An educational trip doesn’t sound too fun, but today’s guest will show how incredible this can be.

We have the privilege to have Ladan Jiracek with us. He is the host of the Travel Wisdom podcast. He has traveled to over 80 countries on 5 continents. He has learned that travelling can not only be enjoyable, but educational.

Ladan talks about going beyond just seeing the tourist sites and having an immersive experience. His first experience happened while he was in college. Instead of doing a summer semester, his mom bought him a ticket to go anywhere so that he could experience a trip. He ended up going to Russian, Greece, and England. He and his friend learned so much and decided they wanted more.

During his trips he learned about couchsurfing, which is where you stay at a local person’s house instead of staying at a hotel or motel. They share their local custom and might take you to different places. This exposes you to different people and customs. If you’d like to learn more about couchsurfing, check out Couchsurfing.com.

In the interview, Ladan addresses the safety concerns (not to mention the awkwardness) related to couchsurfing by sharing an experience that he and his ex-girlfriend had.

When it comes to travel expenses, he shares how to cut costs. Lodging is about half the expenses, and couchsurfing can help you to really stretch your money.