5 Minutes With Pola Henderson

For McCool Travel’s 52nd travel profile, I am pleased to present Pola Henderson. I “met” Pola online through her Twitter chat, #JAchat (JA is for “Jetting Around”). #JAchat is a lively discussion with many fun, well-traveled people and I was fortunate to help host one session. #JAchat occurs every Friday at 1pm eastern US and celebrated its first year this past October.
“Pola Henderson is the founder and editor of Jetting Around, a blog dedicated to city travel. Her writing and photography has also been published on CNN, Yahoo, and Expedia, among other outlets. Pola grew up in Krakow, Poland, lived in North Africa, and has called Chicago home since 2002. In addition to writing, Pola hosts a weekly city travel discussion on Twitter called #JAchat and international networking events for travelers, JA Café: Travel Talk Over Coffee. She is also the owner of a communications company JA Media.”

Pola Henderson
Pola Henderson: Jetting Around

Pola Henderson

Hometown…
I’m originally from Krakow, in Chicago since 2002.
Always in my luggage…

  • Scarf to keep me warm on the plane, plus it’s a great accessory
  • Notebook because I’m old school like that…
  • Camera and a few lenses for all sorts of photo opportunities
  • Music on my phone for waiting in lines, long layovers, or just walking around cities

3 favorite home-away-from-home places…

  1. Paris
  2. San Francisco
  3. my hometown Krakow, which I visit once a year

A favorite travel memory is…
Going to clubs around Paris to catch gypsy jazz performances. I’m a big fan of this style of music, which originated in France in the 1930s.
3 favorite travel brands…

  1. American Airlines – I like their new fleet (incl. the flag-themed tail design) and super-helpful Twitter team
  2. Delsey luggage – lightweight and so Paris-chic!
  3. Kayak – my first (and often only) stop when looking for flights

3 money-saving travel tactics I use are…

  1. Accumulating airline miles with credit cards
  2. Whenever possible, flexible flight search (+/- 3 days)
  3. Using hotel-booking websites that offer rewards (incl. earning a free stay)

3 ways that I have fun while traveling are…

  1. Walking around
  2. Sitting in coffee shops
  3. Going to events (performances or sports)
Pola Henderson: Jetting Around
Pola Henderson: Jetting Around

8 word (or less) travel mantra…
‘Now is a good time.’
My favorite non-travel website…
Twitter – my news feed/directory/chat room
most memorable souvenir…
A bracelet I found in Montmartre in a store dedicated to… the letters of the alphabet. The piece looks wrapped in pages of a book.

Pola Henderson's bracelet
Pola Henderson: Jetting Around

favorite cheap eat…
Street tacos in Mexico City

recent discovery…
Tri-Valley, California. Nice wine country, accessible by public transportation from San Francisco.
I am fortunate to have met…
Other bloggers online. Some have turned into offline friends. 


Thank you very much, Pola. May all of your travels be enjoyable and memorable.
Follow Pola Henderson and Jetting Around on FacebookTwitter, Instagram, Google+, and JettingAround.com.


Check out McCool Travel’s previous profilesMcCool Travel presents tips from travel experts in our 5 Minutes interview series—featuring travel industry giants, super frequent travelers, and adventurous persons. Previous 5 Minutes post: Ted Nelson.


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8 thoughts on “5 Minutes With Pola Henderson”

  1. Great to learn more about Pola! I’d love to visit the store where she bought the bracelet – very curious to see what else they have that relates to the letters of the alphabet.

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