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One of my favorite things to do on long drives or flights is to listen to hours on hours of podcasts. It has seriously gotten to the point where I look forward to longer travel days because it means I get to catch up with my main podcaster crushes (and I have quite a few!)
While I do enjoy “This American Life” and other standard NPR content, my true “guilty pleasure” podcasts fall more into the personal growth, business, inspirational and spiritual genres.
I love listening to interviews with successful people talking about their path to happiness, learning about wellness life hacks and being challenged to think about my problems differently.
Some of these shows are somewhat off the beaten path, but they such amazing content I HAD to share about them. It is no exaggeration to say listening to these podcasts has fundamentally changed my approach to life.
So without further ado, here are my 5 favorite podcasts to listen to on long trips:
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THE LIVELY SHOW // Jess Lively
“This podcast is designed to uplift, inspire and add a little extra presence to your every day life”
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
This was my gateway podcast and although it has evolved tremendously since I began listening in 2016, it remains one of my favorites. Jess Lively is the host and is truly a one of a kind human being who is unapologetically herself. She is a digital entrepreneur who helps people live more joyful and fulfilling lives through one-on-one coaching and online classes. She has been simultaneously traveling the world for the past two and half years and pursuing her dream life and just recently has settled back down in Detroit, MI for the time being.
Through a mix of solo episodes, coaching sessions and interviews Jess uses this podcast to describe her unique approach to life and happiness. Some of her favorite topics to go into are consciousness, energy, and the law of attraction and also has been known to significantly nerd out about quantum physics and how that underpins all these concepts.
WHY I LOVE IT
Jess is all about listening to your heart (or inner voice) and following you bliss from one moment to the next. She has such a refreshing approach to happiness that is so much more relaxed and ease-filled than many of the other people in the personal development space. She is also fiercely independent and always inspires me to follow my own path (no matter how kooky it may be)- without worrying about external input.
MY FAVORITE EPISODES
#204: “What I Do to Get Into Alignment
#285: Spiral Dynamics & How the Consciousness of TLS Has Evolved Over the Seasons
GOAL DIGGER // Jenna Kutcher
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
This is my most recent obsession that I am currently attempting to binge-listen from start to finish. Jenna Kutcher is the host of this podcast geared towards lady bosses and creative entrepreneurs. Jenna herself is wedding photographer turned social media and marketing genius, who now spends most of her time educating other entrepreneurs on how to build the type of successful business that she did.
Her podcast is a mix of solo episodes and expert interviews that cover so many practical aspects of business. She discusses how to use social media work to your advantage in business and completely demystifies the Instagram and Pinterest algorithms.
She gives unparalleled advice on how to develop your brand, your email list, your website and even has an episode that breaks down SEO. Her expert interviews dig into the success stories of people such as Rebecca Minkoff, and Sheri Salata (executive producer of the Oprah Winfrey Show).
WHY I LOVE IT
She gives the most concrete and tangible business tips and has killer show notes and freebies which break the concepts down even further. Listening to her inspires me to take immediate action towards my blog and business; I seriously cannot recommend her enough for anyone who is just getting started working in the online space.
Although she has become massively successful and puts out so much content, she maintains a huge focus on personal wellness and emphasizes working from a place of rest instead of stress.
MY FAVORITE EPISODES:
#205: Battle the Screen Addiction with These 5 Tips
#207: How to Batch Work (and Save Yourself Hours)
RISE PODCAST // Rachel Hollis
“Each week we’ll be sharing tangible, direct advice or inspiring interviews with the same intention: these are the tools to change your life”
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Rachel Hollis is a motivational speaker and best selling author of “Girl Wash Your Face” and brings her uplifting energy and content into this podcast in a real way. She has been called “the Female Tony Robbins” because of her high-energy approach to personal growth.
Her podcast is less tangible business advice than the goal digger podcast and more about providing you with motivation to set goals, take action and keep commitments to yourself. Rachel had a tough and traumatic childhood and provides realistic insights on how to overcome obstacles and get out of your own way.
WHY I LOVE IT
Rachel keeps it real. She sets high expectations for herself and her listeners and doesn’t put up with lame excuses or flaking. Her defined purpose in life is to be the best possible version of herself and to help others do the same. Her commitment to this purpose is contagious and listening to her pushes me to give my best in life.
MY FAVORITE EPISODES
Do These 5 Things Every Single Day to Change Your Life
Jasmine Star: Having the Audacity to Dream
THE GOOD LIFE PROJECT // Jonathan Fields
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Jonathan Fields is a best-selling author, entrepreneur and expert on applied personal development and human potential. He has an incredible talent for interviewing people that asks the big questions and gets to the heart of their life story. Each episode is an in-depth interview with various thought leaders, successful entrepreneurs, motivational speakers, authors, and other inspirational figures.
Because of Field’s talent with interviewing, these episodes are much more than just a question and answer style and really take the form of uplifting conversations and idea exchanges. He also has a knack for picking guests with incredible insights into life and riveting stories to share. Some of his most well-known celebrity type guests have been figures such as Tim Ferris, Brene Brown and Liz Gilbert.
WHY I LOVE IT
Listening to this podcast is like getting to be a fly-on-the-wall during some of the most insightful, inspirational conversations. The questions Fields asks his guests, are some of the most burning, meaning to life questions and most of the time I walk away from the episodes with actual answers. Listening to this show truly reminds me of what is important in life and what is just fluff. Also, I’m a huge fan of Field’s soothing, deep voice.
MY FAVORITE EPISODES
#464 Ben Nemtin: Life Beyond the Buried Life
#465 Radha Agrawal: How to Find Your People and Start A Movement
THE ROBCAST // Rob Bell
” I want to talk about what it means to be human”
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
I saved the best for last. Rob Bell is a seminary-trained, Mega-Church founder whose purpose in life is to reclaim the art of the sermon. He strayed from the traditional Christian teachings in 2011 when he came out with his book “Love Wins” which questions the idea of Hell. Now he preaches to the masses about what it means to be human through the lens of the bible.
He goes through traditional biblical stories, but interprets them using a historical context which gives new meaning to old stories. He is also so masterful with words and is able to apply the lessons from these stories to every day problems in a way that has completely changed my approach to life.
WHY I LOVE IT
His words are poetry and speak directly to my heart. Listening to his podcasts always fills me with an overwhelming sense of joy and peace. He also has an overarching message that you are loved and you are enough just as you are which is so comforting to hear. He also gives you game-changing mantras to try out such as “I’m not playing that game” and “This is what comes with it”.
MY FAVORITE EPISODES
#148 Alternative Wisdom Part 2: Weak is the New Strong
So there you have it- my absolute favorite way to kill time during long trips and honestly some of my favorite teachers, role models and content out there.
Comment below and let me know what are some of your favorite podcasts to listen to? I am always on the lookout for more!
Love this article! There are so many good podcasts out there! I think we’re very much on the same wavelength – The Rise podcast is one of my absolute favourites. Another to add to the list might be Tim Ferris’ one. My husband and I listened to #343 today – 1h 45m with Seth Godin. If you enjoy the 5 above, you’ll definitely enjoy this one, particularly if you’re in the midst of a career change 🙂
Kristen,
Always on the lookout for more podcasts! Tim Ferris has been on my list to check out for a while. This may be just the extra little nudge I need to give him a shot. Thanks for the recommendation!
So fun to meet people on the same wavelength. Most of my non-online friends think I’m a little crazy and don’t understand my choice of podcasts lol. Its great to meet some like-minded people :))