Marilyn Ball is the dynamic host of Speaking of Travel, an iHeart Radio show and global podcast. Marilyn’s passion for travel and adventure shines through as she shares captivating stories from fellow globetrotters, offering a portal to unique, inspiring, and enriching travel experiences that will ignite your wanderlust. Speaking of Travel helps raise awareness of our planet’s natural wonders while fostering a community of globally conscious citizens.

Everybody has beautiful stories about traveling. Even if you just went to grandma’s in the station wagon with your family, travel—big or small—shapes your life.

My neighbor across the street is a farmer. One day, he saw me at the mailbox and came over and said he had just been listening to my show. And it wasn’t because I was his neighbor, it was because he was listening to my show on WWNC. He told me he doesn’t travel, but listening to my show makes him feel like he’s going somewhere.

Here in western North Carolina, where I live in Asheville, it’s pretty progressive little place. And a friend of mine was creating a small network of community radio stations across the region. That’s how Speaking of Travel got started, and here I am 11 years and 900 episodes later.

I was just looking at some notes I had taken back in 2020. I was talking to people about traveling who couldn’t travel; they were going through these inner journeys. It really shifted the dialogue for the last three years and created a deeper dialogue around travel.

I think that’s an important part of what my show is about. Many people over the last four years have gone on some kind of inner journey—and that’s a form of travel.

I always do a pre-interview chat. That was a lesson learned after years of experience. That way I can talk in a leading way. I want my guests to tell their stories, I just want to be the facilitator to help bring the stories out of them.

I think pivoting is a big part of what humans are all about. If something doesn’t go the way you want it, change course.

Podcasting is the future of the marketing industry. It’s not buying newspaper double spreads anymore. It’s really looking at what are people going to listen to. So as a marketing person, I recognize that, and I’m able to sell that. I’m talking to people like the Asheville Airport and Subaru and I have some good (knock on wood) loyal sponsors who believe in what I’m doing. They want to endorse what my storytelling platform is about. That makes me proud.

I’ve spent the last decade of my life, every single week, being inspired by somebody who’s had a challenge I never thought I would face. I’m hearing people who went to Tibet and climbed the mountain and went to visit the nuns and I’m like, I can hardly get in my car. It’s been like therapy to me.

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