Meet Women Travelers in Austin, Phoenix, Vancouver, New York, and Seattle!

Wanderful’s strength is in our community of adventurous, independent, and globally minded women from around the world.

We gather online for monthly #Wanderful Twitter chats, share our travel tips in our global Facebook group, share our homes with each other abroad, and connect face-to-face through our global chapters. And at the annual Women in Travel Summit, influencers, creators, and industry executives come together for a weekend of professional growth and sisterhood.

And we love it when we get to expand our community to new places (or revisit ones we haven’t been in a while).

So, we’re excited to announce the creation of our 22nd, 23rd, and 24th global chapters in Austin, Phoenix, and Vancouver. We’re also incredibly excited to announce the re-launch of two of our veteran chapters in New York and Seattle.

We are jetsetters, expats, and young (or young at heart), professional, globally minded women. We believe in getting involved in the world around us, whether through travel, volunteering, or global awareness — and we believe in the power of an internationally connected community to do it.

Join us in these five cities (and around the world) for coffee dates, lectures, workshops, dinners out, and other things for women globetrotters.

Find a chapter in your city or start your own here!

Wanderful Austin

Austin is the eclectic capital city of Texas — proudly serving the slogan “Keep Austin Weird.” It’s also the fastest growing city out of the 50 largest cities in the country!

We love our Tex-Mex and BBQ, but even more so, we love live music. Home to ACL and SXSW, Austin is the Live Music Capital of the World.

With lakes, rivers, and the Greenbelt intertwining through and surrounding the city, Austin is gorgeous and lush. Plus, the city is able to keep a small-town feel through local bars, restaurants, and farmer’s markets.

Austin definitely attracts adventurous souls, aka: so many awesome female explorers. We are so excited to be starting a Wanderful chapter here!

About the organizer: Alysha Kaye Mendez

Alysha Kaye Mendez is a high school English teacher, blogger, and freelancer in Austin, TX. She self-published her first novel, The Waiting Room and is working on her second novel when she can, in between her travels. She’s keeping her number of countries visited even with her age!

See Wanderful Austin’s upcoming events!

Wanderful Phoenix

With more than 4.5 million people living in the Valley of the Sun, there’s more to this desert oasis than meets the eye.

Home to one of the largest city parks in the US (South Mountain National Park), a bustling international airport (voted the USA’s #1 airport for 2016), and coming in second to only San Francisco in the US for tech job growth, the vibrant metropolis of Phoenix, Arizona makes for the perfect home to one of the newest Wanderful chapters.

About the organizer: Carrie Niesen

Carrie is a social commerce entrepreneur, international educator, and communications + marketing professional. Midwestern raised and Phoenix based, Carrie enjoys the heck out of her day job, convincing university students to study abroad who haven’t yet discovered international travel.

Married to a Mexican immigrant, she often switches between English and Spanish on the fly and is on a perpetual quest for the best taco (verdict: hasn’t eaten enough). When she’s not working or planning her next trip, you can find her scoping out a new craft brewery with her husband, perusing local markets, or behind a karaoke mic.

About the organizer: Tiffany Harrison

Tiffany Harrison is determined the live of the life of an active time traveler.

Until a TARDIS or DeLorean becomes available for rent, she fulfills her passion for student travel and international education as the communications manager for the US division of STA Travel. She is responsible for all internal/external communications, and expanding the STA Travel audience through partnership management and overseeing STA Travel’s Student Ambassador Program.

When she isn’t dreaming of her next travel destination, she can be found obsessing about all things related to Jane Austen, Doctor Who, and Scotland.

See Wanderful Phoenix’s upcoming events!

Wanderful Vancouver

It’s no question why Vancouver is consistently ranked one of the world’s most livable cities. With its rugged beaches, lush parks, scenic bike paths, and stunning mountain views in every direction, staying indoors is basically impossible for nature lovers. Combined with unique neighborhoods, mouthwatering food scene, and craft breweries, this city’s got something for everyone.

For those of us lucky enough to call Vancouver home, we can’t wait to connect through our brand new Wanderful chapter and to share our beautiful city with fellow travelers.

About the organizer: Monique Gottlieb

Travel and adventure have always been a big part of Monique’s life. Originally from Toronto, she moved to Vancouver to be closer to the mountains, and she spends every moment she can hiking up them, skiing down them, enjoying sunrises from their summits and bathing in their crystal-clear lakes.

Having traveled quite a bit through North America, Europe, and the Middle East, she came across Wanderful while looking for inspiration for her first long-term solo adventure, which turned out to be seven life-changing months in South America. Now that she’s back, she’s very excited to bring together adventurous and inspiring women to build Vancouver’s Wanderful community.

When she isn’t busy working or lost in the mountains, you can most likely find Monique running along the seawall, sharing a bottle of Argentinian Malbec with friends, or exploring her creative side at a local coffee shop.

See Wanderful Vancouver’s upcoming events!

Wanderful New York

For visitors and residents, “the city that never sleeps” never lacks for sights, museums, restaurants, activities, or entertainment. It’s no wonder that last year, over 60 million tourists visited New York City!

Besides the magnificent Manhattan, NYC includes the wonderfully diverse and historical boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Staten Island.

Wanderful New York is a wonderfully energetic fun group of women who are both long-time residents as well as new transplants to this infamous city, ready to take on travel adventures both at home and abroad. Come join us as we rediscover NYC together!

About the organizer: Beeni Jacob

Beeni’s first international travel experience was when she moved from South India to New York at the age of 10. This began her lifelong love for travel. Beeni schedules her year around her travels, and is often found creating spreadsheets for her next trip.

Since graduating from Brown University in Technology Management & Entrepreneurship, she’s taken on numerous roles in startups, sales, business development, software consulting, and product management. She’s currently a project manager in Midtown Manhattan, while also a part-time trip planner for her family trip-planning business, Javian Travels, for travelers to South Asia.

Her favorite destinations are Jaisalmer, Rajasthan and Dubrovnik, Croatia. She’s excited to build the Wanderful brand in the city that truly never sleeps — New York City!

See Wanderful New York’s upcoming events!

Wanderful Seattle

Seattle is an outdoor lover’s dream, surrounded with mountains and the water. There’s no shortage of activity to participate in, from skiing, hiking, kayaking, and standup paddle boarding (to name a few). Foodies will also love all the fresh seafood the city has to offer. And don’t forget to try one of our many microbreweries while you’re here!

About the organizer: Marissa Pedersen

Marissa is a travel blogger from Seattle who loves all things outdoors. From scuba diving in the Dominican Republic to snowmobiling on a glacier, you can find her outside when she travels. She loves meeting new people from all around the world.

See Wanderful Seattle’s upcoming events!