S2E11: Hayden Lee - 'Love on the Ganges'

If you change your thinking, you can change your actions. Hayden wholeheartedly believes in this philosophy, and it was this philosophy that led him to trying to never say no. It was his decision to always say yes to adventures that led him to his love on the Ganges. Hosted by Jackie Nourse of The Budget-Minded Traveler, Hayden Lee shares how he started the Travel Stories Podcast, how sharing stories can help bring a place or a feeling to someone who has never experienced it, and how to integrate your travel life with your daily life.

He also talks about catching dengue fever, the growth travel can bring you, and the way to capitalize on the roles you take on while you travel. He believes in “minis,” or mini-romances, as much as he believes in saying yes to everything, and finding perfect moments while traveling. Most of all, though, Hayden believes in love at first sight. Hayden’s main attraction is his story, “Love on the Ganges,” a riveting tale of the time Hayden nearly died in the Ganges River while in the Himalayas, and how survival meant making a soul connection with a woman who did not share his language, but did share with him her name. Hayden nearly died on the Ganges, but he came away with a story that brings indescribable feelings of wonder welling up. A soul connection was born in the Ganges, and left Hayden with the belief that if you just say yes, you will experience what you are meant to live.

• 4:10 - Hayden talks about where it all started, and how he got into traveling in the first place.
• 6:45 - Hayden goes on to discuss how he got dengue fever, as well as how much India has impacted him as a person.
• 11:45 - Hayden talks about how stories can help to bring a place or a feeling to someone who has never experienced it. As he tells it, all of your senses go into an experience that can’t be contextualized without your story; when you tell the story to someone, you’re sharing all of your senses with them, and even sharing it with yourself.
• 14:37 - Hayden considers coming back to normal life and integrating into your daily life the experiences that have changed you and molded during your travels. Primarily, he talks about attempting to hold on to your growth when you come back home.
• 17:27 - Hayden discusses his goal in starting the Travel Stories Podcast, and how you hold on to the feeling of being a traveler through sharing your stories with those on the same wavelength as you. He believes you experience things differently than everyone else in your life and anyone else traveling and having their own adventures, so he likes to think of his listeners - and himself - as being able to live vicariously through the travel stories told on the podcast.
• 22:21 - Hayden considers the roles that you have when you travel, and how best to foster your personal growth within your role when traveling and having your adventures. He and Jackie also talk about traveling on your own versus traveling with others, and “exploring yourself as you explore the world.”
• 27:07 - Hayden starts to tell his story, titled by Jackie as “Love on the Ganges”.

Get in Touch with Hayden on Instagram: @backpackdigital