Omar Rais and Zirrar speak to Alex Reynolds (Lost With Purpose) on how is travel political. They discuss the pressures of travel blogging while traveling in politically charged countries and the intentional and deliberate steps needed to challenge passive neutrality. Alex also sheds light on how politics factors in to the female solo traveller experience.
What We Talk About In This Episode
- How the “travel is political” conversation started: Alex – going from neutrality to taking a stance on the protests surrounding India’s new Citizenship Amendment Act
- Travel bloggers and the pressure they face to remain neutral due to the nature of social media
- Do personal politics inform your activity in how you engage w/ the politics of the place?
- Intentionality – how to make a conscious effort to unlearn pre-existing notions of a country
- Individual experiences to traveling to a place with noticeable risks
o Alex in Afghanistan
o Zirrar in Lebanon
o Omar in Palestine - Making choices that signal a political stance while traveling (i.e. buying Palestinian goods, buying local)
- Running a tour in politically challenging places
- Alex’s experiences as a solo female traveler and the political perception of the status of women
- Coming back to neutrality – it’s safer, it’s inaction.
Things / People Mentioned in this Episode
Alex Reynolds is an American traveller blogger. She shares her travel experiences at Lost With Purpose. Check her out on Instagram, where she is known for her candid (and often hilarious) Insta Stories as she travels solo in various parts of the world.
Sacred Footsteps- The Podcast, is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify and more.
