author nikki vargas on growing up an immigrant, travel feminism and where she's going next
nikki vargas is a woman of many talents. originally from bogotá, colombia, she is the author of bestselling book ‘call you when i land’, awared the best women's memoir by glamour magazine, and a winner of multiple accolades. nikki is also a senior digital editor for fodor's travel and the founder of unearth women, a travel publication with a focus on sharing women’s stories and promoting female owned businesses.
tell us about a moment you experienced whilst travelling that transformed either you or your outlook on life?
as I detail in my travel memoir, call you when i land, one of the most transformative trips I took early on was a solo trip to argentina taken a week before my wedding day in new york. while this trip was initially taken as a travel assignment to write about the cafe scene in buenos aires, it ended up becoming one of the most defining moments in my life when I made the impromptu decision to fly to iguazu national park. while walking through the jungle solo, I finally confronted some of the tougher questions I had been avoiding around my upcoming wedding and made the decision to call it off. What I learned in the jungle, which I carry through today, is the importance of being honest with yourself and how it's never too late to make a change and take back your life.
how does travel influence or inspire your writing?
travel influences my writing in two key ways: through emotion and location. The act of travel is to step outside your comfort zone, which can often come with some emotional turnover and revelations, opening yourself up to new truths and experiences. because of this, i find that my writing tends to hold more soul whenever I travel. the other way travel impacts my writing is, of course, by being somewhere new. to discover a new place is to feel inspired, which lends itself wonderfully to the task of trying to capture the look, smell, feel, and taste of a new place.
“I’m in the fortunate position to be ingratiated within the women’s travel space, which means I’ve surrounded myself with truly inspiring women across the industry. From entrepreneurs to writers to creators, I’ve had the joy of meeting a myriad of women in my industry who have inspired me in ways both big and small.”
your work explores themes of being an immigrant, family and feminism – how do these topics influence the way you travel and write?
it's not so much how these themes impact my writing as it is how they impact me as a person. at the end of the day, writing my memoir was a personal reflection of my thoughts, experiences, lessons, growth, and journey, and within that braid are these themes of grappling with my personal identity, my familial connections, and being a woman navigating the world.
your book ‘call you when I land’ – tell us the process behind writing this book, where did your initial ideas come from?
call you when i land is a memoir that pays homage to my twenties, a time in my life (and in most people's lives) that was wonderfully messy yet defining. i wanted to honor some of the big decisions I made as a twenty-something that, in retrospect, were quite brazen and brave. it was these choices that ultimately brought me to where I am today and led me to everything I value now, from my husband to my career to my pets. once I knew I wanted to write this memoir, i went about searching for a literary agent to guide me in crafting a book proposal, which was eventually sold at auction to harpercollins. i was paired with a brilliant book editor who immediately understood the memoir I was set on writing and was instrumental in helping me shape the manuscript. from there, as they say, the rest is history.
“The act of travel is to step outside your comfort zone, which can often come with some emotional turnover and revelations, opening yourself up to new truths and experiences. ”
