FLY BROTHER Radio #005: Sophie Ibbotson

On this episode of the FLY BROTHER Radio Show, Ernest speaks with Sophie Ibbotson, one of the most adventurous guests on the show to date. She’s a British entrepreneur, traveler, writer, and lover of wild places whose passion for travel started at an early age thanks to her internationally-minded family. She lived overseas for 10 years, before eventually settling in London as her home base, while still traveling often.

Ernest and Sophie discuss their love of language learning, discussing the intricacies of some of the languages they’ve each studied throughout the years. Though Sophie took French and German classes growing up, she later chose to study Hindi and Urdu—both of which came in handy during her time spent traveling throughout India and other parts of South Asia.

Sophie also gives listeners a glimpse into the world of writing travel guidebooks, emphasizing that the work is not as glamorous as it sounds. Sophie has written five Bradt guidebooks about Sudan, South Sudan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and the Kashmir region of India. Writing those books meant going off into mostly unexplored territory, figuring out exactly how tourists could visit these places, where they should go, what they do, and what accommodations they could book. While researching these guides, Sophie leaned on the support and hospitality of the locals—something Ernest could also relate to as he detailed his time updating the Bradt guide to Kazakhstan.

In this episode, our host and his guest also discuss their love of central Asian countries like Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, where Sophie notes that the architecture is particularly impressive with its bejeweled mosaic buildings.

Sophie now runs her own consultancy business Maximum Exposure Ltd with a focus on tourism and culture development and promotion. The company advises, positions, and represents brands and destinations in multiple markets. Emerging destinations are a particular specialty.