146: Travel as a Political Act, Shifting the Safety Narrative, and Founding "Wanderful" to Help All Women Travel the World with Beth Santos

Beth Santos takes us on her journey growing up in the U.S., studying abroad in Portugal, reconnecting with her heritage, and then moving to the West African island nation of Sao Tome and Principe at age 22.

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She reflects on her work in the non-profit sector, her experiences in Sao Tome, as well as her subsequent travels to Brazil and other places around the world, and how it all contributed to the development of her social and political consciousness. Beth talks about the importance of reconsidering dominant narratives around “travel safety”, especially for solo female travelers, and explains how travel safety rankings and warnings are often overly broad and tend to homogenize entire countries. She also explains how “travel safety” discussions are frequently laden with the race, class, culture, and identity bias of the person writing the article, or being interviewed for it, and that such rankings are often limited to considering the safety concerns of only certain groups of people and not others. Beth then goes on to explain the importance of understanding travel as a political act, and how to be a more thoughtful and socially conscious traveler. Next, she explains the origins of her company, Wanderful, and how it aims to help all women and gender-diverse people travel the world. Beth talks about her choice to build a diverse team and to center intersectional anti-oppression politics into Wanderful’s community-building, empowerment of content creators, and advocacy within the travel industry. And, finally, Beth opens up about her own entrepreneurial journey as a mother with two kids, and gives tips on how to run multiple businesses as a “Start-Up Mama”. FULL SHOW NOTES AND DIRECT LINKS TO EVERYTHING DISCUSSED IS AVAILABLE HERE.

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