The build-up to the New Orleans Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop in September of 2016 was exciting and motivating. Before the workshop, via the closed Facebook group that’s available to everyone who is registered, we all made plans for bourbon tastings and dinners at restaurants with James Beard award-winning chefs. We had forged virtual friendships. And […]
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and couldn’t fall back asleep because your mind was racing about something? This is what I like to call a thought tornado. Thought tornadoes are those times in our lives when our thinking is on overdrive. Non-stop. Spinning and whirling and tossing us around. […]
Godzilla tore its way down the Japanese highway hurtling past cars. Godzilla is the nickname of the Nissan GT-R sports car I’d collected earlier from Nissan’s global headquarters in Yokohama. Of the 10 articles I’ve so far had published from that 2014 trip to Japan, two were about a car. Travel writing can provide great […]
Hindsight is always 20/20. When you’re first starting as a travel writer, everything is new and you’re bound to make mistakes. To help you secure more press trips, here are a few things I wish I had known then that I know now… 1. Patience is a virtue. I’ll never forget my first press trip. […]
Richard Branson, the English billionaire, recently tweeted: “If happiness is the goal – and it should be – then adventure should be a top priority.” Easy for him to say. He’s a billionaire with his own private island. Earlier this week, I put import/export on your radar because of its big payouts. But even when […]
It’s fun to take a trip. On the road, you write down lots of details about what you see and do. You meet and talk with people and get great insights and quotes. You do a good job of being an attentive, inquisitive, observant reporter. You enjoy the process. Like I said, it’s fun. Invigorating, […]
Before I attended the Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop in San Diego in 2014, I didn’t know the journey to travel writing even existed. As a career registered nurse, I thought all magazines had their own writers. But I was looking for a second career, one that would be much more fun in my retirement years, […]
When I first considered becoming a travel writer, it was just a dream. Having just ended a 25-year marriage, I was starting a new life and had no idea where I was heading. One thing I knew for sure: I was happiest when I was traveling and wanted to travel more. But the reality was, […]
As I skied down the slopes of Aspen Snowmass to our ski-in-ski-out hotel, it seemed like a dream. My wife and I were on a trip where we stayed at two different slope-side hotels free of charge because I’m a travel writer. Just two months earlier, we stayed at a private wine-country cottage in the […]
“What’s the secret to your success?” I hear that a lot… from colleagues, friends, and even strangers. The travel writer’s life is dreamy. It’s the job everyone would do, if they could. But can anyone become a travel writer? The answer is…yes. For me, it started with an epiphany. My passion was travel – especially […]
