Condé Nast's Susan Portnoy Goes to Turkey & Tanzania

By Benjamin Liong Setiawan Aug 26, 2011, 2:00pm EDT

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Time for another installment of Racked National's travel feature, Summer Fridays, where we show you snapshots from the fabulous adventures of fabulous people in the fashion industry. So come with us, take a little breather on this Friday, and let us whisk you away to a faraway (and sometimes near) locale.

I was completely unaware that Mutlu, my guide in Izmer, took this shot until I returned home and he posted it on Facebook. Itâ€™s actually a quintessential shot of me as I am constantly changing lenses throughout the day and completely oblivious to anythi
A partial view of Istanbul as seen from the Galata bridge that spans the Golden Horn. It is common to see families and old men fishing off the bridge during the day. The Suleymaniye Mosque looms high in the background. At the base of the bridge there are
A solemn moment. A man prays at the Beyazit Mosque in Istanbul. The Imam of this Mosque was an incredibly nice man who took me to the top of one of the Minarets and gave me an impromptu guided tour of the Mosque. He was so wonderfully proud of its history
The Hagia Sofia is one of the most stunning buildings Iâ€™ve ever encountered. Its sheer size is staggering and its thousand-year history is palpable. Over the centuries itâ€™s been a cathedral, a Mosque and now a museum. Gorgeous frescos and Mosaics of
Cappadocia and hot air balloons are synonymous and if you visit without taking a ride youâ€™re missing out on a fantastic adventure. Almost everyday, weather permitting, 60-80 balloons ascend into the sky. By 6am your 10,000 feet in the air and if youâ€™r
The inspiration for my trip came from a 60 Minutes segment I saw on Cappadocia and its remarkable cave frescos from the Goreme Open Air Museum - a UNESCO world heritage sight. The Dark Church, in which this photo was taken shows the elaborate frescos that

This week's Summer Fridays postcard is from Susan Portnoy. Portnoy started her career doing fashion public relations for Nicole Miller, Cynthia Steffe, and launched the Oscar by Oscar de la Renta bridge collection. She then worked on projects for everyone from Harper’s Bazaar and ElleGirl to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. In 2006 Portnoy joined Condé Nast and currently does corporate communications and digital strategy. One of her many projects is Fashion's Night Out. Earlier this week, she was promoted to Vice President of the department. Big congrats!

With all of those responsibilities, it's not hard to see why Portnoy likes to travel to exotic destinations. Click through our photo galleries of her global adventures in Turkey and Tanzania. Under each shot Portnoy gives some commentary on her trips.

Susan Portnoy: The inspiration for my trip came from a 60 Minutes segment I saw on Cappadocia and its remarkable cave frescos from the Goreme Open Air Museum—a UNESCO world heritage sight. The Dark Church shows the elaborate frescos that were painted on arches and columns carved directly out of the limestone. I knew the minute I saw these on TV I had to see them for myself.

Thatâ€™s me, obsessed with a herd of female elephants and their young, slowly making their way to a swamp in the distance. My guide Chilli Meela took this picture as I snapped away.
If you are going on safari be sure to stay at camps with watering holes. If you do, you may see 30 male elephants hanging out too. At the time of this photo, the males were a bit riled up as a female did her best to maneuver her yearling to the water. The
I had a wonderful morning with the Hadzabe bushman who still click as part of their vocabulary. These tweens were shy at first but once I showed them their images on my camera we quickly became best friends. Cost of admission? One goat.
I spent nearly 3 hours watching a herd of wildebeest and zebra frolic, fight and drink from a watering hole in the middle of some pretty dry terrain. All of a sudden I heard the pounding of a stampeding heard, and as the dust began to fill the air I insti
I was in South Africa 10 years ago but I never saw a Leopard. On the last leg of my trip I was blessed with multiple sightings and one particularly curious cat that walked up to the jeep, looked me over, got bored and then sauntered away. This beauty I fo
A tender moment between mother and sonâ€¦.On my last day, only a few hundred yards from the airstrip that would welcome my plane back to Arusha, my driver and I came upon this beautiful lioness and her 3 cubs near the side of the road. Theyâ€™d just feast