Where are you based?
I was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and I now live about 15 minutes from where I grew up. Outside of educational stints in Ottawa, Ontario, and Windsor, Ontario, it's where I've always called home.
What topics and places do you cover?
My stories aren't geographically or topically niche. I aim to tell relatable stories from around the world, through a travel lens. I'm always aiming for an emotional connection. I want readers to see themselves in my stories. And I aim to share universal (and practical) lessons I'm learning as the result of my experience in a destination.
These days, I write a lot of luxury travel pieces, hotel stories, and small ship cruising stories. That being said, most people think of me for my more than 22 years of family travel (of all stripes – mother/daughter, brother/sister, mother/son, husband/wife…) narratives.
My television segments are usually round-ups comprised primarily of places I've visited myself.
What outlets do you usually pitch (and write for)?
I'm a freelancer in the fullest sense of the word, so my stories appear in a wide range of publications. I write stories for publications and online sites on both sides of the border. Most often you can find my writing in National Geographic, AFAR, Condé Nast Traveler, and Travel+Leisure in the U.S. In Canada, I'm often in The Globe and Mail, Zoomer, CAA magazine, and others. I also do two regular spots on television. I've been the resident travel expert on The Social for 10 years. I've been hosting a morning TV travel segment on CHCH Morning Live every other month for about five years.
Are you in-house or freelance (or both)?
Full-time freelance since 2007
What is your approach to press trips?
Cautious. I've taken more traditional press trips this year than I have in many years, so I don't rule them out if the destination is of real interest. But being locked into group movement through a place can be a poor way to explore a destination and get a unique interesting experience. I'm more likely to take/arrange individual experiences with destinations or hotels. And I'm not above partnering with journalists I know and like to travel together. I'd rather be immersed in an experience of regular travelers than on a press trip with only other journalists, but there are times and situations where the latter works too.
What are your professional pet peeves?
Rude, entitled people. I don't like it in real life where things can be hard, so I have no time for it when I'm traveling. I do feel like the opportunity to travel is a privilege and when I see people abusing that privilege, it's a real turn-off.
I'm also not a fan of an overly general itinerary. I'd prefer we work together beforehand to create opportunities that are most likely to net saleable stories. And the bait and switch – offering one itinerary and then switching it when we're on the ground – is the surest way to destroy my trust in you.
In your past professional life, you were …
Unhappy. I was a lawyer from 2000-2007. I worked as a litigation associate in a large law firm and my days were filled with trying to make interesting cases less interesting on paper (or at least that's what legalese felt like to me). It was a creativity stifling job for me and I was happy to move on from it in 2007. Before that, I had completed a journalism degree and worked both in-house and as a stringer for The Toronto Star. When I left the law in 2007, I went running and screaming back to journalism and have been much happier in the years since.
Where would you like to return to?
Everywhere I've been! But first, I'd like to see some of the places I haven't. I'm not a country counter, because I feel so strongly that I haven't exhausted any destination I've visited. Each time you visit a place, it's a snapshot of who you are then, who else is there then, and what you experience. There are infinite possibilities for return trips.
What's on your bucket list?
I don't buy into the bucket list philosophy. If it's a place I want to get to, I'm actively working to get there…now, not adding it to a proverbial list for “one day.” I think where I am in my personal life often determines where I'd like to go at any given moment. Right now, I'm definitely in an introspective, silence-seeking, quiet-life-loving phase. And the spots I'm drawn to, small islands, intimate cruises, and wellness offerings, fit that phase well.
Where do you travel for fun?
Sadly (?) I've never met a vacation that I can't turn into a work trip. But anywhere my husband and kids will join me is bound to be more fun.
Your funniest (or most harrowing) travel story is …
I once spent an entire day searching in vain for chimps in a very steep Rwandan forest. I could hear the animals laughing at me but refusing to show their faces in the surrounding trees, with each sweaty step I took. At the end of the day, I was disappointed, exhausted, and nauseous, and still had to spend a few minutes comforting the team of rangers who felt they'd let me down. I was so happy to have survived the ordeal that I harbored no ill will. But their sad faces in the selfies we took still make me laugh a little.
What advice would you give your younger professional self?
Keep writing. Sometimes you get so caught up in how fast you are or aren't moving when the real success secret is longevity. Honing your craft and being a decent human being to all the people who cross it are the best tools you can have in your arsenal.
What nugget would you like to add that we haven't touched on?
This profession is incredible. Every day there's the possibility to delve into a multitude of interesting lives. It's an easy thing to forget when we're in the daily grind. We are guiding people through travel to memories they'll treasure. It beats so many other ways I could be spending my days.
How best should people contact you?
Find me at my Travmedia profile here.
