Finding women-owned spots when you travel

+ our book has finally arrived!

In today’s newsletter: our new book and tips for finding women-owned spots when traveling. Thank you to our paid subscribers! With your paid subscriptions we’ve supported incredible non-profits, including the Lilith Fund, World Central Kitchen, Refugio Animal Holbox, Womankind, Girls Write Now, Women for Women, Heart of Dinner, and Black Mamas Matter. If you’ve found your way here but are not yet subscribed, here, let me help you with that:

---

In Unearth Women’s new book—which officially hits bookstores TODAY!— we offer an exhaustive guide to women’s travel with tips covering everything from solo travel to trip planning. But beyond expert-curated travel advice, Wanderess is really an extension of our Feminist City Guides and focuses on showing travelers how to both connect with and support women globally.

Whether you’re solo traveling in Buenos Aires, taking the kiddos to London, or on a honeymoon in Paris—we truly believe that travelers are uniquely positioned to support women. Not only can your dollars go a long way in supporting local women-owned businesses; but your social media platforms can be used to amplify women’s stories. Short of picking up our book (shameless plug), there are a few additional ways to search for women-owned businesses ahead of your travels.

It may seem obvious, but the first place you should start your search is, of course, the internet. If you’re headed to, say, New York City, you can start with a simple Google search of “women-owned businesses in NYC.” Both Google Maps and Yelp started labeling women-owned businesses with a special badge, making it easy to spot restaurants and shops that have a woman at the helm. Your best bet is to focus on a specific neighborhood. For example, search “women-owned restaurants in Midtown Manhattan” in Google Maps. This search will show you a list of businesses in the area that identify as women-owned.

Another great way to find women-owned businesses is to speak with local women and other female-identifying travelers. Consider joining women’s travel groups, like Girls Love Travel or Wanderful, which offer a worldwide network of women bonded by a passion for globetrotting. Ahead of your trip, you can post to the groups asking for recommendations on women-owned businesses to visit.

Women-Owned is an initiative managed by non-profits, The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and WEConnect International. The mission of the initiative is to fuel economic growth by sparking a consumer movement to shop women-owned businesses. One of the ways they do this is by building an ever-growing directory of women-owned businesses across the United States. The directory includes everything from women-owned beauty and spa businesses to clothing boutiques and restaurants.

Another great way to look for women-owned businesses is to discover them on social media. Your best bet is to look up hashtags like #womenowned, #femtreprenuer, and #femaleowned on Instagram. While it may be tricky to pinpoint women-owned businesses in a specific location, you can definitely use this to discover female entrepreneurs and businesses to support.

Whether you’re a fan of booking stays on Airbnb or not, you should check out their Experiences page for a slew of locally-run activities that run the gamut from cooking classes to walking tours. We’ve also found that Airbnb Experiences is an awesome place to discover women-led walking tours and other experiences that will help you discover female cooks, women’s history, female artists, and so much more. For some of our favorite women-led walking tours on Airbnb, see our story.

Unearth Women is home to 30+ recently updated Feminist City Guides that cover a range of cities, from Los Angeles to Bangkok. Each guide shares some of our favorite women-owned businesses, restaurants, and hotels to support. Visit our guides and, if you don’t see the city you’re looking for, send us an email!

Euphoria, spicy mushroom quesadillas, and a book recommendation

READ Wish You Were Here by Jodie Picoult, which tells the story of an ambitious 30-something New York woman who thinks she has her life perfectly planned out until she finds herself stranded in the Galapagos during COVID. With a twist I definitely did not see coming, this book is as absorbing as it is profound.

WATCH Euphoria, which I know I’m about a thousand years late to be recommending (as it’s already in its second season and has won Emmy awards). For some reason, I didn’t jump on the Euphoria bandwagon when it first came out, despite a myriad of stellar reviews. This winter, I started watching it and am blown away by the narration, impeccable story-telling, and creative risks this show takes.

Be fair-warned, the show is a very raw, dark, and at times controversial depiction of what it’s like to be a teenager today. Navigating themes of sexuality, body imagery, social media, drugs, and more—the show comes a long way from the sanitized and filtered high school shows of my teenage days.

COOK this spicy mushroom quesadilla, which is so damn easy to make and super flavorful. If you’re thinking this looks good but where the hell are you going to find chipotle chili paste—don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.

---

e-mail me | find me on twitter | follow me on instagram | send me your feedback