✨ Welcome to our 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 freelance travel writer - Cindy-Lou Dale. 

We hope you enjoy - happy reading !!

Where are you based?

Between Italy and the UK — which sounds glamorous until you realise it means constantly arguing with airline apps and owning three sets of adapters. Italy feeds the soul, the UK keeps the invoices straight. Somewhere between pasta and drizzle is home.

What outlets do you write for? Who is your audience?

I write for big travel titles across the globe and the occasional trade journal that smells faintly of printing ink and earnestness. My readers are a mix of dreamers and doers - people who still believe the world is worth exploring, who'd rather drive a dusty road than scroll past it. They appreciate a proper story: texture, people, purpose - and preferably something edible at the end.

What are your travel specialties?

Eco, food, culture, luxury - with a fondness for the roads no one has bothered to pave. If it involves a self-drive expedition through questionable terrain, even better. I like travel that gets mud under your nails but still lets you end the day with a decent glass of wine and a view worth shutting up for.

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

Freelance. The way I see it, I swapped one boss for several hundred - all of whom pay late but at least don't mind if I file copy from the back of a tuk-tuk.

What are your professional pet peeves?

Buzzwords that sound like they were written by AI on a sugar high. “Hidden gem.” “Authentic experience.” “Nestled.” OMG I hate “nestled”! Also, press trips that promise adventure but end up being a bus tour of hotel lobbies. If there's not at least one wrong turn or flat tyre, it's not real travel.

In your past professional life you were …

A civilian - the kind who travelled with an itinerary and thought “airport lounges” were exotic. Then one day I realised stories don't happen behind desks. Since then, I've been chasing the sort of places that don't show up properly on Google Maps.

Where would you like to return to?

Namibia. Every time. There's something about driving through that silence — the kind that humbles you without trying. It's like the planet reminding you who's actually in charge.

What's on your bucket list?

Crossing Mongolia driving a 4x4. I want to follow the old Silk Road — not the glossy tour version, but the real one, where your GPS gives up and the locals think your vehicle's possessed. And Antarctica, naturally — because who doesn't want to meet penguins that have better posture than most people?

Where do you travel for fun?

Anywhere that doesn't involve an embargoed itinerary or a press schedule. Road trips through Europe, long lunches in small French villages, and anywhere I can drive until the radio fades to static. Fun is travel without a purpose — which, ironically, is the most purposeful kind.

Your funniest (or most harrowing) travel story is …

That would be the time I was arrested at Kinshasa airport for carrying a Swiss Army knife. A harmless tool in most of the world, but apparently less amusing when there's a civil war on. I asked the customs official — with what I thought was winning charm — why a corkscrew counted as a weapon. He was not, as it turned out, in a joking mood. Let's just say the week that followed involved a lot of paperwork, very little laughter, and a newfound appreciation for packing carefully.

What advice would you give your younger professional self?

Pack less. Worry less. And say yes to the assignments that scare you — those are the ones that end up defining you. Also: editors love punctual copy almost as much as they love adjectives.

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

Travel writing isn't about ticking countries - it's about paying attention. The best stories aren't about landscapes or luxury; they're about people who pour you tea and tell you things you didn't expect to hear.

How best should people contact you?

By email - ideally with coffee in hand and a sense of humour. If you're offering an assignment that involves good roads, bad weather, or questionable Wi-Fi, I'm already halfway packed.