Adrienne was trained as a journalist and worked professionally in Europe as a public information officer for the U.S. European Command and later as the editor of a Dallas-area suburban daily. She then segued into other ventures, including a 15-year stint as owner of a custom homebuilding company in Santa Fe, NM. Then, for a few years she and her husband traveled on their personal motor yacht, before settling in the Dallas-Fort Worth area where Adrienne started a successful home staging company. For the past dozen years, Adrienne has been a full-time freelancer and content writer, for both print and online publications and for thousands of clients. She now concentrates primarily on travel, food, eco-tourism and sustainable agriculture topics, and travel the globe in search of great content ideas. She also maintains (and sometimes neglect) two personal blogs — goodfoodandfarawayplaces.com and rightoffmain.com. She is currently also an editorial correspondent for my local weekly newspaper, The Hot Springs Village Voice, where she also writes a travel column, called The Travel Well. I also write regularly for HSV Life, a monthly magazine published for the residents of our community.
What got you into travel journalism?
It just seemed a natural fit. “I have always traveled, and I write — so . . . When my husband and I moved to Arkansas five years ago, I wasn’t really working anymore, and had more time, so I asked our weekly newspaper publisher if the paper might be interested in a periodic travel column — she said yes, and the rest, as they say, is history. I have since become (once again, a real reporter, and I primarily write feature stories on the people I meet and interesting personalities in our community, but I also cover news events. (I can add that I love it!) I never could imagine totally retiring.
What’s the most challenging part of being a travel journalist?
I think the challenge is finding new stories to tell, but that’s also the fun part. And, being a journalist sometimes means digging deep to find the “whole story” or a new angle. That’s what keeps travel journalism interesting. But I also believe that writing about travel is a very personal story — and viewpoint. And I like that. That’s why travel writers (all of us) have different stories to tell.
What is the most rewarding aspect of travel journalism?
For me, it’s all about telling the “back stories” about people and places, not just skimming the surface and putting captions on photos of pretty places. If I can make a reader say, “I want to go there, or I want to learn more about . . . ” then I feel like I have done something right. I once said that I didn’t travel to see the places I could read about in National Geographic or Travel and Leisure; I travel to meet people and experience things I could never meet or experience if I stayed home. That’s still true. And those are the kinds of stories I like to write.
What is something you wish people knew about travel journalism?
First, it’s not a vacation. But it’s more fun than I ever imagined. And it’s not all freebies and good times; it can be hard work and long days spent agonizing about how and what to write, and how to do it right! And then, there are the deadlines, and the travel glitches that are unavoidable at times — delayed flights and the like. But, in the end, I can’t imagine anything I would rather be doing.
How have your cross-cultural experiences shaped your point of view of the world?
Yes, they have shaped my view of the world and my place in it; also, I believe travel has made me a better American, because I am aware of how other cultures view Americans and I want to present other nationalities with a positive impression. But I learned all that early on as an “Army brat” when I had a chance to live and then work in other countries. In a sense, I think that anytime anyone steps foot out of their home country, they influence everyone they meet along the way. I truly believe that the more we travel, the better people we become — more knowledgeable, more tolerant, more accepting and forgiving, and more interesting. That’s what travel should do for everyone. In my mind, it’s not at all about the sights, and all about the people we meet, whether we travel to the next town or another continent.
What have you enjoyed most about being a NATJA member?
Being a member of NATJA has allowed me to meet others in the field of travel journalism, and I have learned from everyone I have met. Attending the conferences also has been a big part of that learning experience, and I look forward every year to renewing friendships and meeting new people. Looking forward to North Little Rock — only about an hour from my home in Hot Springs Village (even though I was hoping for a conference in some exotic locale with a beach!) Maybe in 2027?!?
