Life is full of risks - including starting your own business, having a picnic in the Maasai Mara or saying way too much on a podcast.  In this episode we take listeners on an audio safari with Jeff Williams (CEO and founder of Enroly). He tells us about his close encounters with a Dik-Dik, surviving the mean streets of London and quitting his job. Aged 14 he was a partner in A&J Mulberry Fresh, aged 19 he co-founded a successful TV production company, and aged 24 he was the Head of International at the University of Bolton. Too much, too young? He's built another successful business since and is feeling his age. Cheap therapy for industry leaders and even cheaper promotion for BagBuddy, take a walk on the wildside with TFTDL. This ain't no zoo. Final destination: Maasai Mara National Reserve, KenyaThis episode is brought to you in partnership with The Ambassador Platform, a leading peer-to-peer marketing and recruitment platform that connects your current students to prospective students for honest advice. Check out www.theambassadorplatform.com Tales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

Nothing ventured, nothing gained for our tiger queen, Ula Tang-Plowman (University of Central Lancashire). Forged in the steel city of Wuhan, she came to the UK as a student with a pocket full of cash and a taste for the hottest chillies on earth. Little did she know how much her inner strength would be tested in life and how she would need her global network of friends and colleagues in the saddest of circumstances. Vulnerable, honest and inspiring - prepare to be amazed and moved in equal measure. 不入虎穴，焉得虎子 Chinese proverb:  If you don't enter the tiger's den, how will you catch the tiger's cubs?  aka it is impossible to achieve success without experiencing danger. Final boarding call: Wuhan, ChinaThis episode is brought to you in partnership with The Ambassador Platform, a leading peer-to-peer marketing and recruitment platform that connects your current students to prospective students for honest advice. Check out www.theambassadorplatform.com Tales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

Is there a party at mother's? You bet there is. Life is just one big playground for Adam Pettit (AECC Global) who joins the TFTDL crew to discuss being a player in a global game of ‘tag’. After reading about a group of players in the New York Times, Adam and his friends decided to play the game themselves. A decade later, with players spread all over the world, the stakes are high and the tagging scenarios are extreme!   This is a chatty episode that explores singing R Kelly songs in a Ugandan church to cycling to international education conferences. Adam is the Intled Forrest Gump and you never know what you're going to get! What we do know, is an adventure is about to happen.  Final destination: Lincoln, United Kingdom This episode is brought to you in partnership with The Ambassador Platform, a leading peer-to-peer marketing and recruitment platform that connects your current students to prospective students for honest advice. Check out www.theambassadorplatform.com Tales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

London calling! Andy and Nick took to the stage at The PIE Live Europe '24 to record a live episode with Mark Pettitt, founder of Edified. Mark takes us on a magical mystery tour of his life adventures starting in 1970's New Zealand via Russia, Colombia and his home in Australia. Expect strong language (so much so we had to get the bleep machine out), hotel-based nudity, double entendre and straight up - no dickheads allowed! What's Mot go? Mot's got the lot! And so has this special episode of TFTDL Live. Final boarding call: Motueka, New ZealandThe PIE Live Europe will return in 2025! Check out www.thepielive.com for details including dates, speakers and sponsorship opportunities. Tales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

The University of Oxford is consistently ranked as the best university in the world, yet it is often accused of elitism and archaic traditions. The TFTDL crew speak to international graduate Anvee Bhutani, a journalist at The Telegraph, about her time at Oxford and she doesn't hold back! From celebrity classmates to abhorrent behaviour we discuss entitlement, invite-only clubs and bomb threats with the former Students' Union president. Is an Oxford degree a golden ticket to life? What's wrong with politics in the UK? And what does Anvee think of Saltburn? Sit back, relax and enjoy the journey. Final destination: Oxford, United Kingdom Not to be missed! This inspirational student story is brought to you in partnership with The Ambassador Platform, a leading peer-to-peer marketing and recruitment platform that connects your current students to prospective students for honest advice. Check out www.theambassadorplatform.com Tales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

Dev Desai is part of the 'studytuber' phenomenon of student influencers. He generated millions of views on social media by documented his study abroad experience in Australia and answering questions from other students online. Fast-forward five years since his graduation and he has turned that online community into a successful media company and peer-support service - Internash and Studynash. This is the GenZ dream.Awarded the IEAA Rising Star Award in 2023, he talks to the TFTDL crew about the real India, student 'screw-up' stories, getting fit (and filming it) and why you should never rely on getting a visa on arrival! Final boarding call: Ahmedabad, India Not to be missed! This inspirational graduate story is brought to you in partnership with The Ambassador Platform, a leading peer-to-peer marketing and recruitment platform that connects your current students to prospective students for honest advice. Check out www.theambassadorplatform.com Tales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

A story of hope. At age 11 Nhial was separated from his family when armed militia attacked his village in Ethiopia that borders South Sudan. He fled to Kukama Refugee Camp in Kenya, a settlement over over 300,000 displaced people, where he found solace in school and pursued his dream of becoming a journalist. By reaching out to the world on the airwaves, he was not only reunited with his family but he managed to secure a scholarship to study in Canada and travel the world as a UN Refugess Youth Peace Ambassador. Nhial joins the TFTDL crew to talk about a world of inequality and conflict, the great potential of youth and why you should try a beaver's tail when in Canada! Final boarding call: The Gambella region, Ethiopia Not to be missed! This inspirational student story is brought to you in partnership with The Ambassador Platform, a leading peer-to-peer marketing and recruitment platform that connects your current students to prospective students for honest advice. Check out www.theambassadorplatform.com Tales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

Wali and Wahab are two brothers studying in the UK having escaped Afghanistan after their mother was brutally murdered by the Taliban. Targeted because she was one of the first female judges in the country who had been trained by the International Bar Association, they too were at risk. Amid the chaos of withdrawal of US troops, a group of lawyers led by Baroness Kennedy, managed to charter a series of evacuation flights to rescue more female judges and their families. This is the story of their escape and a modern day Schindler's List. The boys talk to the TFTDL crew about never giving up, a Hollywood script, gratitude and Lamborghinis - and their incredible mother Judge Qadria Yasini. Final boarding call: Athens, GreeceNot to be missed! This inspirational student story is brought to you in partnership with The Ambassador Platform, a leading peer-to-peer marketing and recruitment platform that connects your current students to prospective students for honest advice. Check out www.theambassadorplatform.com Tales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

Gun violence is the number one killer of children and teens in the US. After the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Florida, where a gunman killed 14 children and 3 teachers, Lane Murdock decided to take a stand. At just 15 years old, she led a global movement of National School Walkouts that inspired a generation. Over 100,000 children from over 2,500 schools worldwide simultaneously walked out of class in protest of gun culture, amid a frenzy of international media coverage and criticism. Now studying abroad at university in Scotland, she joined the TFTDL crew to discuss her perspectives on US gun culture, broadening your horizons and a stolen childhood. Final boarding call: Edinburgh, ScotlandNot to be missed! This inspirational student story is brought to you in partnership with The Ambassador Platform, a leading peer-to-peer marketing and recruitment platform that connects your current students to prospective students for honest advice. Check out www.theambassadorplatform.com Tales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

Ho-Ho-Ho! Seasons greetings from the TFTDL flight crew. Andy and Nick are joined by Masha Kostromitina from the Duolingo English Test team to celebrate the podcast reaching 10,000 downloads in just 10 months. A huge thank you to all our Frequent Flyers Club listeners and sponsors. You are the tea to our biscuit. We recap our 'TFTDL Radio' campaign - our shared playlist on Spotify - along with your stories about the celebrities you've met in airports. We wonder which country is first in the world to experience Christmas Day, and what colour coat Santa wears in Russia?Wishing you all peace and happiness - and some high-definition headphones to keep you listening in 2024. Safe winter travels everyone.Tales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

Simon Anholt is the world's leading authority on 'nation brands' having coined the term in the 1990s. He is the founder of a number of global surveys that track the perception of countries and cities, including the Good Country Index and the Nation Brands Index.  He joined the TFTDL crew to tell us why killing people is a bad thing, the sign that we've entered the Asian-century, and what yak soup really  tastes like.  His TED talk has over 12 million views, he has been a policy advisor for over 60 governments around the world and he even created his own country. He also has a morbid fear of flying. It's time to abandon your prejudices and open your mind to what role each country plays in a globalised world. Can we be less selfish and just be good-er? Final boarding call: The Faroe Islands (again!) This episode is sponsored by AHZ Associates - trusted UK university representatives helping students from all over the world to enrol in British universities. Find out more at www.ahzassociates.co.ukTales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

He has the charisma to be a lead singer in a band but instead he became a rockstar entrepreneur as one of the founding partners of CATS colleges and Cambridge Education Group. Nick Golding takes us on a walk on the wild side including mafia controlled Russia, bathing naked in Japan and sleeping with the King of Pop. From being the bad smell in the room to the champagne moment of selling your business and looking at your bank account, we dissect what really gives us purpose in life. A little bit of luck goes a long way, and for everything else you can pack a Leatherman.  Final boarding call: Russia This episode is sponsored by AHZ Associates - trusted UK university representatives helping students from all over the world to enrol in British universities. Find out more at www.ahzassociates.co.ukTales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

In this episode, award-winning reporter Karin Fischer from the Chronicle of Higher Education joins the TFTDL crew to discuss the BIG questions in geo-politics. Is the American dream still alive? Has the work of international education been eroded by trade wars with China? And why can't you get diet Dr Pepper in other parts of the world? Karin is one of the trusted voices in our sector - but she is simply trying to tell the stories of inspirational students and shine a light on what is happening in the sector. Even if that results in jail-time for people. Another lovely Canadian living abroad, we talk about getting an MRSA, what it means to be 'screeched-in' and why you should never eat the purple cheesecake. Final boarding call: (Old) Hong KongLink to Latitudes: https://www.chronicle.com/newsletter/latitudesThis episode is sponsored by AHZ Associates - trusted UK university representatives helping students from all over the world to enrol in British universities. Find out more at www.ahzassociates.co.ukTales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

The British are coming! Andy and Nick touched down in the beautiful city of Boston, USA to record an episode on stage at The PIE Live North America conference '23 with Jon Stauff, assistant vice president for international affairs at South Dakota State University. Dressed as pilots (not Nazi officers or strippers) we talked to Jon about his time in Germany at the fall of the Berlin Wall, trips to the Emergency Room while overseas and what to do with all the weird and wonderful academic gifts you receive on the road. The sound is very poor and crackly but that's what you get with live broadcasting (I blame the tech guys)! Final boarding call: Berlin, GermanyThe PIE Live North America will return in 2024! Check out www.thepielive.com for details including dates, speakers and sponsorship opportunities. Tales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

Are you chopping onions or have you just brought a tear gas canister into your 15th floor apartment? Aussie country-kid, Marnie Watson (Acumen / Sannam S4 Group) chooses to disregard her own wedding anniversary to join the TFTDL flight crew and share some honesty and a whole lot of love with her favourite podders. We lurch from wardrobe malfunctions to Papa New Guinea via long distance friendships in a way only this podcast can. There's more quality dog-cast content and we rally against the loss of language learning in schools and fight for our right to take more carry-on luggage on planes. I predict a riot or a friend swap.  Final boarding call: Ho Chi Minh CityThis episode is sponsored by Duolingo. Today over 4500 institutions including Yale, Imperial and Trinity College Dublin have adopted the Duolingo English Test. If your university wants to join them then get in touch at www.englishtest.duolingo.comTales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

The exploitation of international students for financial gain is an open secret in some parts of the world, and while many choose to look away, Earl Blaney has been calling out the darker side of the edu-immigration industry. He's a controversial figure, a whistleblower, a conspiracy theorist - and for a long time he has been a solitary voice questioning the system in Canada. Not any more. A whole nation is now listening as the government announces tougher controls to protect overseas students.Earl joins the TFTDL flight crew to talk about his passion for dogs, chess and boxing. He is less enthusiastic about aggregators, Indian whiskey and cease and desist letters.It's time to take the red pill if you want to face an uncomfortable reality. Take the blue pill (and stop listening now) if you want to live in blissful ignorance. Pack light and land well.  Final boarding call: Manila, PhilippinesEssential reading: The Walrus - The Shadowy Business of International EducationEssential viewing: CBC News - The Fifth Estate: Sold a Lie This episode is sponsored by Duolingo. Today over 4500 institutions including Yale, Imperial and Trinity College Dublin have adopted the Duolingo English Test. If your university wants to join them then get in touch at www.englishtest.duolingo.comTales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

Do you want to change the world? Or at least leave it a little bit better than how you found it? Well then you need to get your hands dirty. Leanne Linacre (LILA* Liverpool, Lead5050) shares her epic journey with us, from a transformational experience as a backpacker to being CEO of a company whose mission it is to create a fairer world for everyone - via teaching English overseas and forgetting, well, nearly everything. We cover a lot of ground: - What makes Liverpool so....Liverpool?- Are the younger generation more responsible? - Who actually goes running on a business trip? Final boarding call: ThailandIf you want to find out about Lead5050 as mentioned in the episode visit: https://www.lead5050.com/This episode is sponsored by Duolingo. Today over 4500 institutions including Yale, Imperial and Trinity College Dublin have adopted the Duolingo English Test. If your university wants to join them then get in touch at www.englishtest.duolingo.comTales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

This is the REAL life pilot episode! Tony Eyles is a first officer flying for British Airways. He joins the TFTDL flight crew to answer all your questions about planes, pilots and passengers. We take to the skies to talk about everything from turbulence to the Bermuda triangle, in an extremely honest interview about the aviation industry. Where do the crew disappear to half way through a flight? What do you do in the event of terrorism or a medical emergency? What does a 'heavy' pilot do? Assume the brace position and put yourself in Tony's capable hands... just don't critique his landing. Final boarding call: Amritsar, IndiaThis episode is sponsored by Duolingo. Today over 4500 institutions including Yale, Imperial and Trinity College Dublin have adopted the Duolingo English Test. If your university wants to join them then get in touch at www.englishtest.duolingo.comTales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

We've teamed up with the lovely people at Duolingo to create the perfect travel mix-tape playlist on Spotify! Inspired by the guests, stories and destinations from the Tales from the Departure Lounge podcast. Listen to TFTDL Radio now!Link: https://spotify.link/R7MNuCESvDbToday over 4500 institutions including Yale, Imperial and Trinity College Dublin have adopted the Duolingo English Test. If your university wants to join them then get in touch at www.englishtest.duolingo.comTales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

Remember the 'Lonely Planet' days before the internet? All you needed was cash, a map and some resilience. Vanessa Varvas (UEL) tells the TFTDL flight crew how travel has made her a better person and a better leader. She takes us on a tour across Costa Rica, Serbia, Canada and China with a few car crashes on the way - and we learn to live Pura Vida, pure life.A strong advocate for the power of diversity and inclusion in transforming lives and society, we discuss celebrating our differences, EDI and managing conflict. We also discuss why you shouldn't leave your toothbrush uncovered in your hotel bathroom and what to do in a bear attack. Final boarding call: San Jose, Costa Rica This episode is sponsored by Duolingo. Today ver 4500 institutions including Yale, Imperial and Trinity College Dublin have adopted the Duolingo English Test. If your university wants to join them then get in touch at www.englishtest.duolingo.comTales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com