At first glance Orphanage Tourism sounds really positive. Helping while you travel feels meaningful. But over the years, researchers and child protection advocates have raised serious concerns about some forms of voluntourism, especially those involving children.

Dayvee Sutton, the author of a recent article on this topic, “Stop Visiting Orphanages: The Feel-Good Travel Trend That’s Hurting Kids,” joins us to discuss.

Dayvee Sutton is a multi-Emmy Award-winning journalist and national travel correspondent seen on your favorite national talk and morning news shows.

Links:

• https://dayveesutton.com/
• https://creators.yahoo.com/lifestyle/story/stop-visiting-orphanages-the-feel-good-travel-trend-thats-hurting-kids-223019708.html?

If you're a fan of the show, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review Curious Tourism: Responsible Travel Podcast.

Follow us on social media @curioustourismpod.

Read Erin's award-winning blog, Pina Travels.

Subscribe to Kattie's podcasting newsletter, Pod the North.

CREDITS

Written and Hosted by Erin Hynes

Produced by Kattie Laur

Music is "Night Stars" by Wolf Saga/David R. Maracle/Chippewa Travellers. Additional music from Motion Array.

Logo by Nicole Hall

Mentioned in this episode:

Check out the Smart Travel Podcast

This week's show is supported by the new Smart Travel Podcast. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Check out Smart Travel at the Link below:

Smart Travel Podcast

Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world

This podcast is part of the Voyascape Travel Network, that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.

Voyascape Podcast Network

Erin and Kattie discuss what visa runs are, and why Thailand is cracking down on this travel "hack" to extend visa eligibility.

POSTCARD episodes come out mid-month, between each regular episode of Curious Tourism. Catch candid discussions on the latest in travel-related media and hot-button topics.

Send your questions or commentary to the show on Instagram @curioustourismpod or email erin@pinatravels.org

If you're a fan of the show, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review Curious Tourism: Responsible Travel Podcast.

Read Erin's award-winning blog, Pina Travels.

Subscribe to Kattie's podcasting newsletter, Pod the North.

CREDITS

Written and Hosted by Erin Hynes

Produced by Kattie Laur

Mentioned in this episode:

Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world

This podcast is part of the Voyascape Travel Network, that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.

Voyascape Podcast Network

Check out the Smart Travel Podcast

This week's show is supported by the new Smart Travel Podcast. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Check out Smart Travel at the Link below:

Smart Travel Podcast

The island of Socotra has recently become popularized online. But in January 2026, geopolitics broke this illusion of this island being a detached, apolitical escape. Foreign tourists found themselves stranded there. Flights were canceled, and there was no clear timeline for when they would be able to leave, all due to rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, tied to Yemen’s ongoing conflict. It's time to unpack exactly why travel is political.

JoAnna Haugen is a solutions-oriented consultant, speaker, and writer working at the intersection of sustainable tourism, storytelling, and social impact. She is the founder of Rooted Storytelling.

Dayvee Sutton is a multi-Emmy Award-winning journalist and national travel correspondent seen on your favorite national talk and morning news shows.

Links:

1. https://dayveesutton.com/
2. https://rootedstorytelling.com/
3. https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/05/travel/socotra-island-yemen-foreign-tourists-stranded-intl

If you're a fan of the show, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review Curious Tourism: Responsible Travel Podcast.

Follow us on social media @curioustourismpod.

Read Erin's award-winning blog, Pina Travels.

Subscribe to Kattie's podcasting newsletter, Pod the North.

CREDITS

Written and Hosted by Erin Hynes

Produced by Kattie Laur

Music is "Night Stars" by Wolf Saga/David R. Maracle/Chippewa Travellers. Additional music from Motion Array.

Logo by Nicole Hall

Mentioned in this episode:

Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world

This podcast is part of the Voyascape Travel Network, that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.

Voyascape Podcast Network

Check out the Smart Travel Podcast

This week's show is supported by the new Smart Travel Podcast. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Check out Smart Travel at the Link below:

Smart Travel Podcast

Erin and Kattie unpack the troubling nuances of trophy hunting tourism, sharing an unaired clip from their interview with Janna Giacoppo about just how much more fruitful safari photo tourism in comparison. They also take the discussion home, looking at trophy hunting and Canada's vulnerable polar bears.

POSTCARD episodes come out mid-month, between each regular episode of Curious Tourism. Catch candid discussions on the latest in travel-related media and hot-button topics.

Send your questions or commentary to the show on Instagram @curioustourismpod or email erin@pinatravels.org

If you're a fan of the show, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review Curious Tourism: Responsible Travel Podcast.

Read Erin's award-winning blog, Pina Travels.

Subscribe to Kattie's podcasting newsletter, Pod the North.

CREDITS

Written and Hosted by Erin Hynes

Produced by Kattie Laur

Mentioned in this episode:

Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world

This podcast is part of the Voyascape Travel Network, that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.

Voyascape Podcast Network

Check out the Smart Travel Podcast

This week's show is supported by the new Smart Travel Podcast. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Check out Smart Travel at the Link below:

Smart Travel Podcast

In early 2025, a new luxury hotel development from Marriot was announced. The Ritz-Carlton Maasai Mara Safari Camp promises visitors “front row seats” to the Great Migration. But soon after the hotel was announced, community members and wildlife experts spoke out, saying that the lodge was approved in a place it never should have been.

Janna Giacoppo joins the show to discuss. She is a photographer and documentary filmmaker focus on animal-human conflict, and notably started the change.org petition to stop the illegal safari lodge.

Links:

1. jannagiacoppo.com
2. Change.org | Help the Maasai Stop Marriott and Ritz-Carlton’s Illegal Safari Lodge Threatening Wildlife
3. Ritz-Carlton Is Sued Over Luxury Safari Camp in Kenya - The New York Times
4. Behind The Viral Video: How Safari Vehicles Endangered The Great Migration In Serengeti
5. https://www.instagram.com/p/DSbIaX0EjEh/?img_index=5
6. https://www.instagram.com/jungle_doctor/

If you're a fan of the show, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review Curious Tourism: Responsible Travel Podcast.

Follow us on social media @curioustourismpod.

Read Erin's award-winning blog, Pina Travels.

Subscribe to Kattie's podcasting newsletter, Pod the North.

CREDITS

Written and Hosted by Erin Hynes

Produced by Kattie Laur

Music is "Night Stars" by Wolf Saga/David R. Maracle/Chippewa Travellers. Additional music from Motion Array.

Logo by Nicole Hall

Mentioned in this episode:

Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world

This podcast is part of the Voyascape Travel Network, that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.

Voyascape Podcast Network

Check out the Smart Travel Podcast

This week's show is supported by the new Smart Travel Podcast. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Check out Smart Travel at the Link below:

Smart Travel Podcast

Erin and Kattie unpack the ongoing Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and why the Mayor of Milan is saying they're set to be most sustainable Olympic Games yet. They look what what we can expect this year, the addition of a fun new decipline, and what Italy has to learn from the Games of the past.

POSTCARD episodes come out mid-month, between each regular episode of Curious Tourism. Catch candid discussions on the latest in travel-related media and hot-button topics.

Send your questions or commentary to the show on Instagram @curioustourismpod or email erin@pinatravels.org

If you're a fan of the show, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review Curious Tourism: Responsible Travel Podcast.

Read Erin's award-winning blog, Pina Travels.

Subscribe to Kattie's podcasting newsletter, Pod the North.

CREDITS

Written and Hosted by Erin Hynes

Produced by Kattie Laur

Mentioned in this episode:

Check out the Smart Travel Podcast

This week's show is supported by the new Smart Travel Podcast. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Check out Smart Travel at the Link below:

Smart Travel Podcast

Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world

This podcast is part of the Voyascape Travel Network, that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.

Voyascape Podcast Network

Climate change is having an impact on how predictable seasons are, affecting ecosystems and as well as the daily life and livelihoods of people and communities around the world. And it’s having a trickle-down effect on how we plan our trips.

We chat with Tarang Mohnot about why the 'best time to visit' no longer applies.

Tarang Mohnot is a freelance writer and journalist. Her work has appeared in BBC Travel, Matador Network, DAZED, and more. You can find her article here: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250808-why-the-best-time-to-visit-no-longer-applies

If you're a fan of the show, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review Curious Tourism: Responsible Travel Podcast.

Follow us on social media @curioustourismpod.

Read Erin's award-winning blog, Pina Travels.

Subscribe to Kattie's podcasting newsletter, Pod the North.

CREDITS

Written and Hosted by Erin Hynes

Produced by Kattie Laur

Music is "Night Stars" by Wolf Saga/David R. Maracle/Chippewa Travellers. Additional music from Motion Array.

Logo by Nicole Hall

Mentioned in this episode:

Check out the Smart Travel Podcast

This week's show is supported by the new Smart Travel Podcast. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Check out Smart Travel at the Link below:

Smart Travel Podcast

Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world

This podcast is part of the Voyascape Travel Network, that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.

Voyascape Podcast Network

Erin and Kattie dig into interesting travel predictions for 2026, from noctourism and hushpitality to cold-weather travel and literary tourism.

1. National Geographic | How travel will look in 2026—here's what you need to know
2. BBC | Seven travel trends that will define 2026

POSTCARD episodes come out mid-month, between each regular episode of Curious Tourism. Catch candid discussions on the latest in travel-related media and hot-button topics.

Send your questions or commentary to the show on Instagram @curioustourismpod or email erin@pinatravels.org

If you're a fan of the show, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review Curious Tourism: Responsible Travel Podcast.

Read Erin's award-winning blog, Pina Travels.

Subscribe to Kattie's podcasting newsletter, Pod the North.

CREDITS

Written and Hosted by Erin Hynes

Produced by Kattie Laur

Mentioned in this episode:

Check out the Smart Travel Podcast

This week's show is supported by the new Smart Travel Podcast. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Check out Smart Travel at the Link below:

Smart Travel Podcast

Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world

This podcast is part of the Voyascape Travel Network, that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.

Voyascape Podcast Network