147. Women’s History Month Meets Luxury Travel: 4 Stories That Will Inspire Your Next Booking

Behind every unforgettable luxury travel experience is a story worth discovering. In this episode, we celebrate Women’s History Month by exploring how luxury travel can be inspired by four trailblazing women and the destinations connected to their powerful stories. From space exploration to Mexican hospitality to culinary adventure, you will discover how art, food, and culture can transform your next trip into something far more meaningful than just a beautiful escape.

Book Links (these are listed on my Amazon storefront) and I do get a small percentage if you use the link provided)

• Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• America's First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush
• Accidentally On Purpose, by Kristin Kish

Previous Episode Mentioned:

• 129. Celebrating Latin America — Insider Travel Tips, Cultural Stories & Luxury Adventures
• 87. How to Make the Most of Your Visit to Morocco | Luxury Travel Tips

Connect with Michele on IG: @jetsettingwithmichele or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/MMTinsiders

Contact Michele to plan your next vacation: www.makinmemoriestravel.co/contact, michele@makinmemoriestravel.co, or schedule a 15 minute consult: https://tidycal.com/texasmfs/15-minute-meeting

This episode was produced by The Podcast Teacher: www.ThePodcastTeacher.com.

Transcript

Welcome back to another episode of Jet Setting with Me. It’s me, Michele, your friendly wanderlust instigator.  I had the most fun putting together this episode (and I’m proud… download, listen to it, and if so inclined, share it with others.  For this first episode of March.  Women’s History Month—perfect for celebrating fearless women who don’t just make history but redefine how we travel, explore, and connect.

My appreciation for Women’s History? It starts with my original trailblazer—my mom. She was a founding member of the National Women’s Political Caucus, sharing tables with icons like Gloria Steinem and Geraldine Ferraro. At age 8, I was on stage holding the state flag during the final push for the ERA—talk about an early lesson in making history.

So, to honor this month and my mom, I’m sharing four powerhouse ladies whose stories will have you booking your next trip faster than you can say ‘Extra AF.

The travel spark for this first woman came from my bookworm heart.

Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Atmosphere—Good Morning America’s June 2025 Book Club pick—pulled me beyond fiction into The Six: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush. It’s the true story of the first six women to enter NASA’s astronaut program.

One of those pioneers was Judith Resnick, who, like me, was Jewish. And if you were anywhere near a TV when the Challenger tragedy hit, you know why her story resonates hard.

To honor Judith and those brave women who risked it all, picture these luxe experiences:

• A VIP Kennedy Space Center tour, including exclusive behind-the-scenes access and a meal with an astronaut.
• A visit to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
• Unwind in plush retreats near Cape Canaveral or Houston, where soothing spa treatments restore your energy after journeying through the stars.

From rocket ships to sandy toes, let’s land in Mexico with a hospitality queen who’s rewriting luxury with heart and heritage.

Meet Dolores Lopez Lira—a true hospitality queen setting the gold standard in Mexico since 1973. She isn’t just building resorts; she’s crafting fully immersive, culturally rich experiences infused with the warmth of home.

Meet Dolores Lopez Lira—a hospitality legend crafting immersive, culturally rich experiences in Mexico since 1973. She’s not just building resorts; she’s creating intimate journeys infused with warmth and authenticity.

Through Lomas Hospitality, Dolores oversees everything from destination management and transportation to eight spectacular all-inclusive resorts. Her team feels like family, weathering hurricanes and pandemics with grace and loyalty.

What sets the Lomas experience apart? Mexican heritage poured into every detail:

• Artful decor made by local artisans
• Culinary adventures exploring vibrant regional flavors
• Attentive, personal service that makes every stay a soulful journey

Full disclosure—I’m partial. Dolores is a friend, mentor, and fellow woman boss who treats me and my clients with the grace and lightning-fast problem-solving we deserve. (One time, when my husband was stuck at Cancun airport while I was blissed out in the spa, one text to Dolores and bam—he was whisked away to the resort.)

Travel inspired by Dolores might include:

• Basking in the sun on Maroma’s powder-white sands and crystal-clear Caribbean waters at Maroma Beach Club
• Diving into the cool, emerald waters of a sacred cenote, then exploring the ancient stone ruins of Tulum bathed in golden afternoon light.
• Nights in Palafitos’ luxe overwater bungalows
• A tour hunting down the area’s best tacos (because duh!)

Art lovers, it’s time to step into the soulful world of Amy Sherald—the genius behind Michelle Obama’s iconic National Portrait Gallery portrait. (Confession: Despite living in D.C. for six months, I still haven’t seen it in person!)

Why Amy? Because the true set-jetter in me was struck by how her childhood in Georgia echoes the world of HBO’s The Gilded Age, reflecting a Southern tapestry of grace, ambition, and fierce identity.

Amy was often one of the few Black students in her predominantly white private school. Her mother, a woman shaped by tough times, taught her dignity and poise—a survival strategy echoed perfectly in the show’s “respectability politics.” Like Peggy Scott from the series, Amy faced pressure to pursue a "safe" career—in her case, medicine—but chose art instead, reshaping narratives of race and representation through her portraits.

For travel inspired by Amy’s story:

• Explore D.C.’s National Portrait Gallery with a curated Black art tour featuring her iconic work.
• Soak in Charleston’s powerful history at the International African American Museum, McLeod Plantation, and Gadsden’s Wharf—the epicenter of the slave trade.
• Discover Charleston’s Oldest Continuously Used Synagogue, Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, founded in 1749.
• Wandering Charleston’s charming cobblestone streets before settling in for a soul-satisfying feast at Bertha’s Kitchen, a James Beard Award-winning restaurant for authentic Gullah/Southern soul food. 

Which makes a nice segway into the final woman I’m highlighting today.  

Meet Kristin Kish—chef, Emmy-nominated Top Chef host, and fearless foodie who takes us beyond menus to the heart of culture through food.

Kristin’s fearless curiosity leads her to places few travel shows dare: Panama’s cloud forests, the Arctic Sea, turquoise shores in Curaçao—you name it, she’s bringing fresh voices and flavors to the world’s table.

Her story—from a Korean adoptee in the Midwest to culinary travel pioneer—is a brilliant example of how food and travel together serve as powerful platforms for representation and advocacy.

Travel modes inspired by Kristin include:

• Private dinners in Panama’s cloud forests featuring indigenous chefs.  Private dinners in Panama’s cloud forests featuring local indigenous chefs and ingredients. Although, we didn’t trek all the way to the cloud forest in Panama we did do a food tour (which I mentioned in episode #129 about the best places to visit to indulge in Latin Culture) while in Panama we had a private tour of the food market and learned about the destroyer daughter-in-law potato and then went to a restaurant that was open just for us and made Lomo saltad0o, a traditional Peruvian stir-fry that combines marinated strips of sirloin with onions, tomatoes, french fries, and other ingredientsserved with rice

Other places to visit, inspired by Kristin and her travels, include: 

• An Arctic cruise on HX combines gourmet dining with wildlife exploration, including polar bear viewing.
• Cooking workshops and culinary tours in destinations like the one I visited in Morocco, which was a women-led kitchen.  A divorced mother of two in a culture where single women were not always afforded a status, in a culture that started her cooking school as a way to provide for her family.  

So there you have it—four trailblazing women proving that luxury travel isn’t just about the views, but the stories, the connections, and yes… a sprinkle of EXTRA sass. Ready to make your next trip Extra AF? You know where to find me.

Until next time, make every journey a memory worth savoring.