Historic Traveler: Where Literature Meets Adventure with Jackie Lapin

What if your next vacation could literally transport you through time? Meet Jackie Lapin, a 74-year-old former sports journalist who transformed her passion for historical novels into the ultimate travel hack. After visiting over 500 destinations, Jackie has cracked the code on turning ordinary sightseeing into extraordinary time-travel experiences by pairing great books with epic destinations. 

 In this episode, discover her secrets for finding hidden European gems without the tourist crowds, solo travel confidence tips for women over 45, and how to capture the soul of historic places through your camera lens—plus get access to her incredible free database of 8,000 historical novels organized by destination.

Transcript

Historic Travel: Where Literature Meets Adventure with Jackie Lapin

[00:00:00] 

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: so what if your next trip could transport you, not just to a new place, but to a completely different era this week? An untethered and wander wise, meet Jackie. Lapin, a woman who reinvented herself after 45 and has since visited over 500 destinations with a unique twist. She pairs historical novels with travel to create time machine experiences that go way beyond typical tourism.

In this episode, you'll discover how to transform any destination into literary adventure, solo travel, confidence secrets for women over 45. Hidden European gyms without the T Toure crowds and photography tips that capture the soul of a historic place from her latest book, pick The Phoenix Crown to her revolutionary travel community.

Jackie proves it's never too late to follow your passions around the world. Tune in [00:01:00] now.

Welcome to Untethered and Wander Wise, where adventure has no age limit. We're your co-host Heide Brandes and Nicky Omohundro, and we're here to inspire and celebrate women over 45 who are embracing their independence and want to explore the world on their own terms.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Welcome back to Untethered and Wander wise, I'm Heide Brandes. And I'm Nicky Omohundro. Today we're talking how you can transform your travels from simply sightseeing into deep, meaningful journeys through history and literature. Our guest is Jackie Lapin, founder of the Historic Traveler, and someone who's visited over 500 destinations with her camera, and a passion for bringing the past to life.

Jackie, welcome.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: I'm delighted to be here ladies. Thank you so much for inviting me. We've got fun things to talk about.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Oh, fantastic. Well, Jackie, you've created something unique with Historic Traveler. Can you tell our listeners what inspired you to launch this platform after decades and other careers?

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: So I hit my 70th birthday, and by the way, I'm gonna be 74 in

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Woo. Congratulations.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: Thank you. And I realized that there were less years ahead than behind. and so I decided I needed to go see the bucket list cities that I had missed of all my years of traveling. So I took nine weeks to go to Europe, put my business on hold to spent nine weeks in Europe seeing all my amazing bucket list cities and photographing them. And when I got done with that, I realized that I. Needed to clear some older things out of my life that didn't bring me joy and really focus on the things that did. And so out of that, I realized that I have always wanted to share my photographs. There were 85 carousels and 10 enormous notebooks of photographs that have been sitting there forever. But I also wanted to share my love of historic places and. The historic novels, mysteries, and history books that I read to give me a real sense and perspective on a place before I go there, and sometimes even after. And so all of that kind of. Crystallized into the idea of the historic traveler, which is an online destination that brings that all together.

So our articles feature a little showcase of an individual location and the history of it and what to see there. All the different historic, significant, uh, things to look at and to visit. Then my photographs. And lastly, the books to read that make you feel as if you live that. And that's what really makes us different from travel blogs and travel sites and things like that.

But we're not just, , articles. We're also amagazine and a membership program. So it's really all encompassing. And before we go any further, I wanna tell people that membership program is totally free.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: got great assets for you all over there, and all we ask you to do is just sign on so that you can get access to them.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: That sounds like an incredible platform, , as somebody who loves historic travel, this sounds right up my alley. I've been reading historic fiction. Since I was probably 11 or 12. Everything from Victoria Holt to, , Philip A.

Carr and all those novels and books like that. So this is especially, uh, fascinating to me. But a little bit about your background. I mean, you were. You've been a journalist for a long time. You were one of the nation's first female sports writers, and you also ran a successful PR agency for like 20 years.

So what sparked this complete pivot to historic travel besides, you know, turning 70?

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: Well, I think, you know, I have been always in the marketing business and to be totally transparent, I still run another business, and so I went from being a, a sports writer. the way,, I made national television. I was right at the dawn of sports writing. I was at the Washington Post. And so I, and as I moved forward and had my PR agency and then I wrote two books and personal growth for people in, who really wanted to change their lives.

One was the best spiritual book of the year at the International National No eight Trade Show. And then I started doing podcast radio tours, which I still do, where I introduced authors to 9,000 podcasts and radio shows if they're in the personal growth of spirituality space. So that business, has been stayed with me for the last 16 years. The nice part about that business is it's flexible. You know, I don't have to be at my desk every minute. When we have a client, I write the materials, I get it off to the team, and then they take over. So it  gives me time on my hands and knowing that now I, uh, because I'd offloaded another business that was sucking the life out of me. Now knowing that I actually have time on my hands because of the second business, didn't overwhelm me. 

I figured, okay, now I can delve into something that is my passion and bring it to life because. I wanna continue to travel. I want to share what I learn and what I know and my photographs, and it's really fun.

It's just playing fun. And when I sit down and I write an article and I go and find the right photographs. I'm thrilled. I write in the magazine, for example, the magazine is, uh, 80 pages digital magazine divided into two sections. The first is destinations and the second half is media. So it's, uh, books, movies, and television. And so the first half of the magazine, besides of all these fabulous destinations. , We have a q and a with somebody who's an expert in the field. So the first one was the guy who saved all the lighthouses in America, and the next was a woman who author, who's an expert in. Graveyards and Aries. The next

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Hmm.

Okay.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: going to be about people that are saving the dude ranches all around the west. , And then, but what I love about the second half is we feature one of the top historic novelists in the world. First we did Tony, , riches, who's Elizabethan and tutor books are all over. , And then the next is Fiona Davis. Whose books are all situated in historic landmark buildings in New York City's their dual timeline.

Some women pa in the his past in history, some women in the more recent history and how their stories intertwine. So I'm very excited that that's coming up in issue number three. . And so there's always fun things to write about, great people to meet. I got to go to the historic novel Society of North America this year and meet some of the top historic novelists in the world, and many of them. now contributing articles to the historic traveler about the places that they went to, to research their books. isn't that fun? For the people that are already doing the primary research. That's one of the things I love about people, , think, well you obviously you can get great history from a history dry history book, but the historic novels. bring us something more. One, most of the time those people have gone out and done great research and a lot of times those books involve people who actually lived. they've had to done the, their history. so we're piggybacking on their history and they're making us experience what those people would've experienced in those places.

So when you walk in, you go, wow, this is just phenomenal. I'll give you a perfect example. One of my favorites . If you know the story, if you saw on television, for example, the Serpent Queen about Catherine Dei, there is a point in there, and this is true, where her husband had the, the king had given his girl his mistress, Dion Depa, uh, depo, this fabulous. Chateau in the Loar Valley that spans the river. It's a stunning, stunning chateau. called, , Chateau De. And so as soon as Catherine's husband passed, she literally threw out De de Poitier and took over. And so here I am standing in the bedroom that Catherine de Medici. Rose in every morning. Another perfect example is Mary Queen of Scot's.

If you go to Holy Ru Palace in Edinburgh, you are standing in the room where this major drama occurred where, , Mary, , watched her, her, her secretary, being stabbed to death in front of her.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Oh, [00:10:00] wow.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: wow,

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Mm.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: is where it happened.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Mm-hmm.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: that's what makes it so fun and so real.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Yeah. And that definitely enhances the experience when you travel. You get to read it and then you get to experience it, , for someone planning. Yeah. So for someone planning a trip to say Paris or Amsterdam, how would you recommend that they prepare differently than typical tourist when they're taking a book in literary reference in mind?

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: Well, you know, you kind of wanna do a little mapping in advance.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Mm-hmm.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: and I not only do you know you can use the book, but I recommend Insight Guides. We have a directory of 200 of them on our website because they're the best guides for history lovers. They have a massive history section and you can just read up on the area and then go spec specifically to the locations that you wanna see and map them out. Um, one of the things that I do. I get into a market, whether it's a big one, especially when it's a big one, is I take a bus tour, a city bus tour the first day, or a hop on, hop off bus tour

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Yeah.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: where I can censor the place and then I can go back to. The places that you want to see, the places that you've earmarked.

You have at least an idea of what's walking distance or if you take a hop on, hop off what uh, exits you wanna take in order to get to the places from a literary standpoint. But obviously, , there's certainly. landmarks, castles and palaces. Uh, one of my favorites is in, , in Vienna.

You can actually go into the Imperial Palace in Vienna and see clothing from Empress Sii. And if you know the about emi, which has been all over television and books, she was an extraordinary beautiful woman. , Who was actually, her sister was set to marry the emperor, but he took one look at her and said, no, it's that one. , And he married this stunning woman, but their marriage was not a happy one. And Cece was overburdened by her mother, but she was a very, she was incredibly obsessed with her, with her looks. And she had a tiny waist that was no more than a few inches. And you can go and see her dress right there. You could see how tiny the waist is and her and the, , dressing table where she did , her beauty routines. I mean, you are walking through her rooms and then her husband's rooms, the emperor's rooms. So how does that, when you've read those books, it's so enriching.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: You know, I'm curious about when you travel. And you're obviously a book lover and obviously, , a travel lover. Do you choose the place and find the book or do you read a book and that's how you choose a place?

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: Well, for me, I just read books, period, and I'm, so, I'm always reading, and so a lot of it's already stored up here. ] When I get to that place, occasionally a, a book will spur something. For example, I'd always wanted to go to, , Florence, but when after reading Dan Brown's, , Inferno.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Mm-hmm.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: That book basically takes you through every one of the major historic locations. And it was like, okay, I'm seeing this, I'm seeing this, I'm seeing this, I'm seeing this when I hit Florence. , It, that kind of spurred a specific, but for me it's mostly gather the knowledge of about. Usually I'm, I'm, I'm reading about a, era, and so a lot of times there'll be two or three or four different books from different perspective.

So I really understand the whole, , context of the various different characters and the place itself when I get there, oh, this is where this happened. Oh, this is where this happened. So it's more a reference for me as opposed to a book to a specific situation.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Okay, and as we're recording this podcast, the book that of the month that you're recommending is The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn. And Janie Chan, and it's set during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. How do novels like this change how you experience a destination?

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: Well, I, first of all, I had the great opportunity to meet Kate Quinn at the conference,

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Really?

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: a great writer and she writes about a lot of wonderful periods. Her Empress of the Seven Hills Series, , in about Rome is just phenomenal. It's a trilogy. , So where did we influence is. There's not much left, but there is some left from the 1906 earthquake. So you wanna kind of catch, , the Knob Hill places , , there's a couple of University Berkeley University buildings that still retain from that book. From that are there. , And, then, and then Chinatown. , Obviously it's a great thing to go experience a little bit of Chinatown, but, um, there are, if you look it up, there are, there's an octagonal house in there that doesn't. Currently exist,but there is an agonal house in San Francisco that it

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Hmm.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: think I need to go see that Atal house, historic house. And there is a number of other, I, I've made a list actually of, in my San Francisco posts of those, , those buildings that still exist prior to the 1906 earthquake.

So those are the ones

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Oh, wow.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: go see.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: , Just in December, I visited Turkey. And I remember specifically going on the Libby app and trying to find novels set in Turkey and found a couple. But, , for people who are interested in this type of travel, I mean, how do you find novels that really set the tone or the area you want to explore and the destination you want to explore?

I mean, what's your best tips for finding the best novels?

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: Funny. You should ask that, Heidi. We have a directory at The Historic Traveler, which is the world's largest directory of historic novels, mysteries and history books sorted by city, state, and. And, and country. So you can simply go over there and say, I want to go to Paris, and we will give you all the novels in Paris.

Or if it's smaller, or if you go to Turkey and you just want the Turkish ones, we've done the research for you. There's 8,000 books over there for you.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Wow.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: um, and what, the deal. It's a membership program. You have to actually be logged in as a member to take advantage, and as I said, it's free,

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Mm-hmm.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: you can come over and take advantage of that.

You can also find the books, as you said, on the homepage and in our newsletter. In every newsletter. I give you two books. mean a book or two to read. And on top of that, we have my favorite 100, , on the website. And then we have a brand new thing that we're gonna be launching that is called the Hot 25 Historic  Novels right now.

And that's gonna change every month. So we've got resources that are gonna make this so easy for you to find. Now let me give you an idea. Of some of the other directories that you have. Also at the Historic Traveler, we have one of the, the first directory of historic TV dramas and where you can find them going all the way back to Roots to Current. I just put in a couple of this this week. , Then Little cup of water here. , Then we have a directory that gives you historic films. Going back the top 200 of them by era. So if you love Roman, you can go find them. Um, then the next thing we have is a massive directory of historic hotels across the world. And then we are building a list, a directory of historic museums. all of that is available to you, but that's not all. also have a.Travel concierge that will book you at no cost. So they'll plan your trip and then, and so it's a great opportunity to take advantage of something where it's hard to find travel agencies all over the world. So that lets you actually take advantage of that. And we also have, when you go on there, we have things like, , via tour. big ba bus and all these different, , resources if you wanna buy red e-bikes and things like that of

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Right there.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: that you can take advantage of in our Travel With Us section.

So we're trying to make travel easier for our members. And they can take advantage. Now, there's one other thing that I'd love about, , our site is I have a photo gallery with plus individual photo collections that I've shot all over the world. But not only are they about specific locations. I do a whole landscapes of a country, or, , animals or we'll do hot air balloons or roses, beautiful collections of images that you can even. , Uses your wall art or put on your screensaver or, , make a photo album out of it. I just wanna make , the photography of the world that brings it alive, available to

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Mm-hmm.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: and we're constantly adding resources and we haven't even talked about the community yet, and I think we're going to in a few

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: We are in a few minutes.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: Know, this is a place where

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Mm-hmm.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: whatever you need.

If you love history, travel, or historic novels.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Yeah, so I'm curious from a practicality standpoint, those are all amazing resources, so no matter how you like to travel or plan for a trip, they're all right there for you personally. I'm really curious when it comes to historically focused trips, what's your process? How do you prepare and book your trip?

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: So the first thing I will do is I will buy an insight guide that's directories I was telling you about, and I will read the history section and the portions of where I'm going to be at, so I know what the highlights are, what are the things I really want to see when I get there. and then, if I haven't read a novel on an area, , I will go get a novel. I might even read a history book depending on what it is.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Okay.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: I'll do the reading up on it and then, . Depending on whether I'm, I'm planning the trip myself, whether I'm using a travel agent or wedding, whether I'm going with a tour, I'll identify that, which I want. I did my, I think I told you that I did this nine week trip in Europe and I did that sort of as a hybrid.

The first part of it was. A three week bus tour around France. 'cause I really hadn't seen much of France outside of Paris. that was phenomenal. And then the second half of it was individually going to each place. Sometimes a travel agent will say to you, , if you're a history buff, go here. That's why I like working with a travel agent that, 'cause they'll say, nah, that that isn't for you. It's too moderate. And I'll also tell my travel agent, I wanna stay in a historical hotels. So that really defines where I wanna what. But especially as we get older, a lot of times the easiest thing is just to join a tour. And there's a couple of companies that I really like traveling with. , One of the things I love about travel touring with a travel, , tour is that lift the suitcase. We don't,

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Right.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: especially when you've got a 60 pound suitcase and you're trying to

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Huh.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: trains and backpack full of cameras, now, if you're gonna book your own tours, I'm gonna give you some, some, some hits. Uh, first of all, almost every city has a good tour, walking tour or little bus tour in their town. they're inexpensive, they're easy, and , the deal. your tour and don't hang at the back. Go stand right at the front and  ask questions because the tour guide has a set routine, but they have way more knowledge. And if you're sitting there and you're going, but what about that? Or what about that? Or What's the context for this? You're just gonna learn a lot more. And the same is true is, , if you're on a bus tour, sit with a guide. Or have lunch with them and you're gonna absorb way, way more, way more. , And then the, the last option is a private guide. And sometimes that's the best way to go. If you have to wanna see a lot of stuff in a limited amount of time and you wanna hit the highlights or you wanna hit some of the things that are off the beaten track, um, then a private guide is really a good way to go.

And they're gonna know the ins and outs and the local things and the. And then take you to this particular house that's, uh, for viewing a historic house or, you know, these old shops or those kinds of things. So that's kind of, I, I can cobble a trip together from any of  that. Uh, and a lot of times I do, for example, if I do a tour. With a travel company, a lot of times I will stay longer or come earlier in that market and just do more. And so I'll identify those things that I wanna see that the tour doesn't cover, that allow me to spend another day in doing my photography. 'cause I do much of my touring on foot so I can get the best images

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: I've always said, if you really want to get to know a place. You walk it and you eat it. So

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: Yes.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: walking and eating will give you a true, uh, sense of a place. But for say, women who are new to this idea of literary travel, you've been so many places, but what are some of your favorite historic destinations that are easy to navigate, that aren't overrun with tourists, but still have that incredible experience for say, women our age?[00:24:00] 

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: I think Bruge Belgium is just an absolutely lovely place. It's a mini Amsterdam with little swans in the canals, , and it's beautiful. , And if you read any of the. Dutch period of like, uh, the girl with the pearl in her ear,

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Yeah.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: trailer, those are perfect, uh, locations. Um, some of my other fa favorites are, a lot of them in France are, , albe. , Two popes were. Now, if you read anything about the, the, the fighting of the, between the, the popes and the, , that's a great place to go. , And a Nazi, which is this great little place in the Alps where there is this, just this one little tiny building on a. , Island in the middle of their, their series of canals. It's so picturesque and so beautiful. , And now those are French cities and it in Italy. I really like Oh my God, with that, when you, you know, when you,

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Hmm.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: that's just astonishing. , S. Which is [00:25:00] like, it is entirely a medieval city. In, in, in the core.

It has not changed. They do this race called the Paleo every, uh, year that gades for medieval time, a horse race with every, the jockey represents various districts in the area. And when you're walking around town, you see the flags from each of these dis districts that the, those are the colors that the jockeys wear. But the whole town, I mean, it, it may have a phone. Store or a restaurant or a grocery store, but they're in the medial buildings. You're walking into history. , So I love Sienna. , Also, , Verona and Genoa are all great towns. , Then, , Croatia, you've got. Dubrovnik, which is where they filmed a lot of Game of Thrones.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Hmm.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: and , it brings it to life, the old city. Just again, it hasn't changed much, , from the standpoint this, there's, it's very touristy, I will warn you, but it's worth seeing. But if you wanna go off the touristy track, go to Kula Island, which is about a four hour, , bus ride and little, a little boat.

And Kula is. Just beautiful as middle medieval gem in the middle of the ocean that just, you can see the mainland right from there. And it's, it's stunning. So, in Portugal, I love Centra, is this fantasy like little place where, um, the, , kings and queens would go to summer. , And it's got these fa fantastical buildings. , And in Spain, , get out of Madrid and Barcelona and go to Granada or Toledo, , and some of those other places. And one of the things, if you ever read about the Inquisition. , Those are very imp important cities in the Inquisition. And the recon we conta when they recon re conquered Spain. , Anything if you've read about,, Isabelle, of Spain and Tand, um, and their palaces there, in Toledo is the remnants of the Jewish community that was expelled. Um, you can still see their, their little ghetto area. So, um, those are just some of the places that, and if you're going to, , Switzerland, I love Lucerne. It's just this gem of a town with this fantastic round tower in the middle of a covered bridge that is just so incredibly picturesque. So those, those are just some of the ways to

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Okay.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: the beaten track and enjoy, uh, Europe particularly. And, and by the way, we are mostly talking about Europe here, but, , Asia is fantastic to travel to. , There's remnants of history in South Africa, and of course the US has some great history that you can, that you can find. , And so we can talk about where you can find some of that as well too.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Hmm. Now you mentioned your photography, which I've sent it on the website and it's absolutely stunning. But you don't just capture buildings. You really capture the essence of the historical places. For listeners who wanna move beyond the typical, you know, vacation selfie, or just a picture of maybe their food, what's your approach?

What advice do you have for those people that want to do something a little different?

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: Well watch where your eye follows. If you see a beautiful window with flowers on it, if you see inter interesting designs that augment the building, if you see, , animals in the corner, curled up, if you see, uh, beautiful plants that are, that, that make the building, if you see, , the way, the beautiful tiles on the building, whatever. You know if you see people that are in traditional dress, whatever draws your eye is worthy of a picture,

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Mm-hmm.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: , And you never

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Sure.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: what you're gonna keep. Cap capture it. And today with the digital capability, you can just simply go home. , That night, which is what I do every night, I discard the things that aren't good enough and keep the stuff.

Now, it doesn't mean that all of them are gonna be your masterpieces. It means that you can go home and play with them. Now, to be totally honest with you, I come back here, a lot of times I can't get the light right, but I'll come back here and play with it on Photoshop so that it pops. And, and becomes stunning.

So it doesn't have to be a masterpiece in the beginning. And of course, thank to the, you can either use a digital camera or today with cell phones, it's just incredibly amazing what you can do with a good cell phone, including edit the piece right there so you can top out the people and, be honest with you, one of the things I love to do is remove people, cars and cranes. photos before I post them for people to see. That's a great thing about Photoshop.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Mm-hmm.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: favorite on cloudy, miserable days, and I can't control that. I come home and in Photoshop, all I can do is turn the sky blue [00:30:00] and it looks like it's a sunny goal.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: See, I have A-D-S-L-R and I've opted not to bring it on most of my trips, but I'm going to Ireland.

I'm doing Northern Ireland Republic and then going to the Netherlands in, you need to read some books. Yeah, I, my book list just got massive. Um, I'll be doing audio books for the next three weeks,

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: I can you

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: but there's.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: great books about about Ireland.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Oh, please do. I'd be happy to read extensively the next three weeks. Um, but a lot of times the cell phone is just so much easier just for practicality purposes, and most everyone now has one.

So it's much, much nicer. Yeah, but some of our favorite pictures, you were talking about doing a tour group. We went to Peru to Machu Picchu for my birth 50th birthday, and that was a lot of fun. But there was one picture that I have of Machu Picchu, that's one of my favorites. There was a chinchilla running along one of the walls.

And so I have a picture of a chinchilla in Machu Picchu. Yeah. And I had actually never seen it chinchilla before, so

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: Very

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: just something kind of fun. Now let's get back to the historic traveler community. You've created way more than just website. You've built an actual community. So tell us about the historic traveler international, and what members get access to.

You've already discussed quite a bit.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: So I'll add onto the content about the community. The community, first of all, we have basically a. Community where people can come and post and answer things and, and, and our folks are putting stuff in there all the time. , And it gives you an opportunity to get to know other people, ask questions, et cetera.

And also to find people to travel with. We have a travel matching

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Hmm.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: but most of all, we have meetings. We have a book club. I was gonna start up again in the fall. And then we also have what we call our conclave that's taken from the, the Vatican and the conclave is a once a month where we come together and we talk about, , the various different, , travel agents, , guides that you really like and, , tips and hints and. Places, , that, you know, you can bring your stories in, but I'm also gonna be bringing experts, so you'll be able to hear some of those experts as I do. Uh, and we'll have , guest speakers. So it's an opportunity to get to know people, to, have a sense of belonging with others who are like-minded like you.

And we'll talk about the,, what other, the cool books that are coming up on, I've just found out, uh, two or three that are, that are gonna be published at Christmas time and,

so all you do is basically sign up for the membership. You'll be given, , the opportunity to log in and get all your, the things that you need to do that. So,

Go to the historic traveler.com. And then, uh, it says on the front top, join them as a member. You can also take a tour.

There's a great little tour on my welcome there if you wanna see. It. Tells you everything that's on the site and what you can take advantage of, including all those directories that I was telling you about, the travel agency,

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Okay.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: et cetera. And keep looking because there's more coming.

I, I, for example, I add. Every month or so, I add five or six new, , galleries to the photo gallery.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: . And you've got a free gift to tell us about too.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: I have, and actually I'm gonna give you two of them. Um, the first one is called 20 International Cities, where you can immerse yourself in history and the books to read, to make you feel as if you lived it. Now that you can go to the historic traveler.com/guide, then the other one is 18 Cities in North America, and you can get that one by going to the historic traveler.com/guide. Na, as in North America.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Okay,

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: All of those are absolutely free. Download those guides and that'll give you a really good headstart about what to see in each of 38 different markets.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: And we've got a bunch of trips coming up, so this is gonna be real. We're gonna be doing a lot of reading. We're gonna be doing, I always do a lot of reading, love reading. Yes. So you're also planning guided excursions with members. , What can you tell us about those?

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: Well, it's not lined up yet, but I'm looking for a partner, , one of the big tour companies that basically we will be, , I'll be joining them and inviting people to come with me, and we're gonna identify different places that are on the historic. Trail that are just perfect for this. I'm hoping to go to, , Egypt next year, and I'm hoping that that will be in place by then, and then I can bring people along.

But if you are, either, , logged onto our newsletter or our membership, the newsletters on the homepage. You get the newsletter, if you're a member, if you,, stay on board with us. I will let you know when those, those trips start occurring and opportunities and we're gonna be having sponsors, so we're actually looking, actively looking for sponsors and, and partners. And we will be bringing their trips to you as well with, you know,discounts and things like that.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Fantastic. So as we wrap up, what's one piece of advice for someone who wants to start traveling with more of a historical intention?

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: The first thing that I recommend that you do is you go where you resonate. So for me it's Medieval and Renaissance, uh, Europe. But you, you may have Scottish background or you may have have an Asian background or something of that, and you, that might be your priority. So, fi figure out what, or a time period like you, like US history as opposed, you know, or civil war or whatever. Is your niche, you wanna zero in in that and then start looking more deeply into what is there that evokes that period. and our posts will help you do that. , The insight guides that I mentioned will do that. and,, you can start [00:36:00] investigating from that standpoint.

That's, that's how I would go about it.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Okay. And , so many of our listeners are, , women who are solo travelers or just starting their travel journey now, at our age. Do you have any final thoughts for women about travel, about. Exposing yourself to history, to, to taking that adventure they've always dreamt of.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: Well, the first thing is don't. Sit around in fear and anticipation of, , going alone. of all, if you go on a tour, you'll never feel alone.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Yeah.

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: and , most traveling around the world is very safe. , And as long as you treat people well and stay out of areas that are unsavory, you're gonna have an absolutely wonderful time.

But if you had have all any hesitation,either go with somebody else or. a trip. There are so many places that you can join trips. Obviously some are pricey, but some are very inexpensive. , And you can go through your alumni groups, you can go through church groups, you can go through seniors groups, you can go through women's groups.

There are tours that are dedicated just to women,

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: Hmm,

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: And the finds of opportunities will make you feel protected and safe. So all I'm saying is. Don't not go because you are in a state of, , fear or, or resistance. Just get out there and you're gonna be so happy. You did.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: that is great advice. And so I know that people can find you on the historic traveler.com. Are you also on social media?

jackie-lapin--the-historic-traveler_1_08-15-2025_105931: I certainly am. You can find me on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook. LinkedIn and Pinterest. Now we have my personal [00:38:00] two two on um, Facebook and LinkedIn, and the rest of those are under the historic traveler brand or historic traveler International. There is no doubt you can find us and we have some fun things we're doing.

Like every Friday we put out a new, am I? Where I am. You have my face on one of the great historic women in history. And so it's really fun looking forward to those every week.

heide---nicky--she-her-_1_08-15-2025_125931: That sounds a lot of fun. And we'll have those links in our show notes. Yes. For our listeners. But Jackie, this has been absolutely inspiring. , Thank you for showing us how travel can be so much more than just checking places off a list, especially when you're going to these places you've read about in those novels that you've loved and how much that can enhance and experience.

Like travel, definitely. And to our listeners, remember, you're never too old to start a new adventure. Be sure to like us wherever you find our podcast, and definitely share us with a friend who's been on the fence about taking their next trip. Or just needs a good book recommendation. Yeah, and if you member of a book club, turn 'em on to the Historic Traveler website and start going to all these places you've only read about.

So Jackie, again, thank you so much. Until next time, stay untethered and wonder wise.

Be sure to like, follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcast fix. Check us out on Instagram at untethered Wonder wise, that's no, and for even more travel inspiration and tips. Until next time, happy travels.