Women Who Travel | Condé Nast Traveler

With summer only a few months away, now is the time to start planning that road trip—especially if you're based in the U.S., where one of the best ways to see the country is by car (there are so many iconic American road trip movies for a reason). Enter, our guest this week: Kristen Meinzer, an author and podcast host who has spent much of her travels road tripping around the Midwest and staying a...

We travel for all manner of experiences—culinary, adventure, music, and more. Mya-Rose Craig travels to spot birds. Lale chats with the 20-year-old ornithologist about birdwatching in some of the world's most spectacular places, sharing a platform with climate change activist Greta Thunberg, and her new memoir Birdgirl. Plus, we hear from Condé Nast Traveler contributor Betsy Andrews about her own...

If you subscribe to this podcast, then you're familiar with our listener dispatches: unique, funny, and often deeply personal stories shared with us by the Women Who Travel community. Weaving them into the podcast is one our favorite things to do, which is why this week we're mixing up the format as Lale and the podcast's very own producer, Jude Kampfner, revisit some of their favorites—from a bre...

If you’re lucky, you’ve gotten to experience some of the natural beauty found across America’s 63 National Parks, home to places like Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and Acadia, Maine. But few people have got to see as much of them as guest Emily Pennington, a regular Condé Nast Traveler contributor and author of Feral: Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America’s National Parks. Emily chats with...

Travel is inherently absurd, amusing, chaotic, messy, embarrassing, and deeply nuanced. And sometimes, we go to places with built in prejudices that we haven't previously confronted—and hopefully overturn them in the process. Who better, then, to dive into a conversation about all of this than Chelsea Handler? The comedian, television host, and best selling author chats with Lale about wrapping up...

We’re re-airing this episode which was first published 10/6/2022. Lale talks to two of her favorite authors about two cities that she’s most connected with—Rebecca Meade about London and Elif Batuman on Istanbul—and asks the question: What do you learn about a city by walking around it instead of driving through it? "You want to knit yourself into the fabric of a place and see your story knitted i...

In this week's episode, we travel to Australia to talk to dancer, choreographer, and storyteller Frances Rings, a descendant of the Wirangu and Mirning Tribes from the country's southern west coast, and the artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theater, Australia's leading Indigenous performing arts company. She explains the power of dance as a tool for healing—and shares stories of Indigenous Austr...

The Amazon lives in our imaginations, in literature, and throughout swathes of travel writing. But what is it like to live there? Lale chats with journalist Eliane Brum who's built a house from recycled wood in Altamira, a town on the northern fringes of the Amazon, to find out more—and to learn about her new book, Banzeiro Òkòtó: The Amazon as the Center of the World. Plus, Condé Nast Traveler ed...

It can be hard to escape the frenzy of Valentine’s Day and all its forced expectations. But here on this podcast, we’re avoiding the cliches in favor of a conversation with Dr. Orna Guralnik, host of Showtime’s hit documentary series Couples Therapy, which is about to enter into its fourth season. Lale chats with Orna about everything from how to balance both of your needs on a trip to expectation...

Wellness is an immensely popular—and profitable—industry when it comes to travel, but with a near-endless slew of options for self-care to consider, from ayueverdic yoga to sound baths to ayahausca retreats, the meaning of what wellness actually is can get diluted. To find out more, Lale chats with Fariha Róisín, a poet, novelist, nonfiction writer, and author of the book Who Is Wellness For? to a...

In the second installment of Women Who Travel's mini series about food, gardening, and wellness, Lale catches up with Sophia Roe, an activist, chef, and host of the travel and food show, Counter Space, is available to stream on Tastemade, to talk about the places and people she met while filming season two, her unending love of mushrooms, and what it means to live well. Plus, we hear from two Girl...

Part of a three week series that dives into all things cooking, gardening, and self care in its many forms, Lale sits down with legendary restaurant owner, cookbook author, chef, and community activist Tanya Holland. Her restaurant, Brown Sugar Kitchen, became a focal point of the Oakland community during its almost 15 year tenure, and now, she has a gorgeous new cookbook out: California Soul, whi...

The start of a new year is often a time of reflection and after the last few challenging pandemic ones, that might also mean dwelling on feelings of loss or grief. This week, Lale chats with the creator of a podcast called The Order of the Good Death. She’s Caitlin Doughty, a mortician, the owner of a funeral home in Los Angeles, and an advocate of funeral reform. She’s toured the world exploring...

It's the middle of winter, so who better to chat with than Blair Braverman, writer, author, dog musher, and unofficial extreme cold expert about her life in Northern Wisconsin, competing in the Iditarod—the longest dog sled race in the world—and her new book, Small Game, about a survival reality show in the wildnerness that goes awry. Plus we hear from a listener who spends much of her time travel...

With holiday travel approaching, tensions are running high and things can get, well, a little stressful. To help us feel more at ease as we enter into the festive period, Lale chats with Gretchen Rubin, author of blockbuster books like Better Than Before, The Happiness Project, and Happier at Home, about how to get the most out of the season. For more from Women Who Travel, visit our website or su...

People travel far and wide to compete in marathons, and for extreme runner Nicki Rehn these feats of endurance are her favorite way to see the world. Lale chats with Rehn to find out about her career high of running the mountain peaks of Bhutan, as well as other jaw-dropping treks. Plus, Condé Nast Traveler editor Megan Spurrell stops by the studio to share her own New York Marathon story. Learn m...

Our voices are a defining quality of who we are—but often go underappreciated, argues Lake Bell. This week, Lale chats with the writer-actor-director-producer about her new audiobook with Pushkin Industries, ‘Inside Voice: My Obsession with How We Sound,' to find out just how much of our personal histories and travels are captured by our voices, and unpacks the power we possess—and the challenges...

What do we gain—and leave behind—when we move abroad? Lale chats with Lebanese poet Zeina Hashem Beck, whose third poetry collection, 'O,' was released this summer, about moving away from her beloved Beirut and hopping between countries until arriving in her current home of California. Plus, listeners share stories about the challenges, joys, and surprises that come with overseas moves. For more f...

Solo travel is lauded as one of the most exciting ways to see the world—and for good reason. It's adventurous, eye-opening, unpredictable, transformative. But it can also be challenging and, at some points, a little lonely, even for the most experienced of travelers. Lale chats with Jessica Nabongo, who in 2019 became the first documented Black woman to visit every country in the world (89 of whic...

The past six weeks have seen historic demonstrations sweep across Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, with protesters—the majority of whom are women—taking to the streets to address the country's status quo. Lale chats with Iranian-American cookbook author Naz Deravian, whose book Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories, won a 2019 Julia Child Foundation award, to discuss t...

The nights in the northern hemisphere are drawing in, which means whispering stories of witches and spirits are top of mind for many of us. Lale chats with Mexico City-based author Brenda Lozano, whose new novel Witches looks at the lives of Mexican women who inherit gifts, and draws inspiration from the true story of a Mazatec Indigenous healer, or curandera, in Oaxaca who worked with psilocybin...

The world is a turbulent place in 2022, but it's often traveling—whether for pleasure or out of necessity—that can shine a light on the enduring kindness and hospitality of strangers. Lale chats with London-based actor, cookbook author, and theater producer Dina Mousawi about her work with refugees around the world, as well as her own Iraqi heritage, and Maria Romanenko, a Ukrainian journalist who...

Having grown up exploring much of Europe by train, Lale takes a look at how rail travel can offer one of the most exciting—and interesting—ways to see a new place, and chats with author and journalist Monisha Rajesh about the time she took 80 train journeys around India, and later, the whole world, traversing the railways of Russia, Tibet, Canada, and more. Plus, we hear from a listener about a me...

Lale talks to two of her favorite authors about two cities that she’s most connected with—Rebecca Mead about London and Elif Batuman on Istanbul—and asks the question: What do you learn about a city by walking around it instead of driving through it? "You want to knit yourself into the fabric of a place and see your story knitted into it," says Mead. Plus, listeners contribute their own walking st...

It's been a challenging couple of years during the pandemic but we are starting to travel again. Host Lale Arikoglu determines that she needs to challenge herself and goes hiking in Chilean Patagonia in a misty, rainy, and isolated landscape. Closer to home she’s trying to stay upright on a surfboard at New York’s Rockaway beach even though she’s skittish in waves and talks to author Dorthe Nors a...