Traveling While Sober with Eileen Tull

This week we’re addressing a travel perspective that we rarely hear about: traveling while sober. Chicago-based arts educator and storyteller Eileen Tull recently returned from a solo trip to Paris. It was her first time abroad as a sober traveler and an even more unique situation given France’s deep-rooted wine culture. Eileen shares the story of her unexpectedly extended journey (thanks, airlines!), but also details her tactics for traveling as a person in recovery. We learn ways to support  travel partners who are in recovery and discuss the importance of boundary setting. And we can’t forget Eileen’s adventures on French Tinder (oh la la!) and how Harrison Ford is quite possibly the best coping mechanism for the travel weary.

 

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Meet Eileen Tull, Independent Adventurer and Sober Traveler

This week’s guest is Eileen Tull, an arts educator, storyteller, and one-woman-show person, who speaks to us about traveling while sober. She has performed throughout the country, from San Francisco to New York City, including in the SF Fringe, New Seeds Festival, United Solo, the Cincy Fringe, the Minnesota Fringe Festival, and the Dallas Solo Festival. Her work has been seen all over Chicago in theatres, bookstores, art galleries, bars and other non-traditional spaces. Eileen co-curates Sappho’s Salon at Women and Children First bookstore, a semi-monthly performance series for female-identifying artists exploring gender, sexuality, and feminism. She is a drama instructor with the Chicago Park District, and her work as a creative activist was recognized by The White House in 2016.

Let’s learn more about Eileen!

1) What was your first trip?

My family and I used to travel down to Florida every Christmas, so that’s the first travelling I remember doing. Our enormous family would cram into a van and road trip straight down from Ohio. We would take over a small area near St. Petersburg called Pass-a-Grille and go to beach, catch lizards, and eat lots of oranges.

2) Who’s been your best travel companion?

Hm, honestly I’ve mostly traveled either with my family or by myself. It’s been nice to travel with family members as adults, not kids all packed into a car. My brother, sister, and I took a pretty magical trip to Orlando a few years ago where we spent one day at Disneyworld and one day at an international Star Wars convention. A life highlight.

3) What are three things you always take with you when you travel?

Extra headphones, tennis shoes, too many books I don’t end up reading.

4) What’s your favorite souvenir you’ve acquired?

I like to buy jewelry when I travel. I was in Dallas for a solo performance festival where I was doing my one woman show about Harrison Ford movies, and our theater was on the State Fair grounds. There was a mini-fair going on and I wandered into one of the booths. The woman there was selling some gorgeous jewelry, and I picked out a pair of earrings with little pressed sunflowers. I told her what I was doing in town and she very excitedly told me that her niece just met Harrison Ford in Wyoming at a gymnastics meet and that the two of us meeting must be fate or cosmic timing, this Harrison Ford connection and she took a selfie with me to put on her website and gave me a discount for the earrings, so win-win?

5) Give us one reason why you travel.

I love exploring what it’s like to live in another place. While I like doing touristy things, I really love the corner shops, the dives, the coffee shops, the things that really make you feel like you’re living somewhere day to day. I also think it’s important to leave where you’re comfortable and try something new. It makes you appreciate home more. I always say, everyone should leave Chicago at least once, just so you get to come back.

 

Traveling as a Comedian with Stand-Up Comic Mona Aburmishan

 

Comedian Mona Aburmishan

This week’s guest is Chicago-based comedian Mona Aburmishan.  Mona discusses how she came to travel the globe as a comic and how she uses comedy as an instrument for unity and peace. Her Palestinian-American background and her work in international development give her observational humor a global spin that is often missing from mainstream comedy.

Mona recently returned from Dubai where she headlined Comedy Central Presents for Comedy Central Arabia. Visit www.monacomedy.com to see where you can catch Mona performing next.

Subscribe and listen on Podbean, Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcatcher.

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and join our Facebook community of like-minded women travelers!

You can also follow XX, Will Travel on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

 

Meet Comedian Mona Aburmishan

Comedian Mona Aburmishan

We are thrilled to host this week’s guest, comedian Mona Aburmishan who tells us what it’s like to travel as a comedian and perform around the world.

Mona has performed, emceed, and produced comedy shows, competitions and events in major clubs, theaters and universities around the world. In addition to comedy, Mona is a sought-after speaker in various socio-political topics in the United States and the Middle East.

Mona has a Master’s in International Development and is fluent in English, German and Arabic. Having lived and performed in Europe, The Middle East, and Africa, Mona uses her global insight and perspectives as well as her homegrown Chicago-style to offer a fresh look at the funny that’s all around us. 

Recently Mona headlined Comedy Central Arabia’s latest Season 2 Premier “Stand Up Al Waggif” filmed on location in Dubai, UAE. She was the first female to headline this groundbreaking series produced by Viacom.

Mona is currently touring across the country and headed for the U.K., Middle East & South Africa this spring 2018.

Visit monacomedy.com for more detailed information on Mona and upcoming performances and tune in to our interview when it drops this Wednesday, March 28th.

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Travel in Movies and Film

Hollywood sign at Nick Metropolis Collectible Furniture in Los Angeles, CA

Just in time for the Oscars, it’s our episode on travel and film! We asked for your favorite movies that were either travel-themed or inspired you to take a trip and you answered with more than 200 movies and TV shows. We count down your top 10, discuss our faves and give our takes on the most wanderlust-worthy Academy Award nominees, past and present. Kathy also recounts her 2016 trip to Los Angeles, California for Oscar weekend. (For the full story, check out our episode on LA.)

You can listen on Podbean, Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcatcher.

The Cutaways

And we can’t forget our special guests! The Cutaways are a dynamic duo of lady podcasters/filmmakers from LA. They watch one rom-com a week in chronological order and then break it down on their podcast. Co-host Justine Gendron joins us to share her top three travel-themed rom-coms.

Travel journalist Gretchen Kelly

We also welcome travel journalist and set-jetting expert Gretchen Kelly of Extreme Luxury Getaways. Gretchen has written extensively on the phenomenon of set-jetting, or visiting locations where movies and TV shows are filmed, for Forbes.com, the New York Post, Frommers.com, and more. She also gives suggestions on where to go to see the real-life settings of your favorite films and shows.

 

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New York Times List of 52 Places to Go in 2018

Here we go again! It’s our third annual review of the New York Times list of 52 Place to Go in 2018. Listen as we rant about where we’ve been, where we’d like to go and how (or how not) to use the list to plan your next travel destination. We also discuss the selection of the Times’ first 52 Places correspondent, Jada Yuan, who was selected from more than 13,000 applicants.

For more information on some of the places covered in the list, check out these past episodes:

Cambodia

Costa Rica

Baja Mexico

Iceland

Disney

New Zealand

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Writing Great Fiction Based on Real Travels with Gina Frangello, Author of A Life in Men

Chicago writer Gina Frangello, the author of Every Kind of Wanting and A Life in Men (one of our personal faves!), sets her novels in locations around the world, and the theme of travel as self-exploration runs deep. We talk to Gina about how travel affects her as a writer and as a woman, as well as some of techniques she uses to incorporate it into her writing. We also discuss how Gina came from a family who never traveled to someone who explores the markets of Nairobi with her daughters in tow. PS: Have you heard of Bombay Beach, California? Gina talks about her recent trip to the post-apocalyptic beach town with its own dead sea.

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Meet Gina Frangello, Author of Every Kind of Wanting & A Life in Men

This week’s guest is writer Gina Frangello, the author of Every Kind of Wanting and A Life in Men. Much of Gina’s work takes place in locations around the world, and the theme of travel as self-exploration runs deep throughout her novels.  Learn more about Gina after the jump and listen to the episode on Wednesday to discover how travel affects her as a writer and as a woman, as well as techniques she uses to incorporate travel into her writing.

2018 Travel Goals and Listener Questions

It’s back! Our annual episode on 2018 travel goals and resolutions is here. Listeners sent us what they wanted to accomplish, travel-wise, in the coming year and we have tips on how to help them achieve it. We cover (more) budget issues, tell you our favorite savings apps, cheap ways to save on accommodation like housesitting, pet sitting and couch surfing, give you info on workaway options, suggest some road trips routes,  share our secrets for maximizing your vacation days, and tackle destinations like Amsterdam, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, river boat cruises on the Mississippi, New Zealand, Guadalupe, Argentina, Alaska, the Finger Lakes Region, Turkey, Montreal and much more! Plus, we share our own travel plans for the year ahead.

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S3E7: Traveling in Santa Fe, New Mexico

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-k96xx-8028a9

Land of Enchantment or Land of Entrapment? New Mexico is one of the most beautiful states in the country and its capital, Santa Fe, is buzzing with one of the nation’s largest art scene, breathtaking scenery and rich history. We discuss everything there is to love about Santa Fe including hard-to-describe Meow Wolf, the monastic experience of Ojo Caliente spa, the Native American resistance in Taos Pueblo, the non-existent nightlife, and more!

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