More Women Travel & Culture Inspiration
I love finding new women-led content outlets, media or experts to follow for inspiration. Here are some more to follow as resources, and some classics:
UN Women: Gender equality is not only a basic human right, but its achievement has enormous socio-economic ramifications. Empowering women fuels thriving economies, spurring productivity and growth. Yet gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched in every society. Women lack access to decent work and face occupational segregation and gender wage gaps. They are too often denied access to basic education and health care. Women in all parts of the world suffer violence and discrimination. They are under-represented in political and economic decision-making processes. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for the empowerment of women. UN Women became operational in January 2011, and offers local volunteer chapter organizations in cities around the world that you can join, network and empower others through.
Conde Nast Traveler ‘Women Who Travel’: Conde Nast Traveler launched the popular Facebook group 'Women Who Travel' which grew into a podcast, partnership platform and group travel. Per CNT: Because a woman's place is wherever she chooses. Find us on Facebook to share your thoughts, listen to our podcast, join us on a meetup or trip, sign up for our newsletter, or keep scrolling to read some of our favorite features.
History Chicks Podcast: Revisiting famous women throughout history, The History Chicks is hosted by Beckett Graham and Susan Vollenweider.
The Atlas of Beauty: I have long admired Mihaela Noroc, creator of The Atlas of Beauty. She has created a beautiful career out of photographing women around the World, now with her little daughter in tow. Originally from Bucharest, Romania, Mihaela was Inspired by her father’s paintings and began experimenting with photography as a teenager - still too shy to go on the streets to take photos of strangers and even years later, despite studying photography in college, she felt lacking in confidence to pursue it professionally. Largely a hobby, it was a life-changing trip to Ethiopia that she realized she could combine her passion for travel with her love of photography and turn it into a career. What began as a small personal project funded by her meager savings, The Atlas of Beauty has evolved into a stunning collector’s book that features 500 of Noroc’s portraits of women around the world. In a media world where so many photos of distorted, and beauty images too often relegated to a small, similar selection of physicality, The Atlas of Beauty explores the beauty in the many faces around the globe. Get inspired here: www.instagram.com/the.atlas.of.beauty
Pasta Grannies: Pasta Grannies is right up my alley: Finding and filming women who still make pasta by hand - a tradition that is disappearing in Italy - videos, recipe book and blog by Pasta Grannies From the NY Times: Vicky Bennison, a 60-year-old British woman with a background in international development, never intended Pasta Grannies to become a minor YouTube hit or to make stars of a handful of Italian nonnas who couldn’t care less about their influencer status. She simply wanted to create a culinary Noah’s ark to capture a way of life before it disappears. Since Ms. Bennison began her project nearly five years ago, she has recorded more than 250 women (and a few men) doing what they do every day: rolling pizzoccheri from buckwheat flour to toss with Alpine cheese made only in Valtellina; twisting semolina dough into sagne ritorte to hold the horse-meat ragù popular in Puglia; marrying hand-torn strapponi with porcini mushrooms from a Tuscan forest. More than 70 are featured in the cookbook “Pasta Grannies: The Secrets of Italy’s Best Home Cooks” Follow their Instagram page and youtube page for more!
Padma Lakshmi’s ‘Taste The Nation’: One of the few female solo hosted travel & food shows, find Taste The Nation on Hulu
Samantha Brown’s ‘Places To Love’ : One of the few female solo hosted travel shows, find Places to Love on PBS
Unearth Women: This feminist travel blog and magazine offers wonderfully unique travel guides and interviews with the likes of Gloria Steinem, Lisa Ling and more. Unearth Women launched in 2018, dedicated to championing female content creators and addressing the needs of female travelers today. The idea of Unearth Women was born from the frustrations of Travel Editor and Journalist, Nikki Vargas, who had faced sexism, been underpaid, and been denied bylines considered better suited to a man to report on. In 2018, Nikki found herself laid off from a male-run publication where she spent more time cleaning the office kitchen than being heard. With nothing to lose, she began to imagine a media company that would champion women, pay female content creators for their work, and share women’s stories.The name for Unearth Women came from the simple goal of unearthing women’s stories around the globe. To bring Unearth Women to life, Nikki partnered with Elise Fitzsimmons and Kelly Lewis. A year later, Unearth Women would grow into a multi-faceted travel media company.