15-years-ago, Greene started a blog as an outlet for his creative side. He was a new dad and there wasn’t much content aimed at fathers. Thus, his blog One Good Dad was born. After many years of blogging, he began to branch out to include travel stories. Now, the majority of his articles are travel related.
1. What got you into travel writing?
My family didn’t have much money growing up. The only time I traveled was when my grandparents from Pennsylvania would drive to Oklahoma to pick my sister and I up to take us back to Pennsylvania. Back then, we didn’t have phones or tablets. My entertainment was staring out the window, and I loved it. It was the only time I got to see something different.
However, If I were to put my finger on moment as to when I got into travel journalism, I would say it was reading National Geographic in the public library. Because I never really went anywhere but grandma’s, I got to explore the world through the stories in National Geographic. That is where my love of travel began.
When I was a new dad many years ago, I started a dad blog because I was frustrated over the lack of positive portrayal of dads in the media. Most commercials and TV shows portrayed fathers as a bumbling idiot. When I started the blog, I had no clue what I was doing. It did however solve a creative itch I was needing to cure. My blog mostly covered parenting related topics, as well as societal concerns. Tourism boards and travel companies got a hold of my blog and reached out to me, offering stays for my kids and I in exchange for coverage. I didn’t know that was a thing. Over time, my blog transitioned into a travel blog.
2. What’s the most challenging part of being a travel journalist for you?
Money, money, money. You need it and not many want to part with it. If someone is wanting to retire with a lot of money, travel writing probably isn’t for them. Although, a select few do hit it big. I would go everywhere I could, but not everwhere wants to pay. Sure, FAM trips and “in-exchange” stories are great, but they don’t pay bills my mortgage.
3. What is the most rewarding aspect of travel journalism?
It’s hard to say what the most rewarding is, since I do a wide variety of trips. I love traveling with my kids since I didn’t grow up with many opportunities to travel. Seeing the world through their eyes is a wonderful feeling. For solo travel, it is rewarding to find out more about myself and go at my own pace. I don’t say “no” very often, which helps me to find new foods and experience new cultures. Also, not going to lie, the invites are great. Last year I went snowboarding in Ukraine, which was a wild experience that I wouldn’t have gotten if it wasn’t for being a travel writer.
4. What is something you wish people knew about travel journalism?
That it’s not all fun and games. It can be hard at times. Most experiences are amazing, but there are rare ones that stink. Once I was assigned to write about a hotel, but when I got there, there were cockroaches in the hallway. I mentioned them, but they stayed there the entire day. Also, the hot water stopped working for 2 days. After the trip, I told the company my write-up would not be good, because I needed to be honest and authentic with my readers. They weren’t happy and tried to convince me to lie. I couldn’t do it and it was a messy conversation.
5. What have you enjoyed most about being a NATJA member?
I love the community. Our world is growing more isolated, so a simple thing like sharing a story or even a like on something goes a long way. It makes you feel connected. It’s also fun to read someone else’s story, which also makes me a better writer.
6. How have cross-cultural experiences shaped your point of view of the world?
We need to be world citizens. Living in the USA, you can be conditioned to a one-way of thinking, that only our way is the right way. Then you travel and find new ways of doing things. You also meet people from different backgrounds and become friends with them. Traveling can be a humble experience, and being a little more humble is a good thing.
