Where are you based?
Hermosa Beach, California
What topics and places do you cover?
Travel (luxury, experiential, and adventure) and lifestyle, fitness, wellness, culture, design, F&B
What outlets do you usually pitch (and write for)?
Travel + Leisure, AFAR, Cool Hunting, Men's Journal, Avenue, NYT, Robb Report
Are you in-house or freelance (or both)?
Freelance
What is your approach to press trips?
Depends on the press trip. I'm intentional about what I say yes to. Small and specific, great. “Hey let's bring some journos to this destination and do a bunch of random stuff,” pass. Individual trip, if it makes sense, absolutely. I want to get the most out of where I'm going. Sometimes that means traveling solo, other times it means bringing a guest, and other times a press trip is perfect.
What are your professional pet peeves?
- Bringing someone who clearly doesn't cover what the trip is for on that trip “because they'll find something to write about”
- Mixing influencers and press
- Packing an itinerary so full that there's no breathing room. We're still working on your trip! We'd like a full night's sleep (and yes, we are going back post-dinner and writing emails and catching up)! Merely sitting and experiencing the room is often amazing. More often than not simply finding time to be in the room means missing out on something else.
In your past professional life, you were …
A professional surfer!
Where would you like to return to?
I don't have a list of places to return to but I'd be willing to revisit 90% of the places I've been if there's a compelling reason.
What's on your bucket list?
Swimming with whale sharks and elephants (not at the same time), Maldives to both surf and scuba dive, more remote international destinations.
Where do you travel for fun?
Honestly, I stay home. I love being home and settling into some of the more boring tasks. Sometimes I'll do day or weekend trips throughout California.
What advice would you give your younger professional self?
If you feel like something isn't for you – a trip, a destination – there will be another chance to get there. It's why I've held off going to certain places. The right opportunity hasn't come along yet. But it will.
What nugget would you like to add that we haven't touched on?
I love working with PR people. Seriously! You are instrumental in what I do. But when I ask for something please don't make me chase you. When I tell you I'm on it, I am. And remember, as freelancers we don't get paid until the story publishes so we are working as hard as we can to make that happen.
How best should people contact you?
Email! Find my email address on my TravMedia profile here.
