The Journey Beyond Country Counting and Unexpected Kenya with Sarika Bansal
About this episode
Sarika Bansal discusses the deeper impact of travel and the shift from country counting to meaningful engagement with places.
What are you really looking for when you travel? Sarika Bansal is a travel writer, editor, and former editorial director of Afar magazine. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and Vice, and she focuses on ethical storytelling, global perspectives, and the deeper impact of travel. She currently lives in Nairobi, Kenya, with her family. In this episode, Co-host Paige McClanahan talks with Sarika Bansal about how travel shapes us, from living in Kenya to trekking in the Everest region, and how those experiences influence the way we think about travel itself. This conversation explores what happens when we shift from collecting places to truly engaging with them, and how that shift can completely change the way we experience travel. Sarika shares stories from her own journey, from trekking in the Everest region to building a life in Kenya, and reflects on how stepping outside your comfort zone can reshape your worldview in unexpected ways. We also get into the idea of country counting, the value of returning to places, and how different stages of life influence not just where we go, but how we show up when we get there. What do you think matters more in travel…
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