Traveler Blog

Mariam Nacify, Minted's CEO, frequently travels tens of thousands of miles each year. In the image, hover over each number for a description. | Image credit: Mariam Nacify

Mariam Nacify

Image credit: Mariam Nacify

Mariam Naficy has always had an appreciation for the wider world. It helps when you spend your childhood living in five different countries. The founder and chief executive officer of Minted, an online marketplace that features stationery, wall art, and home decor from independent designers, spent time in Kuwait, Lebanon, Tanzania, Iran, and Egypt growing up. Now based in San Francisco, she's kept the journey going ever since.

Naficy averages two or three international and about seven domestic trips a year, for work and play - roughly 60, 000 miles in total. But she's determined not to let all that travel take its toll. "My whole strategy is to keep comfortable and healthy when I'm on the road, " she says.

That road brought Naficy most recently to Haiti. She serves on the board of Every Mother Counts, a nonprofit founded by Christy Turlington Burns to increase access to maternal care in developing nations, which traveled to Port-au-Prince, Mirebalais, and Jacmel, to see its impact on the ground, including the graduation ceremony of the first group of midwives the organization has helped provide training for. "It was very moving, " she says. "Especially to see these women graduate and get out there to do some good."

Fresh off that trip, we asked Naficy to open up her bag and share what she brought with her.

1. Lo & Sons "O.G." and Celine bags
"This Lo & Sons bag is fantastic. It takes a beating, but always looks sharp and is very lightweight. It has padding for my computer and lots of great pockets to keep track of things. I also have a cross-body black bag from Celine that I use every day when I'm walking around. It forces me to keep very little on me, which is better for my back."

2. A book
"I'm usually reading a book at all times. On this trip, I was reading Mountains Beyond Mountains about Dr. Paul Farmer, who has done amazing work in Haiti with his organization Partners In Health. Now, I'm on to The Everything Store about Amazon and Jeff Bezos. One of the reasons I like to travel is to get outside my existence in the world. Reading a book at the same time tends to reinforce that. For example, in this case, I wanted to see Haiti through someone else's eyes, reinforce the experience, and learn about the people and the places we were going to see. It was really interesting to understand the history. That immediately put me into a different mind space.

3. Mariage Frères tea
"I like to bring my favorite tea on the road with me so that I can feel at home. Pictured here is my all-time favorite - 'Earl Grey French Blue' by Mariage Frères."

4. Juicy Fruit gum
"I'm a sucker for fun flavors of gum, like Juicy Fruit. I think it comes from this habit I picked up in the '80s as a high school kid. I was living in Egypt at the time, and when we'd stop in the U.S., I'd stock up on things like Juicy Fruit and Bubble Yum, because that was deemed super cool. And I think it stuck. When I'm thinking about having fun, I'm thinking about chewing flavorful gum. A simple indulgence of my youth."