lowell thomas award

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.

It’s a question regularly asked of working women.

“How do you balance your work and life?”

The simple answer is that you don’t. Instead of doing everything, you’re constantly re-evaluating what has priority in the moment.

For the past few years, my blog was low on that list. But now that I’ve relaunched my website, I’m posting again. Check back regularly for updates, or even sign up for my newsletter to find out what I’m up to.

In the past few months, my San Francisco Chronicle article on Hue, Vietnam, won a Lowell Thomas award (Honorable Mention) for Foreign Travel. I’ve also added many publications to my regular client list.

Notable articles from the past couple months:

Quest for the Gray Ghost: Tracking the snow leopard in Ladakh for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Good-Bye, Screen; Hello, Nature. 9 Adventures Worth Ditching Your Phone For for AFAR.

One Instagrammer’s Quest for a More Inclusive Outdoor Community for Sierra.

Stars and waves guide navigation the ancient Polynesian way for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Finland’s Sauna Tour Is the Relaxation Vacation of Our Dreams for AFAR.

2018 Vacation Alternatives After Natural Disasters for AARP.

Shaun of the Shred for Alaska Airlines’ Beyond.

These farmers are doing the impossible: growing fresh veggies in the coldest parts of the planet for Mic.com.

Stay tuned. Many more articles, as well as a couple of huge projects, are in the works.