XX, Will Travel: A Podcast for Independent Women Travelers

Back in 2014, career expert and content strategist Julie Hocheiser Ilkovich packed her bags and moved to Belize for 6 weeks with her husband. How ddid she do it? We ask her about her decision to become a digital nomad, how she prepared for the trip, and what she learned about the Central American country of Belize and herself during her stay. Julie and Ines--fresh from her trip to San Ignacio and Cay Caulker--also share their best ...

Arts educator and storyteller Eileen Tull recently returned from her first trip to Europe, which was also her first trip abroad as a sober traveler. Eileen traveled solo through Paris, a unique situation given France's deep-rooted wine culture. She not only shares the story of her unpexpectedly extended journey (thanks, airlines!), but also reveals her strategies for traveling as a person in recovery. We also discuss ways to su...

Kathy and Ines discuss Kathy's most recent trip, which included an extended stay in the tiny but mighty country of Belgium. Kathy tells us why she was charmed by Ghent's quaintness, why Bruges is the "look at me!" middle child, and why Brussels is so underrated. She also names some of her favorite sites in all three cities, including churches, plazas, churches, museums, churches, swans, churches, and also some more ...

Chicago-based comedian Mona Aburmishan has lived and toured all over the world. Mona tells us about how she came to travel the globe as a comic and how she uses comedy as an instrument for unity and peace. Mona's Palestinian-American background and her work in international development give her observational humor a global spin that is often missing from mainstream comedy. Her fresh and unique voice definitely makes her someone...

We're finally taking on Ines's home country--Peru! We're here to answer all your pressing questions abou the land of the Incas from both a local and a tourist perspective. Find out how to get to Machu Picchu either via trekking or the "lazy way", discover what other sights and ruins there are to see in Cuzco, get recommendations on some of our favorite eats, and learn the different ways that the altitude can eff...

Just in time for the Oscars, it's our episode on travel and film! We asked for your favorite movies that were either travel-themed or inspired you to take a trip and you answered with more than 200 movies and TV shows. We count down your top 10, discuss our faves and give our takes on the most wanderlust-worthy Academy Award nominees, past and present. Kathy also recounts her 2016 trip to Los Angeles, California for Oscar weeke...

Long seen as a troubled nation, Haiti isn't usually on many people's list of travel destinations. But after 45's very unsavory comments about the country came to light, we wanted to know: What is Haiti actually like? We sat down with journalist Rosalind Cummings-Yeates, who recently visited Haiti for Port-Au-Prince's International Jazz Festival and considered the trip one of the highlights of her life. Rosalind shar...

A lot has changed about the New York Times list of 52 Place to Go in 2018 but one thing remains the same: our love/hate relationship with it. Listen as we go on our third annual rant about where we've been, where we'd like to go and how (or how not) to use the list to plan your next travel destination. We also discuss the selection of Jada Yuan, who beat out 13,000 other applicants to become the first 52 Places corresponden...

Chicago writer Gina Frangello, the author of Every Kind of Wanting and A Life in Men (one of our personal faves!), sets her novels in locations around the world, and the theme of travel as self-exploration runs deep. We talk to Gina about how travel affects her as a writer and as a woman, as well as some of techniques she uses to incorporate it into her writing. We also discuss how Gina came from a family who never traveled to some...

It's back! Our annual episode on 2018 travel goals and resolutions is here. Listeners sent us what they wanted to accomplish, travel-wise, in the coming year and we have tips on how to help them achieve it. We cover (more) budget issues, tell you our favorite savings apps, cheap ways to save on accommodation like housesitting, pet sitting and couch surfing, give you info on workaway options, suggest some road trips routes,  sha...

Land of Enchantment or Land of Entrapment? New Mexico is one of the most beautiful states in the country and its capital, Santa Fe, is buzzing with one of the nation's largest art scene, breathtaking scenery and rich history. We discuss everything there is to love about Santa Fe including hard-to-describe Meow Wolf, the monastic experience of Ojo Caliente spa, the Native American resistance in Taos Pueblo, the non-existent nigh...

Wendy McClure has visited nearly every Laura Ingalls Wilder-related site in the US as part of her research for her book, The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie. From Pepin, Wisconsin (the Big Woods) to Walnut Grove (the setting of the Little House TV series) to Burr Oak, Iowa (a lost chapter in Ingalls family history), Wendy has seen it all. She's visited dugouts and lean-tos and even Al...

Sometimes the worst part of planning a trip happens after the trip. Coming back to reality can be tough, but we have a few good ways to cope. In our final installment of our How to Plan a Trip from Scratch series, we sit down with mindfulness expert Kristen Brendel of Per la Vita Wellness. We discuss what we can do before a trip to make our return easier, how to relax in a new setting, what to do if we fear flying, how to deal with...

Jennifer Kramer is one of the founders of Baja Test Kitchen, as well the author of the Moon Baja Travel Guide. In this episode, Jen shares her favorite spots to eat, drink and soak up the Mexican culture, with a special emphasis on Valle de Guadalupe. Over the last several years, Valle de Guadalupe has exploded in terms of amazing wines and creative culinary offerings. Jen also gives us the scoop on the women winemakers who are tak...

Just in time for Halloween, we have spooky travel stories from our listeners! The tales of terror include haunted business trips in New Orleans and Puerto Rico (sooooo many haunted business trips), a creeped out camper, animal spirit guides in the Himalayas, mind readers in Quito, ghostly hotels in Illinois, a Cambodian island of doom, and more! 

Thanks to all those who submitted and were willing to share their tales of horror wit...

Oneika Raymond has traveled to 100+ countries and has documented everything along the way on her wildly successful blog, Oneika the Traveller. In this episode, Oneika shares the details of her journey as a blogger as well as what’s next, including her new Travel Channel Show, Big City, Little Budget. We examine social media’s increasing role in the blogosphere, our feelings on why Instagram might not be so insta-great (do we re...

We're back! Big time! Our first guest of the season, Gabi Logan, has what some would consider a dream job. As a travel journalist and coach at Dream of Travel Writing, Gabi has been able to explore her favorite travel regions, become location independent and fulfill her vision of encouraging others to fall in love with the world and who they are able to be in it.  We talk how she got her foot in the door (or in this case, the p...

XX, Will Travel is currently on a hiatus until the fall. In the meantime, we're sharing some of our favorite episodes. Enjoy!

It's a flashback to our first guest, writer and archivist Anita Mechler! Anita recounts her harrowing experience during the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of 2011 in Tokyo, Japan. Anita talks about the kindness and take-charge attitudes of her Japanese hosts, her post-traumatic stress, an...