I am an award-winning travel writer and photographer. When traveling, I use my skills as a journalist and photographer to create unique, immersive stories that reveal the soul of a destination. Partnered with my wife, Therese Iknoian, I publish my stories and photos on our award-winning blog, HITravelTales.com. I regularly hear from destinations that our stories and photographs are some of the best they've seen. I lend my voice and writing skills to creating audio travel stories for Autio.com -- co-owned by Kevin Costner -- and my writing also appears in Food Wine Travel magazine.

My specialty areas and primary interests include local culture and history, street art, farm to fork and local breweries / distilleries, adventure, natural wonders and wildlife. Set me loose in a destination and my stories and photography will connect readers to a place in such a way they will want to embark on their own journeys of discovery.

✍️ I am a dual citizen, born in Calgary, now living in California.
✍️ Secondary base in Berlin, Germany
✍️ I am a member of the North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA), the International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA), the Professional Photographers of America (PPA), the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), and the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA).
✍️ Learn more about me via my verified account on Muck Rack - https://muckrack.com/michael-hodgson-travel
✍️ View my photography portfolio - https://photosbymichael.hitraveltales.com
✍️ Fun facts: I was the captain of Team Media in Mark Burnett's 1995 Eco Challenge adventure race, learned to fly a hang glider, flown an ultralight plane, walked the Rift Valley, and hiked among Kodiak bears ... always to experience a new adventure for stories I was working on or assigned.
✍️ Prior to focusing entirely on travel writing, I was a highly acclaimed outdoor writer and my stories and columns appeared in Outside, Backpacker, Men's Journal, Men's Health, Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, The Christian Science Monitor, San Jose Mercury News, Portland Oregonian, Salt Lake Tribune, Adventure West Magazine, and others. My published books (some of which are actually still in print) include No Shit There I Was, Compass & Map Navigator, Facing The Extreme, and Camping For Dummies.