The life of a travel writer typically means months at a time spent away from home. But both Kathryn and Eric have found significant others who, far from discouraging us from taking trips, appreciate how our passion for travel drives us and encourage us to see as much of the world as possible. During normal times, that is. This past year has been co…

Being grounded for much of the pandemic has had hosts Kathryn Romeyn and Eric Rosen taking a harder look at how our passion for travel is contributing to climate change, and asking if there are ways we can address our environmental impact without simply giving up flying altogether. In today’s episode, Eric interviews three experts on the ways that …

They say the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach, and over years of travel writing, Eric and Kathryn have discovered that adage is true for falling in love with a city, too. As we’ve eaten our way through countless global destinations, in many cases we’ve simultaneously consumed local knowledge, history and context. It turns out food i…

Eric traveled to Kenya with Micato Safaris in partnership and the Elewana Collection of lodges in December, reassured by both organizations’ stringent COVID health protocols. While staying at Elewana Kifaru House in the biodiverse Lewa Wildilfe Conservancy, Eric spoke to the CEO of Lewa, Mike Watson, about how the conservancy is persevering through…

What is our responsibility as travelers to follow politics, current events, and human rights issues in a destination we are interested in visiting? And should we be avoiding places where we believe the government carries out unethical policies? Travel invites us to explore faraway cultures and environments, yes. But it also invites us to look insid…

Cut off from mainland Australia by the Bass Strait for more than 12,000 years, Tasmania retains a sense of isolation and mystique. However, as Eric discovered on a two-week road trip, the island is home to some of the country’s most fascinating and sustainability-focused travel experiences. We begin by interviewing Clyde Mansell, an elder of Tasman…

Many causes of environmental destruction are rooted in human action. But as we find out in this episode, mankind can also be the driving force to revive some of the earth’s most damaged places. There are success stories from around the globe of ways landscapes have been almost completely rehabilitated, from Mozambique to Cambodia. Here, we focus on…

The scarcity of potable water across huge swaths of the globe is a daily reality for around two billion people. In this episode, we talk to two people who are working hard to address this issue. Jon Rose is a former pro surfer–turned-humanitarian, and founder of Waves For Water. This NGO’s courier program gives travelers a way to be part of the sol…

Every great travel writer should start with a mastery of her or his own backyard. During the coronavirus travel lockdowns of the past year, that’s why we were both inspired to explore hidden corners of our hometown, Los Angeles. We took a (sanctioned and pre-arranged) hike up to the iconic Hollywood Sign to learn more about this landmark’s checkere…

Women’s fair-trade craft cooperatives around the world have changed the game for so many families. As part of our series on changing female roles in tourism, we look at one inspiring version of this concept where Kathryn has spent meaningful time: Ride 4 A Woman, a compelling place on the edge of Uganda’s mountain gorilla territory of Bwindi Impene…

There are stunning examples of innovative architecture and design in hotels all over this great planet, some of which we have been privileged enough to visit over the course of our travels. But the most impressive are those hospitality ventures that haven’t taken over a landscape, but have instead become part of it, quietly. In this episode, we fir…

Welcome back for another season of Conscious Traveler! Like the first, season two is full of our travel tales from destinations as diverse as Tasmania and Rwanda, Cambodia, Costa Rica, and Barcelona. This time around, we’ll be featuring an array of dynamic, global voices, with experts on everything from environmentally sensitive architecture to the…

Eric and Kathryn discuss how they adapted to the early days of lockdown and travel restrictions, and how this time to sit still encouraged us to unpack souvenirs we’ve been meaning to use for years but just haven’t found the time to do so…until now. Among the treats they’ve been enjoying are Manjimup truffle honey from Western Australia, Iittala gl…

Gorillas and humans share about 98% of their DNA in common. There are truly no words to describe the experience of trekking into the African highland rainforests to spend an hour with these incredible animals. It’s like visiting an ancestor from an ancient time. Happily, their status was downgraded from critically endangered to…endangered just a fe…

When you’re on the road as often as us, you start trying to pack as light as possible. Who cares if someone sees you in the same thing twice (or seven times)? Among travel writers, it sometimes even seems like the smaller your suitcase, the better a traveler you are. But what if you could use some of your luggage allotment to do real good for other…

It’s time for a flashback. In April 2020, sensing something unprecedented was on the horizon, we recorded our first episode (chronologically speaking) when Kathryn was in stuck in Nairobi, Kenya, and Eric was quarantining at home in Los Angeles. Then, COVID-19, social distancing and quarantine were still novel concepts. This episode represents our …

In all of our extensive travels, some of the most meaningful encounters have been underwater in places including Mozambique, Tahiti, Indonesia and the Galápagos. These vibrant aquascapes are the settings for life-changing encounters with wondrous marine species that can shift our perspectives and priorities. Snorkeling and scuba diving around the w…

Coffee is not only consumed and beloved around the world, but it is also produced in many countries ranging from Costa Rica and Indonesia to Uganda, Brazil and Laos. Though coffee agriculture has not always been equitable for the farmers, there are innovators changing that. In this episode, we talk with two entrepreneurs who have found a way to mak…

Many of us travel not only to explore new environments but also cultures. And there are so many around the world that feel exotic, that seem intriguing to peek inside. But doing it the right way requires incredible sensitivity, since there are positives and negatives for those on both sides. In an effort to find better, more respectful ways of enga…

COVID-19 is changing the way we travel, especially the flight experience. Eric covered this topic for Travel + Leisure, but he and Kathryn delve further into how airports are taking on sustainability and environmental issues, and how they will have to adapt to new and changing demands around traveler wellbeing, both related to the pandemic and beyo…

It took a dozen safaris in a handful of African countries for Kathryn to meet her very first female guide, at Basecamp Explorer in Kenya’s Mara Naboisho Conservancy. She made a lasting impression. In this first installment of a series on women’s roles in tourism, we tackle the emergence of females in the African safari business and look at the reco…

There are many fascinating corners of Southeast Asia to explore, from the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia to the islands of Vietnam’s Con Dao archipelago and the spectacular topography of Thailand’s Ang Thong National Marine Park. Unfortunately, many are increasingly (or were, before COVID-19) overrun with travelers, with no discernible strategy …

As much as we’d love to pretend it’s going to disappear and we’ll be back to jetting around the world just the same as before, COVID-19 is not going anywhere fast. But the novel coronavirus isn’t the only thing that raises health flags when it comes to travel. In this episode, we talk to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill epidemiologist Na…

It’s hammered into our heads that we should wear sunscreen at the beach, when snorkeling, surfing, swimming and essentially every minute we’re outside. But certain SPFs actually do incredible damage to marine environments. To learn more about the effects chemical sunscreens have on coral reefs and, most importantly, what we can do to reduce those n…

Meet travel writers Kathryn Romeyn and Eric Rosen, creators and hosts of Conscious Traveler. In this brief introduction, you’ll learn a bit about who we are, plus get a sense of what this podcast is all about. If this little taste whets your appetite for more, take a deeper dive into our exploits and adventures on our individual Instagram accounts,…