GOING, DOING, TRYING
Chicago native Kellee Edwards is the host of Travel + Leisure’s ‘Let’s Go Together’ podcast and an advocate for diversity in travel
Did you know the “most interesting woman in the world” hails from Chicago’s South Side? The moniker was given to Kellee Edwards by Outside Magazine, when she became the first Black woman to host “Mysterious Islands” on the Travel Channel. Edwards is a triple threat when it comes to travel: She explores by land, sea and air.
The girl who was born around 79th Street and Jeffrey Avenue (before moving to California at school age) became a licensed pilot and an advanced open water scuba diver. She uses her skills to take her to places like Australia, the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, the island of Sapelo off the coast of Georgia to meet the Geechee people, Jeju Island in Korea to go free diving with the Jeju haenyeo (female divers who gather shellfish), and the Red Sea near Eilat, Israel, for shipwreck dives.
“I always set out to do what everyone else is not doing — that is just how I am,” she said.
Edwards is an advocate for women in aviation and diversity in travel. As the current host of Travel + Leisure’s podcast, “Let’s Go Together,” Edwards brings listeners and travelers with diverse voices together as they share their unique travel experiences in hopes of inspiring others to explore.
In its second season, episodes so far have featured road tripping while Black in America; Jessica Nabongo, the first documented Black woman to visit every country in the world; Indigenous hikers reclaiming history; traveling while deaf; traveling with a mental illness; single parents who travel; traveling with physical disabilities; and LGBTQ travel stories.
Edwards says the podcast is what inclusiveness should look like in the travel industry.
“The stories that we’re telling in travel, people being able to be this vulnerable, it’s been a blessing and healing for more people than just those in the conversation,” Edwards said. “The feedback that I get from listeners is like: ‘This is my story too. I’m glad to know I’m not alone,’ and that just makes me tear up. I live my life in a way that I’m just consistently going and doing and trying to encourage and inspire.”
We talked with Edwards about traveling the world after the racial reckoning of 2020, what’s on her bucket list and the benefits of learning to fly. The following interview has been condensed and edited.
Q: How did you feel about traveling during the pandemic?
A: When I started out this journey focusing on adventure travel, everyone told me that I was doing too much or crazy for wanting to go far, but I knew that was the route that I needed to take. And because I was already out in remote places, had the ability to fly, I was already used to traveling and being by myself.
Now that the pandemic happened, everyone is understanding that being in the great outdoors is a healing and helpful and nurturing thing for our mind, body and spirit. So now people are jumping on the bandwagon of what I’ve been saying for years about connecting with the great outdoors. During this pandemic, I have flourished even more. This pandemic has not stopped me at all because this is already my lifestyle, being in the outdoors, being in remote places. Now people are able to see that what I was trying to get them to experience, try it at least once, it can be beneficial.
Q: How has it been traveling after 2020’s racial reckoning and George Floyd’s death?
A: When people would see me (before the pandemic), I was already an anomaly, but in the best way. In shooting for Travel Channel, people would say: Usually when we see a person with a television crew, it’s a white person, a white male. We are so happy to actually see a Black woman exploring the world in the same way that typically is reserved for a white male.
Post-2020, I think people are even more thrilled to see my presence in the world. I think people are more empathetic without saying anything. It’s in people’s actions. I don’t need anybody to tell me about what they think about what happened. I need you to show me what you think about what happened. How are you treating me when I’m at your resort? How are you treating me when I show up to your airport and rent an airplane?
That is the difference that I’ve been looking for, and that is the difference that I have seen — is that people are understanding that they don’t have a choice but to acknowledge myself and my community. That we are human beings, we are capable, we are exceptional and that they need to be comfortable with it. Because we are here, and our voices are louder than ever. And because they don’t want that smoke, people are falling in line whether they want to or not. And I’m OK with that.
Q: Some things in the podcast draw attention — like sundown towns (towns across the United States where Black Americans weren’t welcome after dark). How do you deal with that as an adventure traveler?
A: I’m the type of person, I want to step foot in every place you say I’m not supposed to be. That’s the Chicago in me. That’s probably a character flaw, but it’s worked out for me.
I don’t want anyone having control over my destiny. I’m cognizant of it, but I feel like there are enough people who have that stance of a Martin Luther King approach, and I have a stance of a Malcolm X approach. I tell people to be smart; don’t act on impulse. And if I feel uncomfortable, I’m not going to hang around. But I also am not going to allow someone to stop me from being able to see if I feel uncomfortable or not.
Q: What do you tell young people of color about aviation?
A: That the gift of flight can benefit them in more ways than just physically getting in the airplane. It will teach them that the sky is not the limit, it is just a means of access, and to know that the world really is yours. No one can take away the power of flight from me because it allows me to see the world through my own control in a lot of ways, and I want them to take full advantage of that.
Q: What’s on your bucket list for travel?
A: Antarctica, the North Pole. I would love to go to Borneo. It’s one of the most diverse places in the world.
There’s 195 countries, and I’ve only been to 60. There’s plenty that I haven’t done, and while I do adventure travel, I do luxury travel very well. I’m either doing the most, or I am luxuriating like a rich auntie. And I love both.
Q: You’re still on your journey, but what’s the next step for you and your brand?
A: I’m working on a book, a children’s cartoon in travel featuring a little Black girl. Her name is Journey Jones. And, I’m also working on a show called “Friends in High Places,” where it’s like what Jerry Seinfeld did with “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” except I’m going to do that in an airplane. You will see “Friends in High Places” at the top of 2022 because I’m now booking all the celebrities to go and take the flights.
New episodes of “Let’s Go Together” with Kellee Edwards are released every Wednesday.