Welcome to Traveling Through, a podcast hosted by David Prior, where we trace the places, encounters, and unexpected discoveries that have influenced some of today’s most creative minds. Listen on Apple Music, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

With the May opening of La DoubleJ's first New York flagship, Milan-based designer J.J. Martin has exported more than the printed dresses and Murano glassware that have come to define her brand. Beyond fashion and homewares, the five-story townhouse features a meditation room for sound healings and community gatherings—a space emblematic of Martin's spiritual vision.

In the latest episode of Traveling Through, Martin argues that travel has become too preoccupied with restaurants, hotels, and shopping at the expense of deeper understanding. “What I am most attracted to…is connecting with places that are going to expand my awareness and my consciousness,” she tells David Prior, lamenting that logistics and lists have eclipsed the joy of discovery.

Martin, who’s known to pack crystals and talismans in her carry-on, also makes the case for reclaiming certain “overdone” destinations through spiritual practice. Florence, Martin says, bristles with energy when you stop treating it as an open-air museum, while Bali still has a je ne sais quoi magnetism despite its crowds. Even Cappadocia can be wondrous if you stop looking with your “3D eyes.” Running beneath Martin’s travel outlook is the same philosophy she brings to La DoubleJ. Beauty, she argues, has the power to change the way people feel—but only if it’s offered without preaching. “You don’t want to ever go and try to convince someone to get a spiritual practice,” she says. “What you want to do is just make someone feel good.

Watch the full episode above, or listen by subscribing on Apple Music or Spotify.