In one of her columns, Mayo talks about the Muslim prayer rug in her hotel room in Pakistan, and about the compass she uses to find the direction toward Mecca. So she's some kind of Muslim.
I'll bet she's also on a trust fund. Vermont is full of such people.
I think you may have misunderstood what she was saying. I believe she was saying that the room came equipped with the prayer rug and the arrow pointing to Mecca.