Women Who Travel | Condé Nast Traveler

In the past year, we've all dealt with various levels of grief, both personal and collective, centered around the pandemic. For many, it has also resurfaced familiar emotions and struggles experienced over previous losses of friends and family. To process that grief, Traveler contributors Jordi Lippe-McGraw, who lost her father in a plane crash in 2010, and Nneka M. Okona, who lost her best friend four years ago, have usually turned to travel, a coping mechanism that COVID-19 has challenged. This week, we're talking about how they've used travel to work through the complicated emotions of grief, why they want us to talk about those feelings more publicly, and what advice they'd give to those feeling adrift with grief right now. Know that the episode isn't all sad, however. As Nneka says, “[you've] got to spice up grief and make it less gloomy sometimes.”

Find a full transcription of the episode here: www.cntraveler.com/story/how-travel-has-helped-us-process-our-grief-women-who-travel-podcast

Pre-order Nneka's book: https://fave.co/3sXwEom

Follow Nneka: @afrosypaella

Read Jordi's piece: www.cntraveler.com/story/i-was-scared-to-fly-after-my-dads-plane-crash-but-travel-helped-me-overcome-my-grief

Follow Jordi: @jordilippe

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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Padma Lakshmi has had a busy 12 months. She spent the early stages of lockdown alphabetizing her spices—and then reorganizing them by region—and cooking an incredible amount of food at home. Then her new show, Taste the Nation, which dives into the immigrant roots of America's favorite cuisines, premiered in June, and she spent the fall filming a new season of Top Chef in Portland, under a number of new COVID-19 restrictions. 

This week, she's talking about all of that and more with us, from the transportive meals she's cooked while grounded to the places she's itching to visit when this is all over. Most importantly, we chat about the strength and influence of immigrants in the U.S., how food media has changed in the last year, and what may be in store for Taste the Nation's second season. 

Read a transcription of the episode here: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/padma-lakshmi-women-who-travel-podcast

Read Lale's conversation with Padma from March 2020: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/padma-lakshmi-on-the-immigrant-cuisines-that-make-america

Pick up a copy of Padma's reprinted Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet at bookshop.org or your local bookstore

Follow Padma: @padmalakshmi

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

All products featured in here are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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This week, Evita Robinson, founder of the Nomadness Travel Tribe and Audacity Fest, and Jessica Nabongo, the first black woman to visit every country in the world, are back on the podcast, joined by Martinique Lewis, author of the ABC Travel Green Book and a Condé Nast Traveler advisory board member. Throughout the episode, they chat about how some parts of the industry have turned a moment into a long-term commitment to the Black community—and how others haven't moved beyond a black Instagram square. Along the way, they shout out organizations like the Black Travel Alliance, of which Martinique is the president, that have formed to support Black travelers and Black content creators, and talk through all of the voices that are still being left out of the conversation. (To that point, Nomadness Travel Tribe recently release data from its BIPOC Diversity in Travel survey, which features insights on existing and emerging travel trends among Nomadness's diverse community. You can check out the report here.)

Listen to Jessica, Evita, and Whembley Sewell's conversation from June 2020 here: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/how-the-travel-industry-should-support-black-women-women-who-travel-podcast

Follow Evita: @evierobbie

Follow Jessica: @thecatchmeifyoucan

Follow Martinique: @martysandiego

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We stand firmly in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander community and mourn the lives lost in the horrific mass shooting by a white gunman in Atlanta on Tuesday, March 16, which killed 8 people, six of whom were Asian women. We encourage everyone in our community to spend time reading about the ongoing impact of racism on the AAPI community, and if you can, donate to any number of these organizations working to end this violence and provide support for their communities.

AAPI Women Lead: imreadymovement.org

National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum: napawf.org

Heart of Dinner: heartofdinner.org

Asian Immigrant Women's Advocates: aiwa.org

Red Canary Song: redcanarysong.net

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As vaccinations increase and the world begins to slowly open up, the idea of becoming a digital nomad—working remotely while traveling every few months to a new destinations—sounds more and more appealing. But what if you want to stick around a little longer? This week, we're speaking to Rachel Coleman, a social media strategist now based in Berlin, and Katalina Mayorga, the founder of El Camino Travel who lives in Bogotá, about what pushed them to move abroad more permanently, how they make it work, and what they wish they had known beforehand. Along the way, we talk through making friends as an adult, how moving away from the U.S. has impacted their travel habits, and how the pandemic has played out in their new homes. 

Read a full transcription of the episode: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/what-we-wish-we-knew-before-moving-abroad-women-who-travel-podcast

Follow Katalina: @theyoufinder

Follow Rachel: @rachelecoleman

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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Just over a year ago, we launched I Deserve This, a series all about the different ways we should be prioritizing ourselves, whether that's with time, travel, or money. A few days after launch, the U.S. went into lockdown and the idea of spending copious amounts on any of those things felt like a pipe dream as we all stayed home. But, over the summer, we quietly started the series back up, chatting with the likes of free diver Kimi Werner about finding time for herself at the bottom of the ocean and photojournalist Malin Fezehai on planning trips to fuel her creativity. 

This week, we're back in full force, speaking with Babba Rivera, the Swedish-Chilean founder of Ceremonia, a haircare line inspired by the Latinx community. Despite its horrors, 2020 was a big year for Babba: she bought a house, had a baby, and launched a brand. We chat with her about finding ways to celebrate those moments amid the pandemic, navigating identity and representation, taking trips close to home just for the hell of it, and feeling homesick through it all. 

Read a full transcription of the episode here: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/how-ceremonias-babba-rivera-finds-joy-in-challenging-times-women-who-travel-podcast

Read our conversation with Babba from November: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/clean-hair-care-brand-ceremonia-is-inspired-by-latinx-beauty-rituals

Follow Babba: @babba

Follow Ceremonia: @myceremonia

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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Despite our announcement at the beginning of this episode, you can listen to our next episode on 3/10.

In 2020, even the most outdoorsy among us developed a newfound appreciation for wide open spaces, as we sought out safe ways to explore while social distancing. But as more than 237 million visitors took to national parks, and even more took to trails, lakes, and rivers closer to home, certain questions were raised once again: How much do we know about the history of the land we're recreating on and who lived there? And how are we respecting those stories and the modern realities of Indigenous communities?

This week, we're joined by Jaylyn Gough, founder of Native Womens Wilderness (NWW), an online platform that connects Native women and two-spirits to the outdoors. We cover a lot in this episode, including how Jaylyn's childhood relationship with nature developed on the Navajo reservation, the outdoor industry's responsibility to change the narrative around land rights, how NWW has pivoted to aid Indigenous communities acutely affected by COVID-19, and the potential confirmation of Representative Deb Haaland as interior secretary. 

Read a full transcript of this episode: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/why-we-should-consider-whose-land-were-on-when-were-outdoors-women-who-travel-podcast

Check out the Native Lands app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/native-land/id1194356597

Follow Jaylyn: @jaylyn.gough

Follow Native Womens Wilderness: @nativewomenswilderness

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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According to the FAA, women make up just seven percent of all certified pilots, and of those female pilots, less than one percent are Black women. Captains Kellie Young and Stephanie Hartsfield are among that percentage, having spent careers flying on international legacy carriers, cargo flights, and corporate planes. This week, we're catching up with Kellie and Stephanie to learn about their journeys, the challenges along the way, and how they're paying it forward for Black female pilots of the future. Both are a part of Sisters of the Skies, a non-profit dedicated to mentorship, scholarships, and outreach to young Black women to follow in their footsteps into the pilot's seat. 

Read a full transcript of the episode here: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/finding-sisterhood-among-black-female-pilots-women-who-travel-podcast

Follow Sisters of the Skies: @sistersoftheskies

Follow Stephanie: @pilotsteph

Follow Kellie: @shefliesjets

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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If you're sick and tired of winter like we are, sit down, breathe in, and picture yourself in sunny southern Ghana, where temperatures are currently a balmy 80 degrees and maximalist colors and patterns abound. That's where this week's guest, Akosua Afriyie-Kumi, is calling in from—and where she gets her design inspiration for her woven handbag brand AAKS. 

We've been long obsessed with the brand, which uses woven rafia to create crossbody bags, totes, and baskets in joyful colors—and has recently branched out into home decor. We sat down with Akosua to talk about how travel, both in Ghana and internationally, has inspired her designs, how she's stayed creative amid the pandemic, and how she navigated the sales boom that came in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder and the Black Lives Matter resurgence last summer. 

Read a transcription of the episode here: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/handbag-designer-akosua-afriyie-kumi-on-finding-inspiration-in-ghana-women-who-travel-podcast

Follow Akosua: @a.a.k.s

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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There are tons of questions swirling around travel in our Women Who Travel Instagram DMs and Facebook group these days, especially as we watch COVID-19 vaccines roll out and let ourselves start dreaming of those first big trips. To answer your questions this week—which range from where to go for a milestone birthday trip and the best credit card to help rack up points for future trips, to what the reality of immunity passports could look like—we tapped Traveler articles director Stephanie Wu and transportation editor Jessica Puckett. 

Stick around at the end of our conversation to hear where some of our listeners are already planning to visit when it's safe to do so. Want to share your own future travel plans? Email a voice memo to [email protected] with your name, where you're based, and what you're planning, and you might hear yourself in an upcoming episode.

Read a full transcript of the episode here: cntraveler.com/story/immunity-passports-free-flights-and-other-travel-questions-answered-women-who-travel-podcast

Here are a few of the stories we mentioned:

"I Just Took a 16-Hour Flight: Here's How It Went:" cntraveler.com/story/i-just-took-a-16-hour-flight-heres-how-it-went

"Chefs on the Meals They Can't Wait to Travel For:" cntraveler.com/story/female-chefs-on-the-meals-they-cant-wait-to-travel-for

"The Best Birthday Trips for Every Age:" cntraveler.com/gallery/places-to-go-for-your-birthday

"International Resorts Step Up Testing Options In Response to New CDC Rules:" cntraveler.com/story/international-resorts-step-up-testing-options-in-response-to-new-cdc-rules

Follow Steph: @bystephwu

Follow Jessica: @jesspuck

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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When we talked to Kopitiam's co-owner Moonlynn Tsai on the podcast last June, the reality of the longevity of the pandemic—and what that meant for her restaurant—was just setting in. Now, after nearly a year of pivoting to make do, creating outdoor dining, surviving the New York winter, and trying to keep her staff safe, she says running a restaurant feels about the same as it did in the pandemic's early days. She's just more tired. 

This week, we're catching up with Moonlynn to hear more about those experiences—and what's giving her hope for the future. Also joining us is the San Francisco Chronicle's senior editor Serena Dai to chat about how we can think big to help support local restaurants, and what she would like to see from the industry on the other side of the pandemic. 

Read a full transcript here: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/where-do-restaurants-go-from-here-women-who-travel-podcast

Follow Moonlynn: @moonlynntsai

Check out Kopitiam: kopitiamnyc.com

Follow Serena: @ssdai

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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