Hi! Beth Whitman here.
With 30+ years of travel under my belt, I’ve made a bit of a name for myself as a women’s travel expert.
Much of my early travels were on my own. But I realized that not all women had the confidence or know-how to travel independently, so I wrote Wanderlust and Lipstick: The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo to encourage more women to travel, well, solo.
Funny thing is, they still wanted guidance and I often got asked if I led tours. Resistant at first–because I wanted these women to have the experience of traveling on their own–I soon realized that not everyone has the time, energy or interest to arrange their own travel. So I launched WanderTours in 2008 and began leading trips to off-the-beaten-path destinations as well as culinary tours to popular cities in North America.
I now lead tours and get to travel regularly to India, Papua New Guinea, Bhutan, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Morocco, Ireland, Scotland and beyond.
As part of our international tours, we support disadvantaged women and children through a variety of means–sometimes direct donations, sometimes through cultural exchanges such as homestays and other times through purchases that support women artisans or women-owned businesses.
In order to reach a wider audience, I launched the She’s Bold Podcast, to inspire and empower more women (and men) into action by covering topics including travel, adventure, athletics, spirituality, nutrition, entrepreneurship and more.
I regularly speak at events throughout North America and the world. My goal is to inspire would-be travelers into action through what I believe to be engaging talks not only about travel but about living a life that helps you become a better version of yourself.
Today I consider myself a contemporary Wanderer. I’ve been fortunate to have combined my love for travel with volunteer work, philanthropy, adventure trips, fitness, travel writing and business.
What I do in my spare time…
I’ve traveled a lot and have had what many would consider some pretty adventurous trips.
I’ve traveled to about 50 countries and recently joined the Million Miler club with Delta Airlines.
There are so many highlights from my travels but of particularly note are:
- Completing (twice) the 25-day, 220-mile Snowman Trek in Bhutan (one of the most difficult treks in the world)
- Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and reaching the top at 19,341 feet
- Trekking the Inca Trail for four days to reach Machu Pichu
- Riding a motorcycle solo from Seattle to Panama
- Driving the AlCan Highway to Alaska (via Jeep) on two occasions
I’ve completed marathons on nearly ever continent (I’ll be there soon, Australia!) after running my first marathon at 50. I’ve since run the Seattle Quadzilla twice (four marathons in four days) and have qualified for the Boston Marathon twice. I’ve completed one 50-miler and shortly afterward ran Epic5 Ultra Run Hawaii (five 50K’s in 5 days on 5 Hawaiian islands).
More recently, I became one of a small number of people who’ve completed the 4 Desert races with Racing the Planet and am one of only seven women in the Grand Slam Plus club. This consists of running 155 miles over six days in four 
deserts–the Gobi (Mongolia), the Namib (Namibia), the Atacama (Chilé) and Antarctica plus one non-desert race (Georgia). This is all while wearing a 20-pound pack carrying my gear for the week. ?
I’m currently working on my next book, Be Bold: Discover Your Best Self Through Travel and Adventure.
Oh, and I’ve also written a guide For Women Traveling to India.
I LOVE being an evangelist for the women’s travel market. Interested in having me speak at your event or office? Contact me so we can discuss!
