In The Mood for Travel: A Way Forward

Live from NYC

We are feeling a collective longing for travel. How are we going to re-enter the world out there? Where are we going to go? What lessons from the past year are we going to take into the world? What does our own safety and that of the communities we visit look like? 

It will be a unique and challenging journey and we’re here to learn together how to be better travelers in this month's featured session including a scholarship opportunity below. 

Join VAWAA founder, Geetika Agrawal, in this conversation on Thursday, May 20th at 1pm EST as we talk to:

Ashlea Halpern

Contributing editor at Condé Nast Traveler and co-founder of Minnevangelist

Ashlea Halpern is a contributing editor at Condé Nast Traveler and cofounder of Minnevangelist, a site dedicated to all things Minnesota. She's usually on the road six months a year, writing for Traveler, AFAR, Bon Appétit, New York, Airbnb, Esquire, Marie Claire, Midwest Living, Artful Living, Minnesota Monthly, and other U.S. titles. She has visited more than 65 countries and been featured as a travel expert in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, and Forbes. Her interests include street food, shopping, gallery hopping, and any activity—motorbiking, sea kayaking, snowmobiling—that might terrorize her faint-hearted partner.

Rachel Bouton

Program Manager, Co-Branded Experiences at Atlas Obscura

At Atlas Obscura, Rachel works with artists, experts, and individuals to develop and execute unique experiences online, and in-person all over the world. She also collaborates with well-known brands on large-scale experience partnerships that embody Atlas Obscura’s mission to inspire wonder and curiosity about the world. Rachel brings a passion for responsible travel, representation, and exploring the unexplored to every experience she develops.Prior to joining Atlas Obscura, Rachel worked in experience design with the public media company Science Friday, where she created science education experiences across the US. Some of her favorite career moments to date include smuggling a giant isopod specimen into a basement theater in NYC, surviving a horse stampede on Georgia O'Keeffe's Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, and dissecting an edible model of the human brain at a black-tie dinner in London—and then eating it. When she is not traveling or dreaming up experiences, Rachel performs weekly as a musical comedian in New York City.

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Donate or Nominate for Scholarship

To support creative and adventurous pursuits, we are offering a VAWAA scholarship to one deserving student of any age to travel and study with an artist. You can participate by making a donation towards a VAWAA scholarship at checkout, or nominate someone for this scholarship via this form. Deadline: May 30th, 2021

How to join

We'll be hosting this VAWAA Online on Zoom. You'll receive the link and details to join via email 1 day and again 30 mins before it begins.