Sophie Ibbotson is a Central Asia specialist who has worked in the region since 2008, focusing on economic development — in particular tourism development — and water security. Through her company Maximum Exposure, she is a consultant to national governments and to the World Bank, and is Uzbekistan’s Tourism Ambassador to the UK.
Sophie is the author of six guidebooks for Bradt Travel Guides, and has written for Lonely Planet, National Geographic Traveller, and Culture Trip, amongst many other publications.
She is also Chairman of the UK’s Royal Society for Asian Affairs, founded in 1901 as the Central Asia Society.
On this episode of the show, Sophie shares her one way ticket destination is to Samarkand in the early 1420s, when Ulugbek - a grandson of Amir Timur (Tamerlane) - was governor. Sophie points out that at this point, before he became the Timurid Emperor, Ulugbek had just finished constructing his madrassa and astronomical observatory, solidifying Samarkand as one of the great intellectual and cultural centers of the Islamic world.
In our conversation, Sophie also highlights:
We wind down the conversation with Sophie sharing her philosophy on travel which is: “If you have the opportunity, go”!
Follow Sophie on Instagram & X: @uzambassador
For more on Sophie, visit: www.uzbekistan.travel/en &
A multiple Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter and producer, Peter Greenberg is America’s most recognized, honored and respected front-line travel news journalist. Known in the industry as “The Travel Detective,” he is the Travel Editor for CBS News, appearing on CBS Mornings, CBS Evening News, and Sunday Morning, among other broadcast platforms.
Greenberg produces and co-hosts an ongoing series of acclaimed public television specials, “The Royal Tour,” featuring personal, one-on-one journeys through countries with their heads of state. Along with such figures as the King of Jordan, Prime Ministers of New Zealand and Israel and Presidents of Mexico and Peru, and Tanzania.
The consummate insider on reporting the travel business as news, Greenberg also hosts the television show, “The Travel Detective with Peter Greenberg,” airing on Public Television. The series offers more than 50 half-hour episodes with cutting-edge travel information and insider tips you need to know before you ever leave home, plus in-depth reports on the good, bad, and yes, even ugly aspects of travel.
Greenberg also has launched a series of one hour specials called HIDDEN, revealing special destinations and unique experiences that you won’t find in the guidebooks or brochures. Destinations include Turkey, Poland, and Canary Islands, just to name a few.
On radio, he hosts the nationally syndicated “Eye on Travel,” broadcast each week from a different remote location worldwide, and is heard on hundreds of CBS radio stations across the U.S.
Greenberg is also author of The New York Times best- selling Travel Detective series. His most recent book, The Best Places for Everything, comes in the wake of such titles as Don’t Go There! and The Complete Travel Detective Bible.
He has also been a featured guest on CNN, NewsNation, “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The Rachael Ray Show,” and “The View.”
Travel Weekly named him one of the most influential people in travel, along with Bill Marriott and Richard Branson. In 2012, he was inducted into the U.S. Travel Association’s Hall of Leaders for his contributions to the travel industry. Among his other honors, Greenberg received a News & Documentary Emmy Award as part of the “Dateline” team for outstanding coverage of a breaking news story, “Miracle on the Hudson.”
Greenberg began his career in journalism as West Coast correspondent for Newsweek in Los Angeles and San Francisco. He won a national Emmy Award (Best Investigative Reporting) for his ABC “20/20” special on the final orphan flight out of Vietnam, “What Happened to the Children?” Greenberg also received an Emmy Award for “Miracle on the Hudson” for NBC Dateline.
Greenberg is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin, and an Excellence in Broadcasting Award from the Aviation Space Writers Association of America.
His website, PeterGreenberg.com, is one of the leading travel news resources for consumers and industry insiders alike. When he is not traveling the globe, Greenberg also serves as an active volunteer firefighter.
Our guest on episodes 109 and 287, Peter returns to the program where he confirms his one way ticket destination is still to Fire Island. After which he shares:
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· Why with very few exceptions, the best time to go anywhere is immediately after political insurrection, a civil war, or a natural disaster
· The state of the airlines today – who’s really running them, how if at all they’re preparing for another software glitch, etc.
· Overtourism and how destinations are handling it
· The many treasures of Egypt, including the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the Grand Egyptian Museum aka “GEM” (plus he recounts exploring the inside of a pyramid that was only just discovered)
· Some of what makes Uganda and Rwanda so special
· Why every American needs to buy an atlas
· How the cruise industry is changing rapidly when it comes to technology and sustainability
· Why he’ll only travel to a place where he knows who’s in control
· Why he has a bone to pick with US State Department Travel Advisories
· Why the worst four-letter word that starts with “f” when it comes to travel is “fear”.