Nina Karnikowski ON: Making a living from living, the places that change us, knowing when to pull the ripcord and travelling through the world with intention

Some people travel for a living. Nina Karnikowski has made a life out of paying attention.

As a travel writer, author and lifelong explorer, Nina has spent years moving through the world and documenting the people, places and ideas that have changed the way she sees it. But this conversation isn't really about collecting passport stamps or finding the next beautiful destination. It's about what happens to us when we allow travel to change us.

I first came across Nina through her book Make a Living Living, which immediately felt like the kind of book I wanted to exist. Nina goes behind the scenes of the lives and careers of people who have figured out how to build work around the way they actually want to live. Not the polished Instagram version, but the real thing: the risks, the compromises, the failures, the pivots and the decisions that made those lives possible.

And perhaps unsurprisingly, Nina has learned a lot from writing about other people's lives.

One of the ideas we come back to is that you learn the most about something by actually doing it. It sounds obvious, but there is something liberating about it. You don't need to have the entire map before you start. Sometimes you have to walk a little way down the road and see what happens.

We talk about Nina's own path into travel journalism, her teenage ambitions, the reality of becoming the next Catriona Rowntree (or at least having that expectation placed upon her!) and the less glamorous side of a career that looks incredibly enviable from the outside.

Then there are the ripcord moments.

Those moments when something happens and you suddenly realise you need to change direction, reassess or let go of the version of yourself you thought you were supposed to be. Nina shares some of hers, including her deep love of Southeast Asia and a life-changing trek through Nepal.

Her books The Mindful Traveller and Go Lightly grew out of these experiences, as well as a desire to travel differently. More slowly. More consciously. With greater curiosity and less consumption. We talk about her number one tip for mindful travel, and yes, journaling features heavily.

But perhaps the most beautiful part of this conversation is the way Nina talks about what travel has taught her about people.

Living and travelling in other cultures has shown her the importance of intimacy, community and connection. We talk about relationships, respect, learning to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and the ways we nurture the people we love.

Nina also opens up about supporting her partner through burnout and anxiety, and the very ordinary, daily rituals they use to stay grounded. Nature, movement, travel, simple routines and taking responsibility for your own mental wellbeing all come into the conversation.

There is something wonderfully unglamorous about it. Because for all the extraordinary places Nina has travelled to, perhaps the real work is still happening in the everyday.

The journal beside the bed. The walk outside. The conversation you don't want to have. The decision to try something different. The willingness to be uncomfortable for a little longer.

This is what I loved about talking to Nina. She reminds us that travel isn't necessarily about going further. Sometimes it's about seeing differently.

And perhaps staying wild is exactly that: remaining curious enough to keep moving, brave enough to pull the ripcord when something no longer fits, and open enough to let the world change you.

This is Wildfemmes.