Arielle Anthony - Travelstride Destination Expert

Anthropology, History, Solo Female Travel, Budget Travel, Ethical Tourism 

Born and raised in San Francisco, Arielle was surrounded by a great deal of diversity in her early years. She was also fortunate enough to go to places like Mexico, France, and Italy on family vacations when she was young. These trips that strayed off the beaten path inspired her curiosity for cultures around the world.

After earning her degree in Anthropology from UC Berkeley, she took a year to do a little exploring. She travelled solo to Spain, Peru, Chile, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, and Turkey, researching and planning everything on her own.

Her anthropology background made travel much more meaningful for her. It has allowed her to more deeply understand the complexity of cultures with which she interacts and her own role as a visitor in foreign lands. For her, traveling is all about the people. She loves learning about the history that makes a destination unique, questioning why people do what they do, and reveling in the different interpretations of what it means to be human.

This love of travel and anthropology inspired her to start her own blog, Cultural Baggage, in which she explores questions of culture, ethnic identity, and of course, adventure. She hopes to inspire others to think more critically about the peoples and cultures they encounter around the globe.

When she’s not traveling, you can find her at home in the Bay Area, having a beer with friends at the Albatross Pub, jamming on her fiddle, or hiking around the foothills of Mt. Diablo. 

A month in Turkey. Beautiful, warm, friendly people welcomed me wherever I went. I had the opportunity to work at the old Spice Bazaar in Istanbul for a day, touting the benefits of Sultan’s tea and enticing tourists with samples of rose flavored lokum. The turquoise coast shone brilliantly, as I bobbed around on local fishing boats in Kas. In Central Anatolia, I explored the fairy-tale landscape known as Cappadochia. Watching the sun set over the plain of hidden cave churches while the muezzin sang the call to prayer in the distance was both eerie and moving. 

Indonesia