BITW 031: Women in Travel Summit Founder Beth Santos from Wanderful

Today’s guest is the founder and CEO of Wanderful, a global network for adventurous, independent women travelers. Her goal is to encourage women to travel, to get involved in the world around them and to live globally. She has created an international community of over 10,000 empowered women who strive to conquer the world on foot, while supporting and learning from one another.

She is the founder of the Women in Travel Summit, an annual summit for female travelers, bloggers, and entrepreneurs. In 2014, she was named one of the top 100 travel bloggers in the US and she was also invited to the White House Travel Blogger Summit on Study Abroad and Global Citizenship. In 2015, she was named a Chicago Scholars 35 Under 35 Young Leader Making an Impact.

Beth in Turkey

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Episode 31 with Beth Santos! Beth shares her eclectic background and how an internship at New Hampshire magazine led to a press trip in the Azores. She also shares how her radio show on Voice of America led her to meet the President of Portugal and a consultant position with the Embassy of Portugal. More topics we discuss:

The cool things in Chicago you don’t know about.
The power of an internship.
How Beth landed her first media trip (to the Azores).
Why blogging today is a refined form of journalism.
How she became a consultant to the Embassy of Portugal.
Why once you know one language, it’s easy to learn more.
She created the first women’s Twitter chat.
80% of travel decisions made by women.
It’s true, I grew up in Irvine.

Beth also shares why travel blogging is different than travel writing. We also talk about the application process for her Wanderful blogging program and the Women in Travel Summit. Some of the main points we discuss are:

The importance of guest posting and trades.
How a Twitter chat works.
How to join a Wanderful chapter.
Why women use social media more than men.
Why people tend to want to write about their experiences after they travel.
How to sign up for the March Women in Travel Summit.
How to apply to be a Wanderful blogger.
Her definition of a media professional.
How to think up great topics for your blog.
Why travel blogging is different than travel writing.
Why travel blogging is a different writing process than for print.
Why she encourages 2nd person writing.
How to get on staff with Wanderful.
How to use Facebook groups to curate content.

Episode Resources
White House Travel Blogger Summit on Study Abroad
Chris Christensen
#studyabroadbecause
Chicago Scholar 35 under 35
New Hampshire Magazine
Rick Broussard
Embassy of Portugal
Voice of America
Girlstravel Twitter Chat
WATC Twitter Chat
Women in Travel Summit
Wanderful Travel Bloggers Program
Wanderful World Facebook Group
We Travel We Blog Facebook Group
Part Time Traveler Facebook Group
Aspiring Travel Writer Facebook Group

Connect with Beth
Beth Santos Website
Beth Santos on Twitter
Wanderful Website
Wanderful on Instagram
Wanderful on Pinterest
Wanderful on Facebook
Wanderful on G+
Women in Travel Summit Website
Women in Travel Summit on Twitter
Women in Travel Summit on Facebook

Connect with Break Into Travel Writing
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
The Aspiring Travel Writer, the Facebook group

Hope you enjoyed this episode and please join me in thanking Beth for being here! And thank you as well. We’ll see you next time!

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