Travel with Meaning: Rethinking Purpose-Driven Travel with Mike Schibel

He got fired, bought a one-way ticket to Australia, and accidentally built a travel media brand. In this episode, we’re joined by Mike Schibel, founder and host of Travel With Meaning and one of the early voices in travel podcasting.

Mike shares how his background in Los Angeles and a decade in the entertainment industry shaped his approach to storytelling and interviewing. What started as a simple habit of asking travelers a few consistent questions quickly revealed something bigger: no matter where you’re from, people travel for the same reasons—connection, perspective, and stories that stay with them long after the trip ends.

From there, we get into the realities of building and sustaining a travel podcast, from finding the right cadence and avoiding “podfade” to balancing preparation with spontaneity in conversations. We also explore the business side of travel storytelling, including how live podcast events can build real community, how destination campaigns can authentically elevate local voices, and how to create meaningful partnerships without diluting the message.

Whether you’re building a brand, telling stories, or simply thinking more intentionally about how and why we travel, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on what meaningful travel really looks like today.

Learn more at travelwithmeaning.com.

The #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. 

https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Hello everyone and welcome to a special live in-person recording of Travel Trends. I'm joined by someone that I actually took a lot of inspiration from, given that he has been podcasting in travel for many years before travel trends started. He's one of the OGs. It's Mike Shebel, the founder and host of Travel with Meaning. I've been so looking forward to having him on the podcast. Him and I have been chatting about this for over six months, but we finally scheduled time to record this together at a conference live in person because I thought that's the way to bring this conversation together. So, Mike, finally, welcome to Travel Trends. Thanks, Dan. So good to be here. Tell everybody where you're based. Everyone knows I'm based in Toronto. Um, but it's because it's a big part of your family story and and obviously the guests you bring on your show. So tell everyone where you're based and a bit of the background of you starting this podcast.

One-Way Ticket Origin Story

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Thanks. So uh I'm based in Los Angeles, born and raised in a town called Pacific Palisades. That for many years, if you knew it, you knew it because it was kind of one of those places, the hidden gem of Los Angeles, nestled between Santa Monica and Malibu. Unfortunately, the majority of the world knows it now because of devastating wildfires last year, which unfortunately did take my family childhood home. Uh growing up in LA was was a really wonderful experience. That said, all I everyone do is leave. All I ever want to do is leave and see the world. And that trend kept coming up a lot for me. Uh my mom was a big inspiration on that. And she's someone that really planted a travel seed, and my parents did both, but really my mom, I spent a decade plus plus plus in the entertainment industry, working as an agent and manager.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Go figure, the entertainment industry in LA.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

No, she no yeah, go figure. I I knew I never really it's so funny, but I never really thought that's what was I never thought that's what I was gonna do. I thought I was gonna play in the NBA, but that's a whole other story. I'm like 5'8, maybe 5'8. Um maybe. Uh and then what happened was um after a decade plus in the entertainment industry, I parted ways with two of my clients, which is a really nice way of saying I got fired. And I bought a one-way ticket. And buying a one-way ticket to Australia, I started traveling. And through the course of my travels, I started interviewing people along the way, and I started asking everyone the same three questions. And those questions and conversations really were the precipice for travel with meaning, is that I really realized and learned that we, as travelers, no matter where you're from, what you do, what your background is, we are all so much more alike than we are different.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

Yeah. Yeah, and obviously, you and I share a huge passion for travel. I spent a lot of time traveling through Australia. And this is where when I started this podcast three years ago, I thought I was late to podcasting. And the reason I wanted to highlight this now is because you know, yourself.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

When did you start their podcast? Officially the podcast started so I started doing live events in 2016 and YouTube, and then I think it was 2018 we did the first podcast. 18 or 19.

Building Travel With Meaning

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Yeah. So that's where you're very much ahead of your time, and obviously you have a fantastic podcast that I encourage everyone to check out. You've got some amazing guests. We'll talk about who's been on your podcast. But one of the things that was interesting is that you know, Travel Trends is a B2B podcast primarily, although we're starting to get more and more consumers that also enjoy listening. Mike has always been focused on B2C and just connecting with travelers, which obviously is a um an exciting opportunity unto itself. And I think the the connectivity when we started travel trends, I thought I was late to podcasting. My wife had kind of she was so obsessed with podcasts during the pandemic, and I think most people know the origin story of travel trends that you know that I stepped out of my corporate career to take care of my dad and decided to create a podcast to gonna give back to the industry that I love so much and to have conversations that would help people navigate the post-pandemic world. And that clearly struck a chord, and here we are, you know, season seven going into season eight. And obviously, I love doing this, and clearly you love doing what you're doing, but I wanted to pay respect to the OGs that have been travel podcasting for far longer than I have. Um, so tell us a little bit about the whole travel with meaning, how it got started, and the whole concept for your show.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Yeah, first off, you're very sweet. I mean, I I OG, whatever it is. I think I just is the Einstein quote. I have very little talent, I'm only passionately curious. And that that's always me to a T. Um, you know, and I said this to you last night when I saw you. I love what you do in travel trends because I love your your lens as an experienced person in the industry. And I'm someone who's fanboyed because I've always wanted to be in the industry and it's never been that way. So I started Travel with Meaning, and I started hosting these live events in LA. I call Travel Talk, and I bring in former former clients of mine as a as a talent agent, whether they were rappers or producers or chefs. And it's that conversation that no matter who you are, what vertical your professional life is in, travel's affected your life and your career. What is that story you haven't thought about? What haven't you told anyone else? And I started just seeing not only things happen in the guest when they were getting these aha moments of like, wow, I didn't really realize or I haven't thought about that. Or people text me two days later, they wanted to still keep talking. Or the guests in the audience were so moved that I really felt that there was this interesting conversation amongst travelers, no matter who we were. And that that again was kind of that gateway drug for me in this conversation of podcasting, is it more than anything, it just turns into conversations about people's travels for sure.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

And you have a number of people that have been on your podcast that have also joined us at Travel Trends, uh, Catalina, who runs Camino Travel or El Camino Travel, Conrad from what at Hotel and uh Kyla, you interestingly enough, when I went to Chile last year, she was riding the bikes with me and she's based in LA. So, you know, I when I look at some of the people you have, Jessica Blotter is another great example who runs Kind Travel. I know she's a great friend of yours. And when I spoke to her recently, she's like, Do you know Mike? And I'm like, actually, we're gonna meet for the first time at this upcoming event. And she's like, You guys should really know each other. I'm like, no, we've been talking a lot, we really get along and understand why. People like Danny Guerrero, the founder of the Culturist Group. I worked with Danny for a long time, but you there's a lot of people you have spoken to, and I've enjoyed listening to your podcast that I've never met and I don't know. Dan Blanchard, who runs Uncruise, one of the ones, the uh the CEO of Codopaxi, Davis Smith. That was also a great episode. And you rep, yeah, you're always wearing your uh cool Koto Paxi.

Guests And The B2C Lens

SPEAKER_00 6:26

I love the Codopaxi gear. Yeah. You know, you you ran you just referenced two people, uh Carolina and Kylie, who uh Kyla, who I I both met on trips. Carolina and I met 2019 on a trip to Israel. And I she sat next to me on the bus, and I was always a fan of El Camino. And so that just kind of came full circle. And then Kyla and I were on a uncruise trip actually in Mexico. Ah, nice. So that's how that all came together. So tell us how many episodes you're up to now. Uh that's such a funny question. Uh, I think we're up to like 140, 130. I it's funny, as I stopped doing seasons, I just kept putting them out. And I started travel is different. You you're you're someone who has this lens again from the industry, but travel and and travel podcasting becomes a different beast when it becomes a career opportunity for yourself. And so as much as I was like season this or season that, I was looking at more campaigns working with destinations, whether it was Seattle or Hawaii, and I started just putting things out, and sometimes I I lose track. I think it's 130, 140 at this point. For me, it's more who do I dream about? Like what stories do I want to hear from people that really excite me?

Release Cadence And Production Reality

SPEAKER_01 7:33

So the other thing I was gonna ask you with your intentionality with these podcasts and the frequency. So, first of all, frequency. I know you were, you know, you you you were producing a lot and you kind of scale back and you're kind of ramped up again. What is sort of the frequency that anyone that is now just coming to discover traveled meaning is should be the expectation? Because we we kind of quickly had to move to this weekly, and then we were doing two a week, and now we're doing three a week. One of the things I learned about podcasting was trying to make sure that your audience comes to expect an episode. This is something I hear from a lot of creators, which I never considered myself in part of that community. And as I've come to understand that world, that the audience expects a show on that Wednesday because they're gonna go walk their dog, and I hear it from some of our listeners if our episode wasn't live. Yeah, so we we try to meet those. But how do how does your production schedule work and the frequency of releases?

SPEAKER_00 8:18

I'm unfortunately guilty of of being so regimented at one point, and then I found myself waiting on, oh, this brand or this partner, and then I was like, really, you know, I think a lot of things in life when you start waiting on other people, you miss things. And so I really started just scaling it differently of going when I want to. Um, and so then it really comes into let's put a block together. And so what we usually ramp up is like, let's get you know, another five to eight in the episode in in the kind of the can, and then we'll put out a whole kind of spew from there. So they really kind of will say maybe we'll take a couple months off. I found that towards the end of the year, we'll kind of have one at the end of the year, and then as opposed to starting the year in January, February, we usually come back March, April that we've been working towards, and then kind of flow from there.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Very cool. And the other thing I wanted to ask you on this topic was the way that you approach these conversations. And I just want to highlight for all of our listeners too. One of my great friends in the industry, Mitch Bach, who runs Torpreneur, he is one of my favorite podcasters. I love listening to his show and the interviews that he has. And I just saw him recently when I was in New York, we went for lunch together, and a few of our listeners have commented that they really like listening to Mitch and myself, and obviously yourself too, Mike. And as I I was trying to figure out what is the commonality between us when there's certain hosts that they really enjoy the questions or the conversations. And someone had commented that they commented on the show, they just listened to this five-hour episode of Travel Trends, and I commented back to them on LinkedIn and they said, uh, well, I was like, Can I get you on the show? And she's like, actually, I'd prefer just have a call with you and Mitch to get your advice on uh and I thought actually that that that would have be the most beneficial for her was to have her two favorite podcasters do a call with her to give her some business strategy advice. And so that was insightful. So I mentioned this to Mitch when I sat down with him because I tagged him in my response. I said, Are you up for it, Mitch? And he never replied. So I still haven't, I'm I'm keen to do this. And Mitch did say that he's up for it. But the reason I bring him up in this context is because Mitch is very intentional about not preparing for his podcast, and he's posted that very publicly to say that for him to maximize the joy in these conversations, he wants it to be totally spontaneous and he just wants to see where the conversation goes. And I respect and admire that. That's not the way I approach travel trends, and I can explain, but I actually want to hear how you approach your podcast.

How Much Preparation Makes Sense

SPEAKER_00 10:28

I like to prepare from the standpoint of if if I'm sitting down with you, I want to know where you're from. I want to know a little bit of a backstory. If I have a chance to do a pre-interview, especially if it's a live show, I want to get one or two of those nuggets in, especially if we have only a certain amount of time for in front of an audience. Um and and again, I obsess over these stories. So it's not like we're sitting down and it's you know, I have three hours just to kind of be like, so where are you from? What's going on? I like to at least kind of have an understanding of what direction we can flow and go from there.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Right. And I'll share this too, because I think actually in our uh back and forth on this, because even though we've gotten to know each other only so well, so I'm happy to share with our listeners too, since it's a kind of a reveal for our listeners at Travel Trends, and also understand the model of travel with meaning, is that the way that I started approaching these conversations was very much from a kind of three elements to the the arc or the narrative of the conversation was always starting with their backstory because you know we did 10 episodes in that first season after my dad passed away, and I picked people in the industry that I had worked with or collaborated with to people that I knew and I trusted their opinion on these topics. And it was like people from Rob and Yap in Singapore, and just really interesting people that I thought could add value to the conversation. And so that was our first, and every conversation that I had, I basically approached it with I wanted to get their backstory because that builds trust and credibility. Then I wanted to talk about what they're working on, so what their role is in the industry, and then I would talk about the trends because at that point you now have heard enough from someone that the audience then feels that they can take their advice. And so that was sort of my logic in the approach to the conversations, and clearly it struck a core. But when we move into second season, we started doing a lot more panel discussions. And one of my big discoveries going into season two, I had a number of high-profile guests in the beginning of season two. I brought on uh Rafat Ali from Skift and uh Pete Como from Focus Right, and even like Bruce Rozard from Arrival. But I started I thought, well, let's focus on the media and let's bring in some other high-pro figures. And what I actually found, and I did a lot of preparation for the one with uh Rafat in particular because I wanted to be really thoughtful because he's a journalist, so I spent the whole weekend preparing for this conversation, and I think it was one of the uh one of one of our best episodes because he's such an interesting person, such a high-profile figure in the industry. But to talk about his dad and his backstory and his struggle to decide to stay in America, and it I anyway, I really, really enjoyed the conversation. But what I ultimately found is that when we had episodes that had a really compelling topic with a group of people that were well positioned to speak to it, we would see far more downloads and engagements on that topic. And of course, as a marketer, ultimately it's like what's in it for them. So if there's a really compelling show that they look at the people and go, I want to hear what they have to say on this, because this could be beneficial for me. So we started shifting into that. We started doing panel discussions in season two, and then that led us to do these like what we call deep dives where we would focus on having three or four episodes on a specific topic and break down river cruising or ocean cruising or adventure travel. And so that's part of been our evolution. So having me share that, tell me about the evolution of travel with meaning.

Travel Trends Format Evolution

SPEAKER_00 13:35

Yeah, um, again, once again, I have loved watching your journey with us. I will say that again. It's it's such a fun conversation. Uh, you know, initially it was gonna be the people's stories, right? No matter where they are, what's impacted their life, their career, and what has happened in the evolution of travel with meaning is well, partnerships or travel. People would say, well, if you're traveling to Germany or Finland, can you do you want to do a podcast about it? So then it started looking at what is the lens of the local and how do we look at this kind of reciprocal 360 conversation? Uh, and perfect example is we had a wonderful campaign with Visit Seattle, and Visit Seattle wanted to highlight a lot of their uh immigrants and really in the Hispanic Latino community. And so what we did is we focused on a lot of the locals, their businesses, what they do there. And then I partnered with Jeanette Seha, who I also know who's been on top of the yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, Jet Fanatizes.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

And we we actually did part of the episode, uh, one of the episodes in Spanish. But so it's the lens of then having the locals to talk about what makes their destination so special, what's you know, who they are, what they're about, but also what is it for them to leave to come back? And then the other side, the reciprocal side, is what is it as an outsider traveler coming in to experience it to share it back to their network is missing in these conversations of travel? It's like very one-sided. It's like we're gonna talk at you, but we're also not gonna listen to who the travelers.

Local Lens And Destination Campaigns

SPEAKER_01 14:59

Well, one of the things that I've seen you do that I always have this total FOMO whenever I see you're doing an event and recording live and having these conversations in LA. I really loved living in LA, a genuine we lived in Orange County, I have to be specific about that. I was like, you didn't really live in LA. I'm like, yeah, okay. I didn't want to say it, but it was Orange County. Yeah, um, but I really enjoyed my time also being in LA. And that whole scene, I find like I wish I could spend more time there, and I always enjoy it. So you tell us a little bit something about those live events and when you bring people together and you do recordings, because I think that's such a cool experience to develop stronger bonds and connections with your audience and the people that listen to your show because they get to meet other people that also enjoy the show.

Live Events And Community Building

SPEAKER_00 15:38

You know, there it's so funny. Pre-pandemic, and we were we were crushing these out monthly. And I mean, I always just didn't matter about sponsors or partners, right? We were getting food donated. I don't think we ever paid for a venue. And it was really for me about the energy in the room. It was those travelers watching their face when they're hearing a story. Again, what is the connection that somebody could talk about going to Clavo and seeing everyone in the audience also having a moment? And so there was something really special happening. And I I know it's an overused word sometimes, but I think it was just a genuinely authentic community of travelers. And what I find a lot happens in the travel industry is um you know, brands or destinations, hotel groups, they do these roadshows and they'll go and they'll meet with advisors or media and all well and good. But what happens the next day is another brand will come in. And how do you stay top of mind? And so we started with this conversation of, well, let's bring in a noteworthy guest from your destination, your region, or something of that nature. And now you still have these people at your fingertip, the media, the advisors. You're still kind of maybe giving them some food, some drink, and some swag. But now you're recording this podcast that is evergreen, that sits there and does the job of the marketing for years to come.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

For sure.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

And so that that's one thing that we started feeling and seeing in these live events.

Monetizing Podcasts Without Losing Trust

SPEAKER_01 16:54

Yeah. Well, one of the things that you tapped into early that I only came to understand after we had this podcast was that by virtue of connecting with people on ultimately a deeply personal level through audio, is that they listen longer, they retain more information, and they take action, which is incredibly powerful from a commercial point of view. And we I've been very mindful on this journey as we've started to bring in partners to cover the cost of the production and the team and continue to be able to uh scale the amount of production that we want to do, that the content is first. So having great conversations with interesting people like us sitting down today, that's what I enjoy about this. And I it's ultimately what I want to be able to share with a global audience that can take benefits from these conversations and apply it to either advance their careers or to help grow their businesses. That's sort of what's always top of mind for me as I'm prepping and preparing these. And so the fact that you have built out a great audience and you've got so many valuable conversations you've already recorded. I'm also keen to understand where you want to go to next. Because I think one of the things, Mike, you and I have talked about this, and you, you know, you you are a genuine fan of the show. You've kindly promoted a number of episodes that we've done. Uh, when we've been going to conferences, you've also shared some of those. And it's it's it's heartwarming for me to have someone I respect like you being able to have had that impact and have you sharing that. And so the feeling is certainly mutual. And what I wanted to highlight, as you go into your next phase of your journey, tell us a little bit where you're headed, especially as you look to commercialize and be able to continue to grow travel with meaning.

Transformative Travel In The AI Era

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Yeah. Um, I want to key on one thing you said before because you know, the live events also are a way for as a podcaster just to have community because sometimes it's a it's a lonely space, right? It's like it reminds me of being on college radio. Is anyone really listening? Come on, you know. But and then I I've had people say to me that like, and I've had a couple people say, listening to your podcast reminds or hearing your voice reminds me of travel. And so those those things are really helpful and it makes me feel good. Um, where where I want to go, where I believe we go, is we're looking for those partners. We want to find these right people in the industry that really see this conversation, that wanna, that really wanna tip the scale from just being talked at to really having a way to transform the way that travel is shared and sold. And I really believe there's a bigger conversation within that, whether it's white label for people, you know, it's it's much like when social or internet started. Everyone knew they wanted to get in that space, just like during the pandemic, everyone and their mother started a podcast, which is all well and good. No disrespect on that, Danny. Uh but but who is still standing? Exactly. But at the end of the day, we both know it takes a little bit more. And so where it's going from here is opportunities to either help other brands, destinations, uh, white label and or creates create opportunities for them through travel with meaning or through something else that we can create with them. And finding those right partners that you know it does become a business. So whether there's revenue opportunities for this to grow at the same time, um anyone have ever said the brand name to or the you know, the show name to? Has never said, oh, we don't like that. Or it it resonates with everyone. So, how do we take this to the next level? Is finding that partner that that also has the vision that we do uh and wants to take a little risk with the reward.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

Yeah, well, and I think the concept travel with meaning, this is a year that many of our listeners have heard me talking about transformative travel. The fact that in the age of AI, Jake Halpert said this best to Transformational Travel Council co-founder. He highlighted the fact that AI is probably the best thing that ever happened in the travel industry because people are going to be seeking out more human connection and in-person shared experiences. And I completely agree with that. So it's it's an exciting time for us to see how this industry will continue to evolve, but specifically around what it is you do of travel with meaning. That's like that's what people have discovered in this post-pandemic world that they don't want travel taken away from them again, and they want to come back feeling changed and being impacted. So everything when wellness, longevity, it's all about traveling with intention, purpose, and meaning.

Defining Meaning And The Workbook

SPEAKER_00 20:48

Right. And at the end of the day, no matter what vertical you're in, so we're at a conference right now, and there's so many different sectors here: tech, aviation, hotels, destinations. And I've just been kind of taking up my microphone and asking people the question I ask what does travel mean to you? And it's interesting to hear people's professional view at first, oh, it's my job, it's this. But then when you question them again about the human aspect or the traveler aspect, what is that? It's fun to watch that again light bulb of being like, oh, it's this, it's this, it's the connection, it's the people. Which ultimately is interesting is that when I when I first started, people would ask me what meaning is. And this this is interesting, is that I I remember I took a lot of meetings and there were a lot of big CEOs that asked me what is meaning, and like I figured it out. And the truth is I would say whatever you want it to be. But I started hearing similar stories from people sharing their meaningful stories over and over again. There was themes, yeah. So much so that I literally, and I'm showing you this, that the how to travel with meaning workbook is this idea of having a roadmap based on what I've heard from other people.

SPEAKER_02 21:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

Um, funny enough, Jake was actually on that trip that I met Carolina too. Oh, no way. Cool.

Collaboration Ideas And Listener Requests

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Oh, that's awesome. I'm flicking through this now. I haven't seen this before. This is really cool. Um, well, one other thing I wanted to highlight too for all of our listeners is that Mike and I have been talking about doing some collaborations since you know I greatly respect his show and he's kindly uh become a big fan of our show, and we've gotten to know each other quite well and really get along. I mean, I'm fanboying, dude. Let's be realistic.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

Like, are you serious? Like, I'm fanboying.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Well, I just want to go back to quickly to one thing you said about you know everyone having a podcast during the pandemic, and the and I joked about the who's still standing, and I'm obviously that's just I'm I'm kidding, but you're still going, I'm still going. A lot of podcasts do fade, and this whole idea of pod fade. In our very first season of a podcast, we had three of those guests go on to create their own podcast. And a number of people had said to me at the time, Are you worried about that? And they still do. I've had good friends that have been on the show and they're kind of hesitant to say their ambition is to create their own podcast. And my response to that is all the power to you, go for it, because if you have a voice that finds an audience, like you're gonna be successful. And so I don't see that as competition, if anything. I actually I think it helps us all uh better our game. I don't see I don't see it as a threat, I don't see it as a concern because I I just want to be able to have my authentic voice. And Travis Pittman is a great friend of mine who runs tour Raider, and the reason I mention his name is because he's referred to me post-corporate world as Dan 2.0. He's like, I love Dan 2.0 because you're just like he's like, I didn't know you were that funny. I didn't realize that you had that much to say on these topics. And I'm like, I've like, because I think I was actually held back from what I want what I thought the perception needed to be of me in my corporate role, wearing my jacket and my pin. So I was more concerned about what my boss thought of me on stage than the audience. And now I've only got the audience, and that's what I need to focus on. And and having my authentic voice and sharing my own opinion is and I so it not only does it feel great, but it's wonderful to get a response to it. So I just want to highlight that for any of you out there that is seriously thinking about starting a podcast. The best thing you can do is go out and try it and see if you can create an audience and create some content and if you want to collaborate with us. But I I want to collaborate with you, Mike.

Where To Find Mike And Closing

SPEAKER_00 24:01

So that's why I collaborate with you. You know, it's interesting, Dan, is other time in my life that we'll call it the talent agent years, where I was a much different person on every level. And so for me, it would be like, oh, you think everyone is your competition. And it and it really took me buying that one-way ticket and changing my life and the transformation that really came through that to want to lean so much more into championing other people. And unfortunately, I do think at times the influencer conversation, whatever, is a very siloed conversation, right? Everyone is individually thing. But I like to say, if you tip the silo over and it becomes a trough, and we all come to that trough together, we all thrive, we all survive, we all work together. I want nothing more than when people reach out to me and ask me podcast questions. How can I introduce you to people? How do I help you? Because if I'm helping you, that makes me happy.

SPEAKER_01 24:47

Yeah, that's awesome. That's the spirit. So, one topic that we talked about is doing a show on pets, traveling with pets. Yes, yes. Mike and I are both huge dog lovers. And if we start talking about this now, this conversation will likely go on for another half an hour. Uh, but we I I really want to do a traveling with pets episode with Mike, and I know he's up for it as well. But what I was gonna say to the listeners, you tell us what you would like to hear from Mike and I. So if it is traveling with pets, if you have any other suggestions, if you want us to do another deep dive into the world of podcasting for that matter, tell us what you'd like to hear from us, and we would love to put a new series together. We're open to different ideas, um, and even partners that want to work with us on that front as well. I'm happy to create a spin-off series of Mike and I on specific topics, but I think we probably need to create one first to make sure the magic is happening, and then we can go from there. But uh, Mike, any other thoughts from you on the content you'd like to create together or where you'd like to go next?

SPEAKER_00 25:40

Yeah, well, first and foremost, the the dog content is a no-brainer. I think we both can even start with, we've talked about even having both our dogs on the show. We but there's a lot of conversations. I I love my dog 17 now. Uh I love taking on road trips. From there, I would I with you would love to continue to deep dive on breaking down travel, what travel actually is and the definition of travel, and then the other side of what is meaning. And the reason I want to really play in the sandbox, the two of us is you said I'm a lot more B2C, you're B2B, and I really still believe in that same conversation with silos. We're all travelers. And so, how do we come together and look at it from the lens of two different sides? You come from the travel corporate side and what you do and who you talk to the majority of the time. And I like to look at what I do in the in the consumer side. So I'd love to take these conversations together and even going through this workbook that I share with you and get a little bit, you know, more juicy in some of those topics together.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

Well, let's plan for it. But in the meantime, let's make sure that everyone can go through your back catalog and get to know more about you and the great work you've been doing. So tell everyone in closing where they can find you and get more information.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

Absolutely. Find us at travelwithmeaning.com. Uh, you can give us a follow on all socials, travel with meaning. Me personally is Mike Scheibel, just at Scheibel. And uh again, Dan, thank you for everything you do, and thanks for just shining a spotlight on travel with meaning and really just being such a good advocate in general. Really appreciate you, dude.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

I really appreciate it. It's so great to sit down with you, get this time together. I look forward to seeing you again in person in the near future. And I look forward to working on these collaborations. So we'll keep everyone posted when that's going to happen. And uh yeah, thanks again, Mike. We'll see each other again real soon.

SPEAKER_00 27:16

All right, dude. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

Cheers. Thanks again, Mike Shebel, for joining us. It's so fantastic to finally sit down with you and to learn the backstory on travel with meaning and get a chance to meet you and get to know you. I'm definitely a big fan and will continue to look forward to our collaborations. And I'm sure we're gonna have some responses about what we should do next. So I look forward to hearing that from our listeners. Just hit me up with an email, Dan at Traveltrendspodcast.com. And don't forget we do post regular spotlight episodes. So make sure you're subscribed on the streaming platform of your choice to be notified when new episodes go live. And you can see all of our spotlights by going to traveltrendspodcast.com slash spotlights. And then, of course, we post clips and highlights on our social channels as well, which you can find on Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok at Travel Trends Podcast. Thanks again for joining us, and until next episode, safe travels.