In this episode of On the Road with Paul Ward, Paul sits down with Jackie Lapin, also known as The Historic Traveler, to explore the fascinating world of historic travel. Jackie shares the inspiration behind The Historic Traveler, a unique platform offering a historic book directory categorized by city and country, a hotel and Airbnb directory, travel discounts, and even a travel agent. She explains how to plan a trip using her platform and highlights the value of understanding the history behind the places you visit. Jackie also reveals some of her top travel experiences, having visited over 50 countries and about 500 tourist destinations, and discusses the benefits of joining her monthly community meeting where travel lovers exchange tips and stories.
Jackie shares her personal journey into historic travel and the story behind her early blogs, including one about Castello Sforzesco in Milan. She talks about her bucket list destinations, including Savannah, Egypt, and Turkey, and emphasizes how locals often love to share their knowledge with visitors. Jackie also offers a valuable tip for travelers using local guides and introduces The Historic Traveler’s exciting partnership with Elevate Travel X, featuring a drawing for an eight-night stay in Williamsburg, VA worth $2,000. Don’t miss Jackie’s insights and the inspiring motto that guides her adventures—plus visit www.thehistorictraveler.com to start planning your next historic journey!
What you’ll learn in this episode:
0:00 Paul introduces our guest, Jackie Lapin, The Historic Traveler
0:25 Traveling with a twist: We learn the concept behind The Historic Traveler
1:34 The Historic Traveler Blog, their membership program, the first ever historic book directory categorized by country/city, a hotel/AirBnB directory, travel discounts, a travel agent and MORE!
3:15 Jackie explains how to plan a trip using The Historic Traveler
4:30 A once a month Community Meeting where travel lovers meet to exchange travel tips
5:55 Jackie has visited over 50 countries and about 500 tourist destinations
6:41 Jackie’s spotlights and photo gallery on The Historic Traveler’s website
7:56 How Jackie Lapin got into Historic Travel
9:40 Jackie tells us about the first blogs she ever did and goes into detail about the second featuring a castle in the middle of Milan called Castello Sforzesco (Sforza Castle)
11:45 Knowing the history of an area you are traveling to is both meaningful and fun
13:52 Movies, TV Shows and Documentaries Jackie references in her blog
14:40 How Savannah, GA is on Jackie’s bucket list (as well as Egypt and Turkey), and two very helpful guides The Historic Traveler website references to help plan travel in North America and one for International travel
16:18 How many weeks a year Jackie travels and a story about a nine week European trip
18:22 How the locals are so pleased to share their knowledge of whatever area you visit plus a tip from Jackie for when traveling with a guide
20:00 Jackie’s travel “angels.”
20:28 A North American city Jackie believes everyone needs to visit at least once and the benefits of a “Hop on, Hop off Bus”
21:36 Jackie Lapin’s moto and the website: www.thehistorictraveler.com
22:25 The Historic Traveler has teamed up with Elevate Travel X and their drawing worth $2000 for an eight night stay in Williamsburg, VA
23:30 A special thank you to our sponsor: Opus Escrow
Watch the full episode HERE
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The Historic Traverler:
if you're like me, you'd love to travelor at least get away for the weekend.
Our next guest is a trueexpert in this field,
Jackie Lapin with the HistoricTraveler. Welcome to On the Road.
Hi, Paul. It's, it's great to be here.
(00:25):
Absolutely. So, I wanted to have you onbecause you do traveling with a twist.
You have a knack for travel,but also you love history.
And so like,
you like to jump into thehistory of a location before
you visit,
and now you're sharing your expertiseand knowledge with other folks who have
(00:48):
the same, or a similarhobby interest.
So let's add a third elementof that reading about history,
whether that's historic novel, ahistoric mystery, or a history book,
or a biography of somebody.
So when you wrap all that upinto one thing that becomes the
historic traveler. That's whywe're not just another travel blog.
(01:09):
So we not only give you photophotography that I've taken it over 500
locations all around theworld and my photos are bad.
A and then a lot of ofstorytelling that really brings it
to life. That I've beena writer my whole life.
And then I give you the recommendationsor the books to read that makes you feel
(01:30):
as if you lived it. So thisis people who, you know,
really love to get immersed in history.
And so we created a blogthat's the Historic Traveler.
And and I encourage people just to comeand sign up on the little guest book so
that if you miss blogs,
we can keep you updated on theones that are upcoming and,
(01:52):
and past. And then for peoplewho wanted to go deeper,
we created a membership program. Now,
let's say that you wantmore information. Well,
I've got a 75 page magazine andit's filled with great stuff,
and we can talk about what some ofthose stories are at some point here.
Then let's say that you wanna,
(02:14):
you would like to read those kindsof books I was talking about. Well,
we have the world's firstdirectory by country or city.
So read before you go, orif you just like novels,
then you're gonna give you an unendingsupply. Now, let's say that you want,
you love tv historic dramas.
We'll give you a list where youcan watch them on broadcast and on
(02:34):
streaming. Then let's say that you wantthe world's largest list of historic
hotels, BMBs and Inns.We've got that for you.
And then, hey, if that's notenough, we've got travel discounts.
And you know how hard it isto find a travel agent today.
We actually will give you a travel agentfor free that'll help you book your
(02:56):
trip.
Interesting. So let's pick, let's picka place. Let's say, let's say I want,
I'm gonna go to Ireland.Know very little about it,
you know but you know, that'swhere the family decided to go.
How would it work with thehistoric traveler? What,
what would folks do and kind of plan forthat trip? So when they, when they're,
(03:16):
when they're there, they, theyknow more than just, you know,
buying the ticket and landing.
So the first thing you'll do isyou'll look for a blog that tells you
about some of the places there. Now,
right now I've got one up thereon Killarney in county care,
which is just a charmingand a adorable town.
And I've got lots of pictures so thatyou could see what it's like before you
(03:38):
go. So you wanna look in theblog to see what's there.
Then we also have a directoryof the world's of the i,
what I think is the world's bestdirectory for history lovers.
That guide is the insight guide.So we have a complete directory.
So we would go right there and you'd getthe directory for Ireland because it's
really terrific. Let's say that, you know,
(03:59):
you're already a member and you mightwant to find a couple of novels to read.
So you'd go over to the book directory,you'd put in Ireland and you'd say,
okay, I want history, or I want historicnovels, or I want historic mysteries.
Well,
there's this great seriesthat would be ideal for you
if you like Ireland. So youcould start reading that series.
(04:22):
Or if you're more into nonfiction,
I'm gonna give you somereally good at fiction,
a nonfiction about Edinburgh and otherplaces that is gonna give you some
perspective on all of that.Now, let's say that you,
you come to the community meetingand you call out to people.
'cause The community meeting meets oncea month. You call out to people and say,
okay, I'm going to Ireland. Whatshould I see? Or Who should I talk to?
(04:46):
Other people are gonna give youtheir connections and people as well.
So it's pretty encompassing. Now,
let's say that you haven'tdone all your travel plans,
but you know that you wanna spend acouple of days running around Dublin.
And so you go to our travel section,
the first thing you can do is youcan go on to vier through us and find
(05:09):
local walking tours or localbus tours in in, in Dublin.
That'll make it really easy for you.And let's say you haven't got a hotel,
well, you can look in our hotel directoryfor his historic hotels in that area.
Or you could go over to the travel agentand say, look, I really, I wanna go,
but I'm looking for discount, reallyinexpensive travel in Ireland.
(05:33):
And they're gonna look upthings like condo stays and,
you know, really inexpensive hostel stay.
'cause They can get you the BA bargains.That's one of the great things.
Our travel partner, they get it for youlike way less than what the average is.
So all of that makes yourtravel a whole lot easier.
And you've been to over50 countries and 500
(05:56):
tourist or vacationdestinations, I would say.
Well, you know, sometimes it'sa different city. You know,
I'll go to Switzerland andI'll, I'll go to five places,
but some of them might not not bea city. So in France, for example,
we went to the world's largest con,the oldest continuing hospital.
Now, isn't that an interesting story?
That is, I would not think of thatas a, as a destination to visit, but.
(06:20):
14Th century. And it's an incrediblebuilding. Interesting. and so, you know,
it's combination, it'scities, villages, landmarks.
Like there's a massive
Roman aqueduct that'sthree series three-tiered
in in in France. And we madea dedicated stop to that.
(06:43):
So I will spotlight the V blogis really depo divided between
cityscapes spotlights of somethingthat's really interesting.
And then collections, for example,
one of the blogs that I've doneupcoming is on my three favorite
historic libraries, and they'rescattered all over the world. .
And there's gonna be lots of morecollections where I bring together like,
(07:06):
things to kind of giveyou from some perspective,
from something that really fascinates me.
So folks can, can read anovel, they can watch a show,
they can watch a movieor multiple books, right.
Stories all, all through the blog.
Now, let's say that they really wantsome just they love photography.
(07:31):
. I also have a photo gallery andit's slowly expanding, but by,
by the time we're gonna be done,it's gonna be massive. And so there,
there's individual collections there.
So we have one on the Chicago RiverArchitectural Tour that's historically
perspective. .
And then we have onethere on the Oregon coast.
(07:51):
And I have one on Beautiful Roses.
So lots of great photos if youjust love photography. Mm-Hmm.
How did you get into this?
Well,
it started when I was in fourthgrade and they took me on a tour to
the missions as part of myschool. . And I got the bite,
(08:11):
you know, it just bit me. And so fromthere I became a history nut. And,
but I got into college.
I had the pleasure of beingan unofficial minor in
California history. And I, and the,
the instructor that I had was oneof the two leading historians of
California history of all time.And so he just made it fascinating.
(08:34):
It was really theatrical and fun,which deepened my enthusiasm.
And then when I graduatedand started to work,
I started to travel for fun orfor business. And I'd always,
especially when I was doingbusiness, I would tie my travel to,
to something where I got toexplore as well. But, you know,
I would always carve out somewherebetween two and five weeks a year when I
(08:57):
could just travel and takemy cameras. And of course,
today what's really interestingis I'll still carry two cameras,
one that I shoot exteriors,
one that I shoot interiors so I don'thave to go back and forth and is better on
certain kinds of detail.
But the cell phones have gotten so good .
That a lot of times they fix the lightingproblems that I might not be able to
(09:20):
solve with my own camera without alot of, you know, fun fussing around.
So I always actuallyshoot with three cameras,
but the cell phones a lot of turn timesturn out better than the other ones.
The new cell phones are, they're amazing.I mean, I just, they are stunning.
They are amazing. So what wasyour first blog where, I mean,
you've said 50 countries, 500 locations.
(09:41):
What was the first one that you decidedto actually chronicle and share?
Well, actually I startedwith a welcome blog,
but the pictures I picked were frommy collection of the iconic historic
photographs from allover the world. You know,
things like the London Bridgeand Edinburgh Castle and
you know,
the Washington Monument and the LeaningTower of Pisa and things like that.
(10:03):
So that's the first one. Andthen the second one I did is on,
there's a castle in themiddle of Milan that was
created by the Sephora family. Andif you know anything about history,
El Morrow, who was the Duke at that time,
the Duke of Milan didsome very nasty things.
(10:25):
He knocked off people inorder to take the crown,
the dup Themm.
And he's really a fascinatingcharacter that shows up in a
lot of different film and televisionbecause he was so intriguing.
And so the castle where he and hisfamily lived is right there now in the
(10:46):
middle of Milan.
He was also the one who commissionedda Vinci to do the Last Supper
and also the canalsthat run through Milan.
So I portrayed the,
the ins and out inside andcourtyards in the outside of the
Pho Castle for the second one. And thenthe third one is on the Chicago River.
(11:10):
I would think that that would be somuch more meaningful and impactful to
know the history of the location ratherthan just kind of wandering around
aimlessly. Right. Because if youknow the history of, of Milan and,
and the Duke and just, I mean, we'regoing back, we're going back centuries,
but just to kind of wander around andsee these historic buildings, and I mean,
(11:32):
not every single detail,but to know generally what,
what transpired there all those yearsago is just so much more meaningful to
have a,
a history trip trip like that thanjust kind of wandering around visiting,
you know, ice cream shops andyou know, tchotchke stores.
Well, and the fun partof the blog is, you know,
I'm gonna tell you some of that history,but not so much that it's gonna,
(11:55):
you know, make, get you bored. Right.Paragraph or two. So you have perspective,
then I'll talk about thebuildings and what you're seeing,
and then I might even, forexample, in that particular case,
the family crest was intertwined snakes.
And so then I'll show you a pictureof their family crest on one of their
ceiling arches.
(12:15):
So I'm gonna draw your attention to thedetails that make you feel like, wow,
people really lived here. Mm-Hmm.
Interesting. You know, myson read Diary Van Frank,
and we're going to Amsterdam thissummer and we're trying to get into Anne
Frank's house just because it wouldbe so much more meaningful for him to
actually see the house. Part of hisproject in school this last year was he,
(12:38):
he constructed her herhouse out of balsa wood and,
and you know, Popsiclesticks and he painted it.
It was very intricate and beautiful andI just think it would be so much more
meaningful for him toactually be able to, you know,
physically visit that house than justhaving, you know, built a model of it.
(13:00):
Well, and add, add to the fact, youknow, if he reads the diary that will,
you know, being, bring the perspective.
When I was talking aboutthe Sephora castle,
I gave you three or four different booksof women who actually lived in that
castle and what they experienced,that historic, you know,
and people can pick up a lot of history.
I learn a lot of my history from novels. .
It doesn't have to behardcore history books. .
(13:21):
I love the fact that a novel can fillme in and entertain me at the same time.
So I'll put the pieces together. Oh,that's what happened here on Oh yeah.
I read about him and I remember nowthe guy that came to him and did this.
And so it all comes together. And reading about it really,
you know,
when you combine the visuals and thelittle bit of the story and the blog and
(13:43):
then a book on top of it, youreally get a sense of that place.
And for folks that wanna read,
but really never do you've gotlinks to movies and TV shows
that they can watch anddocumentaries. Great.
Absolutely. Yeah.
Some of my favorite documentaries thatthe Ken Burns and we include those.
Oh yeah. Love Ken Burns. I, I, in 97,
(14:06):
I went to Europe by myselffor five weeks and my,
my bible was Rick Steve'sEurope through the back door,
had that thing just frayed withlittle, little tabs and was, you know,
just wandering around andeverybody had that book.
Everybody was in theirtwenties and, you know,
everybody had that book as kind oftheir, their go-to Bible at the time.
Pre pre-internet.
Well,
the interesting part about that is I sawhim last week at the travel show and he
(14:29):
signed a book for me,that particular book.
Wonderful. That's that's incredible.Yeah, he, he was definitely,
definitely the go-to book. Yeah. So is,
is your travels mostly Europeor Asia or South America,
or do you have a just kindof wandering the world?
Wandering the world, but Ialso include the us. Okay.
So it's not just outside of the, you know,
(14:50):
I have been to every major city inthe United States except Savannah,
which I can't wait togo to one of these days.
Oh my gosh. My assistant, my assistantwho's who's gonna edit this video,
that's exactly where she lives.
Oh, well, I that's been one of my,that's a bucket list city for me.
So that's, you know, so I, Ipick out the, in fact, there's a,
(15:12):
a guide that I have that'scalled 20 international
Cities that you can that, that feel,
make you feel as if you are immersedin history and the book to read.
And then I have one for the USthat's 18 North American cities,
and we can add those tothe notes if you'd like.
(15:35):
So people can go to the historic
traveler.com/guide for theinternational one and forward
slash and a guide forthe North American one.
But so I, you know, I pulled the gotogether, the North American ones there,
and that includes Canada. So Ilove Quebec City, it's great. .
(15:56):
And then outside, my,
my real love is Europe butI'm interested in everywhere.
I've been to to, I've been to Asia,I've been to Africa you know, Mexico,
I haven't been much to South America. Ineed to, I'm gonna add that to my, my,
but my, my next spots on mybucket list are Turkey and Egypt.
(16:17):
So I'm hoping to go there next year. Both.
How many weeks of year are you traveling?
Well, in my year,
years when I had a big agency andI had people that worked for me,
I used to go five a week five,five weeks a year divided into two,
two trips. Now it'susually, it's, it's less.
But I had the joy twosummers ago to go to Europe
(16:40):
for nine weeks.
Wow. That's.
A good run. And I, I, I listed all mybucket list cities that I had never seen,
and I hit most of them. Itwas just incredible. So now.
Are you staying, are you staying inHistoric Inns? I mean, are all of your,
all of your stops in historicspots that, you know,
so and so would've stayedin, you know, 150 years ago?
(17:03):
Not all, but most. For example,
there were two of my favoritesthat stood out on that trip.
One is called Dis Balances,and that's in Lucerne.
It used to be a guild hall. Andwhen you go out onto the balcony,
it has this incredibleview of the Royce River and
all of the things along it, it, it,
(17:24):
particularly the covered bridge thaticonically pi pictured everywhere
in the world.
And then the other one thatI really loved was a place in
Verona where two 13th century Palazzos
had a courtyard in the middle.They built the lobby into that,
(17:46):
covered over the courtyard, and thenconnected all three together. Now,
not only do you see occasionallythey leave spots on the wall,
so you can see the originalwalls from the Palazzo,
but when you go into the diningarea for the breakfast room,
there is a window in thefloor where you can look down
(18:08):
into a Roman home and see the mosaics.
Wow.
It's very cool.
How cool is that?
And then knowing the history of theplace just makes it that much more
meaningful.
Absolutely.
You're not just wandering around,you know, aimlessly and saying, oh,
look at that. What is it.
Exactly. And, and they, youknow and the locals will,
(18:29):
they're so pleased to tell youabout the places that you're looking
at, places that you're staying. Theyjust, they're so proud of what they,
the history that they loveto share it with people.
And I learn a lot from both thelocals. And here's a little tip.
If you are on a tour with awalking guide or even a bus guide,
(18:52):
first of all, sit close. Don't sitin the back. Don't stand in the back,
ask questions. . The morequestions you ask, the more you're,
it's going to enrich yourexperience. And they know so much.
I had the pleasure in Irelandof having a tour guide who
had been the BBC's historyexpert Oh wow. For many years.
(19:15):
And not only did shebring that perspective,
but she also lived in Belfastand grew up in Belfast.
So she could tell us not only about the,
the massive historical perspective,
but what it was like to live inBelfast during the troubles .
As a child and growingup in that environment.
So how much more does that make meunderstand what the people there have gone
(19:39):
through to get to a more peaceful state?
Yeah. You know what I love about,the best thing about traveling,
I think are the, the unexpectedthings that happen. Like,
you didn't know that you weregonna get the B, BC, you know,
director as your tour guide. Right. Thatjust happened to kind of right place,
right time.
It's just kind of the magical part oftraveling that the unexpected things.
(20:02):
Absolutely. Well,
and the other thing that I love abouttraveling is what I call all the angels.
You know,
when you're standing there on a streetcorner and you're looking like a deer
caught in headlights and somebodywalks up to you and said,
can I help you miss you look lost?
Or can I help you with that suitcase .
And let me help you getthat on the train. You know,
(20:22):
I just love the fact that peopleare so generous and so kind.
Yeah. Is there a,
is there a North American city that youthink is underrated that everybody needs
to visit at least once?
Well,
certainly Charleston is afabulous city that you just can't
take, not take advantage of.
(20:42):
But there's lovely smallerplaces like Santa Fe .
I think that's wonderful. And ifyou look around parts of Denver,
you're gonna find some, alot of the history written
there. I was just in Boise,
and Boise has a lot of the remnants ofits history that is still very current.
I took a, a little bus.
Another great way to tour somethingis a hop on hop off bus. .
(21:07):
I did that in Budapest whereyou can just get off at any
place, explore the historythere, get back on,
go to the next place andwith one single ticket.
And you'll get to see all the hotspotsand then you can fill in the rest
afterward.
But it is the fastest andeasiest way to really get a good
(21:28):
perspective in a town quickly and easily.
And I like to do the bus tour the firstdays and then know where I'm going when
I go back to for therest more deeply. Mm-Hmm.
I love your motto. Marry your travel tothe books that bring history to life.
Thank you. Thank you. Well,that's in what we're trying to do.
So now again, how can folks find the site?
(21:53):
You go to the historictraveler.com andit's really important you put in the the,
because there are other storsites that don't have it.
So the historic traveler.com runon over there and sign up for
the blog. That's the first thingthat you should do. And then explore,
just see what's out there. And you,
then you can obvi obviously take advantageof the two guides that I recommended,
(22:16):
the historic traveler.com/guide.
And the other one isForward slash na Guide.
And you've also teamed up withanother guide company, correct.
That for places that you maybehave not visited personally?
Yes. We have a companycalled Elevate Travel X.
And here's what's reallycool if people opt in for
(22:39):
the membership right now,
they are offering a $2,000 value
drawing for eight nights in Williamsburg
p pa Williamsburg, Virginia, excuse me.So that you can experience a history in,
in Williamsburg. And they're gonnado that rotationally with us.
(23:01):
So when that one ends at March 30,
there's gonna be another vacation thatyou can potentially win at another
historic location if you comeon for the membership program.
Wonderful. Well, JackieLaben, thank you so much.
We've loved having you forthis episode of On the Road.
It's been a delight to be here. Thankyou Paul, for inviting me. Absolutely.
(23:23):
And folks, be sure to tunein next time for On the Road.