Unpacked by Afar | Travel Smarter, More Responsibly

By AfarSociety & Culture Arts Places & Travel Food

Unpacked by Afar | Travel Smarter, More Responsibly episodes

July 09Following the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail—and the Story It Left Out
Welcome to Unpacked Five Questions, a podcast that takes you behind the scenes of one great travel story. In this episode, executive editor Katherine LaGrave sits down with writer Latria Graham, Afar's Unpacked columnist.
Latria spent seven weeks driving the nearly 5,000-mile Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail—alone—to report a story about the Corps of Discovery's most essential and least credited member: York, an enslaved man whose skills, knowledge, and presence helped make the entire expedition possible.
Latria traces the trail from Kentucky to the Pacific Northwest, stopping at massacre sites, Indigenous mounds, sunflower fields, and a 50-foot statue of an Indigenous woman with a star quilt—asking what it means to travel responsibly through landscapes layered with historical trauma, and the questions that still remain about York's life.
Meet this week's guest
Latria Graham is a writer and Afar's Unpacked columnist, whose work turns over some of travel's biggest and most difficult questions—from whether we should visit museums with complicated histories to how we can better support hospitality workers. Follow her on Instagram at @missgraham.
Episode highlights
Why York—the enslaved man who traveled the entire Corps of Discovery expedition—was essential to its survival, and how historical accounts minimized him for generations while Black historians have spent decades restoring his full dimensions

What Latria found at the statue of York in Louisville, the Dignity of Earth and Sky sculpture in Chamberlain, South Dakota, and Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park in North Dakota: three sites that grappled honestly with what the trail erased

How to travel responsibly through landscapes layered with trauma: spending money with local restaurants and farms, practicing leave no trace principles, sitting with hard history in small museums, and knowing when not to take the riskier hike

Why the rivers mattered most: every confluence, every overlook, every moment the water changed direction—the one thing on the trail that was there before the history and will be there after it

The questions the trail left open: what actually happened to York after the expedition ended, whether a GIS map or an app might tell these stories better than a book, and what it means to make sure history lives as fully realized human lives rather than names and dates
Links & resources
Follow Latria Graham on Instagram

Read her Lewis and Clark trail story for Afar

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

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41 min
July 02Queer Travel Is About Joy, Not Just Safety
LGBTQ+ Americans are more than twice as likely as the general population to hold a valid passport. That stat sits at the heart of (Out )on the Road: The Radical Joy of Queer Travel, a new book from writer Lindsey Danis that's part memoir, part guide.
Most conversations about queer travel start and end with safety. Lindsey wanted to write past that, toward joy, belonging, and power. In this episode, they and Aislyn talk about the honeymoon trip that reshaped Lindsey's whole life, the research that turns fear into freedom, and why traveling as exactly who you are is its own kind of homecoming.
Meet this week's guest
Lindsey Danis is a writer and the author of (Out )on the Road, a travel memoir and reported guide written by and for LGBTQ+ travelers. Their work explores queer travel, belonging, and the search for joy on the road. You can find their work at lindseydanis.com.
In this episode you'll learn
Why Lindsey scrapped an entire early draft that was a straightforward travel memoir, and what they wrote instead.

How research becomes the bridge from fear to joy, and the two tools Lindsey relies on before every trip.

Why a honeymoon in Vietnam and Thailand changed not just how Lindsey travels, but where and how they live.

What Lindsey hopes allies take away from the book, including readers who never expected to see themselves in it.
Episode chapters
00:00 A Surprising Stat
02:00 The Book They Needed
05:00 Scrapping The Memoir
09:00 Hiding And Choice
12:00 On Passing
16:00 Two Favorite Tools
18:00 A Toast In Vietnam
20:00 The Honeymoon Shift
25:00 The Galapagos
27:00 A Note For Allies
30:00 Next Stop, Sri Lanka
Resources
Movement Advancement Project — a color-coded database comparing US state laws on gender identity and sexual orientation: mapresearch.org

EqualDex — a country-by-country index of LGBTQ+ rights and attitudes worldwide: equaldex.com

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38 min
July 01 Travel to Listen: Everyone Knows Motown. Not Everyone Knows Its Story
Welcome to Travel to Listen, a new Unpacked series hosted by veteran music journalist Tim Chester. Over four episodes, Tim took us into the cities where music is more than entertainment—it's the shortcut to a place's soul. In this season finale, he heads to Detroit to explore the legendary Motown sound—and to find out what's next for the little house on West Grand Boulevard that started it all.
Meet this week's guests
Adam White is the author of Motown: The Sound of Young America, co-written with former Motown president Barney Ales. A former editor-in-chief at Billboard, Adam has spent 40 years exploring the Motown story and writes a weekly blog about the label at adamwhite.com.
Robin Terry is the chairwoman and CEO of the Motown Museum—and Berry Gordy's great-niece. Raised by her grandmother Esther Gordy Edwards, who founded the museum, Robyn is currently leading the $75 million expansion.
Guest host Tim Chester is a freelance travel and culture writer who has spent the past 20 years exploring the world through the lens of music. His reporting has appeared in NME, Spin, and Afar, and his travels have taken him from Manhattan to Malawi and Beijing to Berlin in search of the festivals, scenes, and stories that reveal a city's soul.
Chapters
00:00:00 Welcome to Detroit
00:02:00 Why Motown Endures
00:04:00 The Detroit Advantage
00:07:00 The Motown Family
00:09:00 Inside Hitsville USA
00:12:00 Psychedelic Soul
00:16:00 Hitsville Next
A Music Fan's Travel Guide to Detroit
Detroit's Motown story is anchored to one street, but the city's music scene runs much deeper. Here's how to experience it.
Start here: the essential stops
Hitsville USA / The Motown Museum — Berry Gordy's original house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, where Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, The Temptations, and Martha and the Vandellas all got their start. Note: the museum is closed during its $75 million expansion, but the plaza in front of Hitsville is open and activated with food trucks and live performances all summer.
Esther Gordy Edwards Center for Excellence — the nearby space hosting the museum's first major exhibition, Psychedelic Soul, running through September 2026. A deep dive into Motown's overlooked '70s era, Norman Whitfield, and the Temptations.
Michigan Central Station — the newly restored Beaux-Arts landmark that anchors Detroit's broader reinvention. A short drive from Hitsville and worth the detour.
Hear live music
Smokey's Soul Town on SiriusXM — not a venue, but essential listening before and during your trip. The show is recorded at the museum and hosted by Levi Stubbs III and John Mason.
The Current (Twin Cities) — if you're road-tripping from Minneapolis, keep this on. Their gig listings track what's happening across the Midwest music scene.
Go deeper
Standing in the Shadows of Motown — the book and documentary that finally gave names and faces to the Funk Brothers, the studio musicians behind the sound.
Hitsville Next — the Motown Museum's emerging artist community for singers, songwriters, musicians, and engineers. hitsvilleusa.com
The full Travel to Listen series
Episode 1: Macon, Georgia — Little Richard, Otis Redding, the Allman Brothers, and the small Southern city that punches far above its weight. Listen now.
Episode 2: Minneapolis — Prince, the Minneapolis sound, and a city still making music history a decade after his death. Listen now.
Episode 3: Southern California — the spacey, grungy desert rock scene beyond Coachella. Listen now.
Episode 4 (this one!): Detroit — Motown, Hitsville USA, and what comes next.

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24 min
June 26Feel-Good Friday: The Viral World Cup Food Obsession and a Very American Bourbon
It’s the last Feel-Good Friday before host Aislyn and producer Nikki take a summer break. And they’re sending the season off with two of summer’s great pleasures: a viral World Cup food obsession and a very American bourbon.
First, why international soccer fans are falling hard for ranch dressing—and getting stopped at airport security over it. Then, a first-of-its-kind whiskey blended from all 50 states, arriving just in time for the Fourth of July and America’s 250th birthday.
This week’s Feel-Good Friday stories
International visitors flooding the US for the World Cup have discovered ranch dressing, and they want to take it home by the bottle. Aislyn and Nikki tackle the great World Cup ranch debate.

An independent bottler spent five years and a cross-country road trip visiting more than 100 distilleries to create the first whiskey ever blended from all 50 states. PLUS a limited 1776 edition drawn from the original 13 colonies, made to mark the country’s 250th.

Bonus: A couple of cautionary tales about packing wine home in your luggage, and a solemn vow never to pair good bourbon with ranch.
That’s a wrap on Feel-Good Friday for the season. Aislyn and Nikki will be back after a summer break — until then, happy Fourth of July, and happy summer.

Chapters
00:00:00 Welcome to Feel-Good Friday
00:02:00 The Great Ranch Debate
00:05:00 Liquid Smuggling Confessions
00:07:00 United States of Bourbon
00:10:00 Cheers to Summer

Stay connected
Be sure to subscribe to the show and sign up for our podcast newsletter, ⁠Behind the Mic⁠, where we share upcoming news and behind-the-scenes details of each episode.
And explore our second podcast, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Travel Tales⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, which celebrates first-person narratives about the way travel changes us, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠View From Afar⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, where we spotlight the people and ideas shaping the future of travel.
Unpacked by Afar is part of ⁠Airwave Media⁠'s podcast network. Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast.

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13 min
June 26Why a Michigan Road Trip Might Be the Best Way to Build a Friendship
On this episode of Unpacked, host Aislyn Greene and producer Nikki Galteland hit the road in Michigan and find epic adventures, gorgeous waterways—and a new way to connect.
Join them as they follow Michigan's mitten counterclockwise, exploring the state's many waterways. They paddle the Au Sable River, flying over the Lake Huron shipwrecks of Thunder Bay, ferry over to the car-free Mackinac Island, savor, the deep quiet of Drummond Island—and the sparkling-wine country of the Leelanau Peninsula.
It's a Great Lakes road trip built on short drives, Up North history, and the kindness of strangers, and it turns into a case for why traveling this way might be one of the best ways to build a friendship.
Meet this week's guests (aka our new Michigan friends)
Adam Hume runs Oscoda Canoe Rental on the Au Sable River.
Kathy Erickson helps put on the Au Sable River Canoe Marathon, the 120-mile overnight race she lovingly calls the world's toughest spectator sport.
Stephanie Gandulla is a maritime archaeologist at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
Captain Richard Biffle pilots the glass-bottom Lady Michigan for Alpena Shipwreck Tours.
Patrick Conlon is the general manager of The Inn at Stonecliffe on Mackinac Island and one of roughly 500 people who live on the island year round.
Emily is the wine club manager at MAWBY on the Leelanau Peninsula.
You'll also hear from Jared, the pilot who flew Aislyn and Nikki over the wrecks in a 1975 Cessna, and Sarah, the guide who showed them around Alpena for the afternoon.
This summer (or next fall...or spring...) plan your own Michigan road trip, hitting the spots featured in the episode
Detroit: Start in the Motor City with Afar's Detroit guide.

Oscoda and the Sunrise Coast: Paddle the Au Sable River with Oscoda Canoe Rental and sleep on Lake Huron at the Sweetwater Sea Bed & Breakfast. Time your visit to the Au Sable River Canoe Marathon if you can; this year's race starts July 25.

Alpena and Thunder Bay: Start at the free Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, then ride the glass-bottom Lady Michigan with Alpena Shipwreck Tours over the wrecks of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and climb the New and Old Presque Isle lighthouses.

Mackinac Island: Stay at The Inn at Stonecliffe (a humanitarian hotel), bike the 8-mile car-free loop on M-185, and sample your way through the island's famous fudge shops.

Drummond Island: Base at Drummond Island Resort and walk the Maxton Plains, one of the world's rare alvar grasslands.

Leelanau Peninsula: Taste sparkling wine at MAWBY, the oldest winery on the peninsula.
The stops that didn't make the episode but are worth a visit!
The Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie

Traverse City, home to delicious restaurants, fantastic cider, tall-ship sails, the annual cherry festival, and so much more

Saugatuck, where Nikki and Aislyn stayed at the retro Pines Motor Lodge

And Dablon winery in Baroda, which is part of the Lake Michigan Shore AVA (find more wineries to explore in the region)
Plan the whole route with Afar's Michigan guide and Afar's guide to road trips.

Stay connected
Be sure to subscribe to the show and sign up for our podcast newsletter, ⁠Behind the Mic⁠, where we share upcoming news and behind-the-scenes details of each episode.
And explore our second podcast, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Travel Tales⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, which celebrates first-person narratives about the way travel changes us, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠View From Afar⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, where we spotlight the people and ideas shaping the future of travel.
Unpacked by Afar is part of ⁠Airwave Media⁠'s podcast network. Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
44 min
June 19Feel-Good Friday: An Ode to Obama, New London Museums, and a Hopeful Ocean Story
It’s Feel-Good Friday, and Unpacked host Aislyn and producer Nikki are joined by a guest they’ve been waiting weeks to record with: Afar senior editor Lucy Kehoe, who also edits our UK sister title, Suitcase. Three stories, all good news, landing fittingly on Juneteenth.
This week’s stories:
A landmark opening in Chicago lands right on Juneteenth: a nearly 20-acre campus on the South Side, a decade in the making, that’s less presidential library and more civic gathering place, right down to an Oval Office anyone can sit in.

Five new museums are arriving in one famously museum-rich city this year, from a vertigo-inducing glass storehouse where you can watch conservators at work to a love letter to teenage subcultures, Walkman included.

A newly protected stretch of the South Pacific roughly the size of the Amazon rainforest. One that's Indigenous-led, tourism-friendly, and home to about three-quarters of the world’s coral species.

Plus: Nikki’s very specific dream of finally meeting a dugong in the wild.
Tune in every Friday through June for a fresh trio of stories from Afar’s favorite travel writers and editors. We’ll see you next week.
Chapters
00:00:00 Welcome to Feel-Good Friday
00:02:00 You Are America
00:04:00 London’s Museum Boom
00:08:00 Protecting the Coral Triangle
00:11:00 In Search of Dugongs

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15 min
June 18Why the Best New Hotels of 2026 Aren’t All "New"
What makes a hotel the best? Not just new, not just beautiful, but worthy of a list that thousands of travelers plan their year around? For Afar senior deputy editor Jennifer Flowers, it comes down to a single test: does this hotel have a story? Not a marketing story—a real one, rooted in the place it sits, the community around it, or the history in its bones.
In this episode, Afar editorial director Billie Cohen sits down with Jenn to go behind the scenes of the 2026 Best New Hotels list, one of the biggest the team has ever assembled at 40 properties. Jenn explains how the year-long vetting process actually works (yes, every hotel was personally visited), why she pairs the right writer with the right destination, and what separates a genuine standout from a merely beautiful place to stay.
Along the way, Billie and Jenn travel from a nonprofit lodge reachable only by boat or seaplane at the edge of British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest, to a working dairy farm in Japan’s Tohoku region, to a six-suite, solar-powered lodge on regenerating land in South Africa.
They dig into the year’s biggest themes: the rise of women hoteliers at the founder and CEO level, the surprising number of “new” hotels that are actually painstaking restorations of centuries-old buildings, the reinvention of the all-inclusive, and a growing hunger for ethical access to the world’s wild places.
See the full 2026 Best New Hotels list at afar.com/bestnewhotels.

Chapters
00:00 — What Makes the Best
02:00 — The Story Test
08:00 — A Sleeper Hit
10:00 — Reviving an Icon
14:00 — Earning Your Luxury
18:00 — Part of the Place
20:00 — Surprised in Palm Beach
23:00 — New Hotels, Old Souls
28:00 — All-Inclusive, Reimagined
32:00 — Why Humans Still Matter
Stay connected
Follow Afar on Instagram and TikTok

Follow Billie Cohen on Instagram

Follow Jennifer Flowers on Instagram
Stay connected
Be sure to subscribe to the show and sign up for our podcast newsletter, ⁠Behind the Mic⁠, where we share upcoming news and behind-the-scenes details of each episode.
And explore our second podcast, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Travel Tales⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, which celebrates first-person narratives about the way travel changes us, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠View From Afar⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, where we spotlight the people and ideas shaping the future of travel.
Unpacked by Afar is part of ⁠Airwave Media⁠'s podcast network. Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
42 min
June 16Travel to Listen: The Spacey, Sunbaked Rock of California's Mojave Desert
Welcome to "Travel to Listen," a new Unpacked series hosted by veteran music journalist Tim Chester. Over four episodes rolling out every other week, Tim takes us into the cities where music is more than entertainment—it’s the shortcut to a place’s soul.
This week, he heads into the high desert of Southern California to find out why the Mojave has been spawning some of rock’s most original sounds for decades. Along the way, he discovers a landscape that’s every bit as wild and inspiring as the music it produces.
In this episode
What “desert rock” actually means—and how the Mojave Desert’s extreme heat, isolation, and silence forged a uniquely sun-baked, heavy sound that’s impossible to replicate anywhere else

The family tree of the genre: from Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age to Fu Manchu and a sprawling network of bands centered around Joshua Tree and 29 Palms

The Mojave Experience, a two-day desert rock festival organized by Patrick Brink of the band Volume—and his plans to bring it back bigger next year

Why the California desert has drawn musicians, filmmakers, and creatives for decades: from Gram Parsons’ storied final days—and why Roc Gardner left New York to build a creative retreat called Escape in the desert

Where to go and what to do: Joshua Tree National Park, Pioneertown, Pappy & Harriet’s, generator parties under the stars, and why the area rewards a few slow days off the beaten path
Meet this week’s guests
Patrick Brink is the frontman of Volume, a desert rock band from 29 Palms, California. He organized the Mojave Experience, a two-day desert rock festival featuring Kyuss alumni and scene veterans, and plans to bring it back bigger in spring 2027.

Roc Gardner is a songwriter, entrepreneur, and the founder of Escape, a creative retreat for musicians, artists, filmmakers, and thought leaders set on the high desert outside Joshua Tree. A former New Yorker, Roc has hosted everyone from Usher to the Arctic Monkeys since opening.

Guest host Tim Chester is a freelance travel and culture writer who has spent the past 20 years exploring the world through the lens of music. His reporting has appeared in NME, Spin, and Afar, and his travels have taken him from Manhattan to Malawi and Beijing to Berlin in search of the festivals, scenes, and stories that reveal a city’s soul.
Chapters
00:00:00 Welcome to the Desert
00:01:00 What Is Desert Rock?
00:02:00 Volume and the Mojave Experience
00:03:00 The Scene’s Family Tree
00:04:00 Isolation, Extremes, and the Desert Sound
00:05:30 Space, Dynamics, and the Mojave Aesthetic
00:06:00 Desert Spirituality: the Integratron and Giant Rock
00:07:00 Generator Parties and Local Radio
00:08:00 Rock and Roll History in the Desert
00:09:00 Roc Gardner and Escape
00:10:30 The Creative Pull of the High Desert
00:12:00 Why You Should Visit
A Music Fan’s Travel Guide to the California Desert
The high desert around Joshua Tree rewards slow travel. Most of the key spots are within easy reach of the town of Joshua Tree or 29 Palms. Here’s how to do it like a fan.
Start here: the essential stops
Joshua Tree National Park—a designated Dark Sky Park and one of the most visually distinctive landscapes in North America, where the Mojave and Colorado deserts meet. Hike, climb, and stay after dark for the stars.

Pioneertown—an original 1940s cowboy movie set built by Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, still largely intact and walkable.

The Integratron—a dome-shaped structure built by UFO enthusiast George Van Tassel in the 1950s. Book a sound bath and let the acoustics do their work.

Giant Rock—one of the largest freestanding boulders in the world, a sacred site for the Serrano people and a legendary UFO gathering spot in the 1950s. Earthless played an immense show here. It’s on YouTube.
Hear live music
Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace—the legendary honky-tonk saloon and music venue a mile outside Pioneertown. Paul McCartney has played here. Capacity: 300 inside, 1,000 outside. If anyone serious is touring through the desert, they’re playing Pappy’s.

Local Show on Z107.7—Pat Kerns curates a two-hour showcase of local desert bands every Sunday on the area’s community radio station: folk, punk, spaced-out psychedelia, and everything in between.

The Mojave Experience—Patrick Brink’s desert rock festival, planned to return in spring 2027. Check the website for lineup and dates.
Stay and create
Escape—Roc Gardner’s creative retreat for musicians, artists, and anyone looking to swap city static for desert silence. Used by Usher, the Arctic Monkeys, and a long list of creatives.

Rancho de la Luna—the legendary desert recording studio that inspired Escape, used by artists across the rock spectrum for decades.
Go a little deeper
Desert rock playlist—check the show notes for a curated playlist featuring Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Volume, Earthless, and more. Load it up for the drive in.

Gram Parsons shrine—the small shrine behind a rock in Joshua Tree National Park, marking where rock’s greatest cosmic cowboy spent his final days. Worth finding if you know where to look.

Generator parties—informal outdoor concerts powered by generators, a desert tradition going back decades. Check local listings for upcoming shows, especially in fall and winter.
Up next on Travel to Listen
Tim heads to Detroit to hear big news at the Motown Museum—and to find out what’s driving a musical renaissance in one of America’s most storied music cities. New episode in two weeks.

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16 min
June 12Feel-Good Friday: Australia’s Plastic Win, a Different Kind of Summit Story, and the Women Changing Safari
It’s Feel-Good Friday, when your Unpacked host (Aislyn) and producer (Nikki) get together to swap the stories making them feel good this week. And this week they're joined by Afar's director of photography, Michelle Heimerman. They share three stories that are making them feel optimistic this week.
Stories like...
Some genuinely good news for anyone who loves a beach: one of the world’s most beach-blessed countries has spent the past decade quietly turning the tide on plastic pollution — and the playbook is more doable than you’d think.

A high-altitude adventure that trades the summit selfie for something quieter and more lasting — proof that you can chase a punishing challenge purely for the experience, not the applause.

Meet the women rewriting who gets to lead a safari — and why the guides who didn’t grow up in the bush might just be the best ones behind the wheel.
Resources
Learn more about Bartek Ziemski

Read more about Australia's plastic decrease

Listen to the episode about ABC's female guiding program

The Afar Nepal cover shoot ⁠video⁠

Ridwell, the recycling service
Chapters

Tune in every Friday through June for a fresh trio of stories from Afar’s favorite travel writers and editors. Be sure to subscribe to the show and sign up for our podcast newsletter, ⁠Behind the Mic⁠, where we share upcoming news and behind-the-scenes details of each episode.
And explore our second podcast, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Travel Tales⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, which celebrates first-person narratives about the way travel changes us, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠View From Afar⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, where we spotlight the people and ideas shaping the future of travel.
Unpacked by Afar is part of ⁠Airwave Media⁠'s podcast network. Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
17 min
June 11What a Safari Looks Like When a Woman Is at the Wheel
What does a safari look like when the guide isn't a man? Award-winning writer and editor Ellen Carpenter went to Botswana's Okavango Delta to find out. (To learn more, read her Afar story about the experience.)
Meet this week's guests
Ellen Carpenter is a New York–based culture and travel journalist. She served as editor in chief of Hemispheres, United's inflight magazine, for seven years, and before that was an editor at Rhapsody, Nylon, Spin, and Rolling Stone.

Baemule "Bae" Siethuka, 32, grew up in Tutume in northeastern Botswana and was working in HR when she saw African Bush Camps' guiding program posted on Facebook. She became the program's first graduate in 2025 and is now a junior guide at Atzaró Okavango.

Tshidi Phalaagae, 28, is a trainee guide from Gaborone, Botswana's capital — a true city girl who came to the program with, in her words, "zero knowledge of nature." At the time of Ellen's visit, she was just a few weeks shy of graduating.

Jessica Motshegwa, 26, is a trainee guide from Mmadinare, Botswana, who joined the program in 2025. She once tried to enlist in the Botswana army. A Facebook link from her cousin changed her path.
In this episode you'll learn
Why more than 90 percent of African safari guides are male — and what one company is doing about it

How African Bush Camp(ABC)'s three-year female guiding program works, from theory exams to practical training to first solo drives

What it was like for Bae, ABC's first female guide, to complete her training while pregnant — and earn her license when her son was six months old

Why Dutch Kasale, ABC's head guide and mentor, says training women from the city is often easier than training men who grew up in the bush

What makes a female guide's approach on the game drive feel different

The moment Bae manifests a leopard into view
About African Bush Camps
ABC was founded in 2006 by Beks Ndlovu, one of a handful of Black Africans to own a safari company. He launched the female guiding program in late 2021 with an ambitious goal: 50 percent female guides across all 18 camps in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia by 2030. There are currently 12 women in the program — eight trainees and four qualified guides.
Chapters
00:00 — Into the Okavango
02:00 — The Case for Change
06:00 — Meet Tshidi
08:00 —Bae Siethuka Takes the Wheel
13:00 — Tracking the Leopard
16:00 — Inside the Program
21:00 — Bae's Big Moment

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33 min

About Unpacked by Afar | Travel Smarter, More Responsibly

From the publisher's feed

Unpacked by Afar is your weekly guide to where to go, how to travel, and everything worth unpacking in between. Each week, host Aislyn Greene and the Afar team travel the world and dig into the big…