Women Who Travel

Today, we are sharing an episode of Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, the chart-topping and Webby Award-winning podcast from our friends at Nature on PBS. Back for a brand new season, Going Wild features some of the coolest champions of nature – like a paleoanthropologist who hunts fossils in conflict zones, and a former butterfly technician who saved an endangered species while incarcerated. Each episode explores what led them to create change within themselves, their community, and the natural world.In today's episode, you hear from Alexis Nikole Nelson, better known to her millions of fans on TikTok as the “Black Forager.” She talks all about rediscovering her childhood love of foraging and falling back in love with food and plants. It's a really inspiring conversation, and just one example of the many exciting stories in the brand new season of Going Wild.To listen to the rest of their new season, follow Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Our guest this week is British journalist Emma Lunn, an avid hiker who has hit the trails all over the world. But a particularly memorable solo walk for her was closer to home—across the English countryside, and filled with dramatic moors and grand coastlines. Lale chats with Lunn to find out how she pulled it off, why she believes in the healing powers of hiking, and how she navigated both unexpected wildlife and eccentric fellow travelers. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Is there anywhere left in the world that is truly quiet? This episode, we seek to find out, with Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler's Global Digital Director, and writer Yulia Denisyuk joining Lale in the studio to talk about their favorite quiet places—from the sprawling deserts of Wadi Rum, Jordan, to the Makgadikgadi salt pans of Botswana. And if you're still left wanting more inspiration for finding stillness on our noisy planet, check out our fully list of quiet places on cntraveler.com after listening. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

National Geographic Explorer Tara Roberts joined the group Diving With a Purpose to explore slave shipwrecks and found unexpected connections with her own ancestors. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Ever fantasized about giving up the grind and starting a new life in Italy? This week, we hear from a listener who did just that, swapping her life in San Francisco for the rolling hills of Piedmont, where she renovated a 300-year-old farmhouse' and built a new life—‘Under the Tuscan Sun' style. Listen to the episode to find out how Barbara Boyle, who penned the experience in her new memoir ‘Pinch Me,' pulled the move off and found joy and community in a small Italian town. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If you've been absorbed by the latest season of The White Lotus over the past few weeks, you've probably found yourself Googling images of Thailand and wondering whether to book a flight there ASAP. Or perhaps you were once seduced by the fantasy of Eat, Pray, Love and considered  dropping all your responsibilities in favor of seeking a path of self discovery in Bali? When it comes to our favorite television shows and movies, the location is often a central character—so much so, that we end up framing our travel plans around it. But what real-life impact can that have on a destination? This week, Lale chats with journalist Shannon Sims to break down the trend of ‘set jetting' and find out what happens to our favorite places when everyone decides to visit at the same time. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Right before filming the latest season of White Lotus, Natasha Rothwell booked herself a silent Buddhist retreat—a move she says reflects her deep spiritual roots. In this week's episode, Lale chats with the actor and longtime traveler about returning as the character of Belinda in Mike White's hit HBO dramedy, her own relationship with wellness, and what it was like to spend six months in Thailand for the show. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 With French-Haitian roots, and multiple cities she can call home, Naïka is a self-proclaimed Third Culture Kid—an identity that she explores regularly through her music. Lale speaks with the singer-songwriter, who at the time is wrapping up her day in Paris, about how singing in multiple languages helps her tap into different parts of herself, her upcoming album, and a childhood spent across continents.   Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Tracee Ellis Ross' earliest memories involved traveling the world with her mother, Diana Ross, but it was at the age of 22 that she discovered what solo travel could give her. This episode, Lale sits down with Tracee, who on March 8 will be honored on Women Who Travel's annual Power List, to discuss how solo travel can be an act of radical self care, her upcoming Roku show Solo Traveling With Tracee Ellis Ross, and her flamboyant and joy-filled packing lists Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

With the Academy Awards days away, Lale talks to actor-activist Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, who plays Hattie in the Oscar nominated film "Nickel Boys". Aunjanue talks about the joy and pain of growing up in Mississippi which she still calls home, as well as her suggestions on what to see - and not see - on a road trip though the South.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Sound baths. Silent retreats. Cryotherapy. When it comes to wellness, there's an encyclopedia's worth of experiences, treatments, and rituals to dip your toe into. But where on earth to start? This week, Lale is joined by three experts—Lydia Bell, Traveller UK's senior features editor, Yariella Coello, the blogger behind The Beauty Backpacker, and Jen Murphy, a writer who reports regularly on wellness tourism—to demystify the jargon and find out how to start planning your own trip. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Journalist Anna Silman talks to Lale about how, even though the travel space is geared to couples, it's becoming increasingly easier to travel as triad or a polycule. Groups of people who are in consensually non monogamous relationships can increasingly check into hotels without raising eyebrows, but more often yoga retreats, music festivals and Airbnbs offer greater privacy and safety. A polyamorous adventure can be thrilling but there's extra work planning and ensuring everyone's needs are met. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Born and raised in Lagos, Lisa Folawiyo has spent her career celebrating the craftsmanship of her Nigerian heritage by combining sharp, contemporary tailoring with traditional West African prints and textiles, and bringing the fashion of her hometown onto the global stage (the likes of Lupita Nyong'o, Issa Rae, and Solange Knowles have walked the red carpet in her designs). In this week's episode, Lale chats with the fashion designer about her process, Lagos style, the markets that inspire her, and more. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

There are few places in the world where you won't encounter a cat. So a few years ago, Hannah Shaw, who has dedicated much of her life and work to caring for them, set out tomeet and document has many as she could across the globe—spotlighting the extraordinary places they live and the people who care for them along the way. Lale chats with the animal welfare advocate, bestselling author, and educator about her many travels, from Turkey to Chile to Oman, and finds out what she learned along the way. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Brooke Shields has spent most of her life traveling the world for work—but until recently, she'd never traveled solo. In this week's episode, the actor chats with Lale about a recent trip to Florence that changed all that, her most memorable movie locations, building confidence as a traveler, and what she hopes readers will take away from her new book Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 It's a few weeks into the year and, already, we're planning everywhere we want to go next. Lale chats with her well-traveled colleagues Megan Spurrell and Arati Menon about the best places to go in 2025—everywhere from Greenland and Alaska to India and Uganda—and gets tips on how to pull some of those ambitious (and more attainable) trips off. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Since the documentary ‘Will & Harper' first hit our screens in 2024, it's received accolades for its poignant depiction of friendship and the ways we seek to understand each other's lived experiences. In this week's episode, Lale sits down with Harper Steele to talk about driving across the US with her best friend, actor Will Ferrell, for the movie, her enduring love of dive bars, and what it's like to navigate the complexities of contemporary America as a trans woman. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

One of our favorite episodes from Atlas Obscura. Producer Alexa Lim visits a collection of natural aromas in Berkeley, California. She gets a whiff of some of the world's lesser known smells, and stumbles down the rabbit hole of the hidden world of scents. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Should I check my luggage or carry-on? Fold or roll? Bring one pair of shoes or...seven? Packing for a trip, when done well, can feel like an art form—yet one that few of us seem to have figured out. This week, Chloe Malle, Editor of Vogue.com and the co-host of Vogue's podcast The Run-Through with Vogue, joins Lale in the studio to dish her packing wisdom—and answer listeners' burning questions. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

To wrap up 2024, executive producer Stephanie Kariuki joins Lale in the studio to look back at some of their favorite episodes over the past twelve months—from actor Emma Roberts on her love of train travel and Normal Gossip's Kelsey McKinney on the perils of group travel, to three photojournalists on documenting life during war in Ukraine, Yemen, and Gaza. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We're diving into something we're all doing a lot of around the holiday season: partying. In Ukraine, where our two guests are based, rave culture has become a necessary vehicle for letting off steam, distraction, and finding joy. Lale talks to Kyiv-based journalist Anastacia Galouchka, and novelist Haska Shyyan, who lives in Lviv, about what raving means to them and the power of community and safe spaces during unimaginable turbulence and uncertainty. This episode is a rerun. It recently won a Society of American Travel Writers Foundation Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Selassie Atadika is a chef, food innovator, and the founder of Midunu, a nomadic private dining experience based out of Accra, Ghana. She's also happened to have visited 40 African countries. Lale chats with Atadika about the rich bounty of diverse cuisine to be found across Africa, some of her most memorable travel experiences, making artisanal chocolate, and the enduring intersection of food and politics.

We revisit our conversation with Gabrielle Union about her BET docuseries, in which she celebrates her 50th birthday on a trip across Africa with her husband, Dwyane Wade, their children, and friends.

This episode, we join Ashley C. Ford, a writer, educator, and host of the podcast Monumental, and move around the country to find out more about statues, monuments, memorials, and landmarks. Who gets to choose to put them up? And how are our ideas about them changing? Plus, Ashley shares her own personal stories about the monuments that changed her ways of thinking.

Comedian Cat Cohen returns to the podcast with stories of the Edinburgh Festival, a long-awaited trip to Australia after a challenging year, and nights spent on the world's various comedy stages. Plus, she teases her first album, and looks back on her award-winning standup show The Twist…? She's Gorgeous, which has now landed on Netflix.

In this episode of Travel That Matters, Bruce speaks with Divia, the Global Editorial Director of Condé Nast Traveler, about her home country of India, inclusive of the bustling scene in Goa, the best time of year to visit, where to find the best jewelry, and the thrills of a tiger safari (and how it's different than the safari experience in African countries).Divia gives useful tips like how to see India without falling into a tourist trap, if you should see the Taj Mahal or skip it, where to go if you have particular hobbies such as hiking or skiing, and how to find authentic food in India.Divia also tells us about her favorite Indian dish, mentions a few specific restaurants in India that you'll want to try, and talks about Indian cuisine in London, where she lives today.Listen to Travel That Matters wherever you get your podcasts. 

Women make up just 7% of truckers in the United States—a number that shows no sign of increasing, even while the industry suffers from a huge shortage of workers. We hear from trucker Desiree Wood, whose job has taken her to 48 states, about the freedom of life on the road, the dangers that herself and women colleagues face, and the joys that come with the occassional return trip home.

Kelsey McKinney has received more than her fair share of salacious tips during her tenure as the host of Normal Gossip. One theme that crops up time and time again? Group travel. This week, Lale chats with the podcaster and author of the upcoming book, You Didn't Hear This From Me, to find out about her own memorable travel escapades, the places she loves for eavesdropping and connecting with strangers, and why she'll never, ever, go on another bachelorette.

Emma Roberts has acted in TV thrillers like American Horror Story and Scream Queens, as well as movies including We Are the Millers, Valentines Day, and Hotel for Dogs. She also happens to be both an avid traveler and the founder of online reading community Belletrist. Lale chats with the actor about the books she likes to travel with (and where she likes to buy them), her love of train travel, and one of her all-time favorite cities: New Orleans.

With the US election looming, this week's episode is a dispatch from Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez, who is in the midst of touring 114 college campuses and hosting  parties to mobilize newly eligible voters. She shares stories from the road, what she's hearing from young voters, and how her own heritage influenced her career as a youth vote organizer.

A Palestinian American Chef on Creating Community Through Food

Earlier this year, New Yorker writer Rebecca Mead reported on the scandals taking place within the British Museum—and its own history of cultural theft that continues to define how we approach it as a museum today. Lale joins Rebecca on the ground in London to learn more about the institution she grew up visiting—and more broadly, how to tackle some of the world's biggest museums in a way that's both fulfilling and, well, fun. Share your thoughts on Women Who Travel. As a token of our appreciation, you will be eligible to enter a prize drawing up to $1,000 after you complete the survey.https://selfserve.decipherinc.com/survey/selfserve/222b/76152?pin=1&uBRANDLINK=2&uCHANNELLINK=2

Charissa Enget needed to find an engineering course she could afford and she found one in rural Thailand where she got a scholarship and living costs were low. It took her six months to learn the language so she could communicate with fellow students, make friends and travel round the country at weekends. After two years she decided that Thailand would always be a part of her life. Today she leads trips to share her adventures  and introduce American women to her friends and local families.Share your thoughts on Women Who Travel. As a token of our appreciation, you will be eligible to enter a prize drawing up to $1,000 after you complete the survey.https://selfserve.decipherinc.com/survey/selfserve/222b/76152?pin=1&uBRANDLINK=2&uCHANNELLINK=2

If a new opportunity comes your way, are you ready to take it? When professional photographer Leslie McKellar was forced to move out of her apartment in 2020 because of toxic mold, she took it as an opportunity to reevaluate her trajectory. After realizing her calling to travel full-time, she set out a plan to make it happen and left for Europe in January 2022.Listen to Zero to Travel wherever you get your podcasts.Share your thoughts on Women Who Travel. As a token of our appreciation, you will be eligible to enter a prize drawing up to $1,000 after you complete the survey.https://selfserve.decipherinc.com/survey/selfserve/222b/76152?pin=1&uBRANDLINK=2&uCHANNELLINK=2

Our solo travel mini series has followed guests on a work trip to Cannes and a six-month backpacking odyssey across South America. But in this third and final installment, we speak to a guest who pushed themselves even further—to Antarctica. Lale chats with Preet Chandhi, an endurance athlete who's broken records skiing alone across one of the world's most brutal and isolated landscapes, to find out how she trained for it, combatted loneliness, and relied on her survival skills during multiple polar expeditions.

In the second installment of our solo travel series, we hear from Christie Bowers, who spent six months backpacking across South America, stopping everywhere from the Amazon to Argentina. She shares how she planned the trip, budgeted for it, and navigated both the joys and challenges of going it alone far from home.

In the first installment of our three-part solo travel series, Zakiya Gibbons, host of dating podcast Hang Up, recounts a pretty glamorous work trip to Cannes—and shares how she navigated moments of loneliness, figured out ways to prioritize downtime and actually see the destination, and even managed to squeeze in a date.

As part of Condé Nast Traveler's music and travel coverage this month, Lale sits down with reggae singer Lila Iké to find out about life in Kingston, the old school influences that still shape her music now, and what it was like performing live on stage for the first time. But even as she tours the world, she remains faithful to Jamaica's reggae heritage. “I am a very Jamaican girl,” says Iké. “I grew up in the country, and it doesn't get any more Jamaican than that. I'm a very rootsy, and my music reflects a lot of that.” Eager for more once you've listened? Don't miss Iké's local's guide to Kingston on cntraveler.com.

Freezing your eggs can be logistically challenging—and costly—here in the US, which is why some women are turning their sights overseas. Lale chats with Los Angeles-based Esther Yu McElroy about her own fertility journey, one that took her all the way to Barcelona with a stop in London along the way.

The Paris Olympics are in full swing, but far away from the main stadium, the world's greatest surfers are taking on Tahiti's biggest wave as part of the competition. Lale catches up with Condé Nast Traveler's Megan Spurrell, who flew out to the French Polynesian island to witness the power of the wave firsthand—and speak to the women surfers who are riding it in the hopes of winning gold. (After listening, read her full story here.)

Last time Lale chatted with outdoors expert and Condé Nast Traveler contributor Emily Pennington she was fresh off her book tour for Feral, a memoir chronicling her mission to visit every national park in the US. This week, Emily rejoins us in the studio to talk about what she's been up to since then, including adventures in Patagonia, how she's prioritizing her wellbeing while still exploring the outdoors, and her tips for getting out into the wilderness in exciting—and safe—ways.

Each year, Erin French receives 60,000 postcards from people asking if they can dine at her Maine restaurant The Lost Kitchen. “It really becomes a luck of the draw lottery. We have big post office bins that arrive and we literally reach in, we grab a postcard, we call that person immediately and say, ‘Okay, when do you want to come?'” This episode, Erin shares with Lale what it's like to experience her beloved restaurant, now in its 11th season, and spills on her new cooking and travel show on Max, Getting Lost With Erin French, which sees the chef road trip across the US in search of new ingredients and inspiration, and sharing meals with Texas farmers, New Orleans chefs, and more.

Traveling with kids can be all manner of things—educational yet exhausting, transformative yet taxing, magical yet maddening. In this week's episode, three listeners share dispatches about the joys and challenges of seeing the world alongside children of all ages, from chasing a total eclipse in Dallas to seeking out new adventures in Japan. Plus, look out for more stories on the topic on the Condé Nast Traveler site next month.

We travel for all sorts of reasons: self-discovery, something new, a chance to break out of our routines. But how often is it truly restorative? In a rerun of an episode from last year, Lale talks to activist, educator, entrepreneur, and ardent solo traveler Rachel Cargle about creating calm in every step of a journey—and her new memoir and manifesto, A Renaissance of Our Own

Ever dreamed of swapping your current life for a brand new one in Paris? That's what Jane Bertch did, who chronicles her own journey, and the French cooking school she subsequently opened, in her new memoir The French Ingredient. Lale chats with Jane about the lessons she's learned (culinary and otherwise) from her years spent in Paris, her tips for shopping the city's many boulangeries and fromageries, and all the characters she's met along the way.

In her book Beyond the Shores: A History of African Americans Abroad, Dr. Tamara J. Walker recounts stories of 20th-century African-Americans who chose to build their lives outside of the United States—everywhere from Paris to Nairobi. Lale chats with Tamara about the romantic notions of 20th-century Paris and the creatives who made it their home, like James Baldwin and Florence Mills, as well as her own travel experiences around the world and what it means to be a global citizen.

Mumtaz Mustafa and Laura Klynstra are best friends who love to cook—and host—together. Lale chats with them about how their respective childhoods in Pakistan and Michigan helped shape their passion for food, travels in Guatemala, and memories of Karachi street snacks and Dutch potlucks.

There's nothing quite like the magic of a Scandinavian summer, where daylight is near endless and hundreds of islands come to life for locals to explore and retreat to. Author Dorthe Nors—and repeat guest on this show—joins us to share stories of life on the Danish island of Fano, fascinating folklore, and tips on creating your own island hopping journey this summer.

Gabe and her husband have befriended an American couple in Treviso, Italy, where they all live. In order to give them a taste of home, Gabe would love to cook her new friends an American meal. But what typifies American food? And how can she source the right ingredients in the Veneto? Host of Dinner SOS Chris Morocco enlists the help of Bon Appetit's resident Aussie, Adam Moussa, and sommelier André Mack of BA's World of Wine series, to figure out what Gabe should make.Listen to and follow Dinner SOS here: https://listen.bonappetit.com/badinnersos

It's summer, which means we're grabbing every chance there is to hit the beach or dive into a hotel swimming pool. But some travelers are a little more intrepid, plunging into wild, frigid waters for all manner of reasons. To find out why, Lale chats with writer and wild swimmer Freya Bromley about her recent memoir The Tidal Year and catches up with friend of the podcast and author Dorthe Nors, who lives on a remote part of Denmark's west coast.

What is it like growing up in one of the most storied and iconic hotels in Italy? Ask Valentina de Santis, who was raised in the kitchens and ballrooms of Lake Como's Grand Hotel Tremezzo and now runs the charismatic Passalacqua along with her parents nearby. Lale chats with the hotelier to hear stories of life on Lake Como, get tips on traveling in both summer and the off-season, and what it really means to live La Dolce Vita.