This profile of Chef Gordon Ramsay for National Geographic Channel is a look into the destinations, chefs, and foodways of the first season of his TV series ‘Uncharted.’
National Geographic: The Path to Uncharted
gordon ramsay
A Year of Books
In the past couple years, I’ve worked on three book projects, all of which were published in 2023.
I co-authored Gordon Ramsay’s Uncharted: A Culinary Adventure with 60 Recipes from Around the World. Gordon and his team wrote the recipes and I wrote all the rest. The book was published by National Geographic in April.
I contributed to Great Outdoors U.S.A.: 1,000 Adventures Across All 50 States. Along with 9 other outdoor writers, I covered some of the best outdoor experiences across the country (my states were North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee). The book was published by National Geographic in August.
I wrote San Francisco Scavenger: The Ultimate Search for San Francisco’s Hidden Treasures. Follow along through 19 different neighborhoods to solve more than 300 rhyming clues highlighting the city’s classic and quirky sites. The book was published by Reedy Press in September.
Join me at any of my upcoming book events in October and November.
Wednesday, October 18
San Francisco Past and Present with Alec Scott
6 p.m.
Mechanics’ Institute, 77 Post St., San Francisco
Thursday, October 26
Book Talk and Signing
7 p.m.
Books Inc., 2251 Chestnut St., San Francisco
Sunday, November 19
Book Talk and Signing
2 p.m.
Book Passage, 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco
More events to come…
Renewed Focus
One thing I started just before the pandemic, in early 2020, was to reframe the kinds of stories I wrote about. It was always flattering when someone said that I was a prolific writer, but focusing on the sheer number made me feel like something was missing. Instead of pitching stories to get work, I decided to pitch pieces that I genuinely cared about.
Here are a few recent examples:
In Polynesia, tattoos are more than skin deep for National Geographic. As we consider the difference between honoring and appropriating a culture, how should travelers who aren’t part of that culture get a tattoo respectfully?
Three Perfect Days: The Islands of Tahiti for Hemispheres. Trying to write a 3-day guide to Tahiti travel was challenging, but I’d do it again in a second.
A Grammy-nominated New Orleans Trumpet Player Talks Mardi Gras, and What Music Means to the Crescent City for Travel + Leisure. Right before Mardi Gras, I talked with Branden Lewis about one of my favorite cities in the world.
Redwood National and State Parks Guide: The Best Tree-Lined Hikes, Camping, and Cycling Routes for Conde Nast Traveler. Together, these four parks protect nearly half of the world’s old-growth coast redwoods.
British Columbia’s Best-Kept Secret for AAA Explorer. Slowing down to appreciate nature and Nuxalk culture in the Bella Coola Valley—a remote region in Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest.
In book news, I co-authored Gordon Ramsay’s Uncharted: A Culinary Adventure with 60 Recipes from Around the World. Gordon and his team wrote the recipes and I wrote all the rest. The book was published in April.
Stay tuned for more article and book news soon!
An Overdue Update
How are you holding up?
We’re eight months into the pandemic in the United States, and many aspects of our lives have slowed down and changed considerably. I’m spending some of my time catching up on things I’ve let slip in busier months (years?), including this update.
A couple of weeks ago, my profile of Gordon Ramsay and his Uncharted series for National Geographic won the Lowell Thomas Gold award for Culinary-Related Travel, awarded by the SATW Foundation. A few months before that, SATW’s Western Chapter awards were announced, and I also had some winners: North American Travel Article (Gold) for a Virtuoso Life story, International Travel Article (Gold) for a National Geographic essay, Adventure Travel Article (Gold) for a Private Clubs piece, and Food and Beverage Travel Article (Bronze) for the same Gordon Ramsay profile that got the Lowell Thomas Gold award.
In book news, I have an essay in the soon-to-be-released The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Vol. 12, from Travelers’ Tales. That book drops November 24, and you can pre-order your copy here.
I’m not going to exhaust you by listing all the articles I’ve had published since the last time I checked in. Here’s some news of note in the past few months:
John Muir, National Parks and Civil Rights: An Interview with Shelton Johnson for The Statesider. Shelton is an interviewer’s dream, with deep historical knowledge and poetic insights, and this piece is one of my favorites this year.
Bigger, Bolder, Further for National Geographic. Chef Gordon Ramsay’s second season of Uncharted is full of more adventure and culinary insights, and I was fortunate to travel again with him and his production team (before lockdown) for the second year in order to write this profile, as well as eight other articles for National Geographic about him, the show, and the featured destinations.
GuestLife Monterey Bay 2020. After having written for this annual magazine for four years, I edited the 2020 issue and wrote a few of the articles.
What Luxury Hotel Stays Will Be Like After Coronavirus, From Check-in to Check-out for Travel + Leisure.
While I’ll be better on my update game going forward, I hope that things are looking up for us all by the next time I post.