In Episode 15 of 85 Percent, host Beth Santos introduces Kim Callender and Arabella Bowen co-founders of SoloTrvlr.
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- 23 minute read
In Episode 15, we’re thrilled to spotlight Kim Callender and Arabella Bowen, the dynamic duo behind SoloTrvlr. As trailblazers in the solo travel movement, Kim and Arabella have crafted a platform that champions independence, resilience, and the joy of discovering the world on your terms. In our conversation, they dive into everything from launching SoloTrvlr to their personal journeys as advocates for solo exploration. Whether you’re a seasoned traveler or dreaming of your first solo adventure, Kim and Arabella’s story will inspire you to embrace the unknown and rewrite your own travel narrative. Let’s dive in!
New to 85 Percent? Here’s a quick intro
Did you know that women make 85% of travel decisions, and yet make up just a tiny fraction of who we see in travel media and leadership? 85 Percent: A Wanderful Podcast showcases the trailblazing women of travel and the stories they have to share with the world. It’s hosted by Wanderful’s founder and CEO, Beth Santos.
The format is part interview, part narrative style, sharing the powerful, passionate travel stories that have changed the lives of the women who are changing travel right back.
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Introducing Episode 15 with Kim Callender and Arabella Bowen
Kim Callender and Arabella Bowen are the dynamic duo behind SoloTrvlr, a platform dedicated to empowering women to explore the world on their own terms. With backgrounds in travel journalism and a passion for creating safe, enriching experiences, Kim and Arabella blend adventure and authenticity to connect solo travelers with practical tips, inspiring stories, and community resources. Their mission? To inspire every woman to feel confident, prepared, and thrilled to travel independently, embracing the world one destination at a time.
[00:00:48] Kim: This is one of those trips that I think a lot of us who haven’t traveled a lot growing up, or at least like traveled internationally and big trips and stuff can probably relate to on the first trip of like, there’s so much you don’t know. You don’t even know what you don’t know.
Welcome to the 85 Percent Podcast
[00:01:19] Beth: Did you know that women make 85% of travel decisions, whether booking a trip for our families or cleaning the hotel rooms? Women are the backbone of the travel industry, but the people we see in travel shows, marketing, and leadership, they don’t look like us. Now we’re cutting through the noise to talk to the change makers, the trailblazers, and the women who make travel what it is and how we can make travel better for all of us.
This is 85 Percent. I’m your host, Beth Santos.
Balancing Home, Travel, and the Unexpected Connections Along the Way
[00:01:42] Beth: It’s funny how life ebbs and flows sometimes. At the beginning of this season, I introduced you to some of the sounds that are making up the soundtrack of my life these days. Baby crying, dogs barking, rowdy kids, the whole nine yards when it comes to parenting three children, two dogs, and our hamster, Remy. I’m fresh off a camping trip where we took the entire family, except the hamster of course, to the White Mountains, a glorious mountain range in northern New Hampshire.
I famously tell people that October is the only time I don’t travel out of the region. Because here in New England, October is absolutely perfect, crunchy, bright leaves. Chunky sweaters, a cozy cup of hot apple cider with some warm caramel mixed in, and a freshly made cider donut pretty much fill my autumn heart. Last year, I mastered the ultimate pumpkin spice latte recipe at the cafe my husband and I co-own. It uses four whole ounces of pure pumpkin, plus a ton of warm spices and maple syrup mixed in.
And I always tell our customers, you’re basically getting a vegetable serving. After you try it, you’ll say What, Starbucks? But I digress. I think it’s easy to assume that people who run travel companies like me, or have travel podcasts like this one, are traveling all the time. And that was definitely life before settling down, but life is anything but settled now. I’m just as likely to be whipping up a Halloween costume or making a pot roast, as I am to be jetting off to speak at a conference or do a book reading. And honestly, I love this new normal. I have known for a long part of my life that I’m a lover of places. Both the familiar and the new. Over the last month or so, life has been anything but calm.
Towards the middle of September, I went on an epic two and a half week business trip. To quote Wonka, hands down, one of our family favorite movies right now, “Just me, my carry on suitcase and a hat full of dreams”. First, it was the Outdoor Writers Association of America, an event that took us to El Paso, Chihuahua, Mexico, and Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Yes, literally three places. It’s nearly a 100 year old conference that started with the male journalists of hunting and fishing magazines. They actually had an event called the Wives Tea back then, but they don’t anymore. After that, I went to Atlanta for the Center for Responsible Travel’s World Tourism Day Forum.
[00:04:30] Then to a press trip to Kansas City, Missouri, hosted by Wanderful and Visit KC. And finally, to San Diego for a conference called Arrival, focused on in destination experiences and tour guides. I tell you all of this because hitting the road allowed me to connect on a new level with some fellow travel podcasters, like Rick Saez of the Outdoor Adventure Lifestyle podcast.
And Dan Christian of the Travel Trends podcast. And I’ll be honest, I nerded out a bit asking them questions about how they’ve built their podcasts to where they are now. In many ways, I still feel like a baby podcaster, which my producer Bethany hates when I admit. But in a lot of ways, I really feel like I’ve grown in this podcasting thing, too.
Talking with Rick and Dan gave me the chance to actually reflect on how much I have learned about podcasting, and I’ve deeply enjoyed the creation of long form content in this short form content-loving world. To me, it’s peaceful, like for a moment we can all really hear each other. These reflections come at some pivotal moments.
[00:05:38] Here in the United States, we’re operating in a country whose citizens don’t always listen to each other as much as we should. I just heard in the news about FEMA workers being threatened at gunpoint when going house to house for relief efforts, the residents believing that they’re campaign workers.
This is the point we’ve come to, people. It causes me to think about some powerful words uttered by Aziz Abu Sarah at the World Tourism Day Forum, that the most powerful travel that we can do is travel across the street. Sit with that for a moment. Remember that when we’re talking about travel, sure, we’re talking about exciting destinations and funny food adventures.
We’re also talking about making human connection in a world where we need connection more than ever. It’s perhaps here that we should introduce you to our next episode of 85 Percent, a podcast where we’re exploring the pivotal moments that lead to life-altering transformations through travel.
Meet Kim Callender and Arabella Bowen
[00:06:42] Beth: Today, I’m excited to introduce you to two extraordinary women who have not just embraced the unique power of traveling alone, but have turned it into a movement. Kim Callender and Arabella Bowen, the minds behind an app called Solo Traveler, are here to share their stories, not just across countries but within themselves. But what makes their stories so compelling isn’t just the places they’ve been. It’s that inner shift that happens when you step out into the unknown and come back more confident, more sure of who you are. Solo travel for them isn’t just about seeing the world. It’s about reclaiming a piece of yourself in the process.
[00:07:28] In today’s episode, Kim and Arabella will take us through the highs and lows of their own travel journeys, and how those experiences led them to create a platform designed to help more women to explore the world on their own terms. By connecting them with local experts that can give them the advice and the information they need to travel confidently. Their stories remind us that sometimes the biggest adventure begins with simply trusting yourself enough to take the first step. Whether that’s halfway across the world, or just across town, or in this case, literally across the street.
Learning to trust the flow
To illustrate that more effectively, I’m taking you to the busy roads of Hanoi, Vietnam. It’s mid-afternoon, and Arabella Bowen is in possibly the one place she detests most in the world. At least right now. It’s not for any particular reason, except for the fact that she feels like at just about any moment she might die. So that part’s not going very well for her. When she first arrived in Southeast Asia, she moved into a beach house in a small coastal city in central Vietnam called Da Nang.
We use the term small quite loosely here, as the city is home to about one million people. One thing she noticed was that everyone rode bikes everywhere. And in fact, her house came with one. An old women’s cruiser fitted with a basket in the front. No problem, she thought to herself. I can ride a bike. I’ll ride one just like everyone else. But there was one problem that Arabella didn’t anticipate. The traffic.
[00:09:13] Arabella: Ever been to Vietnam, it’s like a massive sea of people biking on mopeds, on cycles. It’s terrifying. It’s terrifying. But I’m still like, okay, but if they can do it, I can do it. And I used to bike all the time and it’s like, I know how to ride a bike. First time I got on a bike. I basically could not figure out how to turn left. And I’m like, there are no stoplights. My first go out like in Da Nang, well, first I got off the bike. Well, then the next day I went, nope, still can’t figure out how to turn left. So I’m just going to go right, right, right, right.
[00:09:45] Beth: If you didn’t pick up on it, the reason Arabella couldn’t turn left was because the traffic was relentless. Seas of people, bicycles, mopeds, and cars all moved with no crosswalks or streetlights. Just a mass of traffic, never stopping to let her in. So Arabella found a way around it. For every left turn she needed to make, she just made three right turns instead. Her short term solution worked for a while, but when she moved to much bigger Hanoi, population 8 million, avoiding the traffic became unavoidable. She knew she was going to need to become one with the traffic at some point. She took a deep breath, clenched the handlebars of her bike and started pedaling.
[00:10:35] Arabella: I just need to trust that the crowd is going to part for me. And I need to not stop in the middle. Just go with the flow. Be calm. The crowd will part. And lo and behold, I turned left and I stayed the course and everybody just, it just, everybody organically moved around me. Wow. And it was the most thrilling thing. And I was like, this is incredible. I did this. Wow. And so I just started biking all over Hanoi and then like I would run into other tourists who were first arrivals and they were like, I don’t know how to cross the road. I’m like, I know you don’t. Follow me. It was so thrilling to see just this organic. movement of everybody. And you realize that like, everybody is actually naturally paying attention to one another in this mass of people.
And it was the most thrilling thing. And I was like, this is incredible. I did this. Wow. And so I just started biking all over Hanoi and then like I would run into other tourists who were first arrivals and they were like, I don’t know how to cross the road. I’m like, I know you don’t. Follow me.
Arabella Bowen
How Kim’s first trip changed everything
She had spent years advocating for women travelers, ensuring their perspectives were included in travel guides, and encouraging women to embrace solo journeys. But it was in the middle of a career shift that she met Kim Callender, A product manager at Google, who had been offered her dream job, and yet felt something was missing. Kim had grown up with a very different life from Arabella. For her, safety was always the first thing to think about before traveling.
[00:11:23] Beth: Travel was always part of the equation for Arabella. Her mom was a seasoned traveler who made her believe that there was no other normal for women. Arabella herself built an impressive career as a guidebook and magazine editor, working for well known brands like Fodor’s, Afar, and the auction company Christie’s.
[00:12:12] Kim: It was really interesting because like up until that point I really had kind of lived my life being like, okay, be safe, be careful, have to have a plan, have to figure it out, have to have a contingency plan, have to know what’s going to happen if it goes wrong, can’t go too far off the plan in the path.
[00:12:27] Beth: It was a trip with her husband to Belize on their first anniversary that threw her whole opinion about safety to the wayside. Not because everything went right, that is, but rather because so much went
[00:12:38] Kim: wrong, too. We planned 10 days in Belize on our lonely planet on a shoestring. This is one of those trips that I think a lot of us who, I haven’t traveled a lot growing up or at least like traveled internationally and big trips and stuff can probably relate to on the first trip of like there’s so much you don’t know you don’t even know what you don’t know.
I went into this trip kind of a little bit rose colored glasses like oh this is great and we’ll travel and we’ll see places and we’ll spend less money doing it.
[00:13:09] Beth: and her husband had followed their guidebooks to a T. They had everything planned out. They knew everything to expect, or at least they thought they did, until they had to take a golf cart taxi over a bridge to get to their hotel and found themselves in a fierce price battle.
[00:13:27] Kim: Because it was one of those islands where there’s two parts to it and there’s a bridge that connects them. You have to go over the bridge. So we get to the bridge and the guy’s like, no, here’s the price. I’m like, that’s not the price. You said the price was this. And he’s like, no, that’s the price. I was just like. No, I’m not getting scammed on my first day and my first trip. I hauled my giant suitcase because first trip, things you don’t realize. You know, one of those like, you can’t fit it in a carry on kind of situation. In their frustration.
[00:13:57] Beth: Kim and her husband split with the driver. Their suitcases have wheels, so they’ll just walk over the bridge, they think to themselves. But the suitcases are heavy and the roads are uneven dirt roads that make the suitcases a lot more difficult to manage. They’re walking through areas they don’t know and feeling less confident about their decision to jump ship. It’s too late. So for the next few minutes, they walk and huff in silence.
[00:14:27] Kim: going, maybe this wasn’t the best idea. And I’m also just kind of kicking myself because I’m like, it’s that feeling, right? Once you get scammed and you’re like, Oh. Didn’t do it right. I screwed up.
[00:14:38] Beth: Shortly after another driver comes up in another golf cart. He pulls over and asks where the couple is headed. They tell him the name of their hotel.
[00:14:48] Kim: And he’s like, I’ll just bring you there. And I was like, how much? Not going to get scammed again. How much? And he’s like, what do you mean how much? Like, those are my friends that live there. Like, just get the golf cart. I’ll bring you there. And he did, it was so lovely. And it was so pleasant, it was just.
In that moment, it almost like broke my understanding of the world because I was like, Oh, things can go wrong and they can go sideways, but also it will generally be okay. We swam with the manta rays, snorkeling and being out on a tiny little boat, did yoga on the beach. Like all these incredible things had the best coconut pancakes in my life.
But the trip wasn’t always perfect either. But we also walked in on a guy who was robbing us and got into a physical fight with him. I came home with like a piece of his shorts. All of that happened. I ended up getting bit on my foot by, I still have no idea what it is, but it basically like bumped out the bottom of my foot to like half a golf ball.
[00:15:48] Beth: Despite the fact that this trip was everything but what Kim expected, that point of its own, that you never really know what to expect, stayed with her.
[00:15:58] Kim: But this was the first time that, you know, so many things happened that just broke the plan that I was put in this position for like one of the first times, figure it out and trust myself. It showed me that there is like another way that you can live your life. You can either be safe, be cautious, be careful, and always have a plan for everything. Or you can give yourself the knowledge and you can learn the things to prepare yourself and then trust yourself that when you go out there. You will figure it out because we are competent people. And for me, that was just, it was revolutionary because I would never have started this startup. If I didn’t have that trust in myself.
You can either be safe, cautious, careful, and always have a plan for everything. Or you can give yourself the knowledge and you can learn the things to prepare yourself and then trust that when you go out there you will figure it out.
Kim Callender
[00:18:36] Beth: Kim felt her dream life at Google on pause, but that pause also gave her time to reflect on some of the other things she was noticing about the world, like the lessons she learned from that trip, for example, or the fact that she kept noticing that so many women wanted to travel alone, but were held back by fears, societal expectations, or a lack of resources.
The Birth of SoloTrvlr
The conversation was not just about Wanderlust. It was about courage, confidence, and overcoming the narratives that tell women to be cautious at every turn. The data was striking. A significant number of women longed for solo adventures, yet only a fraction had taken the leap. It became clear to Kim that there was an opportunity to create something more.
[00:19:21] Something that empowered women to travel safely, confidently, and on their own terms. And with that realization, she made a bold decision to turn down her dream job at Google. And instead launched Solo Traveller, an app that connects women with local experts to help them navigate their solo travels. When Kim reached out to Arabella, the timing felt serendipitous.
Together, they saw the potential for something transformative. The travel industry had been hard hit by the pandemic. But in the disruption, they saw a chance to rebuild differently for them. It wasn’t just about filling a gap in the market. It was about changing how women experience the world one solo journey at a time.
[00:20:09] Kim: So we started in 2021 in the height of the pandemic. I was working at Google and that winter is what we referred to in London as the dark winter. Everything was shut. I started having conversations with women about travel. We’re all stuck in one place and. We couldn’t go anywhere and I found everyone was willing to talk to me about it. The stories that kept coming up over and over again were about traveling alone, about this dichotomy that comes up of like the high highs and the accomplishments and confidence that you come back with.
All of those things of navigating these situations. I was hearing stories all over the world from all different time periods, women of all ages, but then it’s also the challenges. Just like the challenges of overcoming that narrative of like, be safe, be careful. And You know, even the fears that we actually have, but like we do have to be mindful. I just found it to be this really interesting problem space and then digging into the data side of it. For me, it was about seeing that opportunity and talking to women. Kind of seeing this space and this trend happening of more women going. But also more women who wanted to go and in different ways.
It wouldn’t always be like this big eat, pray, love, quit your job and go travel. I always thought I was the odd person out because I love traveling on my own. Love wandering through a city on my own for like a day or two even. I would build this into my work trip. It doesn’t matter if you have kids. It doesn’t matter what age you are. We all kind of crave to have this little bit of space to ourselves in the world. Coming in as a startup, you have some advantages. You are small, you are scrappy. If I’m going to do this, it actually has to be now when the industry has made space for things to work differently. For new stuff to come up.
[00:21:59] Arabella: By the time we got together in 2021, that’s where things were, people were starting to travel again.
[00:22:06] Kim: We wanted to build something that would actually. Change the way we travel and make it better to do that. We needed to make it a lot cheaper and we need to make it a lot bigger.
[00:22:17] Arabella: As someone who has been in the travel space for a long time. Building websites, I did not want to do an ad-supported business. So coming up with a solution. Gives travelers what they need.
[00:22:31] Kim: It’s not talk down with people being dropped in and saying, here’s how you should do this. It’s more about finding those people who have really interesting, unique perspectives and enabling access to those people. It’s not like someone is putting you on a package tour. And I think there is a time and a place for that, but When you do that, you’re essentially giving up your autonomy. You’re following someone else’s script and this is enabling you to inject yourself into that script and say, here’s what I like. You who knows the place, what do you think? You get a strong pointed perspective and then you get to choose.
Rediscovering Yourself Through Solo Travel
[00:23:10] Beth: The power of solo travel extends far beyond just seeing new places. It can completely transform the way women see themselves. Arabella shared how so many women return from their trips with a renewed sense of purpose, often making life-altering decisions like changing careers or ending relationships.
There’s something profound about navigating the world on your own that builds an unshakable confidence. It’s not just the adventure itself, but the deep sense of self trust that grows along the way. Those experiences stay with you, shaping your perspective and choices long after the trip is over. Kim reflects on a simpler yet equally impactful part of solo travel, the joy of eating alone.
It’s not just acceptable, it’s a delight. Sitting at a quaint cafe in Paris with a small glass of wine, watching the world go by. Allows women to simply be an experience that can be rare in the busyness of daily life. These moments of stillness and solitude create space for reflection and contentment.
Looking ahead, Kim and Arabella envision a world where solo travel doesn’t have to mean far-flung destinations or grand adventures. It can be as simple as going to the next town over or trying a new cafe in your own city. The goal is to encourage women to create those moments of independence and self-discovery, no matter the distance.
[00:24:40] Whether it’s a short trip to a nearby bed and breakfast or an ambitious journey to a distant border. The magic lies in choosing yourself and embracing the freedom to explore at your own pace.
[00:24:52] Arabella: The number of women that have said, oh my God, I just came back from this trip and I decided to change my job. I just came back from this trip and I decided to break up with my partner. You wind up doing things on your own. And by simple virtue of doing them on your own, you wind up with all this innate confidence and you come home feeling like you can just do anything. The personal rewards last a lifetime.
[00:25:20] Kim: Eating alone can be fun, not just it’s okay, but eating alone can actually be so enjoyable.
You can sit there with a book or your email or just watching people. There is almost nothing better in this world than sitting at one of those little cafe tables and just having like the short little glasses of wine they do because they’re never really full glass of wine. They’re just like a little glass of wine.
Whatever your food of choice is and just sitting there and watching the world go by and you can just be, how many opportunities do we as women have in the world to just be, when I look at kind of the five years down the road, what I would love to have created is. A way to step out there and do the things you want to do regardless and wherever. If you don’t have a passport, maybe that’s too far. Maybe going to another country is too far. Maybe going to the other side of the country is too far. But what about going to the other side of the town that you live in? What about going one town over, what about taking yourself to lunch at a place you’ve never been to?
What about actually having a conversation with someone who lives in one town over? And then maybe from there, you go and take yourself on an overnight trip for a weekend at a little B&B that’s 20 minutes down the road. It doesn’t have to be far to create that space. And I think that’s one of the things I really want to kind of, change about the way we look at solo travel is it doesn’t have to be this really far difficult to attain thing. It can be, you can want to go to Borneo and travel to Silveroad. But you can also just start with choosing yourself in small moments.
[00:27:05] Beth: If you want a little more solo travel inspo, you definitely need to check out the solo traveler app. They’ve got local experts in 75 cities. And they’re going to create a travel service that puts women front and center, rather than where we’ve historically been on the sidelines. And did I mention it’s the winner of the 2024 Startup of the Year Award at the Bessies?
Lessons Learned from Kim Callender and Arabella Bowen’s Story
A huge thank you to Kim Callender and Arabella Bowen for taking the time to share their stories with us. I cannot wait to see what’s ahead for you both. As we wrap up, let’s take a moment to reflect on some key takeaways from our conversation.
1. Solo travel isn’t just about going somewhere alone
[00:27:42] Number one, solo travel isn’t just about going somewhere alone. It’s about giving yourself time and space for personal growth. Both Kim and Arabella shared that solo travel is more than just a way to explore new places. It’s a transformative journey of self-discovery. Many women return from their travels with a newfound confidence, making bold life changes like switching careers or ending relationships.
[00:28:11] That act of navigating unfamiliar places on your own builds a trust in yourself that can carry into all aspects of life, offering personal rewards that last long after the trip ends.
2. Small Moments of Solitude Matter
Kim emphasized that the joy of solo travel isn’t always about grand adventures or distant places. Sometimes it’s about something as simple as sitting alone at a cafe, savoring the moment, and letting the world pass by. These small moments of solitude create a sense of peace and clarity, allowing women to just be. Something we often don’t give ourselves permission to do in our everyday lives.
3. You don’t have to go far for a transformative solo trip
Number three, you don’t have to go far for a transformative solo trip. The idea of solo travel doesn’t have to mean crossing continents. Kim and Arabella encourage women to think of it as an opportunity to carve out space for themselves. Wherever they are, whether it’s exploring a new neighborhood, having lunch in a new place, or taking a short trip to a nearby town, the key is to choose yourself and embrace the independence that comes with stepping outside of your routine. It’s about creating those small, powerful moments of freedom, wherever you may be.
Learn more about SoloTrvlr
If you want to learn more about SoloTrvlr, you can check out their website. SoloTrvlr, that’s T R V L R dot com. Or on Instagram under @solotrvlrapp.
Our Community WanderStory
[00:29:47] Beth: So now I know this is the time that we share our community Wander Story, which is one of my most favorite parts of 85 Percent. This week though, I want to do things a little bit differently. We’re talking about travel, and solo travel, in its life changing manifestations. We are talking about how the most powerful travel you can do is travel up the street.
We’re talking about how two people can approach travel so differently, and yet become partners in one central mission to create a platform that helps so many more women travel the world. But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the international context here. The fact that, while we’re discussing the fun and the flavor of travel, The moments of self learning that come from having a glass of wine at a Parisian cafe. The reality is that there’s a much bigger thing here that travel can do. It can create peace. I recently received a WhatsApp message from Nada and Joelle of TourLeb. You may remember them from Episode 5 of our first season. The episode was called Respectful Tourism. Nada and Joelle created a tour company that aimed to not just showcase the beauty and culture of Lebanon, but to reframe Lebanon as a tourist destination.
[00:31:03] Something that they deserved as much as they needed. What I didn’t tell you is that earlier this year, Tourleb launched a new wonderful hub. They hosted an amazing party with food and music and flowing drink. They had nearly 75 attendees from around Lebanon’s travel and tourism industry come out. Lebanon is certainly in a different place than where it was back in May. But I wanted to take you back to a specific part of Episode 5, when they talked about how Torleb got its start, upon discovery of the beautiful coexistence of two of the world’s biggest religions over and over again in their home country.
I think you’ll find it interesting, in light of current events, how the story of travel across the street seems to re enter today’s episode, time and again.
[00:31:52] Joelle: Nada and I met almost 20 years ago, um, give or take 12 years ago, Nada, in 2006 actually, Nada was filming in Lebanon, it was after the Israeli, Or on Lebanon of 33 days, another was filming the aftermath and I don’t know why she noticed as if for the first time in her life, a mosque and a church to one another. And she’s like, Oh, let’s do a photography book, two pages of all the places where in Lebanon you have a mosque and a church to show people. Because at the time we were living in Canada. And people in Canada were, yeah, Muslims, Christians, you hate each other. You always kill each other. And she came back and she’s like, let’s do this.
And we, we said, great idea. The project quickly evolved from a 20 pages photography book to almost 1000 pages of a full project encompassing a photo exhibit, a documentary, um, a big coffee book table and local. stories. We traveled throughout the country from extreme north to extreme south, talking to people on the street. We didn’t take any appointments, we didn’t talk to officials. And didn’t go into that political discourse. And we took the oral stories of how Christians and Muslims live together. beyond political and religious divides. These oral stories gave us a completely different take of Lebanon. We launched the project in Canada in 10 in Montreal.
[00:33:09] And from there, people, foreigners and Lebanese expats living in Canada for ages started coming to us and telling us, hold on, I want to go to page 250. I didn’t know we had that in Lebanon. Take me with you on your next trip. And this is how Tole started. In 2013, we took the name of Tole, we took the logo, you know, we like branded ourselves. And in September 20, 23, 10 years.
[00:33:32] Beth: You can imagine the pain it felt to receive a message from Nada and Joelle. That business has ground to a halt while Lebanon becomes a war zone swallowed in the deadly and awful Israeli and Palestinian conflict. So many lives have been destroyed in all three places and more. Nada and Joelle are doing what they can to scrape things together to help others, including women owned businesses in the area and local nonprofit endeavors. In the show notes, you’ll be able to find information about how you can help, and I strongly urge you to do so. This is a big issue, but each of us has an opportunity to do something about it.
Our Next Episode features Zina Bencheikh
[00:34:14] Beth: Thanks for taking the time to listen. In our next episode, we’re having our final interview of the season with a woman who has changed an entire country for the better. Get ready to meet Intrepid Travel’s Zina Bencheikh, who has not only completely rebuilt the tour guide industry in her home country of Morocco, But she’s made huge waves in changing how women can get certified and build reliable incomes as tour guides around the world. But it was a trip to Saudi Arabia that challenged this seasoned traveler and taught her more about herself than she thought possible. This and more, coming to you next.
[00:34:51] Zina: How women are taking charge of the tourism industry. They are. And I think this is the difference, is they gave the opportunity. For women to work as guides to work first, full stop.
[00:27:25] Beth: Thank you so much for listening to 85 Percent. Make sure if you want to follow along this journey, you hit that subscribe button wherever you get your podcasts so you can keep up with new episodes every week as they drop. Of course, we want you to follow along online as well. Or you can follow me on Instagram at @MaximumBeth. Catch you next time. Safe travels, everyone.
About the 85 Percent Podcast
Women make 85% of travel decisions. So why are we not 85% of travel marketing?
85 Percent explores what it means to be a woman in travel through interviews with leading women in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries.
From CEOs, to travel influencers and writers, to women who work in cleaning and maintenance, we’re cutting into the underbelly of an industry that is predominantly made of women, but still fails to include them, and is hosted by Beth Santos, founder of leading women’s travel network, Wanderful.
About the Host, Beth Santos
Beth Santos is a passionate entrepreneur and community builder out to disrupt travel for women worldwide. She is founder and CEO of Wanderful, an international collective of travelers and travel content creators on a mission to make travel better for all women. She is the creator of the WITS Travel Creator Summit, a leading event for women and gender diverse travel creators, the annual Bessie Awards to honor women of impact in travel, and the first major outdoor travel festival by and for women, Wanderfest.
Beth has been named one of 17 changemakers shaping the future of the travel industry by Business Insider, one of 12 women to follow by Conde Nast Traveller, and one of 20 influential women in the travel industry by Travel Pulse. In 2022, she was named Godmother of the Azamara Onward cruise ship.
She is the author of WANDER WOMAN: How to Reclaim Your Space, Find Your Voice, and Travel the World, Solo and works to amplify underrepresented voices in travel while challenging each of us to do better in her work as a keynote speaker, an industry consultant, and a startup and small business coach. At home she is a co-owner of Ula Cafe, an inspired cafe and community hub in the Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plain, where she lives with her husband and children.
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