Unpacked by Afar

Jennifer Hope Choi plans every trip the same way: open a Google doc, start with food, and build outward from there. As a former Bon Appétit editor, 13-year restaurant industry veteran, and author of a travel memoir, she has strong opinions about Michelin guides (skip ‘em), low-rated restaurants (sometimes worth it), and why you should always follow your optician's food recs.

She also edited Afar’s debut Travel to Eat series, which includes three stories: Jeju black pork and a life-changing soup, Sherpa cuisine in the Rockies, and why Portland, Maine, might be America’s best bakery town.

Meet today's guest

Jennifer Hope Choi is a senior editor at Afar and the architect of its Travel to Eat series. A former Bon Appétit editor and 13-year restaurant industry veteran, she is also an award-winning writer and author of the travel memoir the Wanderer’s Curse. Her work spans food and culture, and the messy, joyful overlap between the two.

In this episode


How Jen’s latchkey childhood, early Food Network shows, and her Korean grandmother’s pancakes shaped a lifelong obsession with eating


Why the Google doc comes first: Jen’s method for building food-forward itineraries from Reddit threads, local papers, and stranger recommendations


The case against Michelin stars, lines around the block, and treating a trip like a personality — and what to do instead


Inside the three stories of Afar’s Travel to Eat series: a transcendent bowl of Jeju black pork soup, Sherpa cuisine taking root in the Colorado Rockies, and the baking scene quietly transforming Portland, Maine


Jen’s #1 travel food tip: ask the shop clerk, not the algorithm

Links & resources

Read the Travel to eat series: ⁠America's best bakery town⁠, a life-changing pork soup, and the rise of Sherpa cuisine in the Colorado Rockies

Read Jen's memoir, The Wanderer’s Curse

Follow Jen on Instagram

Read MFK Fisher's The Art of Eating, Jen’s favorite food book

Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:30 Growing Up Food-Obsessed

00:06:30 How to Eat Your Way Through a City

00:11:30 Lists, Stars, and Letting Go

00:21:30 The Travel to Eat Series

00:30:00 Tips for Eating Well on the Road

Be sure to subscribe to the show and sign up for our podcast newsletter, ⁠Behind the Mic⁠, where we share upcoming news and behind-the-scenes details of each episode. And explore our second podcast, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Travel Tales⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, which celebrates first-person narratives about the way travel changes us, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠View From Afar⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, where we spotlight the people and ideas shaping the future of travel.

Unpacked by Afar is part of ⁠Airwave Media⁠'s podcast network. Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It started as an abandoned ukulele on a wall. Afar’s Aislyn Greene hadn’t touched it in two years — but that idle instrument sent her down a rabbit hole into one of the most joyful origin stories in music. The ukulele arrived in Hawai'i on a Portuguese immigrant ship in 1878, got a royal endorsement from a king and queen, fell into obscurity, and then took over the world. Along the way, a family of master craftsmen has been hand-finishing every instrument for over a century, and one of the greatest string players alive still can’t believe people underestimate it.

Meet today's guests

Roy Sakuma is a musician, educator, and founder of Roy Sakuma Ukulele Studios, Hawaii’s most famous ukulele school with four locations. In 1971, he launched the Ukulele Festival Hawai'i, now the state’s top summer event, and has spent 50 years making the case that the ukulele is no toy.

Chris Kamaka is the third-generation owner of Kamaka Ukulele, the oldest continuous ukulele manufacturer in the world, founded in Honolulu in 1916. Each of the 1,000–1,500 ukuleles they produce annually is hand-played by Chris before it leaves the shop.

Jake Shimabukuro is a virtuoso musician widely regarded as the greatest ukulele player alive. He has sold out concert halls worldwide and recently collaborated with Mick Fleetwood on a Blues album.

In this episode


How Portuguese immigrants and Hawaiian royalty together created — and named — the ukulele


Why Kamaka Hawai'i still air-dries koa wood for up to six years before touching it


How Roy Sakuma’s free Ukulele Festival in 1971 sparked a global revival from his backyard


Jake Shimabukuro on recording a tribute to Christine McVie with Mick Fleetwood — and why low expectations are a gift


What it’s actually like to take a ukulele lesson from Roy Sakuma (Aislyn finds out live on mic)

Resources

Listen to Afar's ukulele playlist

Sign up for lessons at Roy Sakuma Ukulele Studios

Explore the instruments at Kamaka Ukulele

Listen to the music of Jake Shimabukuro

Visit the Ukulele Festival Hawai'i

Chapters

00:00:00 The Ukulele's Origins
00:02:00 Hawaii's Royal Endorsement
00:03:30 Inside the Kamaka Workshop
00:06:00 Roy Sakuma and the Festival
00:09:30 Jake Shimabukuro's Journey
00:13:00 A Lesson With Roy

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What if the secret to a great trip was leaving your phone in airplane mode — forever? Journalist Lisa Abend has been doing exactly that, arriving in cities she's never researched, GPS turned off, without a hotel reservation or itinerary of any kind. The result isn't chaos; it's the kind of travel that actually surprises you. In this episode, Lisa makes a compelling case for leaving the phone out of the travel process.

Meet this week's guest

Lisa Abend is a Copenhagen-based journalist and former Time magazine correspondent who covers food, culture, and travel across Europe. She is the creator of The Unplugged Traveler, a Substack newsletter in which she visits a new European city each month without internet access, a booked hotel, or a plan, and writes about what she finds.

In this episode


How social media and over-researched itineraries have stripped travel of serendipity, and what Lisa is doing about it


The step-by-step logistics of arriving in a foreign city with no hotel, no map, and no plan — and why it's less stressful than it sounds


A birthday coincidence on a Cotswolds hiking trail that felt like the universe intervening


Why "second cities" — not capitals — are the ideal places to try unplugged travel for the first time


How nearly two dozen phone-free trips have changed the way Lisa navigates daily life

Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:00 Backpacking Before the Internet
00:04:30 What the Internet Took From Travel
00:09:30 The Unplugged Traveler Newsletter
00:13:00 How to Choose a Destination
00:15:30 Arriving With No Hotel Booked
00:20:00 A Cotswolds Birthday Surprise
00:27:00 Finding Food Without the Lists
00:32:00 Travel as Meditation
00:35:30 Tips for Going Unplugged

Resources

Subscribe to Lisa's ⁠The Unplugged Traveler newsletter on Substack⁠

Read Lisa's travel stories for Afar

Use ⁠Skyscanner — flight search tool Lisa uses to find cheap fares⁠

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You've got more booking tools than ever — so why would you hire a travel advisor? In this episode, Afar editorial director Billie Cohen sits down with travel journalist and matchmaker Wendy Perrin, founder of wendyperrin.com, to answer the questions travelers actually have: What can an advisor do that you can't do yourself? When does it make sense — and when doesn't it? How do you find a good one, interview them, and understand what you're paying for?

From crowd-skipping at Venice to landing the perfect Egyptologist, Wendy makes the case for what truly expert trip planning looks like.

In this episode

Why connections (not booking tools or AI) are the real currency of great travel

The difference between advisors who specialize in you vs. those who specialize in a place

How to interview a travel advisor (and what their answers reveal)

What travel actually costs — and why it often isn't itemized

Why multi-gen trips and post-pandemic travel are driving a new wave of advisor use

Chapters

00:00:00 Why Travel Advisors Still Matter
00:03:00 Advisors vs. Agents vs. Tour Operators
00:06:00 What a Great Advisor Can Do
00:13:00 Choosing and Interviewing an Advisor
00:24:00 Fees, Costs, and Transparency
00:28:00 Cruise Specialists and Misconceptions
00:33:00 Who's Using Advisors Now

Links & resources


Wendyperrin.com and Wendy's Wow List of top trip designers

Listen to our Unpacked episode about cruise travel advisors

Explore the Afar Travel Advisory Council

Follow Afar at @afarmedia on Instagram and TikTok

More travel planning resources at afar.com

Be sure to subscribe to the show and sign up for our podcast newsletter, ⁠Behind the Mic⁠, where we share upcoming news and behind-the-scenes details of each episode. And explore our second podcast, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Travel Tales⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, which celebrates first-person narratives about the way travel changes us, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠View From Afar⁠⁠⁠⁠, where we spotlight the people and ideas shaping the future of travel.

Unpacked by Afar is part of ⁠Airwave Media⁠'s podcast network. Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a very special episode of Unpacked by Afar. This week, we hosted Unpacked Live — a live version of the podcast — in partnership with Visit California in Dallas, Texas. The event celebrated California's extraordinary creative landscape, and today's guest has been shaping the way Californians live, work, and gather for three decades.

Barbara Bestor is the founder of Bestor Architecture, a Los Angeles studio she's led since 1995 — at a time when very few women were doing so. Her work spans coffee shops and corporate headquarters, wineries and community music centers, private homes and historic restorations. She's on the AD 100 list of top architects and designers and has been called one of the most influential architects working in LA today.

In this episode, she shares her process, her influences, and the places in California that never stop inspiring her — from a former cult compound in Joshua Tree to a secret rooftop garden at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

On this episode, you'll learn:
• What "informal formalism" means — and why it's the best description of California's design DNA
• How the LA fires, post-COVID remote work, and multi-generational households are reshaping what people want from their homes
• Why adaptive reuse is finally having its moment in California
• How to actually crack the code on Ojai and Big Sur (hint: find the vegan restaurant and ask your server)

Travel recommendations from Barbara:

Los Angeles

Take the stairs at LA Phil to the rooftop garden

Walk the Bradbury Building lobby (free; you'll recognize it from Blade Runner), then cross to Grand Central Market and ride Angel's Flight back up to MOCA.

For neighborhoods: Melrose Hill is the current place to be; Magnolia and Victory Blvd in the Valley are time-capsule California.

Northern California

Stay in the original Charles Moore–designed Condominium One at Sea Ranch

In the Bay Area, stay at the Julia Morgan–designed Berkeley City Club

Ojai & Big Sur

In Ojai, go to a vegan restaurant and ask your server where to go — that's how you find the hidden hot springs.


Hotel El Roblar (designed by Ramin Shamshiri) is the new splurge hotel in Ojai.

In Big Sur, Nepenthe is the move: a Wright-influenced 1950s restaurant with a giant patio and sweeping views.

Joshua Tree

Drive in from the top and exit at the low desert — two completely different biomes.

Stay at the Institute of Mentalphysics, where the rooms were designed by Lloyd Wright, the son of Frank Lloyd Wright

Catch a show at Pappy and Harriet's in Pioneertown, then detour to Palm Springs and take the Sunnylands tour for "peak high-sixties modernist golf living."

Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:00 From Cambridge to California
00:04:00 What Informal Formalism Means
00:06:00 Designing for How We Live Now
00:09:00 California's Architectural Legacy
00:16:00 LA Neighborhoods Worth Exploring
00:23:00 An Architecture Tour of California
00:34:00 Joshua Tree and the Desert
00:39:00 Where Barbara Goes to Recharge

Resources

Bestor Architecture

Explore the ⁠⁠Afar guide to California⁠

Watch the live recording of our Dallas event on YouTube.

Listen to our other Unpacked Live episodes featuring Roderick Wyllie and Obi Kaufmann.

Be sure to subscribe to the show and sign up for our podcast newsletter, ⁠Behind the Mic⁠, where we share upcoming news and behind-the-scenes details of each episode. And explore our second podcast, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Travel Tales⁠⁠⁠⁠, which celebrates first-person narratives about the way travel changes us, and ⁠⁠⁠View From Afar⁠⁠⁠, where we spotlight the people and ideas shaping the future of travel.

Unpacked by Afar is part of ⁠Airwave Media⁠'s podcast network. Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices