May 16, 2020
The travel writing of Kash Battacharya, the Budget Traveller, has won him accolades including National Geographic Traveller Writer of the Year, filming for Lonely Planet and the BBC and resulted in his book The Grand Hostels, Luxury Hostels of the World. On this episode Kash, in easing-lockdown Berlin, talks budget travel, the culture shock of moving Kent to Calcuttta age 9, being ‘the English kid’ at a 18,000-pupil school, Dutch houses in Scotland, hanging with Rastas in South Africa and a rather surreal encounter with Tommy Lee Jones in an ancient Japanese Samurai Kingdom.
On this episode we cover:
Moving to Berlin
How he became The Budget Traveller
Quitting his job to make his dream work
Travel being therapy
Being born in England to Indian parents
The massive culture shock of leaving Kent for Calcutta age 9
Moving to Dundee at 18
Travel as a child can be like a game
18,000 people in his school! 100 in his class
Being bullied as ‘the English kid’
Calcutta being an assault on the senses
The architectural legacy of Colonial India
The incredible food culture in Calcutta
Not appreciating the culture as a child
How the tough life in India helped toughen him for life
Lisa’s Indian-Fijian father not imparting much Indian culture
Dundee being full of fun, culture and Desperate Dan
The East Neuk of Fife Dutch fisherman’s cottages
Anstruther having the best fish and chips in Britain
Finding Scottish people relaxed and more welcoming
Lisa being uprooted age 7 from England to Spain
Appreciating travel being a gift and a privilege even more during the Coronavirus
Not counting the countries he has been to
Japan being magical and surreal
The Japanese man who went that extra mile
Travelling through his stomach
Fresh sushi at Tsukiji Japanese fish market
Filming Hidden Japan for the BBC and Lonely Planet
The life-changing experience of visiting Kanazawa ancient Samurai Kingdom
A surreal encounter with Tommy-Lee Jones in the ancient kingdom
Celebrities advertising random products in in Asian countries
Filming a road trip through South Africa’s Garden Route
The beautiful Buccaneers backpackers hostel on the wild coast
The reason Lisa hasn’t yet been to South Africa)
Paragliding over stunning scenery (despite being terrified of heights)
Hanging out with a
Rastafarian Community in Sedgefield
Backpacking along the Garden Route
South Africa going through a tough time at the moment
Kash getting excited when he finds someone (like Lisa!) who has never stayed in a hostel
His book The Grand Hostels, Luxury Hostels of the World Lisa being happy to sleep on a park bench to get her out of the Borough right now
The midnight sun in The 7 Fells Hostel deep in the woods in Finnish Lapland
Picking cloud berries by the lake in the midnight sun
Lisa having specialised a lot in luxury travel
The Steel House design hostel in Copenhagen with a pool and cinema
Luxury nowadays being about experiences
Travel being about meeting people and learning about the culture
What does the future of travel look like now?
Crazy nights out in Berlin (Lisa’s visit to the infamous KitKatClub)
Kash Winning National Geographic Traveller of the Year
Being at a low point in his life when he moved to Berlin
Berlin being very diverse and accepting
One half of Mogwai the band owning a bar in Berlin
Morcheeba Down by the Sea being the appropriate soundtrack to a magical trip to Tuscany and the hostel that opening him to the world of travel
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