California landscapes inspire in Dallas taping of Afar's 'Unpacked Live'

Visit California partnered with Afar for the second installment of Unpacked Live — a live version of the award-winning Afar podcast — held in Dallas this spring. The event brought together travel enthusiasts and cultural tastemakers for an intimate evening celebrating California's extraordinary creative landscape and its enduring contributions to American culture, timed ahead of America 250.

Afar podcast director Aislyn Greene led a live, moderated conversation featuring two of California's most distinguished creative voices: Los Angeles-based architect Barbara Bestor, FAIA, and award-winning San Francisco landscape architect Roderick Wyllie. Together, Bestor and Wyllie have spent three decades shaping the way Californians live, work and gather — and the evening's discussion brought that legacy to life for a Dallas audience.

The conversation explored how California's diverse places and landscapes inform and inspire their work, how the Golden State continues to serve as a global wellspring of creative thinking, and the rich travel experiences California offers through the lens of two people who know it most intimately. Visit California Director of Public Relations Kristen Bonilla delivered welcoming remarks before the panel, underscoring the destination's role as a cradle of American creativity and innovation.

The campaign is part of Visit California's broader effort to reach key U.S. travel audiences through culturally resonant editorial partnerships. Across three episodes of the Afar Unpacked podcast, naturalist and illustrator Obi Kauffman discussed California's wild spaces and the future of conservation; landscape architect Roderick Wyllie reflected on growing up in 1970s San Francisco and the power of intentional design; and architect Barbara Bestor explored her creative process and the California places that never stop inspiring her. All three episodes were distributed on Spotify and YouTube.