Women Who Travel | Condé Nast Traveler

For years, we've been covering what makes the Ace brand's design so innovative and, frankly, unrepeatable (though plenty of big brands try) in its hotels. We decided to go to the source, heading to Los Angeles to chat with Kelly Sawdon, partner and chief brand officer at the Ace Hotel Group and Atelier Ace, at the Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles for our third live taping of the podcast. Thanks to Kelly for joining us, and to all of you that came to listen to us IRL. If you'd like to come to our next live episode or a Women Who Travel meetup, join our Facebook group and sign up for our newsletter to be in the know. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

When Evita Robinson chatted with Traveler contributor, Diana Hubbell, earlier this year, she made one thing clear: The travel industry needs to work a lot harder when it comes to serving travelers of color. It was that lack of inclusive representation that propelled her to start her company, Nomadness Travel Tribe in 2011, an idea she had while working as an English teacher in the suburbs of Niigata, Japan. In this week’s episode, we sit down with Robinson to find out just how she built a 22,000-member community of travelers—and expanded into group trips around the world, initiatives like the Nomadness Project, a web series co-created with Insecure’s Issa Rae, and Audacity Fest, an annual travel conference for millennials of color. For more info on Evita and Audacity Fest, head over to the show notes:  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We have a lot of arguments in the Traveler office about packing: roll vs. fold, carry-on vs. checked, hard shell vs. soft... The list goes on. This week—to add more fuel to the fire—we brought in two expert travelers on opposite ends of the spectrum to talk about their packing tips. Shiona Turini is a self-proclaimed maximalist. Her job as a stylist and costume designer working on set with the likes of Issa Rae and Lena Waithe informs her own packing style. Anna Newton, of The Anna Edit, is a complete 180 from Shiona, and is a capsule wardrobe fanatic who's made a name for herself with clothing edits that prioritize mixing and matching a limited number of basics. Her go-to packing trick? Packing just 10 items, including shoes, that can be mixed and matched into 10 outfits on vacation.Find the link to Anna's book and so much more in the show notes here:  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In this episode, we interview our own mothers, covering everything from Lale's mom's by-the-seat-of-her-pants motorcycle adventure across Europe and Asia to the time Meredith's mom moved abroad to South Africa in the 1980s. Plus, we're joined by Traveler's social media manger Jeryl Lippe, her sister (regular Traveler contibutor) Jordi Lippe-McGraw, and their mother, Suzanne, to talk about climbing Israel's Mount Masada at seven-months pregnant and why she indulged Jordi's preteen Twister fantasy of tornado chasing. In the meantime, we learn a little bit more about our moms—and realize just how much their obsessions with travel have rubbed off on us.*As we mentioned in the beginning of the episode, we're headed to Los Angeles on May 17 for another live taping—this time with Kelly Sawdon, who is responsible for masterminding that oh-so-cool Ace Hotel aesthetic we've all come to know and love. You can find more info and an RSVP link for the meetup and live podcast here: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/women-who-travel-live-podcast-los-angeles-here-we-come.Visit this link for the full show notes: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/we-learned-how-to-love-travel-from-our-mothers-women-who-travel-podcast Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

For those of us who don't describe ourselves as "outdoorsy," planning an excursion out into the wilderness can seem like a daunting task. How do you find the best trails? How do you stay safe? How much gear should you buy? And, once you've figured that out, how much will it all cost? Well, we're here to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way. In fact, we've dedicated an entire episode to all the reasons why you really should (finally) embrace the outdoors this summer.This week, we're joined by Traveler photo editor Meg Reinhardt, and Abigail Wise, digital managing editor of Outside, to find out just how to plan the perfect adventure. For all of the links and parks mentioned in this episode, check out our show notes: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/why-we-should-all-be-more-adventurous-this-summer-women-who-travel-podcast Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If you've listened to this episode with Refinery29's Lindsey Stanberry, then you may have realized that your Women Who Travel hosts aren't great with money, miles, or points. One thing we have learned, however, is that it's never too late to hit the road of self improvement, which is why we decided assemble a crack team of experts to answer all of our questions about getting into the points game. This week, we’re joined by Sarah Silbert, senior editor for credit cards at The Points Guy; Lindsay Silberman, a New York-based travel influencer who did that thing we all wish we could do—quit her job to travel the world; and Tiffany Funk, points expert at One Mile at a Time. Want more info on the episode? Check out our show notes here.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Earlier this year, we decided to dedicate an entire podcast episode to the most frequently asked questions in our Facebook group. All sorts of topics came up—from how to find cheap flights, to the best ways to travel alone, to the dilemma of traveling to countries with a poor history of women's rights—and it quickly became clear that we couldn't fit everything we wanted (or needed) to answer into a single episode. Which is why we've decided to do it all over again this week and tackle some of your more recent travel concerns to crop up in the group—and given that it's tax season, more than a few of them are money-related.For more information about this week's episode, check out the show notes here: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/we-answer-even-more-of-your-travel-questions-women-who-travel-podcast Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the pros and cons of female solo travel after the New York Times released its “Adventurous. Alone. Attacked.” story late last month. We spoke about the side of solo travel that you don't see on Instagram in October of last year, and we wanted to resurface the episode, which covers the tough moments of exploring alone as a female traveler. Find information about our April Nashville meetup: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/women-who-travel-meetup-next-stop-nashvilleRead the New York Times's story: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/travel/solo-female-travel.htmlListen to Lale and Megan on WNYC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/solo-travel/id74254710?i=1000433734070Check out the podcast's original show notes: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-not-so-glamourous-side-of-solo-travel-women-who-travel-podcast Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In February, Traveler's Cynthia Drescher wrote about how women are taking the helm in the cruise industry. We now make up between 18 to 20 percent of the industry's entire workforce, and 5 to 22 percent of cruise ship officers (for perspective, women constitute just 4 to 5 percent of the pilot industry in North America). One of those women is Kate McCue, the first American woman to captain a cruise ship. She's the current master of the Celebrity Equinox, soon-to-be master of Celebrity Edge, the cruise line’s newest (and arguably most significant) launch to date—and our Women Who Travel guest for this week.Full show notes here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If you're hungry right now, grab a bowl of pasta and dig in before you start listening, because we talk (a lot) about pasta this week. That's because our guest is the impressive Missy Robbins, the James Beard Award-winning chef behind Lilia and Misi, two of the hottest (and toughest to get into) spots in Brooklyn—nay, in all of New York City. Yes, we spend a lot of time in the kitchen—but we head outside the restaurant world, too. The chef, who rose into the limelight in high-octane, Michelin-starred kitchens, has been public about dealing with the overwhelming stress of the restaurant industry—and the importance of vacation days (we agree!)—so we check in on how her self-care journey is going.For more information about this week's episode, head to the show notes here: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/talking-success-and-self-care-with-chef-missy-robbins-women-who-travel-podcast Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices