Women Who Travel | Condé Nast Traveler

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

This is a special Friday episode of the Women Who Travel podcast and the second installment in our three-part I Deserve This series, presented by Cloudy Bay. Designed to celebrate all the ways we treat ourselves when we travel, we hope to dispel the feelings of selfishness and guilt that often come with spending time and money on our own adventures and dreams. Kat Mason, Cloudy Bay's wine communications manager, knows those feelings: after falling in love with New Zealand on a four-week wine fellowship, she returned back to the U.K. in 2013, homesick for a place she had only just visited and feeling guilt over her lack of enthusiasm to return home. Pushing past those feelings, though, she made the jump with her then-four-year-old daughter and moved more than halfway across the world for a slower pace of life—exactly one year after her visit. We sat down with Kat to find out more about living abroad, how she prioritizes herself and her daughter on the road, her most memorable wine trips, and the importance of self-care on vacation. 

Follow Kat: @thewinekat

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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When it comes to getting outdoors, gear can be a major barrier. Whether it's finding gear that comes in your size (let alone actually fits your body), knowing what gear is a must-have and what you can safely skip, or having the funds for what you need, there's a lot more at play than just walking into your local outdoor retailer. This week, we wanted to dig into women's gear—across hiking, climbing, dog mushing, and more—to find out how far we've come in opening up the outdoors to bodies of all shapes and experience levels and how far we have to go. With the most guests we've had on one podcast since we started recording at home, this episode stars Unlikely Hikers founder Jenny Bruso, Flash Foxy founder and climber Shelma Jun, and Iditarod competitor Blair Braverman, who share how they fell in love with the outdoors in the first place, how they overcome gear barriers today, and what they want from the outdoor industry.

Read a transcription of the episode: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/womens-gear-still-isnt-where-we-want-it-to-be

Watch Blair's cold-weather gear reveal: https://twitter.com/blairbraverman/status/1082079705627426816?lang=en

Read Women Who Travel's Guide to the Outdoors: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/a-guide-to-the-outdoors-for-women-and-by-women

Follow Shelma: @shelmatic & @heyflashfoxy

Follow Jenny: @jennybruso & @unlikelyhikers

Follow Blair: @blairbraverman

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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With major companies extending remote work through next summer because of COVID-19 and countries like Barbados offering year-long visas to U.S. travelers looking to switch their office view to an ocean view, it's understandable to be thinking about picking everything up and relocating for a bit. While international options are limited, living as a digital nomad (spending a few weeks or months in one place before moving on to the next) is still enticing for many. Because it's not as easy as booking a plane ticket and throwing your stuff in storage, we asked two digital nomads—Cheraé Robinson of Tastemakers Africa and Annette Richmond of Fat Girls Traveling—to share their tips and tricks to making it work. (Admittedly, dating can be difficult when you change addresses every 30-or-so days.) Hopefully, it'll help you start to wrap your head around whether making the jump to a nomadic remote work life is right for you.

Follow Cheraé: @sasyrae

Follow Annette: @fromannettewithlove

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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In early April, we were both struggling to focus and looking for an escape from a shut-down world, so we turned to the National Book Foundation's Lisa Lucas and author and Books Are Magic owner Emma Straub for some reading recs. Now, exactly 99 days later, Lisa is back, this time with podcast regular and Riverhead Books publisher Jynne Dilling Martin to restock our shelves with recommendations. There's something for everyone this episode, whether you're looking for a graphic novel to keep your short attention span in check, a historical trilogy set in the court of Henry V (complete with its own plague), a sci-fi battle royale set in New York City, or a New York Times bestseller all your friends are probably reading right now. A reminder to order any of the books that make it on your must-read list from your local bookseller or one of these Black bookstores across the U.S.—or, from Bookshop.org, which gives money from sales for independent bookstores.

Here's a full list of what we talked about:

All products featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Follow Lisa: @LikaLuka

Follow Jynne: @Jynnnne

Follow Lale: @LaleHannah

Follow Meredith: @Ohheytheremere

Follow Women Who Travel: @WomenWhoTravel

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You probably first heard Sara Nelson's name in early 2019 when she called for a general strike, leading to an abrupt end to the extended government shutdown. Now, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, CWA, is fighting something completely different: a pandemic, as well as imminent layoffs for airline workers. We caught up with Sara, named "the world's most powerful flight attendant" by the New York Times, to chat about how she got her start as a United flight attendant, why she joined the union, and what challenges the AFA-CWA faces today.

Read a full transcription of the episode here: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/sara-nelson-wont-stop-fighting-for-flight-attendants-women-who-travel-podcast

Follow Sara: @flyingwithsara

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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

Over the next few months, we'll be talking with some of our favorite travelers about how they treat themselves in travel, whether by taking time to get away, refuel their motivation, or challenge themselves to try something new. (It's all inspired by our I Deserve This column, which you should check out, too.) First up, Eritrean-Swedish photographer Malin Fezehai on the trips she's taken that bring out her creativity, how she's staying inspired during lockdown in Bali (hint: she's picked up an epic new hobby), and where she can't wait to go when she's able. We hope it'll push you to pick up your own camera (or at least your phone) to see the world around you in a new way.

Follow Malin: @malinfezehai

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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Being a parent right now is hard. Many are juggling work, childcare, education, their families' health and safety, and so much more. And while a trip to the beach with the kids—or better yet, a child-free getaway—would usually bring peace of mind and a modicum of relaxation, vacation planning these days comes with new levels of stress and confusion.

As neither of us are parents, we brought on Lauren DeCarlo, Condé Nast Traveler's director of strategic projects and mom of a four year old, to guest host this episode and suss out at least a few of the answers. She's joined by Monet Hambrick, of The Traveling Child and mom of two, and Liz Speichinger, senior global sales director for Auberge Resorts and mom of an eight year old boy, to get a handle on how they're traveling this summer, what questions they're asking ahead of trips, and how—with not a minute to spare each day—they're finding time for themselves.

Find a full transcription here: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/a-candid-conversation-on-what-family-travel-means-this-summer-women-who-travel-podcast

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

Follow Lauren: @ldecarlo

Follow Monet: @thetravelingchild

Follow Liz: LinkedIn

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When cabin fever first set in during the early stages of the pandemic, we turned to the experts for help: three women who chose to live in isolation for long stretches of time, whether at a fire lookout in Idaho, on a remote Greek island, or in a sea kayak, like Sarah Outen did while rowing solo across the Pacific Ocean.

Three months later, and we're still grappling with what it means to isolate ourselves from friends and family. So we decided to check back in with Outen, a British rower, biker, and adventurer who has spent months-long stretches alone in grueling conditions, including a solo row across the Indian Ocean and a four-year, around-the-world solo trip executed exclusively on bikes, kayaks, and row boats. In this week's episode, she shares her tips for making it through the toughest stretches of being alone, stories about a logistically complicated long-distance relationship, and her newfound joy from rest. (That said, she'll likely inspire you to haul your bike out of the garage and get moving, too.)

Find a full transcription of the episode and links here: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/how-one-adventurer-spent-293-days-alone-at-sea-women-who-travel-podcast

Follow Sarah: @sarah_outen_home

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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While we truly love to drink wine, we would hardly call ourselves experts. And after downing quite a few delicious bottles over the last few months without a sommelier or bartender to guide us, we thought we'd check in with two of the least snobby wine snobs we know: Women Who Travel contributor Shanika Hillocks and Helen's Wines' Helen Johannesen. We talk all about how our taste—and willingness to shell out—has changed during lockdown, some places to start when looking to test your wine comfort zone, and what the wine industry looks like today. (And don't worry, we don't say "vino" once.)

If you're headed to your local wine shop after listening or want to browse for some bottles to pick up online, here are all of the wines we mentioned in the episode, with links to where we could find them:

Follow Shanika: @shanikahillocks

Follow Helen: @helenswines

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel

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