Women Who Travel | Condé Nast Traveler

Liz Lambert has lived many lives. She started out as a creative writing student, and then ended up in law school before serving in the Manhattan District Attorney's office. But she's best known for her design-forward work in the hotel industry as the founder and chief creative officer of her hotel group, Bunkhouse. We caught up with Liz for a live podcast taping in Austin to hear how she fell in love with hotels, her non-traditional path into the business, and how having a five-month-old child has changed the way she travels. Plus, we get the goss on her go-to room service order, her hatred of in-room coffee, and what's coming next for her hotel group (hello, New Orleans!).

Find more information about this episode (and how you can see us live) in the show notes here: 

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Last week, in honor of International Women's Day, we launched our list of the most powerful women in travel. It features an incredibly impressive line-up that covers every aspect of travel—from the boardroom to Everest, and beyond (like, you know, *space*). And while there are *so* many women making waves in the industry, whether it's championing more diverse voices, conquering male-dominated spaces, or just being at the top of their game, we whittled the pool down to 30. This week, we chatted with Traveler editors Katherine LaGrave and Megan Spurrell, who contributed to the list, to hear just why these women made the cut.

For more information and the full show notes, click here. 

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Food has never been more tethered to travel. Instagram, Anthony Bourdain, and others have made the two things bound to each other. And so, we pulled in two of our favorite foodies—*Bon Appétit*'s food director Carla Music (of "Back to Back Chef" YouTube fame) and contributor Priya Krishna—to chat about why food *always* tastes better on vacation, what it takes to recreate our favorite dishes, and cover the trips that introduced us to new foods, from something as simple as fresh pita and hummus in Egypt to pillowy idlis in India. 

Find more information about Carla and Priya's new books, along with details for our upcoming live podcast in Austin in the show notes here: 

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-travels-that-inspire-our-cooking-women-who-travel-podcast

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We sat down with Jen Rubio—who co-founded Away luggage in 2015 with friend Steph Korey—to hear all about how they got their start, what it's like to see your luggage in every airport, and how the brand continues to rule at high-profile collabs, from Dwyane Wade to the Despicable Me minions. Check out the full show notes here.

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When talking about solo travel, most people don't immediately think of a solo safari. But in talking to some of our coworkers about their own experiences, we wondered: Are safaris kind of the perfect trip to take alone? Consider this: Your days are scheduled out with game drives in the morning and evening, and time to relax, read, and chat with your campmates during the hottest part of the day. You're in a group, whether you're gorilla-trekking in Rwanda watching for elephants in the Serengeti, so you can choose when to be social—and when to hang out in your villa's plunge pool alone.

But the trip takes a lot of planning, so we called in our team of experts, who've all taken solo safaris, including Traveler's features director Alex Postman, travel specialist and founder of Roar Africa Deborah Calmeyer, and contributor Mary Holland.

Find more information about the lodges and stories mentioned here.

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We say it a lot over here at Traveler: Americans are really bad at taking vacation. So much so that in 2017, we left 705 million vacation days on the table, the U.S. Travel Association reported. Think of all the walking tours, island naps, and life-changing meals that were missed! And while we always urge you to take all of your days—be they five or 25—we don't always practice what we preach, either. One of us (cough, Meredith) left nearly half of her vacation days unused during her first year at Traveler, for fear of being gone from work too much.

Thankfully, we've since learned the error of our ways—but we could all use the reminder that we're actually devaluing our salary by leaving those days behind. (Especially given women are already earning about 19.5 percent less than our male counterparts, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.) We tapped the keeper of our vacation days, Traveler's director of editorial operations Paulie Dibner, and contributor Cassie Shortsleeve to chat about vacation guilt, how to ask for time off, what to do when you have unlimited vacation, and what to actually do when you get it.

Find the full show notes here.

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Let's get something straight, right off the bat: we're biased when it comes to organized group trips exclusively for self-identifying women. We love them so much, that as of today we have not one, not two, but ten Women Who Travel trips heading to Colombia this year, thanks to a partnership with El Camino Travel. But we didn't always feel so gung-ho about traveling the world with a group of strangers or about giving up control over the itinerary. In fact, just like with almost everything in travel, it was the mental hurdle—the thought that we might not like group trips—that kept us from doing it. But, we all got over it. (Strip naked in front of a group of gals at a Japanese onsen and you'll get over those reservations really fast.) To commiserate and compare stories, we brought community editor and trip lead Megan Spurrell and El Camino's founder Katalina Mayorga on to talk about the pros, cons, and what it took to change our minds.

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Every day, women from around the world ask and answer travel questions in our Women Who Travel Facebook group—some of which come up more than others. So, in this week's episode, we brought in some of our editors to add in their voices, addressing some of the Facebook group's biggest travel concerns. You can find show notes here: 

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/we-answer-your-frequently-asked-travel-questions-women-who-travel-podcast

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Recorded in front of a live audience at the Eaton Hotel—in conjunction with this month’s Women Who Travel meetup—we were joined by Jamie Leeds, chef and owner of Hank’s Oyster Bar (and Pasta Bar and Cocktail Bar); Rose Previte, owner of Compass Rose and one of Bon Appetit's best new restaurants, Maydan ; and Amy Brandwein, chef and owner of Centrolina.

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It isn't every day that we have someone Skype into the podcast from Lake Malawi—but this week's guest is Jessica Nabongo, who's well on her way to becoming the first black woman to visit every country in the world. This episode, we're catching up with Jessica (currently on 151 of 195 U.N.-recognized countries) about everything she's learned so far.

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