Unpacked by Afar | Travel Smarter, More Responsibly

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From Bomba to Bad Bunny: Searching for the Sounds of Puerto Rico May 30, 2024

Show notes

Puerto Rico has had a huge impact on the world's music scene, in comparison to its size. And on this week's episode, host Aislyn Greene travels to the island to find out why. She explores bomba and plena, two of the earliest forms of music that emerged from Puerto Rico’s African ancestors. Discovers jibaro music, or “hillbilly” music, though this style of music is incredibly complex and improvisational. Found the source of danza music, watched salsa musicians urge people to their feet, and met with reggaetón artists.

And though we couldn’t possibly capture all of the complexities of the island’s music in one episode, we hope it does reveal what she found: a place that is singularly committed to art and music. As one of her guides, Nory, put it: “We are artisans, we are painters, we are all musicians. That’s actually the identity of a Puerto Rican.”

Meet this week’s guests

Margarita “Tata” Cepeda, owner of Puerto Rico Is Bomba, a dance and music school
Maribel Martinez, guide at House of the Troubadour Luis Miranda “Pico de Oro”
Melina Aguillar, owner of Isla Caribe Tours
Norymar Maldonado, Isla Caribe tour guide
Angelina Villapiano Luna, musician, dancer, and salsa teacher
Petra Rivera Rideau, author of Remixing Reggaetón: The Cultural Politics of Race in Puerto Rico
RaiNao, urbano musician
Herson Guerrero, professor, photographer, and musician

Resources

Read the full transcript of the episode.
Listen to the playlist.
Read Petra's Bad Bunny Syllabus
Listen to the La Brega podcast.
Explore club 58 at La Concha resort.
Follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss an episode.
Subscribe to Afar’s YouTube channel for a full video of the conversation.

Be sure to subscribe to the show and to sign up for our podcast newsletter, Behind the Mic, where we share upcoming news and behind-the-scenes details of each episode. And explore our second podcast, Travel Tales, which celebrates first-person narratives about the way travel changes us.

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Live Snakes, Birkin Bags, Hoverboards, and More: Life Inside the Store That Sells Lost Luggage May 23, 2024

Show notes

What happens to suitcases that can’t be reunited with their owners? It’s not something we think about that often, but for Bryan Owens, it’s an entire business. He’s the CEO and now-owner of the Scottsboro, Alabama–based Unclaimed Baggage, the only store in the United States that sells lost luggage. As you’ll hear in today’s episode, his dad launched the business more than 50 years ago with an old Chevy pickup and $300. And now the business stocks more than 7,000 new items a day.

The company recently released its first annual Found Report, a deep dive into the more than 2 million items that came through its doors in 2023, including including the aforementioned live snakes and fancy handbags. Host Aislyn Greene talks with Bryan about where these bags come from, how the company makes decisions about what to sell and, more interestingly, what it does with everything else: Donations and partnerships with organizations like Wheels for the World are critical to its mission.

Meet this week’s guest

Bryan Owens, CEO and owner of Unclaimed Baggage

Resources

Read the full transcript of the episode.
Check out Unclaimed Baggage.
Follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss an episode.
Subscribe to Afar’s YouTube channel for a full video of the conversation.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Way (Way, Way) Better Way to Book Travel Using Points and Miles May 16, 2024

Show notes

It’s easier than ever to earn travel points and (sometimes) miles through credit cards and loyalty programs. But when it comes to actually using those points to book travel, things can get complicated. While there are people out there who love to geek out about those complications, it’s not for everyone. Enter companies like Award Magic, which uses their expertise to book award travel using your hard-earned points. In this week’s episode, Award Magic owner and CEO shares shares his backstory (shocker: he was a math teacher), his vision for the business (it involves really affordable around-the-world tickets), and why we should all be flying business class more than we do. Plus, he works his magic to book a Japan flight using host Aislyn Greene’s Chase points.

Meet this week’s guests

Brian Cohen, CEO and owner of Award Magic

Resources

Read the full transcript of the episode.
Check out Brian’s Award Magic services.
Listen to our episode about the best programs to earn points and miles.
Explore Point.Me, another award-booking service.
Follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss an episode.
Subscribe to Afar’s YouTube channel for a full video of the conversation.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Replay: Everything You Need to Know About Travel Insurance (Before Booking Your Summer Trips) May 09, 2024

Show notes

With summer travel on the horizon, it's an excellent time to talk about everyone's favorite subject: Travel insurance. It's not the sexiest subject, is it? And yet, it can play a huge role in saving you money, time, and even sanity. In this replay episode of Unpacked by AFAR, we speak with five experts to help you understand how to decided if and when you need insurance, the different types of policies you can buy, and how to use travel insurance if something goes wrong on your trip.

Meet this week’s guests

Wendy Perrin, travel expert
Christina Tunnah, general manager of marketing and brands for World Nomads
Beth Godlin, President of Aon Affinity Travel Practice
John Gobbels, vice president and COO of Medjet
Nick Cavanaugh, founder and CEO of Sensible Weather

Resources

Read this episode’s show notes, including a full transcript of the episode.
Read our primer on travel insurance.
Explore Wendy Perrin’s website.
Use sites like travelinsurance.com or insuremytrip.com to help you decide on the right policy.
Learn more about World Nomads.
Discover more about Aon Affinity Travel Services.
Learn more about Medjet.
Find out more about Sensible Weather.

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Visiting Native Communities Is More Important Than Ever—Here’s How to Do It Right Apr 25, 2024

Show notes

Last November, while reporting our “Unpacking Albuquerque” episode, I spent a day at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. It’s this huge complex that takes up a city block, and it serves as the gateway to New Mexico’s 19 pueblos. Part of my tour included an interview with Monique Fragua, the center’s COO (and a woman with great taste in jewelry, as you’ll hear in the episode).

We talked about why the cultural center exists, beyond just sharing pueblo cultural life (and food—the restaurant is a must-try). Monique explained that many travelers are interested in visiting the pueblos but are either unsure of or unaware of the etiquette around visiting. For example, some pueblos are completely closed to the public and have no interest in developing tourist infrastructure and others have “more formalized experiences like visitors’ center or organized hiking tours,” Monique says.

So the IPCC serves as a kind of training ground as well, where visitors can ask questions like, “What’s the proper terminology?” and receive guidance around photography, attending cultural events, and more.

It got me thinking more broadly about Native tourism, which has expanded in recent years. And with the explosive success of True Detective: Night Country, there’s more attention than ever on Native issues. So we put together an episode on why to visit these communities—there are more than 500 tribes in the United States, each with totally different histories, customs, and experiences—and how to do so in a way that’s mutually beneficial.

There’s one line that’s stuck with me since Monique and I talked: She says that if we remember that we’re experiencing Native life “through a lens of a living community, a breathing culture,” we’re on the right path.

Meet this week’s guests

Sherry Rupert, CEO of the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association
Garan Coons, communications officer for the Winnebago tribe
Kirby Metoxin, council member for the Oneida nation
Monique Fragua, COO of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

Resources

Read this week’s show notes, including a full transcript of the episode.
Listen to the “Unpacking Albuquerque” episode.
Follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss an episode.
Subscribe to AFAR’s YouTube channel for a full video of the conversation.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The True Story of One of the World's Most Diverse Cities Apr 18, 2024

Show notes

This week on Unpacked, we travel north to Toronto, Ontario, one of the world’s most diverse cities to explore what’s made it that way—and how we as travelers can best engage with it. That includes eating a peameal bacon sandwich (and learning what that is) at the St. Lawrence Market, visiting the city's most unusual museum, exploring its diverse parks and gorgeous waterfront, and eating (and eating and eating).

Meet this week’s guests

Bruce Bell, St. Lawrence Market historian and tour guide
Matthew Jordan, founder of Hidden Rivers walking tours
Elizabeth Semmelhack, curator at the Bata Shoe Museum
Karen Carter, cofounder of BAND
Chef Nuit Regular, founder and co-owner of 11 Thai restaurants
Jusep Sim, chief epicurean officer of Chopsticks and Forks

Resources

Read this week’s show notes, including a full transcript of the episode.
Follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss an episode.
Subscribe to AFAR’s YouTube channel for a full video of the conversation.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taylor Swift, New Flights, and Climate Change: Everything You Need to Know About Summer Travel This Year Apr 11, 2024

Show notes

Summer is coming. And while it's not looking like this season will be as insane as summer 2023, it's still best to begin planning now. So on this week’s episode of Unpacked, AFAR's mighty destination teams discusses what's to come. They share the best places to visit this summer—think Southern Hemisphere—and what you need to tackle now to stay ahead of the came. Plus, we unpack the best visa expeditors and the best way to use those points and miles. (Hint: It involves outsourcing.)

Meet this week’s guests

Mark Ellwood, freelance travel writer
Chloe Arrojado, associate destinations editor
Tim Chester, deputy editor

Resources

Read this week’s show notes, including a full transcript of the episode.
Listen to our episode on travel insurance, where we discuss Sensible Weather.
Learn more about Award Magic, the point booking service, and ItsEasy, the visa expediter.
Follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss an episode.
Subscribe to AFAR’s YouTube channel for a full video of the conversation.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Behind the Scenes: How We Create Our Best New Hotels List Apr 04, 2024

Show notes

The best hotels are a destination unto themselves. On this week’s episode of Unpacked, AFAR senior deputy editor Jennifer Flowers reveals the 31 properties that made our 2024 Best New Hotels list and why booking a hotel is the most important choice you’ll make for your trip.

The list is a collection of the best hotels that opened in the past year, but these hotels are much more than just a place to sleep and store your clothes. There are places where you can literally touch history, like at the Raffles London at the OWO, where Winston Churchill once presided. If you love design, you can book a few nights at the Violino d’Oro in Venice, where everything you might touch was made by local artisans. Or, if you want to get off the grid and outdoors, there’s the Shinta Mani Mustang in a remote corner of Nepal that doesn’t see many tourists.

Jenn joined the podcast to talk about how she put together the list, what she looks for in a great hotel, and how—as she puts it—“when you check into a hotel, it can actually be the destination.”

Meet this week’s guest

Jennifer Flowers, AFAR senior deputy editor

Resources

Read this week’s show notes, including a full transcript of the episode.
Read the full list of the 31 best new hotels.
Follow Jenn on Instagram and LinkedIn.
Subscribe to AFAR’s hotels newsletter.
Follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss an episode.
Subscribe to AFAR’s YouTube channel for a full video of the conversation.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This Midwestern City Is One of the Country’s Best-Kept Food Secrets Mar 28, 2024

Show notes

Hot tip: Don’t listen to this week’s episode of Unpacked hungry. Because we’re traveling to a surprising Midwestern city to explore what makes it one of the most fascinating food cities in the country. Last June, host Aislyn Greene traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, and was surprised by what she found: A refreshingly progressive, highly bikeable, very outdoorsy, and (best yet), delicious city.

If you're a food-motivated traveler, you're likely always looking for the next great spot. And as she ate her way through Madison, Aislyn wondered: Why aren't more people talking about Madison? So in today’s episode, that’s exactly what we’re doing. We'll explore Wisconsin's agriculture scene, meet the city's most interesting chefs, and look at what to do when you're too full to eat any more.

Meet this week’s guests

Shilpa Sankaran, founder of Kosa
Lindsay Christians, food editor and arts writer at the Capital Times
Sean Pharr, chef and owner of Mint Mark
Itaru Nagano, chef at Fairchild
Shaina Robbins Papach, co-owner of Harvey House and Butterbird
Dan Bonnano, chef and owner of Pig in a Fur Coat
Jamie Brown-Soukaseum, chef and owner of Ahan
Garret Olsen, co-owner of Madison Adventure Tours

Resources

Read this week’s show notes, including a full transcript of the episode.
Check out the latest season of Top Chef: Wisconsin
Read my guide to the culinary scene there.
Follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss an episode.
Subscribe to AFAR’s YouTube channel for a full video of the conversation.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At This Remote Island Resort, Staff Housing Is (Almost) as Luxurious as the Guest Quarters Mar 21, 2024

Show notes

If you travel to a remote island resort, where do the people who work there live? Because of course, if we are traveling to a remote location, it’s highly unlikely that it’s an easy place for hotel staff to commute to and from. Typically on an island resort, staffers are housed in the middle of the island and don’t have access to the beach, the walking paths, or any of the amenities that make these destinations so appealing to travelers.

But there’s a new type of staff housing pioneered by the Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands, which created an entire island for its employees—one where they can also snorkel, swim, relax, eat, work out, and just generally soak in the Maldives. This week’s guest, Sally Kohn, traveled to the resort last year to get a peek at the island and see if it’s really as impressive as it seems. She was surprised by what she found—happy employees included.

Meet this week’s guest

Sally Kohn, activist, speaker, and author of the book The Opposite of Hate: A Field Guide to Repairing Our Humanity.

Resources

Read this week’s show notes, including a full transcript of the episode.
Check out the Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands.
Read some of Sally’s other AFAR stories, including her essay about traveling as a queer family, and her podcast episode about exploring tolerance in Amsterdam.
Buy Sally’s book.
Follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss an episode.
Subscribe to AFAR’s YouTube channel for a full video of the conversation.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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