Yolanda Edwards
Traveling is about discovering new places but it’s also about sharing experiences and inspirations, at least for Yolanda Edwards, founder, and editor of Yolo Journal, a meticulously curated quarterly travel magazine that brims with insights, tips, and leads as well as captivating photography. A New York City publishing veteran, she was previously creative director of Condé Nast Traveler, Yolanda is a bona fide storyteller as much as a seasoned traveler, whose wanderlust is a constant source of inspiration—now more than ever. We recently caught up with Yolanda to get to know her a little bit better and gauge her state of mind.
How would you define yourself in three words?
Sensitive, determined, devoted.
A project/initiative you’re most proud of?
I like to make connections—and usually, I do that with travel: connecting people to places that I think will make them happy. Recently, when the quarantine began, I saw farmers, who normally would be supplying restaurants with an abundance of food, without a way to connect to people encountering empty shelves in their grocery stores. So I started featuring on my IG all farmers who were selling directly to consumers throughout the country (also some in Europe), and it was just nice to be able to help connect those dots. Since then other organizations are doing this in a much more organized way, which is great.
Where do you draw inspiration from?
Travel… near or far, I am most inspired when I am out in the world.
Which colours are you currently enamored of?
Orange, blue, and the green of spring moss.
What’s an accessory you had for ages?
A vintage gold bangle my husband bought for me.
What item in your closet do you wear the most?
These days it’s a cashmere robe…. but at night I dress up and wear a caftan.
The beauty product you can’t live without?
Tatcha lip balm and Chantecaille rose oil.
Three Instagram accounts you check daily?
@bonappetit for food inspiration @miguelfloresvianna who always shows the most beautiful places in the world and @dnice to see if he is spinning at Club Quarantine.
Favourite destination and hotel?
Well it’s always a tie between Italy and Greece so in Italy, it would be the Pellicano, and in Greece, it would be Skinopi in Milos.
What do you miss most when travelling?
My dogs!
Which city would you choose to live in if you had to move?
Bordeaux.
Favourite gallery/museum?
Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.
What is on your bookshelf?
Mostly cookbooks and vintage photography books.
What quote do you live by?
Oυδέν κακόν αμιγές καλού;
Quando si chiude una porta, si apra un portone;
When one door closes, another one opens.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
It’s like, totally, whatever.
What is your guilty pleasure?
I like to have a sip of bourbon before I go to sleep. I know so many people say that it isn’t good to drink before you go to bed, but it gives me a very sound sleep!
What is your most treasured possession?
I would say my photo albums, but now I guess that means my iCloud? I have been very delinquent in doing my albums, but maybe that’s a great thing for me to do now!
