Travel Devil – Adventures Without Guilt for Sustainable Travel
Travel Devil is your gateway to a world of sustainable travel, slow travel, and truly meaningful adventures. Hosted by slow tourism advocate Clara Francken, this podcast invites you to rethink the way you move across the planet. In a world dominated by mass tourism and cheap flights, Travel Devil shows how eco travel and responsible tourism can transform not only your trips but your entire travel mindset.
Here, we explore how to travel lighter, deeper, and with intention, whether you're interested in slow tourism, eco-friendly travel, overland travel, or discovering unique travel destinations across Europe and the world. With regular updates touching on Europe travel news and trends in conscious mobility, the show brings you stories that inform, inspire, and challenge the status quo.
Each episode features travellers, adventurers, and experts who share honest experiences about train travel, bikepacking, hitchhiking, thru-hiking, cargo ship travel, family travel, solo travel for women, travelling as a couple, moving abroad, and much more. You’ll hear what it really means to reduce your carbon footprint while staying curious, open-minded, and connected to local communities.
What you can expect from Travel Devil:
- Practical insights into sustainable travel, eco travel, and slow travel
- Real conversations about responsible tourism and slow tourism in Europe and beyond
- Updates and reflections tied to Europe travel news and conscious mobility
- Tips for travel safety, travel tech, and using smart remote work tools while exploring
- Inspiration for overland travel, finding cheap train tickets, and travelling on a budget
- Stories from nomads, expats, long-distance hikers, cyclists, night train travellers, and first-time adventurers
- Advice on packing lists, packing hacks, and navigating nomad housing
- Deep dives into local community projects and sustainable initiatives shaping the future of travel
Whether you’re into eco-friendly travel, sustainable travel, slow tourism, overland routes, or simply want to expand your travel mindset, this podcast will help you explore the world in a way that feels good - for you and the planet.
Expect inspiration. Expect laughter. Expect honest stories that make you rethink how you travel.
For more conscious travel content, follow @traveldevil.podcast and @clarafrancken on Instagram.
Travel Devil – Adventures Without Guilt for Sustainable Travel
42- What Every Traveler Should Know About Microplastics w/ Dana Zhaxylykova
When we think about sustainable travel, we often picture avoiding flights or packing eco-friendly gear. But what if the real danger lies in something we can’t even see - in microplastics?
In this episode of Travel Devil, host Clara Francken talks to Dana Zhaxylykova, a microplastic researcher from Kazakhstan and co-founder of the Microplastic Free app, about how travel habits contribute to microplastic pollution. We discuss topics from tire dust on roads to the “paper” cups we drink from on planes.
Dana shares her journey from the Aral Sea region to studying microplastics across Europe, uncovering how even our most “harmless” travel routines leave invisible traces behind.
In this episode we cover:
- How microplastics form and why they’re dangerous
- The hidden microplastics in airplanes, buses, and tires
- Why a “recyclable” coffee cup might not be so innocent
- The truth about plastic water bottles and travel gear
- What fabrics shed microplastics and which ones are good alternatives
- How to reduce plastic waste when traveling
- Are bioplastics and silicone really better alternatives?
- The impact of laundry and clothing on plastic pollution
- Why microplastics affect every ecosystem, even how it reacts in snow
- Practical tips for sustainable, low-plastic travel
Episode 42 of Travel Devil is out now on all podcast platforms.
More of Dana’s work:
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Want more?
- Follow the podcast on Instagram @traveldevilpod
- Connect with me on Instagram @clarafrancken
- Watch more on my YouTube channel
