Women Who Travel | Condé Nast Traveler

If you're an avid reader or home chef, you've likely seen In Bibi's Kitchen on many of the year's most anticipated book lists. The cookbook is filled with recipes from eight African countries that border the Indian Ocean and stories from 24 grandmothers, and brings a new narrative to the table, one that Somali author, sauce maven, and former model Hawa Hassan is honored (if not a little overwhelmed) to share. “I was telling these new stories—I was expected to carry these stories—and I didn't know I could," she says on this week's episode. "I lived somewhere between inspiration and fear a lot of last year.”

That self-imposed pressure has paid off. Her book launched earlier this week, so we sat down to hear about her time with those bibis and what it was like to create a cookbook written and photographed exclusively by women and featuring recipes crafted exclusively by women, based everywhere from New York City to Comoros. 

Order In Bibi's Kitchen: https://fave.co/3gnIVLA

Read a full transcription of the episode: www.cntraveler.com/story/how-hawa-hassan-built-a-cookbook-around-east-african-grandmothers

Follow Hawa: @hawahassan

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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Seven months into the pandemic, we wanted to take a look at what life—and travel, for that matter—looks like for those living abroad. In our latest episode, we catch up with four women based in very different cities to find out. Lale chats with travel writer Julia Buckley about her decision to ride out the pandemic in Venice, and Meredith compares notes with illustrator Lindsay Arakawa about cycling in New York versus Tokyo. Meanwhile, associate editor Megan Spurrell talks to content creator Lee Litumbe about life returning to normal in Dakar, and director of strategic projects Lauren DeCarlo speaks with travel writer Imani Bashir about juggling work and parenting in her temporary home of Cancun.

Follow Julia: @juliathelast

Follow Imani: @sheisimanib

Follow Lee: @spiritedpursuit

Follow Lindsay: @blindsaay

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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This week, we're bringing back our How I Became series to chat with Cristina Mittermeier—marine biologist, conservationist, photographer, and co-founder of SeaLegacy, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the ocean. A National Geographic photographer known for her work underwater and among Indigenous communities in coastal areas, she's found a way to share her passion for our environment with the world. But it wasn't always a simple path. In fact, her first published photo was wrongly credited to her then-husband. Over the course of our chat, we talk about how a career in science led her to photography, her mission to educate us about the ocean, and how we can overcome that feeling of hopelessness amid the current climate crisis. 

Follow Cristina: @mitty

Follow SeaLegacy: @sealegacy

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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When we recorded our “Honest Conversation About Saving and Budgeting for Travel” episode back in February, we had big plans for saving for travel, sure, but even bigger plans for spending those savings. Unfortunately, most, if not all, of those big spender dreams have been dashed, but one of this week's guests, Bourree Lam, The Wall Street Journal's personal finance bureau chief, has found the silver lining: “One way to think about [travel savings] may be that if you're saving for a big trip, you actually have more time to do that now, so you can be more ambitious.”

In our latest episode, we speak to Bourree and Traveler's transportation editor Jessica Puckett about how to be ambitious in your savings when everything seems so uncertain, how to take stock of your finances, the best ways to rack up points and miles when you're staying home, and more. Hopefully, it'll help set you on the right path for an even more extravagant adventure in the coming year. 

Find a full transcription and links mentioned here: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/how-were-thinking-about-money-for-future-trips-women-who-travel-podcast

Follow Bourree: @bourreelam

Follow Jessica: @jesspuck

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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A special three-part series of the Women Who Travel podcast, presented by Cloudy Bay

We've long admired Kimi Werner, a Hawaiian freediver and spearfisher, so we thought there was no better woman to join us this week. A new mom, she's had to find a way to balance her active new role above land and the regenerative power and calm she finds underwater. We chat about how she's found that balance, what it's meant to introduce her son to the ocean, and how she's managed to leave her anxieties on the shore and just relax.

Follow Kimi: @kimi_swimmy

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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When we last hosted a frequently asked questions episode back in March—recorded before most of the country began to lock down—we had far-flung adventures on our mind. Now, after a summer staying near home, we're looking with the same level of bated breath at 2021, with a few bright spots of hope for travel this winter. It seems you are too, as many of the questions we received from our listeners were focused on the future, from how to work around a cancelled study abroad trip or move someplace new, to the best ways to support the travel industry responsibly. So, we tapped Traveler's articles director Stephanie Wu and associate editor Megan Spurrell to come back and offer even more advice for your travel plans. As we mentioned in our summer travel episode, travel right now is all about mitigating risk and staying within your comfort zone, whether that means you're exclusively planning 2021 travel or looking for a nearby getaway later this year. 

Find a full transcription of the episode here: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/how-were-planning-for-travel-in-2021-and-beyond

Links mentioned:

Your Timeline for Planning a Trip One Year in Advance: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/timeline-for-planning-a-trip-one-year-in-advance

The Pandemic Is Shifting How Students Study Abroad: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-pandemic-is-shifting-how-students-study-abroad

How to Take Your Dog on a Camping Trip: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/camping-with-dogs

Why Travel Can Be a Turning Point After Losing a Partner: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/why-travel-can-be-a-turning-point-after-losing-a-partner

Should I Feel Guilty for Wanting to Travel Right Now? https://www.cntraveler.com/story/should-i-feel-guilty-for-wanting-to-travel-right-now

How to Be a Mindful Hotel Guest During a Pandemic: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/how-to-be-a-mindful-hotel-guest-during-a-pandemic

Follow Megan: @spurrelly 

Follow Stephanie: @bystephwu

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

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This episode was originally published in January 2020.

We'll be back next week with a new Frequently Asked Questions episode, but for now we'll leave you in the hands of Fat Girls Traveling creator Annette Richmond and Women Who Travel columnist Laura Delarato, to talk about the intersection of travel and the body positivity movement. In this episode, we're celebrating women's bodies of all shapes and sizes taking on the world, while also sharing the challenges of traveling as plus-sized women, from struggling to find travel gear in your size to facing fatphobia and size bias on vacation.

Follow Annette: @fromannettewithlove & @fatgirlstraveling

Follow Laura: @heylauraheyyy

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

Find a transcription of the episode here: www.cntraveler.com/story/how-travel-taught-me-to-love-my-body-women-who-travel-podcast

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We have been big fans of author Yaa Gyasi's debut, Homegoing, which traces two branches of a family tree from 18th-century Ghana to present-day America, since it was published in 2016. (It has made an appearance at least twice on the podcast as a favorite read.) So, with her second novel, Transcendent Kingdom, out this week, we thought it was high time we get Yaa herself in the (Zoom) studio to chat. This week, we talk about the trip to Ghana that kickstarted the idea for Homegoing, the female friendship that inspired parts of Transcendent Kingdom's main character, and what it takes to create such a distinct sense of place.

Here's a quick rundown of the books and stories we mentioned in this episode:

Find a full transcription of the episode here: www.cntraveler.com/story/yaa-gyasi-women-who-travel-podcast

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

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When we want to be transported to Italy, we read Ruth Reichl's piece on a seafood lunch she had in the ancient town of Sperlonga. Her descriptions of "lively langoustines," stuffed squash blossoms, oysters as "lovely as orchids," and pistachio-dusted cannoli are enough for us to briefly forget that we are, in fact, still in our apartments, eating yet another meal we've cooked for ourselves. Of course, Reichl isn't in Italy anymore, either—she's at home like the rest of us, and has been since March. We called her up to find out how she's staying connected to food and travel, from the ingredients she's craving (Spanish anchovies and Szechuan chile crisp) to the places she's dreaming of (Copenhagen and Japan), and why she believes the restaurant world is set to change for the better.

Read a transcription of the episode: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/ruth-reichl-on-the-future-of-restaurants-and-traveling-for-food-women-who-travel-podcast

Follow Ruth: @ruth.reichl

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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