In a time of limited travel, AFAR and The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card from Chase are providing an immersive, multimedia experience through Travel Tales

NEW YORK, NY – AFAR Media, the critically acclaimed travel media company, announced on Thursday that Travel Tales by AFAR is available via podcast, adding the medium to its programming across print, digital, video, and social media. Now in its third year, Travel Tales is a collection of sometimes funny, always heartwarming stories by travelers. Together with our presenting sponsor, The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card from Chase, AFAR will bring this award-winning, first-person series to life through a podcast.

In a time when most Americans are unable to travel, the Travel Tales series provides audiences with deep, rich travel stories told by esteemed writers and photographers, who personally narrate their experiences. Since its launch in 2018, Travel Tales has connected travelers via intimate, live storytelling events as well as hand-illustrated video animations featuring voiceovers by recognized writers and photographers. In 2019, both the MPA Kelly Award and Imagination Award recognized Travel Tales as a finalist. 

This year, listeners will get an inside look at the ways in which travel can change our lives. You will hear from Ryan Knighton, a blind writer, who narrates his experience navigating a safari in Zimbabwe. The story won gold in the 2017-2018 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism competition. Francis Lam, an award-winning food writer and the host of the beloved NPR podcast “Splendid Table,” shares his journey with a Malaysian chef struggling to embrace her roots. Sally Kohn, CNN's frequent guest commentator, took a spontaneous trip to Amsterdam, a city renowned for its coffee shops and progressive ideals, only to find that tolerance there isn't as straightforward as she thought.

“Travel changes lives and opens minds,” says Julia Cosgrove, VP and Editor in Chief at AFAR. “The Travel Tales by AFAR podcast highlights the very best of AFAR's stories over the years: ten storytellers share their tales of transformative travel. At a time when many of us aren't traveling, it's an inspiring reminder of what's to come as the world opens up through our contributors' most surprising and moving experiences.”

Travel Tales is exclusively empowered by The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card from Chase, which shares AFAR's belief in the power of travel.

“Travel literally is a moving experience – from the connections you make with people and cultures, to the memorable stories you'll share time and time again,” said Greg Stranz, Marketing Director of the Chase Marriott Bonvoy cards. “Chase and Marriott Bonvoy believe in the power of travel, and the AFAR series provides a welcomed escape for listeners while inspiring them as they contemplate future travel plans.”

Explore Travel Tales stories at afar.com/traveltales and subscribe to the Travel Tales by AFAR podcast on your favorite platform now with new episodes releasing every Thursday. Travel Tales will be accompanied by a new travel itinerary each month on afar.com/traveltales, providing readers with additional inspiration for future travel experiences like those in the stories.

About AFAR Media:

Dedicated to inspiring and enabling deeper, richer, and more fulfilling travel experiences, AFAR Media's mission is to make travel a force for good. AFAR launched as a print travel magazine in 2009 to approach travel in a way that no other media publication was doing at the time, and has grown into a critically acclaimed travel media company with a well-traveled and highly influential audience. Based in New York and San Francisco, AFAR's diverse portfolio includes: AFAR magazine; AFAR.com; Learning AFAR, a non-profit program transforming communities by giving underserved students opportunities to make an impact through travel experiences; AFAR Experiences, an immersive travel event series; and AFAR Advisor, a B-to-B platform inspiring and empowering the world's best travel advisors.