✨ Welcome to our brand-new series, TravMedia's Travel Writer of the Week! ✨

Each week, we'll be shining a spotlight on one of the incredibly talented, passionate, and inspiring Journalists or Editors from our amazing community.

This week, we'd like to shine the spotlight on Minreet Kaur - award-winning freelance travel journalist.

We hope you enjoy - happy reading !!

Where are you based?

West London, UK

What outlets do you write for? Who is your audience? What are your travel specialties?

Audience is more the South Asian, single women travellers Independent, inews, Eastern Eye, Metro, BBC, The Times, Guardian

Are you in-house or freelance (or both)?

Freelance

What are your professional pet peeves?

Not getting a reply from an editor even if you send a polite follow up on a pitch - how long does it take just to just let us know it's a no?

Not having the feedback to help someone trying to break into travel understand how they could shape their pitch as everyone needs guidance and help.

PR's not being able to fund certain parts of a big trip or cannot fund at all.

Feeling editors have a selection of journalists they work with but not giving those who are new into the field more of a chance to build on their portfolio of work so they can also find regular work.

In your past professional life you were ...

I was working in Marketing as a marketing manager

Where would you like to return to?

Sri Lanka

What's on your bucket list? 

Japan, Maldives, Kerala, Australia and Himalayas

Where do you travel for fun?

Anywhere that's a good deal and safe for solo female travelers. My last trip was New York in December

Your funniest (or most harrowing) travel story is …

I asked a stranger for directions and she was meant to show me how to get to Golden Gate park, instead she took me on a 6 hour walking tour and we ended up at golden gate bridge and we both had a similar name 'Min' she told  me her life story,she was a similar age too, single and told me all about her relationships and how hard dating can be. It was funny as I couldn't believe how a stranger can trust someone and be so kind in taking me sight seeing.

What advice would you give your younger professional self? 

To follow your dreams and keep going, not give up when things don't work out. I lost a lot of confidence in rejections but wish I had kept going as I came into journalism much later in life.

What nugget would you like to add that we haven't touched on?

I am a henna artist, swimming teacher and a runner who is doing London Marathon with my very own community running group Asian Women Run which is encouraging more women to try running and get active in a safe environment. I do a lot of community work and like to give back. Also my father is the famous 'Skipping Sikh MBE' a story that I did and won an award for best report of the year.

How best should people contact you?

minreet@hotmail.com and my socials are all under Minreet Kaur