How travel writing is becoming something by and for the wealthy
On Saturday, I pretended to go to Portland, Oregon. There was a conference of travel editors going on, and because they were all using the Twitter tag #satwpdx, I was able to follow what the various...
View Article“Curators of Talent”
Two weeks ago, a knucklehead muckety-muck at Forbes announced to TechCrunch that it was going to cut back paying journalists. It no longer wants to engage seasoned professionals to research and craft...
View ArticleHow ‘Blogger Brands’ win by undermining their colleagues
One of the changes that has come upon the writing business in the past few years is the rise of bloggers. Four years ago, if a writer wanted to work, he or she had to find someone to edit, publish, and...
View ArticleJeff Schroeder’s ‘Around the World for Free’: World class
Hold me down! I’m big-time digging Jeff Schroeder’s Around the World for Free on CBS.com. Some of it has been slightly canned, like the plugs for American Airlines (a sponsor), but the majority of it...
View ArticleThe 3 o’clock travel photo project
Before I was a travel writer, I was a full-time traveler. I spent nearly two years out on the road, backpacking around the world. And for many months of that journey, I conducted with an unusual...
View ArticleHow Ann B. Davis changed my life
The Ann B. Davis incident fertilized the soil of my skepticism. A new world had opened in me. I became a travel writer, a skeptic, and a storyteller. Thank you, Ann B. Davis.
View ArticleWhy ‘travel writing’ can cease to exist
The concept of "travel writing" is so limiting. Who wants to read about travel? That's a personal process, and it often involves non--illuminating details such as taxicabs, tickets, and uncomfortable...
View ArticleNY Travel Festival wants to rock the world (& I’ll be there)
On April 20, a new breed of travel show will make its inaugural appearance. It's called the New York Travel Festival, and I'll be speaking there along with some of the most cutting-edge names in travel...
View ArticleHow to avoid travel scams: some resource links
I spoke about travel scams at the New York Travel Festival. Here are some key links for doing your own research.
View ArticleThe Internet is a directory, but a good guidebook guides
Guidebooks as we know them have declined not simply because reading habits are shifting. The product shifted first. Guidebooks became dispensable because guidebooks, as we now know them, do not retain...
View ArticleWhat the anti-SeaWorld documentary ‘Blackfish’ leaves out
People acted all surprised when Siegfried and Roy's tiger attacked, too. Tourists won't admit complicity; danger is why they go.
View ArticleA Walt Disney World guidebook for the rest of us
Most of the other Disney guides seemed to be crypto-valentines. The market was missing a guide to Walt Disney World written for the way most of us react to the resort.
View ArticleBoth of my current books are now out!
As of now, my two current Frommer's guides are officially released! One came out in November, and one is just released. For your health's sake, I do not recommend writing two entire 256-page books at...
View ArticleThe Stain Runs Deep: Remembering Indiana and the Klan
There is no route to the present except through the past. Indiana's recent history is, in a word, sordid. Its past record of "religious freedom" movements should burn in memory.
View ArticleMe, Myself, and Eye: Researching London 2016
I have been in London for the past few weeks updating my Frommer's guide for the 2016 edition.
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