May 24, 2023 • 44 mins
Kailtyn Rosati is a freelance travel writer, solo traveler and founder of the blog: No Man Nomad. She has worked with several publications including but not limited to The Points Guy, Jetset Times, TheTravel, ROVA, NY Daily News, MSN, and more. Kaitlyn has had an unconventional path to travel writing and has a lot to share about what it means to write and travel for food, especially as a solo female traveler. Kaitlyn describes her early struggles to break into the industry, favorite foodie destinations, and her love and admiration for the late chef Anthony Bourdain.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:14):
You're listening to the Globetrotters Podcast,the show dedicated to bringing you fresh and
diverse perspectives from traveling enthusiasts all overthe world. Here at the Globetrotters Podcast,
we hope to show that travel isso much more than how it's represented
on social media and television by bringingyou real stories, thoughtful discussions on ethical
issues, and investigations into how youcan make the most of an adventure without
(00:36):
breaking the bank. I'm your cohost Jonathan o'tito and I'm Saskia hat Vunny
and our last episode was the Layover, the monthly show where John and I
Dalvin too the latest travel headlines,give practical travel tips, and every once
in a while we'll investigate a questionablesocial media trend. But today we welcome
our guests Caitlin Rosati. She isa freelance travel right, solo traveler,
(01:00):
and part time New York bartender whohas been to six continents, sixty eight
countries, and all seven world wonders. Did I get that right? Caitlin
has an interesting path to becoming atravel writer and also a lot to share
about what it means to write andtravel for food, especially as a solo
female traveler. We'll also pick herbrain for a few travel food tips and
(01:23):
some of her favorite places to eatin the world at the end, so
stick around for that. So ifyou're a foodie or interested in the life
of a travel writer, this isthe episode for you. Caitlin. It's
nice to have you on the show. Thank you so much for having me.
I'm so excited. First of all, I wanted to get into your
path to becoming a travel writer becauseit's it's like I said, it's not
(01:45):
a traditional one. And before writing, you were a full time bartender in
New York, correct, that iscorrect. I was a bartender for I
like to say ten years. It'ssomething in that time frame. It's like
eight round up, right, andI got very, very burnt out.
Bartending in New York is great money, truthfully, probably some of the best
(02:08):
money I'll ever make, but thehours are terrible. You can easily make
a career out of it. Butit just I hit around like twenty seven,
twenty eight years old and realized Iwanted something more out of life.
I just was fuck in that mundane, as I called it, hamster wheel
(02:28):
cycle of just waking up doing thesame thing going to bed waking up.
So yeah, yeah. So Istarted to save money, and I had
this dream to be one of thosepeople who like sold all their stuff and
quit their chops and like bought aone way and had all the excuses in
the world, right, Like Ihad a dog. Who's gonna watch my
(02:50):
dog? You know, I'm stuckin an apartment lease, I was in
a relationship. At one point,my sister was getting married. I had
to be home for Christmas, anyany excuse you can think of. And
finally one day I was like,nope, you know what I'm doing it.
I'm booking. If I haven't foryou, there was going to be
a date. So I booked aone way ticket to Tahiti for January fifteenth,
(03:15):
twenty nineteen. And I booked thatticket in June of twenty eighteen.
So I was like, all right, we have six months. And my
goal was to save thirty thousand dollars. I was nowhere near that. I
think when I booked the ticket,I had like four grands saved. And
I'm going to ask the first followup question here, and usually I get
the rhetorical answer why not, butwhy Tahiti? Yeah, No, of
(03:38):
course, why Tahiti. I wasso I really didn't know where I wanted
to start. I had mapped outin my notes app places I wanted to
go, and I was torn onI really wanted it to be a proper
round the world trip, like Iwanted to physically go around the world.
So my options were start as closeto home as possible, which would have
(04:01):
been for me either Iceland or Portugal, you know, somewhere on Europe's west
coast essentially, or start as faraway as possible and work my way back
home. And since it's more soundsmore exciting, Oh, of course,
I was like, We're starting asfar away as possible on a romantic island
that everyone goes to for their honeymoon, and I'm going by myself and I'm
(04:24):
quitting my job. So I justthought it was a little more exciting to
do it that way. Yeah,I mean, I love I love the
way you put it, because Ithink most people can relate to this fantasy
of just ditching everything and just doingit, but then the reality, like
you'll think about it as you're havinga few glasses of wine and I You're
like, yeah, I'm gonna dothat, and then the next day you
(04:45):
wake up, You're like, oh, what would I do with all my
stuff? Like what would I dowith my animal? And but you actually
are one of the few people whothe small percentage that actually did it.
So at the time when you didit, how much money had you saved
at that point? By the timeI took off, I had Let's put
it this way. When I quitmy job, which was December eighteenth,
(05:09):
twenty eighteen, I had I remember, oh, I wore a rainbow cat
suit. I was like, freeshouts to tequila for everybody. I'm going
to Tahiti. I quit um,but I had hit twenty thousand dollars in
savings. But I allowed myself alittle bit of wiggle room to kind of
(05:30):
have like, you know, Iwasn't leaving till mid January, so I
gave myself about give or take amonth left in New York City, which
is where I'm based out of,or where I'm typically based out of when
I'm not you know, in Tahiti. And I so, you know,
I treated some of my friends whohad been really supportive of this radical idea
to like a really nice dinner,you know, I like really enjoyed New
(05:54):
York City, which I think whenyou live in a place, you forget
to do. So those three weeksleading up to the trip were really fun
because I was like, you know, if I if I blow through fifteen
hundred or two grant whatever, right, it's part of it. It begins
now. So when I left,to answer your question, I had somewhere
around eighteen thousand dollars. What wasyour plan? And like, how did
that then turn into you becoming atravel writer? Yeah, the plan was,
(06:18):
there was no plan I had,Like I said, I had this
like notes app or I'm sorry,a note in my notes app on my
iPhone of potential places I wanted togo. But there were like maybe seventy
countries listed, like it was avery here's where I would go if given
the opportunity, And so before Ileft, I narrowed it down to be
(06:43):
a little more my least favorite word, realistic. Places that I could easily
scratch off right, like Southeast Asia, generally affordable, generally easy to travel
throughout. Places that might be moredifficult to go to like the Maldives,
Madagascar, and places I wouldn't mindreturning to. Italy and Japan were at
the top. Of those lists.So when I before I left, I
(07:09):
booked a flight from Tahiti. Tahitiis in the middle of nowhere, so
I knew it would be who Seriously, I'm like, we should probably one
of the hardest places to get outof it, right, we should probably
buy an exit ticket just to notreally wing it in Tahiti, right.
So I all I had planned wasTahiti to New Zealand, New Zealand to
(07:29):
Australia, and that was it.And once I got to Australia, I
was like, we'll see where Iend up. And I really just used
Skyscanner for the majority of that trip. I would be like, all right,
time to move on. I wouldgo on Skyscanner, find the cheapest
flight out, and if it wassomewhere I was interested in going to,
that's where I went. And thenfast forward to now. I mean,
(07:49):
you are a columnist for the NewYork Daily News, correct, and you've
written for a bunch of different travelpublications like The Points Guy or some of
the other one Flipboard, the TravelJet Set Times. So how did you
get from ditching all your you know, your life basically and responsibilities, you
(08:13):
know, going to travel and thenbecoming like, how did you get to
becoming a travel writer? Yeah,that was the second part of that first
question. Huh, so casually brushedover it, like well edited out.
So when I was traveling, Iwas in I want to say, I
was on month two or three.I was around March twenty nineteen, and
(08:33):
I realized I had been running outof space on my passport, which was
an issue. I was in Vietnamwhen I noticed this, and I really,
that's a so, so what doesthat mean because I've never actually heard
of that issue. You run outof space on your like physical space on
your passport pages for stamps, andthen you need to apply for a replacement.
(08:54):
Yeah, it was something I wasnot prepared for. I was like,
huh, what am I supposed todo? And I really thought I
would have to fly back to theUS, which I was very against doing.
I'm like, no, I juststarted this trip, like I said
I was. I want to say, I was on month two, and
I'm like, I'm not going backalready, right, Like the whole point
is, like, you know,to properly travel around the world. So
(09:15):
I started googling what does one dowhen they run out of space? On
a passport, and essentially the answerI got from the US Embassy website was
you need to turn your old passportin, but wherever you turn it in,
be prepared to be passportless in anothercountry for three to four weeks.
So I'm a fast traveler. Iknow some people like to spend months at
a time to really get to knowa place. I do like a few
(09:39):
days, cram a bunch of stuffin there, you know, and then
get out and move on, especiallyfor this trip. Finally, someone on
this podcast that is like me.So the other two co hosts love to
lounge around for six to seven monthsin the beach, and I'm like,
no, there's places to do,things to do, places to see.
Let's go. Let's cram three daysin this city and move on to the
(10:03):
next. Let's go, John,life is for living. I mean there
are definitely pros and cons to both. I'm listen, I guess that aggressive
New Yorker and me just can't sitstill for that long, right, I'm
like, I gotta go. Igot places to be. Even when I
have put my job and sold allmy stuff, I still have places to
be. Good for you. Yeah, So I was like I'm already in
(10:24):
Southeast Asia. I really wanted todo loud me and MYR Cambodia. But
when I had I want to say, three pages left on the passport,
it's like, okay, well wegotta cut something out. So I did
go to Cambodia, which took upan entire page. I know that's what
I was gonna say. Oh mygosh, the Cambodian visa takes is like
a giant piece of paper that takesup one whole page. It's not just
(10:45):
like a little stamp. Yeah,so you know, very wise decision.
I'm like, cool, now weare down. I was down to a
page. And so from Cambodia,I was like, all right, I
gotta figure out where I'm going.Booked my ticket from Cambodia, but of
course had to get like a fewextra places in there. So I did
Hong Kong and South Korea on theway because neither of them stamped passports.
I was like, I can justdo a few more places. And I
(11:07):
was in Japan and so I rentedthis apartment for the month, turn in
my passport, got it back twodays later, not three to four weeks.
Did you have it expedited. Ihave to have no and so I
still to this day I believe itwas japan Japanese efficiency, not US efficiency.
And so you know, I'm Idon't want to say stuck, but
(11:30):
I paid for an apartment in Tokyofor a month, so like I am
staying in Tokyo right like I'm not. And so when I was there,
it's not exactly budget friendly, sothat you know, imposed its challenges.
Of course, I probably should havedone about that before I left. So
when I was there, I wasthinking, I really worked on my blog
a lot, which I realized thatI haven't even mentioned yet. I do
(11:50):
have a blog. It's called NomadNomad, and because I'd been moving so
much, I had and updated it, and so I was working on it,
updating it on Vietnam, and Iwas thinking I should just like apply
for some of these publications you knowout there, and so I applied for
all the big guys like Forbes.Try and now, mind you, I
have no travel experience or travel writingexperience under my belt. I have a
(12:11):
blog with maybe twenty posts and likea really crappy design. You don't know,
I know nothing about SEO and allthe things I've learned over the years,
and so I'm applying to like Forbesand Travel and Leisure and Conde Nast
and I'm not getting a response.And so I was like, you know,
I need to start smaller. AndI started looking for tiny, you
(12:35):
know, tiny er publications, andI came across one called jet Set Times
and they have like maybe twenty thousandfollowers on Instagram, and so I sent
them a DM. I just likeslid into their DMS. I was like,
are you looking for travel writers.I'm currently like on a backpacking trip.
I have, you know, currentexperience which is really important and publishing.
(12:56):
And they wrote back and they werelike, yea, let's set up
a skype call. So I hadlike a job interview. I think it
was three am in Tokyo when Ihad the interview because they were in another
time zone. And I got thegig and I started writing and that was
the beginning for me. So that'sthe short end beginning version. But obviously
there's a lot more to come.Yeah. Wow, that's that's pretty amazing.
(13:18):
So you are actually just saying,hey, do you need travel writers?
You weren't finding a job like listingand applying to that. No,
I never at that time. Ihave many times since I didn't google travel
writer jobs, travel reporters, youknow, food writer. I just I
wanted. I just I mean,I literally slid into someone's DMS. So
(13:41):
it's always funny when people say howdid you break into this? Like people
will ask me that are curious,right, and I'm like, be shameless,
slide into their dms like that ishow I started out, you know.
And so Caitlin, slowly, overtime, as you're making this journey,
when do you start to pivot awayfrom travel writing and start getting more
into the food critic scene. Yeah, So I would like to say I
(14:05):
try to deter from ever calling myselfa food critic only because I mean,
which is fine. Every time I'mlike, hi, I'm a writer and
I'm here to write about food,Like oh, you're a food critic,
I'm like, no, I justI you know, I'm not like going
to sit there and be like,ooh, this pasta isn't perfectly I'll dente,
you know, talking one point right, Like, I'm very appreciative of
anything that's placed in front of me. So I guess I'm just a food
(14:28):
lover. But I had listened.Travel and food go hand in hand,
and I think one of the silliestthings travelers can rob themselves of is by
showing up with restrictions, unless,of course, there's an allergy or perhaps
a religious reason. I was avegetarian for four years, and I just
(14:52):
I even to this day. Imean, listen, this is on the
record, right, Like I dohave moral conflict on eating octopus, Like
I'm fully aware, like how inhumaneit is to eat octopus. But I
recently went on a trip and someonegave me a plate of octopus. And
if I'm going to be that righteousperson and say I can't eat this,
like it's against my book, Ijust will I eat. I'll eat the
(15:15):
damn octopus, you know. Andthen in my in my time, in
my choosing, I will not eatthe octopus. Right. So I had
always kept an open mind when itcame to food, and I wouldn't say
I even wrote too much about foodin my early writing days. But my
first true food story was during COVIDbecause I couldn't travel like the rest of
(15:39):
us, and Bourdain's documentary came outRoadrunner, and so now I knew a
thing or two about seo and whatpeople are searching for. And I knew
Bourdain had skyrocketed in Google searches becauseof his documentary being released, and I
pitched to jet Set times. Isaid, hey, let me write a
story on all the places Bourdain haseaten in New York City, Like,
(16:03):
it doesn't require me traveling. Ilive here. And that was that was
my first true food story and that'swhere the shift really began. Yeah,
I mean, Bourdain is an exampleof someone who is obviously incredibly successful in
this realm. Can you talk brieflyabout how sustainable has been for you and
(16:23):
like, how much are you able? Are are you able to support yourself
one with your writing? I am, well, you know, it depends
on the month. Am I ableto support myself? Some months are incredible,
Other months I'm like at I don'tknow if you're familiar with Buffalo exchange.
Other months, I'm a Buffalo exchangehoping I get sixty dollars from my
(16:45):
clothes. Right, And that's whyI said earlier, the most money,
I mean never say never, right, The most money up to this point
that I've ever made was as afull time bartender, and so it's really
important to me bringing it back toBourdain. That's another thing he was so
incredible about about being kind to waitstaff and to service workers because they are
(17:07):
they are the backbone of, inmy opinion, the world right like they
are, and so um, Ihave made anywhere between zero dollars on an
article. Uh, I was goingto ask zero dollars to the most I've
gotten paid for a single story isseven hundred and fifty dollars. Yeah,
(17:32):
not bad. Yeah, and that'suh, that's rare, but that has
happened. Um. I would sayfor full transparency, there's no gate keeping
here. H And at least listenfor some of the big shop publications,
you should be expecting at least atleast three hundred dollars an article as a
freelancer. Occasionally it would be closerto two hundred. But and you know,
(17:52):
listen, charge if you're doing originalphotography, put it on the build,
you know, I mean, wegot to know your worth, which
is difficult because I know what itfeels like to feel so gracious for these
opportunities, which is why I workedfor zero dollars, right, and I've
worked for fifteen dollars. But ifthey have over a million readers, a
(18:15):
month, they can pay you alittle bit more so tips from Kitlin.
And I wasn't going to ask thisquestion because it's a little a little bit
of a sidetrack, but can youtalk a little bit about the importance of
networking in your field, if that'san approach that you take to learning more
about you know, this scene thatyou're now part of. I actually I'm
glad you asked that question, becauseI that is something I'm currently struggling with.
(18:38):
I feel like I haven't actually writtenin about two weeks, because I
do get invited to a lot ofnetworks and then and I'll listen, when
I first sent that DM to jets, at times I knew nothing, Like
I didn't know about pr agents,I didn't know about how to reach out
to tourism where I knew nothing.I didn't know about engagement rates. So
I do a little of two things. I freelance, right, but I
(19:00):
also run noman nomad. And inmy dream world, I will work for
myself and I will be no Mannomad and I will get paid for my
blog and skip and frolic happily intoa field and answer to nobody. But
I'm not quite there yet. SoI frequently get invited to networking events in
(19:22):
New York City, specifically since that'swhere I'm based. This kind of started
last year I started writing for ThePoints Guy, which I did get that
gig from googling travel writer travel writingjobs, so that one was a bit
of a more traditional route and thatwas how I landed that job. And
the Points Guy has quite a largereach. So some public relations agents or
(19:45):
reps found me, got access tomy email address and started, you know,
emailing me, Hey, there's anew hotel that just opened in Greece,
would you want to write about it? There's a new hotel that opened
in San Francisco. And now,something I wish I knew was that a
lot of times they're not inviting youto go to Greece or San Francisco.
They're just trying to get you towrite about it, right, So I'd
(20:08):
be like, sure, when doyou want me to come? And they're
like, that's not how this works. You know, I didn't know,
Yeah, Yeah, I do getinvited to a lot of specific tourism events.
So like I recently went to atourism event in New York for the
Bahamas. I went to one forLondon. I'm going to one next week
for Berlin. And so it's alot of rubbing elbows and running out of
(20:32):
business cards and socializing. So ifyou have social anxiety like I do,
then it could be a little tough, but it's part of the gig.
Yeah. So so I'm curious whenyou say the goal is to to you
know, work for yourself and runyour blog. No man, no man,
didn't make income through that? Wouldthat be primarily through advertising or crowdfunding
(20:55):
or both a bit of both.So, and I shouldn't say that's the
only thing I want to do,because I really really really love my column
with New York Daily News. It'slike, you know, it's such it's
it's such light years better. Ishouldn't say better because this is on the
record. Um, it's been sucha rewarding experience to kind of they really
trust me. They're like, hereyou go, just do it, send
(21:18):
us the story, you know,and a lot of it is micromanaging and
having to change things, and it'sjust it's a very different experience with them,
but with No Mad, No Mad. I sometimes I have around fifteen
thousand readers a month on my blogright now, and that started at like
I said, zero with a crappyweb design, and I mean one of
(21:40):
my oldest posts it's I think it'sliterally called chinquitary. Like so the it's
just says chinquity. Why is somebodygoing to read my post that says chinquitary
when there's so much information out that, right, So, like just I've
learned a lot of over the years. Uh, this is something that I've
tried to explain to John in thepast, the specific way specific we gotta
(22:03):
have specific titles. I mean Ihave a lot like that. Or one
was like the name of a waitressI met in Colombia. It's like Ariana
from Colombia, Like girl, nobodycares, Like nobody's clicking on that,
right, And that was obviously youryour biggest hit, right like that,
And that's when I went viral Ariannacombined. Um So, because I've learned
(22:26):
a little bit more over the years, I've done I do affiliate links,
I do advertisements, and I getpaid by tourism boards to write. So
like I've done a lot of umUS destinations. I've worked with the State
of Texas, I've worked in Michigan, I've worked with brands I've worked with
like a brand called way Away.I worked with a brand called the Parking
(22:47):
Spot. And what I'll offer fora price, because it's a service,
is to write an article and makean Instagram reel for them, and um,
yeah, it's sometimes it's a littlemind blowing because I'm like, this
is crazy, you know that,like I can charge people for this and
correct And So going back back toyour blog, you know you wrote something
(23:08):
called will the World ever be Readyfor a female Bourdain? You know,
referring to the chef, you know, Anthony Bourdain. Can you explain the
story behind that blog post. Yes, I did an interview a few years
ago. Somebody reached out to me. They wanted to interview. They were
(23:32):
doing a highlight on solo female travelers, and they so, sure, sounds
great. I'd love to be theface of solo female travel right. So
I agreed to it and the questionswere incredibly disappointing. And that listen,
So you you were on a panellike or on like you out of speaking
(23:52):
engagement. It was it was stillpeak, I want to say it was.
It was summer twenty twenty one,so it was virtual. It was
not a panel. It was somethingfor a website, and um, it
was filmed and it was to belike published almost as like an episode of
this like weekly thing they were doing. Uh not not quite a podcast,
(24:15):
but uh and I had I knewthe website, I respected the website,
so I was excited for it andI sent them. I took a lot
of time to craft a little packagesaying here's all like the cool can I
swear on this podcast? Yeah,of course, Okay, all the cool
shit I've done, right Like,I'm like, I'm kind I kill him
(24:36):
in Jaro by myself. I gotScooba certified in the Great Barrier. Reef.
I wrote trip New Zealand. Youknow, I quit my job and
traveled the world like I'm working onItalians whatever. I gave them plenty if
I ran out of space on apassport and moved to Japan right like,
And um, when I got onthe poor not the podcast, when I
when I the interview began, uh, it was all and I and I
(25:00):
understand right the world is dangerous blahblah blah. So all the questions were
like what tips would you provide forwomen to stay safe? That is not
and you know that's a valid question. Right, for someone who has traveled
all over I get it safety isa concern. And then it was like
what country would you never go backto? And I'm like, I don't
(25:23):
love like answering questions. I mean, do I have my Actually, honestly,
I would go back anywhere. Iwould go back anywhere. Just because
I had that experience somewhere doesn't meanit's going to happen again. I've had
way worse experiences in the US rightright total. And I just was like,
are you gonna ask me anything likepositive or is this all just going
to be like a fear monitoring typeof thing. And then the golden question
(25:45):
was what have you done to avoidgetting sexually assaulted abroad? And I'm like,
what have I done to get avoidsexually Do you think I carry a
golden shield? Because like I've traveledto someone like that is not It's not
what I do to You can notwalk alone at night. You can you
know, carry pepper spray, exceptyou really can obviously, don't take that
as advice. Do not bring pepperspray with you to another country. Um,
(26:08):
you know you can do stop atthe airport. Hush they stop me.
I'm like you can bring a dagger. Just kidding, don't do that.
Um, you know. I justthe way that question was framed,
what do I do to avoid beingsexually assaulted? I I didn't say it
in the moment, but I thought, like, you know, as long
as like predatory men exists in thisworld, like I could, there's not
(26:30):
enough measures I can take, Likethat's just always the risk that's going to
be there. And so I endedup emailing them afterward and just saying,
listen, unfortunately, you didn't evenask me about travel. You just essentially
asked me what my experience is likeas a woman in this world. And
I and I've seen other episodes thatthey had done and it was a lot
of dudes, and the questions werelike, oh man, you went to
Syria. That's crazy, Like howdid you do that? You know?
(26:52):
And it's like this profess but withme, it's like, how can you
do to avoid getting raped? AndI'm like, like, that's not you
know, my identity. So that'swhen I'm that piece. And were they
receptive towards you know, the emailthat you sent them. They were frustrated
(27:14):
that I, I don't know,held up. I agreed to redo it.
I said, listen, I don'tThis is not how I want to
be represented. I was with theimpression we were going to talk about my
travels. We pretty much did notdo that. We only talked about staying
safe as a woman. And Idon't mind if that's included, but for
that to be the sole focus islike a little insulting. Yeah, it's
(27:40):
just a bit out of touch.I mean, and at like you said,
just being reduced to the fact thatyou are a woman. That's not
your entire story. That's maybe anelement of your experience, right, but
it's not like your entire experience,and it's not all that you have to
offer as a traveler. So interestingthat that was, so that was the
(28:02):
starting point to that. That's whatthat sorry, let me rephrase that,
that is what ultimately gave you theinspiration to write this article. Yes,
And I just thought, and Isaid this in my email to them,
I said, you know, ifI really want you to ask yourselves this
(28:22):
and I'm not saying this to besnarky, but like if a man was
on your show or you know,video series, would you ever ask what
do you do to control yourself fromraping women? Like it? Is the
same question reversed. You would neverask that, and I at the time,
you know, of course, I'malways watching Bourdaine, right like he's
been inspiration for me for so manyand I had watched a lot of Bourdaine
(28:45):
leading up to that interview because Iwas thinking of how I went to frame
things and I was looking for inspiration, and that's what I said. You
know, Bourdaine would never have beenasked this. He would never have been
ask anything like this, and sothat's why I framed it as will the
world ever be ready for a femaleversion of Anthony Bourdain? Essentially because or
(29:08):
we always just going to get askedstupid questions. And you know, I
do want to be transparent here becauseI don't want to get called a hypocrite
afterwards. For the first ten Iwant to say, ten episodes that we
produce, those were questions that Iwas asking. In part. Again,
I wasn't making the entire story aboutthat, but it is interesting to get
your perspective because we've I've shifted awayfrom asking those types of questions, and
(29:33):
I think it's important for people tohear what you have to say about it
so they can grow from it.And learn from it. So, you
know, thank you for saying that. And I want to be first one
here that says, you know,that has his hand up and says I
have made those mistakes in the past. Yeah, but I mean, like
I said, there's really nothing wrong. I'm not I understand. I mean
when I tell people I solo travel, almost always the first questions is that
(29:56):
safe? Is that? I getit. It is a concern, so
it does need to be talk about. My issue with it was that it
was the entire the old Yeah,I was never asked, you know,
come on, like I gave Iput, I sent you this package.
Well, like I said, allthis cool shit I've done, they did
not ask me a single thing aboutit. So it's just for a brit
and uh and talk about the storytoo. At the beginning of this,
(30:18):
I really enjoyed the blog post,by the way, I thought it was
really nicely written. So if anyone'slistening and they want to go read it,
we'll link to it, let's say, on our website. And so
at the beginning, you sort ofmentioned a story about how you were sitting
at a bar and there was aman sitting next to you and Bordan was
on TV, So can you tellme about that story as well? Yeah,
(30:40):
that was in New York. Andthis was so originally I had written
that piece and I didn't want toput it out there. It was more
just like for my own you know, you know, almost like just to
get it out of my system,right. And then I want to say
that was probably last year. Iwas sitting at a bar in New York
(31:00):
and I was drinking like really reallyawful tasting wine, which it's great,
amazing, so I say, I'mnot a food critic. I got a
second class. Couldn't have been thatbad. Um And there was like a
there was a light on behind mebecause there was a TV. And I
turned around. It was a veryold episode of Bourdain. He was like
cooking and this guy was like,oh Bourdain, and you know, I'm
(31:25):
like, now the story is slippingmy mind because you're putting me on the
spot here. Hang, I'm on, we know it's okay. We got
into like a mini I don't wantto say it was an altercation, although
I will say one of one ofmy favorite pastimes is fighting men at bars
in New York. So sorry sawall the boys out there, whoever run
(31:45):
into me at a bar, buthe had made a sexist comment. I
just remember that he had made asexist comment and the bartender I knew her,
and we just kind of locked eyesand we just were like, you
know, and rolled our eyes andoh, that's right, that's what he
said. And he said women aren'tfunny, women can't be bourdain like,
(32:07):
because I said, we're never gonnahave a female Bourdaine said women aren't funny,
women aren't funny, which is likethe cheapest dig, right, It's
like something that like female comedians havehad to deal with time and time again,
that they're not funny. Meanwhile,women comedian. Now I'm not a
comedian. I'm not going down thatroute, but you know, some women
(32:28):
comedians are like top writers for someof our favorite TV shows, Saturday Night
Live, The Office, thirty Rock, right, So it's just a cheap
dig. Yeah, And then Ijust kind of brushed him off, and
I was pissed, and I hadmy laptop with me, and that was
when I added that I was actuallyworking on that story and I was thinking
about it, and I was like, thanks for the inspiration, man keeping,
(32:52):
I'm gonna write about you. Soyeah, awesome, all right,
well, I encourage everyone to goread that article. We'll put a link
to Caitlin's blog there, and thenalso, you know, we'll link you
on our Instagram and all that sortof stuff. But before we get to
all that good stuff, let's shiftthe conversation a little bit to food,
(33:15):
which is what you write about.And so before we get into a little
rapid fire around, I want toknow when you arrive to a new place,
what is the first thing you dofor food? Like where do you
look? Where do you go?So, of course I am human and
I live in twenty twenty three,so the Internet is there available for my
(33:37):
never ending Google curiosity, which Ialways research a place before I go.
But when I physically land in aplace, I try my best to just
get rid of the Google and allthe information I know, and I find
like I try to find like agnarly looking place, you know. I
like the places with like no reststaurund signs or anybody who's been to Vietnam,
(34:05):
you know, they don't really Ithought it was really funny there.
It's just like boom Chaw, Likeevery place is just called boom Chaw,
right because it's they don't have likeactual names a lot of the restaurants.
So I try to find places likethat. I go in, I tell
whoever's working, listen, it ismy first meal in this place. What
would you order? Like I justlanded, what would you get? And
I call it like a restaurant roulettea little bit. I try to venue
(34:29):
and whatever I get, I eat. And so I highly encourage everybody to
try to do that, because you'llget You'll get some you'll get some good
stuff. You'll get you'll get someget some good stuff. The shrimp allergy
is going to get maybe if youhave an allergy. Just mentioned that,
right, right, I mean yeah, By the way, you mentioned,
(34:52):
um, like you know that yourdietary restrictions kind of go out the window
when you travel, and um,I kind of I thought that was in
interesting thing to mention, because,um, what do people call it?
Flexitarian? Um? Sure, Iam sort of a flexitarian myself. It's
sort of when you know, dependingon the situation and what's available, you
change your dietary. Uh you know, I don't know. I don't like
(35:15):
to call them the restrictions parameters.Um yeah, was that a better word
for it? I think so.Yeah, harsh, right, because it's
a bit hard. I think parameters. That's that's good. And so now,
Caitlin, I'm really excited to moveon to this last portion of the
show, the rapid fire portion ofour podcast, which we really got to
(35:38):
come up with a better name thanjust rapid fire questions. But um travel,
uh time travel. I don't timetime time travel, uh TVD.
But you can start us off andit doesn't have to be that rapid fire.
It's just that, like we havea few question since here. Yeah,
(36:00):
um, the power of editing willmake number one. You probably get
this all the time. What isyour favorite country for food? For food?
Um? Can I give three?Absolutely? Malaysia, Japan, Italy.
Yeah, I know, were youranking them from least the greatest?
(36:21):
Honestly, Okay, I can.I can narrow them down Malaysia because it
was the most surprising for me.I just had no idea what the food
scene was like, and I meanit's absolutely incredible, like out of this
world, mind blowing. I wasthere only for two days. I ate
probably fifty times, like I justwas like I need to try everything here
because it was so good. UmItaly, I mean, come on,
(36:44):
I do I need to explain,Like, come on, it's it's literally
one of the best places for foodI've ever been. Yeah, just I
and you know, it's like theonly place I feel like when I travel,
I tend to like stay in shape, right, like I'm always moving,
even if like I'm eating them.Italy is like the only place I
go and I leave and like mypants are tighter, and I'm like,
yeah, in Japan it's just sofresh, Like the quality it's just absolutely
(37:09):
unlike anywhere else in the world.You know, I'm spoiled. Like I
said, I had that apartment inTokyo. To this day, I just
can't eat Japanese. I mean Iwill, but it's difficult for me because
the quality is just next level there. So yeah, yeah, I shouldn't
have asked that follow up question becausenow I feel like you answered this second
one. Name a country that's underratedwhen it comes to their food. No,
(37:30):
that's okay, I can still Ican I can still mess with that.
I mean, is it underrated India? You know, I think people
are afraid to eat in India becausethey're afraid they're going to get sick,
and street food in India is listen, if you get a little sick,
it'll be worth it, So it'snot underrated. I think people know India
(37:52):
as a food destination, but theyplay it safe. Don't play it safe,
man, Just go for it.You'll be fine. Get some Yeah.
Sorry, my brother and I bothgot violently ill ones from having too
many mango losses, which is likea yogurt fruit drink. But hashtag worth
it, so worth it, it'sworth it. And I mean also in
(38:14):
South Brazil, the food really surprisedme. I didn't really I didn't know
anything about Brazilian food, and Idon't claim to even be close to an
expert even now, but I didnot have a bad meal there. I
just thought it was really fresh.It was really you know, hearty,
affordable good stuff. I saw thatyou wrote an article recently a ten dishes
(38:34):
not to miss in Brazil, Right, that was interesting because I haven't really
heard of it as a culinary destination. But it looked like a lot of
like beans and um, you know, barbecued like meats and uh well,
actually Brazil is known for its itsmeat. Yeah right, yep, and
so it's it is meat heavy forsure, but there's also you know,
(38:57):
depending on where you. Brazil ishuge, right, there's a lot of
you know, ingredients that are importantto the indigenous people of Brazil. So
like you'll see a lot of that. And I just thought it was interesting.
Uh, Like I got butter thathad at one place like that came
with bread. It was kind ofa nicer place, and it had like
sprinkled ants all over it, youknow, And I mean I just think
(39:19):
it was just it was not whatI was expecting in a very awesome way.
Best bang for your buck food wiseor travel wise or both. I
guess it's food wise, leave itup to you. I feel like I've
already said these places, but itis true. Malaysia, I mean Malaysia
or India or even Vietnam, likeI said, Southeast Asia is just a
very uh it's a favorable bang toyour buck. Um. For example,
(39:45):
on that backpacking trip, I wasin Vietnam for two weeks and I spent
under three hundred dollars with everything thatI did there, everything, And that's
under two weeks grant, not includingflight. Wow. And you know,
I was staying at hostiles and livinga different way than I live now.
Not that I'm against staying at hostiles, but uh, you know, I
(40:07):
was paying like two dollars a nightfor most of them. Meals were pretty
much always under a dollar fifty.Same thing with India. I was there
for a week and I spent Ispent around one hundred dollars in India for
a week. So yeah, byfar, I know I've already kind of
mentioned those places, but yeah,yeah. And in Vietnam, I was
there for a month. I usedto get the bond Me sandwiches on the
(40:28):
side of the road, but insteadof meat, I'd get like scrambled eggs
in them with a bunch of herbsbecause they love their cilantro and all that
stuff, and then sweet chili sauce. And they were like twenty five cents
and that's what I had for breakfastevery day. Yeah, and they're so
good. I love how much howI'm so good, the amount of herbs
they put in the food. It'sjust it's it's yeah, it's great,
and so it's good food for you. Don't always you don't have to associate
(40:52):
affordable meaning low quality, because it'sreally pretty far from the truth in my
experience. All Right, best localdrink alcoholic or otherwise, who um,
God, that's a tough one,and I'm no one's ever asked you that.
That's okay. I'll think of something. One of my favorite I always
(41:13):
try to drink the beer local tothe country. You know, it's field
research. It's field research. Myfavorite beer is San Miguel in the Philippines
or Tusker and Kenya. Those aremy two beard which of the seven Wonders
stands above the rest? So thisis an unpopular opinion, but the tash
(41:34):
Mahal Um and no I got toGreat Wall of China or taj Mahal Great
Wall of China. It's just it'ssurreal. The only bummer was there was
a lot of trash, so thatwas disappointing, but that's kind of common
and popular tourist spots. Unfortunately,I've cried at most of the most of
(41:58):
the world Wonders I've seen um,just because it's it's a really nice opportunity
that you know, I've worked reallyhard to try to navigate doing this.
It was just a big goal ofmine. But the taj Mahal people are
like, it's just a building.Go at sunrise. There's like nobody there,
you know. They say they openat six, but they will let
you in at five am. AndI went, yeah, pro tip for
(42:22):
real, somebody told me that,and I'm buy six. The place is
packed and I was there five andthere were maybe twenty other people there and
it so I think that added watchingthe sunrise over the taj Mahal like doesn't
really get much more epic than that. So yeah, cool, wow,
Well, I mean I think that'sa wonderful place to end the show.
(42:42):
Um, Caitlin, it was sogreat having you. This was a really
fun conversation. Um. You canfind Caitlin at her website slash blog www
dot noman nomad dot net. Andwhat is your Instagram handle at noman dot
so like a period nomad so nO m A n dot n O m
(43:06):
A d so on Instagram at nomandot nomadum and anywhere else. Uh.
You can see my articles on ThePoints Guy. Just search Caitlin Rosatti New
York Daily News or we'll be launchingsoon. There will be a bunch of
great food recks in New York.And yeah, just just google the name.
(43:27):
Something will come up that frame beforehopefully all good things. But hey,
you know, it's the internet,and if you wanted to learn a
little bit more about us. Youcould find us on our website at www
dot gts podcast dot com, onFacebook at globetrotters Podcast. On Instagram also
at globetrotters podcast Twitter at globetrot Pod. By the way, before you go,
(43:51):
if you have a minute and you'vebeen listening to us on Apple Podcast,
leave us a review. It actuallyreally helps us out um and of
course give us a follow on socialmedia that helps us too, But if
you could leave us a little review, that would be amazing. So thank
you so much and have a goodone. Hi,
You're listening to the Globetrotters Podcast,the show dedicated to bringing you fresh and
diverse perspectives from traveling enthusiasts all overthe world. Here at the Globetrotters Podcast,
we hope to show that travel isso much more than how it's represented
on social media and television by bringingyou real stories, thoughtful discussions on ethical
issues, and investigations into how youcan make the most of an adventure without
(00:36):
breaking the bank. I'm your cohost Jonathan o'tito and I'm Saskia hat Vunny
and our last episode was the Layover, the monthly show where John and I
Dalvin too the latest travel headlines,give practical travel tips, and every once
in a while we'll investigate a questionablesocial media trend. But today we welcome
our guests Caitlin Rosati. She isa freelance travel right, solo traveler,
(01:00):
and part time New York bartender whohas been to six continents, sixty eight
countries, and all seven world wonders. Did I get that right? Caitlin
has an interesting path to becoming atravel writer and also a lot to share
about what it means to write andtravel for food, especially as a solo
female traveler. We'll also pick herbrain for a few travel food tips and
(01:23):
some of her favorite places to eatin the world at the end, so
stick around for that. So ifyou're a foodie or interested in the life
of a travel writer, this isthe episode for you. Caitlin. It's
nice to have you on the show. Thank you so much for having me.
I'm so excited. First of all, I wanted to get into your
path to becoming a travel writer becauseit's it's like I said, it's not
(01:45):
a traditional one. And before writing, you were a full time bartender in
New York, correct, that iscorrect. I was a bartender for I
like to say ten years. It'ssomething in that time frame. It's like
eight round up, right, andI got very, very burnt out.
Bartending in New York is great money, truthfully, probably some of the best
(02:08):
money I'll ever make, but thehours are terrible. You can easily make
a career out of it. Butit just I hit around like twenty seven,
twenty eight years old and realized Iwanted something more out of life.
I just was fuck in that mundane, as I called it, hamster wheel
(02:28):
cycle of just waking up doing thesame thing going to bed waking up.
So yeah, yeah. So Istarted to save money, and I had
this dream to be one of thosepeople who like sold all their stuff and
quit their chops and like bought aone way and had all the excuses in
the world, right, Like Ihad a dog. Who's gonna watch my
(02:50):
dog? You know, I'm stuckin an apartment lease, I was in
a relationship. At one point,my sister was getting married. I had
to be home for Christmas, anyany excuse you can think of. And
finally one day I was like,nope, you know what I'm doing it.
I'm booking. If I haven't foryou, there was going to be
a date. So I booked aone way ticket to Tahiti for January fifteenth,
(03:15):
twenty nineteen. And I booked thatticket in June of twenty eighteen.
So I was like, all right, we have six months. And my
goal was to save thirty thousand dollars. I was nowhere near that. I
think when I booked the ticket,I had like four grands saved. And
I'm going to ask the first followup question here, and usually I get
the rhetorical answer why not, butwhy Tahiti? Yeah, No, of
(03:38):
course, why Tahiti. I wasso I really didn't know where I wanted
to start. I had mapped outin my notes app places I wanted to
go, and I was torn onI really wanted it to be a proper
round the world trip, like Iwanted to physically go around the world.
So my options were start as closeto home as possible, which would have
(04:01):
been for me either Iceland or Portugal, you know, somewhere on Europe's west
coast essentially, or start as faraway as possible and work my way back
home. And since it's more soundsmore exciting, Oh, of course,
I was like, We're starting asfar away as possible on a romantic island
that everyone goes to for their honeymoon, and I'm going by myself and I'm
(04:24):
quitting my job. So I justthought it was a little more exciting to
do it that way. Yeah,I mean, I love I love the
way you put it, because Ithink most people can relate to this fantasy
of just ditching everything and just doingit, but then the reality, like
you'll think about it as you're havinga few glasses of wine and I You're
like, yeah, I'm gonna dothat, and then the next day you
(04:45):
wake up, You're like, oh, what would I do with all my
stuff? Like what would I dowith my animal? And but you actually
are one of the few people whothe small percentage that actually did it.
So at the time when you didit, how much money had you saved
at that point? By the timeI took off, I had Let's put
it this way. When I quitmy job, which was December eighteenth,
(05:09):
twenty eighteen, I had I remember, oh, I wore a rainbow cat
suit. I was like, freeshouts to tequila for everybody. I'm going
to Tahiti. I quit um,but I had hit twenty thousand dollars in
savings. But I allowed myself alittle bit of wiggle room to kind of
(05:30):
have like, you know, Iwasn't leaving till mid January, so I
gave myself about give or take amonth left in New York City, which
is where I'm based out of,or where I'm typically based out of when
I'm not you know, in Tahiti. And I so, you know,
I treated some of my friends whohad been really supportive of this radical idea
to like a really nice dinner,you know, I like really enjoyed New
(05:54):
York City, which I think whenyou live in a place, you forget
to do. So those three weeksleading up to the trip were really fun
because I was like, you know, if I if I blow through fifteen
hundred or two grant whatever, right, it's part of it. It begins
now. So when I left,to answer your question, I had somewhere
around eighteen thousand dollars. What wasyour plan? And like, how did
that then turn into you becoming atravel writer? Yeah, the plan was,
(06:18):
there was no plan I had,Like I said, I had this
like notes app or I'm sorry,a note in my notes app on my
iPhone of potential places I wanted togo. But there were like maybe seventy
countries listed, like it was avery here's where I would go if given
the opportunity, And so before Ileft, I narrowed it down to be
(06:43):
a little more my least favorite word, realistic. Places that I could easily
scratch off right, like Southeast Asia, generally affordable, generally easy to travel
throughout. Places that might be moredifficult to go to like the Maldives,
Madagascar, and places I wouldn't mindreturning to. Italy and Japan were at
the top. Of those lists.So when I before I left, I
(07:09):
booked a flight from Tahiti. Tahitiis in the middle of nowhere, so
I knew it would be who Seriously, I'm like, we should probably one
of the hardest places to get outof it, right, we should probably
buy an exit ticket just to notreally wing it in Tahiti, right.
So I all I had planned wasTahiti to New Zealand, New Zealand to
(07:29):
Australia, and that was it.And once I got to Australia, I
was like, we'll see where Iend up. And I really just used
Skyscanner for the majority of that trip. I would be like, all right,
time to move on. I wouldgo on Skyscanner, find the cheapest
flight out, and if it wassomewhere I was interested in going to,
that's where I went. And thenfast forward to now. I mean,
(07:49):
you are a columnist for the NewYork Daily News, correct, and you've
written for a bunch of different travelpublications like The Points Guy or some of
the other one Flipboard, the TravelJet Set Times. So how did you
get from ditching all your you know, your life basically and responsibilities, you
(08:13):
know, going to travel and thenbecoming like, how did you get to
becoming a travel writer? Yeah,that was the second part of that first
question. Huh, so casually brushedover it, like well edited out.
So when I was traveling, Iwas in I want to say, I
was on month two or three.I was around March twenty nineteen, and
(08:33):
I realized I had been running outof space on my passport, which was
an issue. I was in Vietnamwhen I noticed this, and I really,
that's a so, so what doesthat mean because I've never actually heard
of that issue. You run outof space on your like physical space on
your passport pages for stamps, andthen you need to apply for a replacement.
(08:54):
Yeah, it was something I wasnot prepared for. I was like,
huh, what am I supposed todo? And I really thought I
would have to fly back to theUS, which I was very against doing.
I'm like, no, I juststarted this trip, like I said
I was. I want to say, I was on month two, and
I'm like, I'm not going backalready, right, Like the whole point
is, like, you know,to properly travel around the world. So
(09:15):
I started googling what does one dowhen they run out of space? On
a passport, and essentially the answerI got from the US Embassy website was
you need to turn your old passportin, but wherever you turn it in,
be prepared to be passportless in anothercountry for three to four weeks.
So I'm a fast traveler. Iknow some people like to spend months at
a time to really get to knowa place. I do like a few
(09:39):
days, cram a bunch of stuffin there, you know, and then
get out and move on, especiallyfor this trip. Finally, someone on
this podcast that is like me.So the other two co hosts love to
lounge around for six to seven monthsin the beach, and I'm like,
no, there's places to do,things to do, places to see.
Let's go. Let's cram three daysin this city and move on to the
(10:03):
next. Let's go, John,life is for living. I mean there
are definitely pros and cons to both. I'm listen, I guess that aggressive
New Yorker and me just can't sitstill for that long, right, I'm
like, I gotta go. Igot places to be. Even when I
have put my job and sold allmy stuff, I still have places to
be. Good for you. Yeah, So I was like I'm already in
(10:24):
Southeast Asia. I really wanted todo loud me and MYR Cambodia. But
when I had I want to say, three pages left on the passport,
it's like, okay, well wegotta cut something out. So I did
go to Cambodia, which took upan entire page. I know that's what
I was gonna say. Oh mygosh, the Cambodian visa takes is like
a giant piece of paper that takesup one whole page. It's not just
(10:45):
like a little stamp. Yeah,so you know, very wise decision.
I'm like, cool, now weare down. I was down to a
page. And so from Cambodia,I was like, all right, I
gotta figure out where I'm going.Booked my ticket from Cambodia, but of
course had to get like a fewextra places in there. So I did
Hong Kong and South Korea on theway because neither of them stamped passports.
I was like, I can justdo a few more places. And I
(11:07):
was in Japan and so I rentedthis apartment for the month, turn in
my passport, got it back twodays later, not three to four weeks.
Did you have it expedited. Ihave to have no and so I
still to this day I believe itwas japan Japanese efficiency, not US efficiency.
And so you know, I'm Idon't want to say stuck, but
(11:30):
I paid for an apartment in Tokyofor a month, so like I am
staying in Tokyo right like I'm not. And so when I was there,
it's not exactly budget friendly, sothat you know, imposed its challenges.
Of course, I probably should havedone about that before I left. So
when I was there, I wasthinking, I really worked on my blog
a lot, which I realized thatI haven't even mentioned yet. I do
(11:50):
have a blog. It's called NomadNomad, and because I'd been moving so
much, I had and updated it, and so I was working on it,
updating it on Vietnam, and Iwas thinking I should just like apply
for some of these publications you knowout there, and so I applied for
all the big guys like Forbes.Try and now, mind you, I
have no travel experience or travel writingexperience under my belt. I have a
(12:11):
blog with maybe twenty posts and likea really crappy design. You don't know,
I know nothing about SEO and allthe things I've learned over the years,
and so I'm applying to like Forbesand Travel and Leisure and Conde Nast
and I'm not getting a response.And so I was like, you know,
I need to start smaller. AndI started looking for tiny, you
(12:35):
know, tiny er publications, andI came across one called jet Set Times
and they have like maybe twenty thousandfollowers on Instagram, and so I sent
them a DM. I just likeslid into their DMS. I was like,
are you looking for travel writers.I'm currently like on a backpacking trip.
I have, you know, currentexperience which is really important and publishing.
(12:56):
And they wrote back and they werelike, yea, let's set up
a skype call. So I hadlike a job interview. I think it
was three am in Tokyo when Ihad the interview because they were in another
time zone. And I got thegig and I started writing and that was
the beginning for me. So that'sthe short end beginning version. But obviously
there's a lot more to come.Yeah. Wow, that's that's pretty amazing.
(13:18):
So you are actually just saying,hey, do you need travel writers?
You weren't finding a job like listingand applying to that. No,
I never at that time. Ihave many times since I didn't google travel
writer jobs, travel reporters, youknow, food writer. I just I
wanted. I just I mean,I literally slid into someone's DMS. So
(13:41):
it's always funny when people say howdid you break into this? Like people
will ask me that are curious,right, and I'm like, be shameless,
slide into their dms like that ishow I started out, you know.
And so Caitlin, slowly, overtime, as you're making this journey,
when do you start to pivot awayfrom travel writing and start getting more
into the food critic scene. Yeah, So I would like to say I
(14:05):
try to deter from ever calling myselfa food critic only because I mean,
which is fine. Every time I'mlike, hi, I'm a writer and
I'm here to write about food,Like oh, you're a food critic,
I'm like, no, I justI you know, I'm not like going
to sit there and be like,ooh, this pasta isn't perfectly I'll dente,
you know, talking one point right, Like, I'm very appreciative of
anything that's placed in front of me. So I guess I'm just a food
(14:28):
lover. But I had listened.Travel and food go hand in hand,
and I think one of the silliestthings travelers can rob themselves of is by
showing up with restrictions, unless,of course, there's an allergy or perhaps
a religious reason. I was avegetarian for four years, and I just
(14:52):
I even to this day. Imean, listen, this is on the
record, right, Like I dohave moral conflict on eating octopus, Like
I'm fully aware, like how inhumaneit is to eat octopus. But I
recently went on a trip and someonegave me a plate of octopus. And
if I'm going to be that righteousperson and say I can't eat this,
like it's against my book, Ijust will I eat. I'll eat the
(15:15):
damn octopus, you know. Andthen in my in my time, in
my choosing, I will not eatthe octopus. Right. So I had
always kept an open mind when itcame to food, and I wouldn't say
I even wrote too much about foodin my early writing days. But my
first true food story was during COVIDbecause I couldn't travel like the rest of
(15:39):
us, and Bourdain's documentary came outRoadrunner, and so now I knew a
thing or two about seo and whatpeople are searching for. And I knew
Bourdain had skyrocketed in Google searches becauseof his documentary being released, and I
pitched to jet Set times. Isaid, hey, let me write a
story on all the places Bourdain haseaten in New York City, Like,
(16:03):
it doesn't require me traveling. Ilive here. And that was that was
my first true food story and that'swhere the shift really began. Yeah,
I mean, Bourdain is an exampleof someone who is obviously incredibly successful in
this realm. Can you talk brieflyabout how sustainable has been for you and
(16:23):
like, how much are you able? Are are you able to support yourself
one with your writing? I am, well, you know, it depends
on the month. Am I ableto support myself? Some months are incredible,
Other months I'm like at I don'tknow if you're familiar with Buffalo exchange.
Other months, I'm a Buffalo exchangehoping I get sixty dollars from my
(16:45):
clothes. Right, And that's whyI said earlier, the most money,
I mean never say never, right, The most money up to this point
that I've ever made was as afull time bartender, and so it's really
important to me bringing it back toBourdain. That's another thing he was so
incredible about about being kind to waitstaff and to service workers because they are
(17:07):
they are the backbone of, inmy opinion, the world right like they
are, and so um, Ihave made anywhere between zero dollars on an
article. Uh, I was goingto ask zero dollars to the most I've
gotten paid for a single story isseven hundred and fifty dollars. Yeah,
(17:32):
not bad. Yeah, and that'suh, that's rare, but that has
happened. Um. I would sayfor full transparency, there's no gate keeping
here. H And at least listenfor some of the big shop publications,
you should be expecting at least atleast three hundred dollars an article as a
freelancer. Occasionally it would be closerto two hundred. But and you know,
(17:52):
listen, charge if you're doing originalphotography, put it on the build,
you know, I mean, wegot to know your worth, which
is difficult because I know what itfeels like to feel so gracious for these
opportunities, which is why I workedfor zero dollars, right, and I've
worked for fifteen dollars. But ifthey have over a million readers, a
(18:15):
month, they can pay you alittle bit more so tips from Kitlin.
And I wasn't going to ask thisquestion because it's a little a little bit
of a sidetrack, but can youtalk a little bit about the importance of
networking in your field, if that'san approach that you take to learning more
about you know, this scene thatyou're now part of. I actually I'm
glad you asked that question, becauseI that is something I'm currently struggling with.
(18:38):
I feel like I haven't actually writtenin about two weeks, because I
do get invited to a lot ofnetworks and then and I'll listen, when
I first sent that DM to jets, at times I knew nothing, Like
I didn't know about pr agents,I didn't know about how to reach out
to tourism where I knew nothing.I didn't know about engagement rates. So
I do a little of two things. I freelance, right, but I
(19:00):
also run noman nomad. And inmy dream world, I will work for
myself and I will be no Mannomad and I will get paid for my
blog and skip and frolic happily intoa field and answer to nobody. But
I'm not quite there yet. SoI frequently get invited to networking events in
(19:22):
New York City, specifically since that'swhere I'm based. This kind of started
last year I started writing for ThePoints Guy, which I did get that
gig from googling travel writer travel writingjobs, so that one was a bit
of a more traditional route and thatwas how I landed that job. And
the Points Guy has quite a largereach. So some public relations agents or
(19:45):
reps found me, got access tomy email address and started, you know,
emailing me, Hey, there's anew hotel that just opened in Greece,
would you want to write about it? There's a new hotel that opened
in San Francisco. And now,something I wish I knew was that a
lot of times they're not inviting youto go to Greece or San Francisco.
They're just trying to get you towrite about it, right, So I'd
(20:08):
be like, sure, when doyou want me to come? And they're
like, that's not how this works. You know, I didn't know,
Yeah, Yeah, I do getinvited to a lot of specific tourism events.
So like I recently went to atourism event in New York for the
Bahamas. I went to one forLondon. I'm going to one next week
for Berlin. And so it's alot of rubbing elbows and running out of
(20:32):
business cards and socializing. So ifyou have social anxiety like I do,
then it could be a little tough, but it's part of the gig.
Yeah. So so I'm curious whenyou say the goal is to to you
know, work for yourself and runyour blog. No man, no man,
didn't make income through that? Wouldthat be primarily through advertising or crowdfunding
(20:55):
or both a bit of both.So, and I shouldn't say that's the
only thing I want to do,because I really really really love my column
with New York Daily News. It'slike, you know, it's such it's
it's such light years better. Ishouldn't say better because this is on the
record. Um, it's been sucha rewarding experience to kind of they really
trust me. They're like, hereyou go, just do it, send
(21:18):
us the story, you know,and a lot of it is micromanaging and
having to change things, and it'sjust it's a very different experience with them,
but with No Mad, No Mad. I sometimes I have around fifteen
thousand readers a month on my blogright now, and that started at like
I said, zero with a crappyweb design, and I mean one of
(21:40):
my oldest posts it's I think it'sliterally called chinquitary. Like so the it's
just says chinquity. Why is somebodygoing to read my post that says chinquitary
when there's so much information out that, right, So, like just I've
learned a lot of over the years. Uh, this is something that I've
tried to explain to John in thepast, the specific way specific we gotta
(22:03):
have specific titles. I mean Ihave a lot like that. Or one
was like the name of a waitressI met in Colombia. It's like Ariana
from Colombia, Like girl, nobodycares, Like nobody's clicking on that,
right, And that was obviously youryour biggest hit, right like that,
And that's when I went viral Ariannacombined. Um So, because I've learned
(22:26):
a little bit more over the years, I've done I do affiliate links,
I do advertisements, and I getpaid by tourism boards to write. So
like I've done a lot of umUS destinations. I've worked with the State
of Texas, I've worked in Michigan, I've worked with brands I've worked with
like a brand called way Away.I worked with a brand called the Parking
(22:47):
Spot. And what I'll offer fora price, because it's a service,
is to write an article and makean Instagram reel for them, and um,
yeah, it's sometimes it's a littlemind blowing because I'm like, this
is crazy, you know that,like I can charge people for this and
correct And So going back back toyour blog, you know you wrote something
(23:08):
called will the World ever be Readyfor a female Bourdain? You know,
referring to the chef, you know, Anthony Bourdain. Can you explain the
story behind that blog post. Yes, I did an interview a few years
ago. Somebody reached out to me. They wanted to interview. They were
(23:32):
doing a highlight on solo female travelers, and they so, sure, sounds
great. I'd love to be theface of solo female travel right. So
I agreed to it and the questionswere incredibly disappointing. And that listen,
So you you were on a panellike or on like you out of speaking
(23:52):
engagement. It was it was stillpeak, I want to say it was.
It was summer twenty twenty one,so it was virtual. It was
not a panel. It was somethingfor a website, and um, it
was filmed and it was to belike published almost as like an episode of
this like weekly thing they were doing. Uh not not quite a podcast,
(24:15):
but uh and I had I knewthe website, I respected the website,
so I was excited for it andI sent them. I took a lot
of time to craft a little packagesaying here's all like the cool can I
swear on this podcast? Yeah,of course, Okay, all the cool
shit I've done, right Like,I'm like, I'm kind I kill him
(24:36):
in Jaro by myself. I gotScooba certified in the Great Barrier. Reef.
I wrote trip New Zealand. Youknow, I quit my job and
traveled the world like I'm working onItalians whatever. I gave them plenty if
I ran out of space on apassport and moved to Japan right like,
And um, when I got onthe poor not the podcast, when I
when I the interview began, uh, it was all and I and I
(25:00):
understand right the world is dangerous blahblah blah. So all the questions were
like what tips would you provide forwomen to stay safe? That is not
and you know that's a valid question. Right, for someone who has traveled
all over I get it safety isa concern. And then it was like
what country would you never go backto? And I'm like, I don't
(25:23):
love like answering questions. I mean, do I have my Actually, honestly,
I would go back anywhere. Iwould go back anywhere. Just because
I had that experience somewhere doesn't meanit's going to happen again. I've had
way worse experiences in the US rightright total. And I just was like,
are you gonna ask me anything likepositive or is this all just going
to be like a fear monitoring typeof thing. And then the golden question
(25:45):
was what have you done to avoidgetting sexually assaulted abroad? And I'm like,
what have I done to get avoidsexually Do you think I carry a
golden shield? Because like I've traveledto someone like that is not It's not
what I do to You can notwalk alone at night. You can you
know, carry pepper spray, exceptyou really can obviously, don't take that
as advice. Do not bring pepperspray with you to another country. Um,
(26:08):
you know you can do stop atthe airport. Hush they stop me.
I'm like you can bring a dagger. Just kidding, don't do that.
Um, you know. I justthe way that question was framed,
what do I do to avoid beingsexually assaulted? I I didn't say it
in the moment, but I thought, like, you know, as long
as like predatory men exists in thisworld, like I could, there's not
(26:30):
enough measures I can take, Likethat's just always the risk that's going to
be there. And so I endedup emailing them afterward and just saying,
listen, unfortunately, you didn't evenask me about travel. You just essentially
asked me what my experience is likeas a woman in this world. And
I and I've seen other episodes thatthey had done and it was a lot
of dudes, and the questions werelike, oh man, you went to
Syria. That's crazy, Like howdid you do that? You know?
(26:52):
And it's like this profess but withme, it's like, how can you
do to avoid getting raped? AndI'm like, like, that's not you
know, my identity. So that'swhen I'm that piece. And were they
receptive towards you know, the emailthat you sent them. They were frustrated
(27:14):
that I, I don't know,held up. I agreed to redo it.
I said, listen, I don'tThis is not how I want to
be represented. I was with theimpression we were going to talk about my
travels. We pretty much did notdo that. We only talked about staying
safe as a woman. And Idon't mind if that's included, but for
that to be the sole focus islike a little insulting. Yeah, it's
(27:40):
just a bit out of touch.I mean, and at like you said,
just being reduced to the fact thatyou are a woman. That's not
your entire story. That's maybe anelement of your experience, right, but
it's not like your entire experience,and it's not all that you have to
offer as a traveler. So interestingthat that was, so that was the
(28:02):
starting point to that. That's whatthat sorry, let me rephrase that,
that is what ultimately gave you theinspiration to write this article. Yes,
And I just thought, and Isaid this in my email to them,
I said, you know, ifI really want you to ask yourselves this
(28:22):
and I'm not saying this to besnarky, but like if a man was
on your show or you know,video series, would you ever ask what
do you do to control yourself fromraping women? Like it? Is the
same question reversed. You would neverask that, and I at the time,
you know, of course, I'malways watching Bourdaine, right like he's
been inspiration for me for so manyand I had watched a lot of Bourdaine
(28:45):
leading up to that interview because Iwas thinking of how I went to frame
things and I was looking for inspiration, and that's what I said. You
know, Bourdaine would never have beenasked this. He would never have been
ask anything like this, and sothat's why I framed it as will the
world ever be ready for a femaleversion of Anthony Bourdain? Essentially because or
(29:08):
we always just going to get askedstupid questions. And you know, I
do want to be transparent here becauseI don't want to get called a hypocrite
afterwards. For the first ten Iwant to say, ten episodes that we
produce, those were questions that Iwas asking. In part. Again,
I wasn't making the entire story aboutthat, but it is interesting to get
your perspective because we've I've shifted awayfrom asking those types of questions, and
(29:33):
I think it's important for people tohear what you have to say about it
so they can grow from it.And learn from it. So, you
know, thank you for saying that. And I want to be first one
here that says, you know,that has his hand up and says I
have made those mistakes in the past. Yeah, but I mean, like
I said, there's really nothing wrong. I'm not I understand. I mean
when I tell people I solo travel, almost always the first questions is that
(29:56):
safe? Is that? I getit. It is a concern, so
it does need to be talk about. My issue with it was that it
was the entire the old Yeah,I was never asked, you know,
come on, like I gave Iput, I sent you this package.
Well, like I said, allthis cool shit I've done, they did
not ask me a single thing aboutit. So it's just for a brit
and uh and talk about the storytoo. At the beginning of this,
(30:18):
I really enjoyed the blog post,by the way, I thought it was
really nicely written. So if anyone'slistening and they want to go read it,
we'll link to it, let's say, on our website. And so
at the beginning, you sort ofmentioned a story about how you were sitting
at a bar and there was aman sitting next to you and Bordan was
on TV, So can you tellme about that story as well? Yeah,
(30:40):
that was in New York. Andthis was so originally I had written
that piece and I didn't want toput it out there. It was more
just like for my own you know, you know, almost like just to
get it out of my system,right. And then I want to say
that was probably last year. Iwas sitting at a bar in New York
(31:00):
and I was drinking like really reallyawful tasting wine, which it's great,
amazing, so I say, I'mnot a food critic. I got a
second class. Couldn't have been thatbad. Um And there was like a
there was a light on behind mebecause there was a TV. And I
turned around. It was a veryold episode of Bourdain. He was like
cooking and this guy was like,oh Bourdain, and you know, I'm
(31:25):
like, now the story is slippingmy mind because you're putting me on the
spot here. Hang, I'm on, we know it's okay. We got
into like a mini I don't wantto say it was an altercation, although
I will say one of one ofmy favorite pastimes is fighting men at bars
in New York. So sorry sawall the boys out there, whoever run
(31:45):
into me at a bar, buthe had made a sexist comment. I
just remember that he had made asexist comment and the bartender I knew her,
and we just kind of locked eyesand we just were like, you
know, and rolled our eyes andoh, that's right, that's what he
said. And he said women aren'tfunny, women can't be bourdain like,
(32:07):
because I said, we're never gonnahave a female Bourdaine said women aren't funny,
women aren't funny, which is likethe cheapest dig, right, It's
like something that like female comedians havehad to deal with time and time again,
that they're not funny. Meanwhile,women comedian. Now I'm not a
comedian. I'm not going down thatroute, but you know, some women
(32:28):
comedians are like top writers for someof our favorite TV shows, Saturday Night
Live, The Office, thirty Rock, right, So it's just a cheap
dig. Yeah, And then Ijust kind of brushed him off, and
I was pissed, and I hadmy laptop with me, and that was
when I added that I was actuallyworking on that story and I was thinking
about it, and I was like, thanks for the inspiration, man keeping,
(32:52):
I'm gonna write about you. Soyeah, awesome, all right,
well, I encourage everyone to goread that article. We'll put a link
to Caitlin's blog there, and thenalso, you know, we'll link you
on our Instagram and all that sortof stuff. But before we get to
all that good stuff, let's shiftthe conversation a little bit to food,
(33:15):
which is what you write about.And so before we get into a little
rapid fire around, I want toknow when you arrive to a new place,
what is the first thing you dofor food? Like where do you
look? Where do you go?So, of course I am human and
I live in twenty twenty three,so the Internet is there available for my
(33:37):
never ending Google curiosity, which Ialways research a place before I go.
But when I physically land in aplace, I try my best to just
get rid of the Google and allthe information I know, and I find
like I try to find like agnarly looking place, you know. I
like the places with like no reststaurund signs or anybody who's been to Vietnam,
(34:05):
you know, they don't really Ithought it was really funny there.
It's just like boom Chaw, Likeevery place is just called boom Chaw,
right because it's they don't have likeactual names a lot of the restaurants.
So I try to find places likethat. I go in, I tell
whoever's working, listen, it ismy first meal in this place. What
would you order? Like I justlanded, what would you get? And
I call it like a restaurant roulettea little bit. I try to venue
(34:29):
and whatever I get, I eat. And so I highly encourage everybody to
try to do that, because you'llget You'll get some you'll get some good
stuff. You'll get you'll get someget some good stuff. The shrimp allergy
is going to get maybe if youhave an allergy. Just mentioned that,
right, right, I mean yeah, By the way, you mentioned,
(34:52):
um, like you know that yourdietary restrictions kind of go out the window
when you travel, and um,I kind of I thought that was in
interesting thing to mention, because,um, what do people call it?
Flexitarian? Um? Sure, Iam sort of a flexitarian myself. It's
sort of when you know, dependingon the situation and what's available, you
change your dietary. Uh you know, I don't know. I don't like
(35:15):
to call them the restrictions parameters.Um yeah, was that a better word
for it? I think so.Yeah, harsh, right, because it's
a bit hard. I think parameters. That's that's good. And so now,
Caitlin, I'm really excited to moveon to this last portion of the
show, the rapid fire portion ofour podcast, which we really got to
(35:38):
come up with a better name thanjust rapid fire questions. But um travel,
uh time travel. I don't timetime time travel, uh TVD.
But you can start us off andit doesn't have to be that rapid fire.
It's just that, like we havea few question since here. Yeah,
(36:00):
um, the power of editing willmake number one. You probably get
this all the time. What isyour favorite country for food? For food?
Um? Can I give three?Absolutely? Malaysia, Japan, Italy.
Yeah, I know, were youranking them from least the greatest?
(36:21):
Honestly, Okay, I can.I can narrow them down Malaysia because it
was the most surprising for me.I just had no idea what the food
scene was like, and I meanit's absolutely incredible, like out of this
world, mind blowing. I wasthere only for two days. I ate
probably fifty times, like I justwas like I need to try everything here
because it was so good. UmItaly, I mean, come on,
(36:44):
I do I need to explain,Like, come on, it's it's literally
one of the best places for foodI've ever been. Yeah, just I
and you know, it's like theonly place I feel like when I travel,
I tend to like stay in shape, right, like I'm always moving,
even if like I'm eating them.Italy is like the only place I
go and I leave and like mypants are tighter, and I'm like,
yeah, in Japan it's just sofresh, Like the quality it's just absolutely
(37:09):
unlike anywhere else in the world.You know, I'm spoiled. Like I
said, I had that apartment inTokyo. To this day, I just
can't eat Japanese. I mean Iwill, but it's difficult for me because
the quality is just next level there. So yeah, yeah, I shouldn't
have asked that follow up question becausenow I feel like you answered this second
one. Name a country that's underratedwhen it comes to their food. No,
(37:30):
that's okay, I can still Ican I can still mess with that.
I mean, is it underrated India? You know, I think people
are afraid to eat in India becausethey're afraid they're going to get sick,
and street food in India is listen, if you get a little sick,
it'll be worth it, So it'snot underrated. I think people know India
(37:52):
as a food destination, but theyplay it safe. Don't play it safe,
man, Just go for it.You'll be fine. Get some Yeah.
Sorry, my brother and I bothgot violently ill ones from having too
many mango losses, which is likea yogurt fruit drink. But hashtag worth
it, so worth it, it'sworth it. And I mean also in
(38:14):
South Brazil, the food really surprisedme. I didn't really I didn't know
anything about Brazilian food, and Idon't claim to even be close to an
expert even now, but I didnot have a bad meal there. I
just thought it was really fresh.It was really you know, hearty,
affordable good stuff. I saw thatyou wrote an article recently a ten dishes
(38:34):
not to miss in Brazil, Right, that was interesting because I haven't really
heard of it as a culinary destination. But it looked like a lot of
like beans and um, you know, barbecued like meats and uh well,
actually Brazil is known for its itsmeat. Yeah right, yep, and
so it's it is meat heavy forsure, but there's also you know,
(38:57):
depending on where you. Brazil ishuge, right, there's a lot of
you know, ingredients that are importantto the indigenous people of Brazil. So
like you'll see a lot of that. And I just thought it was interesting.
Uh, Like I got butter thathad at one place like that came
with bread. It was kind ofa nicer place, and it had like
sprinkled ants all over it, youknow, And I mean I just think
(39:19):
it was just it was not whatI was expecting in a very awesome way.
Best bang for your buck food wiseor travel wise or both. I
guess it's food wise, leave itup to you. I feel like I've
already said these places, but itis true. Malaysia, I mean Malaysia
or India or even Vietnam, likeI said, Southeast Asia is just a
very uh it's a favorable bang toyour buck. Um. For example,
(39:45):
on that backpacking trip, I wasin Vietnam for two weeks and I spent
under three hundred dollars with everything thatI did there, everything, And that's
under two weeks grant, not includingflight. Wow. And you know,
I was staying at hostiles and livinga different way than I live now.
Not that I'm against staying at hostiles, but uh, you know, I
(40:07):
was paying like two dollars a nightfor most of them. Meals were pretty
much always under a dollar fifty.Same thing with India. I was there
for a week and I spent Ispent around one hundred dollars in India for
a week. So yeah, byfar, I know I've already kind of
mentioned those places, but yeah,yeah. And in Vietnam, I was
there for a month. I usedto get the bond Me sandwiches on the
(40:28):
side of the road, but insteadof meat, I'd get like scrambled eggs
in them with a bunch of herbsbecause they love their cilantro and all that
stuff, and then sweet chili sauce. And they were like twenty five cents
and that's what I had for breakfastevery day. Yeah, and they're so
good. I love how much howI'm so good, the amount of herbs
they put in the food. It'sjust it's it's yeah, it's great,
and so it's good food for you. Don't always you don't have to associate
(40:52):
affordable meaning low quality, because it'sreally pretty far from the truth in my
experience. All Right, best localdrink alcoholic or otherwise, who um,
God, that's a tough one,and I'm no one's ever asked you that.
That's okay. I'll think of something. One of my favorite I always
(41:13):
try to drink the beer local tothe country. You know, it's field
research. It's field research. Myfavorite beer is San Miguel in the Philippines
or Tusker and Kenya. Those aremy two beard which of the seven Wonders
stands above the rest? So thisis an unpopular opinion, but the tash
(41:34):
Mahal Um and no I got toGreat Wall of China or taj Mahal Great
Wall of China. It's just it'ssurreal. The only bummer was there was
a lot of trash, so thatwas disappointing, but that's kind of common
and popular tourist spots. Unfortunately,I've cried at most of the most of
(41:58):
the world Wonders I've seen um,just because it's it's a really nice opportunity
that you know, I've worked reallyhard to try to navigate doing this.
It was just a big goal ofmine. But the taj Mahal people are
like, it's just a building.Go at sunrise. There's like nobody there,
you know. They say they openat six, but they will let
you in at five am. AndI went, yeah, pro tip for
(42:22):
real, somebody told me that,and I'm buy six. The place is
packed and I was there five andthere were maybe twenty other people there and
it so I think that added watchingthe sunrise over the taj Mahal like doesn't
really get much more epic than that. So yeah, cool, wow,
Well, I mean I think that'sa wonderful place to end the show.
(42:42):
Um, Caitlin, it was sogreat having you. This was a really
fun conversation. Um. You canfind Caitlin at her website slash blog www
dot noman nomad dot net. Andwhat is your Instagram handle at noman dot
so like a period nomad so nO m A n dot n O m
(43:06):
A d so on Instagram at nomandot nomadum and anywhere else. Uh.
You can see my articles on ThePoints Guy. Just search Caitlin Rosatti New
York Daily News or we'll be launchingsoon. There will be a bunch of
great food recks in New York.And yeah, just just google the name.
(43:27):
Something will come up that frame beforehopefully all good things. But hey,
you know, it's the internet,and if you wanted to learn a
little bit more about us. Youcould find us on our website at www
dot gts podcast dot com, onFacebook at globetrotters Podcast. On Instagram also
at globetrotters podcast Twitter at globetrot Pod. By the way, before you go,
(43:51):
if you have a minute and you'vebeen listening to us on Apple Podcast,
leave us a review. It actuallyreally helps us out um and of
course give us a follow on socialmedia that helps us too, But if
you could leave us a little review, that would be amazing. So thank
you so much and have a goodone. Hi,
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