Disrupting Travel and Building Community with Beth Santos

Zero To Travel Podcast

Jason Moore

Society & Culture, Business, Entrepreneurship, Places & Travel

4.6 • 866 Ratings

🗓️ 21 August 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Do you ever feel limited by society’s expectations and stereotypes surrounding travel? When Beth Santos started a travel blog, her goal was to challenge norms by exploring the diverse and shared experiences of women traveling the world. It has since morphed into Wanderful, an international community and social network with over 40,000 active members composed of women and non-binary people of all ages and backgrounds. Aside from this booming online community, Beth has also created WITS Travel Creator + Brand Summit, the Bessie Awards, and the first-ever outdoor women’s festival. This episode is all about rethinking what it means to travel and how the narratives we tell (and believe) can exclude so many people. Beth and I get into how she reconnected with her Portuguese heritage and how that led to a life of travel and leadership. She shares her story of moving to São Tomé and Príncipe in her early 20s, the emotions around not speaking the language of her own family, and how she eventually turned those early experiences into a powerful global community. We talk a lot about what it means to lead with vulnerability, how to build safe and inclusive spaces, and why the dominant solo female travel narrative is way too narrow. Beth also opens up about entrepreneurship, failure, and parenting as a founder. What are some ways you can create a safe space for others? I'd love to hear some of your ideas and hope you will share by sending me an audio message. *This is a previously released episode from the archives! Zero To Travel interviews are timeless, offering valuable insight whenever you listen. Tune In To Learn: Why "travel" isn’t about miles traveled, but the challenge to your assumptions How Beth’s heritage and a two-year stint in São Tomé shaped her journey Advice on using vulnerability to build authentic, enduring communities How solo female travel is often framed as either romantic or frightening—and why that’s incomplete Why women dominate travel decisions and how that shapes industry narratives How Wanderful links women around the globe with real, local advice How to hold space as a leader—even if "failure" occurs Why the life of a traveling entrepreneur and motherhood aren’t mutually exclusive The story behind Wanderfest—the first outdoor travel festival by and for women Why breaking the rules empowers people to be themselves Resources: Sign up for our FREE newsletter Check out the Wanderful community Learn more about Beth Santos Connect with Beth on LinkedIn Want More? Inspiring Female Adventurers Series: Around America And Beyond with Renata Chlumska How Words Can Shape Your Life w/ Stephanie James Choosing The Travel Life w/ Rachel Hill Thanks To Our Sponsors Apple Card - Earn 3% back on the Apple products and services you love with Apple Card. Booking.com - Book your next stay and find exactly what you’re looking for on booking.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I have a very strong belief that travel really only consists of three things. It consists of
0:06.9	challenging your preconceptions of trying something new and putting yourself in a position of
0:11.3	discomfort. And I think there are a lot of people who travel thousands of miles who never experience
0:16.1	those things. And there are other people who travel five minutes away from their home. And if you
0:20.5	feel fundamentally uncomfortable and if you're trying something different,
0:23.9	I think that is so much of a travel experience.
0:27.0	I can't help myself, but I am always drawn to disruptors,
0:30.7	people that aren't afraid to challenge the status quo.
0:34.4	And we have one here today, our guest, Beth Santos, who is challenging some of
0:41.4	the narrative around travel just by leading the community, by having important conversations
0:47.3	like the one we are sharing today.
0:49.8	And we have a ton going on in this interview segment.
0:52.9	We talk about how her reconnecting with her family's heritage and learning Portuguese
0:58.6	led to a life of travel, how to lead a community, and create a safe space for others.
1:07.4	We discussed the narrative around solo female travel and why she believes what you see out there is not necessarily a comprehensive look at the entire travel experience.
1:18.7	So much going on in this interview.
1:20.7	I know you're going to love it.
1:21.5	Thanks for listening.
1:22.4	This for being here.
1:23.4	Buckle up, strap in.
1:25.2	Here we go.
1:26.4	Welcome to the Zero to Travel podcast, my friend.
	...

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