2 Transgender Travelers on Exploring the U.S. and the World, Episode 15 of Travel + Leisure's New Podcast

Since June, Travel + Leisure's first podcast, Let's Go Together, has taken readers across the globe with stories from a diverse group of travelers, including a Black female travel blogger who roams the world solo, a Muslim Olympic fencer who has competed around the world, a gay couple traversing the United States in an RV, and many more. On this week's episode, host Kellee Edwards is joined by Kam Burns and Aria Sa'id to discuss what it's like traveling with a transgender identity.

Sa'id is a transgender advocate and political strategist based in San Francisco , California, and she's the founder and executive director of Compton's Transgender Cultural District, the world's first transgender district. Burns is a transgender journalist who works for Wired and writes about transgender issues and mental health. He's also one of the founding members of the Trans Journalists Association, which provides media resources and support for trans journalists. Both Sa'id and Burns have traveled extensively around the United States and across the world, and on this week's episode, they share their experiences as trans travelers.

Throughout the episode, Sa'id and Burns discuss how their identities impact the way they travel, giving advice for trans or gender-nonconforming travelers. One of those tips is getting TSA PreCheck or Global Entry. Sa'id says, "We do unfortunately have to go the extra mile and while we're educating the world to be inclusive of us, I tell trans people all the time, get TSA PreCheck, like get Global Entry. It just saves you so much of the headache... that comes with traveling to start." Of course, as Burns points out, there's "not just one trans experience" that all people who are transgender identify with, and that applies to travel, too.

Sa'id and Burns have a few dream trips in mind once travel opens back up, and their bucket lists have destinations we all want to visit, including India, Greece, Croatia, France, and Bali.

Hear more from Kam Burns and Aria Sa'id on Let's Go Together, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.