, you know, what what first occurred to me was, you know, you go someplace new and literally everything you’re seeing is new. And so many of us, you know, we don’t even see half the things that are in our house because they’ve just become part of the scenery. Whereas that doesn’t happen when you’re someplace new because literally none of it is anything you’ve ever seen before. Maybe also never heard before or tasted before or, you know, what whatever else may come with that. And and I think, you know, the challenge is to hang on to that sense of, oh, look. Here’s this thing I’ve had for 10 years, and I’m gonna look at it like I’ve never seen it before when you get home. And I don’t think any of us can really sustain that for too long just because that’s how our brains are wired.
Nancy Norbeck [00:46:34]:
But I think that’s part of what makes it so valuable to go somewhere else. It isn’t just, you know, I feel like going somewhere else. It’s it’s the way that it opens up all of your senses in different ways, and I think that helps all those synapses fire together. And I’m not a neuroscientist. I’ve never studied this. It just makes sense to me. So, yeah, I think I think that is is 1 of the things that we don’t really think about when we travel, but it’s happening because I’ve never, you know, I’ve never seen the Eiffel Tower before. I’ve never seen the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower before.
Nancy Norbeck [00:47:12]:
Or it’s been 20 years since I was in Paris and, wow, I forgot how beautiful the Eiffel Tower is. You know, what insert something else for Eiffel Tower as as appropriate. But but, yeah, I think we don’t we don’t think about that as, you know, a creative tool, which you could employ even just by, you know, driving 20 miles from your own town to a place you haven’t visited before, just as much as flying halfway around the world.
Linda King [00:47:39]:
Yeah. I think you’re traveling spot on, Nancy. I think it’s the senses, and and that just goes into overdrawn. And that’s because it’s you. And I think that’s stimulating as well. When you, you know, your home, you know it well. It’s not new, but that stimulation of a new place, it just, yeah, it flies everything up. And I’m so glad that it does.
Linda King [00:48:01]:
It’s, it’s wonderful.
Nancy Norbeck [00:48:04]:
Yeah. I think we don’t appreciate it that way enough, and maybe we should appreciate that more.
Linda King [00:48:10]:
Absolutely. Yeah. I
Nancy Norbeck [00:48:12]:
agree. So so what’s next for you?
Linda King [00:48:16]:
What’s next for me? Gosh, more books. But if you want to use the books, I try and do 2 books a year, so it’s just released the annex abroad 1. The second 1 will be released later this month. And then I’ll be working on my next 2 books for next year. So I’m probably well, I’m definitely getting some traveling in as well this year. Which I’ll do a little bit more stimulation for and some more ideas. But, yeah. Also, I attended participated in a travel virtual travel event last year, so I’ll probably end up doing that also at the end of this year as well again.
Linda King [00:48:55]:
But you’re attending events, writing some books, probably doing a few more interviews. Plenty of things to keep me busy.
Nancy Norbeck [00:49:04]:
Sounds like it.
Linda King [00:49:05]:
I just keep travelling.
Nancy Norbeck [00:49:07]:
Sounds like it. So is there anything you would say to encourage someone who’s never really gone traveling before or, you know, a tip for them if they’re feeling nervous or intimidated about maybe hopping on a plane and flying across an ocean for the first time?
Linda King [00:49:22]:
Be brave. You can do it. Take it in baby steps. If you haven’t been overseas before, go somewhere local, you know, somewhere that that is close to where you are, not the interstate. And do that as a trial and see how you go. And then when you go on that international trip, you will have done a trip already. So you’ll have that confidence. But I just say, be brave.
Linda King [00:49:48]:
There is a wonderful world out there just waiting to be explored and to be visited. You’re missing out if you don’t explore and visit. You know, they say if you if you don’t travel, you’re only reading 1 chapter of a book. Oh, that’s what I think travels like. The book is full of all these chapters. Life is full of chapters. And if you, you know, you might not want to travel and that’s fine too. But if you don’t travel, you’re not, you’re not reading those other chapters in the book.
Linda King [00:50:20]:
That’s a
Nancy Norbeck [00:50:21]:
great metaphor.
Linda King [00:50:22]:
I would say, just do it. You’ll be fine. And just think about all the great things that are going to come from your travels, you know? Yeah. It it’s life changing. So just do it.
Nancy Norbeck [00:50:34]:
I I will heartily second all of that. I agree completely. Most of the best things I’ve ever done have involved getting on a plane and going somewhere. So
Linda King [00:50:44]:
Yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:50:45]:
I I am a big fan of expanding your horizons that way.
Linda King [00:50:49]:
Absolutely. Alright.
Nancy Norbeck [00:50:51]:
Well, thank you so much for coming and sharing all of this with all of us. I think this has been great. You’ve inspired me to figure out where I’m going next.
Linda King [00:51:01]:
Right. It was lovely chatting with you, Nancy.
Nancy Norbeck [00:51:06]:
That’s our episode. Thanks so much to Linda King and to you for listening. I hope you’re inspired to travel somewhere, whether near or far, and will leave a review for this episode, there’s a link in your podcast app, telling us about how travel has impacted your life. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend. Thanks so much. You know, I talk to people all the time who are feeling totally lost, overwhelmed, and stuck creatively. And I know there are lots more of you out there who are feeling the same way, so I made something to help. Check out the link in your podcast app for my creative tune up kit.
Nancy Norbeck [00:51:45]:
It’s $37, super affordable, and it’s full of my favorite coaching tools to help you rediscover your creative self and make progress fast. I would love to get it into your hands so that you can get unstuck and create beautiful things this year. Follow Your Curiosity is produced by me, Nancy Norbeck, with music by Joseph McDade. If you like Follow Your Curiosity, please subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to tell your friends. It really helps me reach new listeners.