Charly Wilder: From the New York Times Travel Section to Executive Editor at Roads & Kingdoms

As a 20-something travel scrabbling together an existence in the youth hostels of Istanbul and Berlin, Charly Wilder began writing. A cold email led to a blogging role at the New York Times, which soon developed into dozens of features, including contributions to their highly successful '36 Hours In' series. Charly's stories resist the cliches of travel writing and challenge assumptions - about whether a truly transformative travel experience can be engineered, about travel in the footsteps of your ancestors, or literary heroes. Two years ago, Charly took a job as Executive Editor at Roads & Kingdoms. The platform had ceased publishing new travel stories following the death of Anthony Bourdain, their champion, partner, and benefactor. Under Charly's guidance, their engine is revving up again, and they've just launched a new membership and a 144-page print magazine. On the Travel Writing Podcast, Charly talks about her travel writing journey, what makes the travel stories Roads & Kingdoms publishes so unusual, and what they are looking for in new travel writing.