Listen to LISA on Girls on the Air Radio Show

Thank you to Girls on The Air for including me in their International Women’s Day show. You can listen to the radio show here and read the transcript below:

TB— Tracy Baldwin: Welcome back Ventura County. You are listening live to “Girls on the Air.” We are real women in real estate, AM 1590 KBTA. I’m Tracy Baldwin. KC — Karen Campbell: I’m Karen Campbell. TB: And we are giving away—this is so exciting—a free two-night stay at Hotel Erwin in Venice, through April. Give us a call: (805) 650-1590. 650-1590. Give us a call, get your name in the drawing of a free two-night stay at Hotel Erwin in Venice Beach. You cannot beat that, right? KC: No, it has absolutely gorgeous views, there’s a rooftop lounge and Venice Way Pizza—which is a very popular place to eat pizza. And all the facility fees are waived, and the parking is discounted. It’s going to be a great getaway for someone. TB: All right, give us a call: (805) 650-1590.

KC: Well, we have Lisa Niver on the phone. She is a top 10 travel influencer, a top 50 female influencer, she has been to one hundred and one countries and six continents. You can find her talking about travel on KTLA TV, and on her “We Said Go Travel” videos with over 1.3 million views on her YouTube channel. Hey Lisa, how are you?

LN — Lisa Niver: Good morning Tracy and Karen. It’s so nice to talk with you today. TB: You too. You sound so interesting. LN: Oh my goodness, thank you. KC: Where did you grow up? LN: I grew up in West Los Angeles and participating in life in both the city and the valley. It’s great to be back in LA. I’ve lived overseas for a long time, and I love being back in Los Angeles. TB: So tell us your story. This is so exciting. LN: Oh, thank you. Well, I have done a lot of different jobs in my career, and at different points I’ve been a teacher and a traveler, and sometimes I’ve been a traveling teacher and sometimes I’ve been a teaching traveler. (laughter) I’m very lucky to have worked here in Los Angeles at Culver City unified school district, and a bunch of different private schools. But mainly now I share my travel stories—like you just said—on my website “We Said Go Travel.” And before Covid, I was sharing them on KTLA TV.

TB: How did you afford to do all this traveling? LN: That’s a very good question. For many of my travels I worked for Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and a company that’s no longer in business, Renaissance Cruises. So basically, my house moved.

TB: What did you on the cruise ship? LN: In the beginning I worked in the children’s program because I have a Master’s in Education and I was a trained teacher, and then I found out that the Cruise Staff made more money, worked less hours, and had bigger cabins. So I said, “I’ll take that job, please.” (laughter) TB: So then what did you do, as Cruise Staff? LN: As a Senior Assistant Cruise Director, the most memorable part of my interview was when they asked me how did I feel about public humiliation? We used to do shows every night—and since I had worked at Club Med before cruise ships, I was used to being on stage, and I had a lot of crazy characters like Marge The Nerdy Librarian—and we did Bingo, I used to host Shabbat services, I ran a yoga class. I did a lot of different exciting things that basically gave me the opportunity for my passion, which was to go scuba diving.

TB: Oh wow! KC: Very cool. I love to do that, too. Very awesome.

TB: So tell us where you’ve been and where’s your favorite place? LN: As you said in my intro, I’ve been to a hundred and one countries and six continents. So honestly, a lot of times my favorite place is where I just was, because I really love to meet people. I’ve been so fortunate. I did a story for Smithsonian Magazine in the Solomon Islands, and I learned how to make shell money, and I learned how to make cloth in the village from bark. I went scuba diving. It was so incredible. My last big trip before Covid was to the Galapagos. That was on my bucket list and so it was amazing to see the blue-footed boobies. I had wanted to see them my whole life.

KC: Oh, I know. TB: So cool. Exactly. Well, I’m interested in how you became the Top 50 female influencer. LN: So I am interested in that too. (laughter) So what happened is—for many years—for a decade—I’ve been running “We Said Go Travel,” which I still run. But recently I shifted all my social media to my name, Lisa Niver. So on Instagram and Twitter and Facebook, you can find me @LisaNiver. And because I’ve always been on social as my brand, as a company, I wouldn’t have been picked up for this list. But I literally, in January, made the shift because I’m working on the book proposal for my memoir, and all of a sudden I got put on this list with Ariana Grande and Kim Kardashian, and I said, “Wow! Thank you.”

TB: Now, are you married? LN: I’m divorced. TB: I was going to say, because it’s probably a hard life, you know. I was a reporter and I traveled all over the place, but it’s probably a hard life to be married, right? LN: Well when I was married, we were traveling together. And it is a challenge, for some people that think: “Oh, you’ll be gone a lot.” But when I went to the Galapagos, I went on Ecoventura and it’s the only yacht in the brand of Relais &  Chateau, and they said, “Who do you want to bring with you?”

TB: Oh. LN: Why can I not bring someone with me? What a good idea. I always think my plus one is a pretty good opportunity. KC: Right. TB: Exactly. And you probably meet a lot of very interesting people. LN: That’s true. I’ve been very lucky. I recently got to interview Mallika Chopra. She’s Deepak Chopra’s daughter and she’s an incredible author. During Covid, I’ve only met people on Zoom, but it used to be, when I was out and about more, I did meet a lot of interesting people.

TB: Yeah, so how did Covid change your life? LN: Covid has definitely changed my life. I’ve been in Los Angeles since March 9th, so almost a full year. It’s the longest I’ve ever been in one place. And while I used to be doing all travel stories, lately I’ve really been doing stories about books. Although I had a very funny encounter – I ended up accidentally having a swimming lesson from an Olympian.

TB: Ooh. LN: I wrote that story—it was my first story ever for Teen Vogue, which I loved. It was a great story, but it’s also a little bit funny that I wrote for AARP before Teen Vogue. TB: Oh wow. (laughter)

KC: That’s awesome. Well, it looks like you’ve had so many awards including your newest nomination as a book critic, as well as all your nominations and awards for digital and broadcast TV segments. We are just so excited to have you today and thank you for your story. Thanks for this great giveaway.

TB: And tell us about this giveaway. LN: Hotel Erwin is one of my favorite hotels here in Los Angeles. It’s steps from the sand. As I told you, I’ve been home for a year, but I spent my birthday at a staycation at Hotel Erwin in Venice Beach. I walked on the beach in the morning. I walked on the beach in the evening.

They have the Venice Way Pizza right there in the building. They’re next to Eggslut. They’re close to so many good restaurants that are all doing take-out. I had a balcony, so I sat on my balcony, I ate my birthday dinner, I had a walk on the beach. It’s such a great hotel. It’s beautiful. It’s so close. And the other thing I really liked is the rooftop lounge is called “High,” and they have the only rooftop igloo. So you can bring your bubble, your pod, to the rooftop bubble.

TB: Oh, how fun. KC: That sounds amazing. TB: That’s what we’re giving away. Give us a call: (805) 650-1590. We’re giving away a two-night stay at Hotel Erwin in Venice. It just sounds amazing. KC: Lisa, give everybody your name and how they can find you and how they can find your videos. TB: How they can follow you and your adventures. KC: Exactly. LN: Okay, perfect. You can find me on social media: @LisaNiver — Niver like diver. My website is “We Said Go Travel,” and soon my memoir will be published. Everyone will get to read more about all my journeys. YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/WeSaidGoTravel Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisaniver Twitter: https://twitter.com/lisaniver Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisa.niver

TB: Well good for you. Congratulations. What an inspiration. KC: Absolutely. TB: Where are you off to next? LN: Where am I off to next? Mainly I’m in Santa Monica, walking on the beach.

TB: No, I mean your travels. LN: When we’re allowed to travel again? TB: Yes. LN: When travel opens up, I would like to go to Iceland. I’ve never been there. And always on my list is my last continent, Antarctica. TB: Oh, how fun. KC: Well, thank you Lisa for being with us today. We appreciate you very much. TB: And congratulations. KC: Absolutely. LN: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.