Lisa Gustavson, Warré Beekeeper
Name: Lisa Gustavson
Occupations: Founder & Owner of Sojourner Tours, a boutique tour company specialized in sustainable tourism for adventurous food lovers.
Residence: Austin, Texas
Background and Personal History: Lisa is French and American and divides her time between the two countries. Her greatest passion is travel which is why, back in 2013, she opened Sojourner Tours, a new kind of travel company for environmentally-aware travelers interested in having deep cultural experiences, fun, and fabulous food in France. She loves sharing the experience of sojourning with others. Each of her trips is infused with her personal interests in local food and sustainable, small-scale artisanal products. Lisa’s sojourns in France often thrill guests with spontaneous events like: milking goats following an impromptu invitation from a market vendor; or, stopping to visit a medieval castle and sampling 15 different kinds of local honey when there is a sign on the door that reads “Honey for Sale”. Those who love culture, food, outdoor markets, small-scale local producers, wine tasting, art, outdoor activities, nature, unusual museums and are ready for an adventure really enjoy traveling with Lisa.
When at home in Texas, Lisa spends her spare time as an informal urban chicken and beekeeper, backyard gardener, cook, writer and photographer. She possesses two master’s degrees one in International Studies from Ohio University and another in Anthropology from the University of California Santa Barbara. Her bachelor’s degree from Bennington College included a minor in photography.
Current Projects: Lisa is currently developing a central Texas component to Sojourner Tours by offering local cooking classes and creating a week long sojourn in the Austin area featuring local producers and quintessential Texan experiences like “chicken shit bingo”.
Other Fun Facts: On a personal level, one of the things that most interests Lisa is the plight of the honeybee. Lisa is extremely concerned about the precarious situation caused by widespread unsustainable beekeeping practices and believes the easy but little-known French Warré beekeeping method can make a big positive impact by, at the very least, inspiring many more people to join the backyard or urban beekeeping movement which will help safeguard more honeybees. She is passionate about bees and a member of the Williamson County Beekeepers Association.
