What got you into travel journalism?
My oldest daughter, Kellisa, was born with severe hydrocephalus and was a 25-weeker micropreemie. The doctors didn’t expect her to survive, but she did and was wheelchair dependent. As Kellisa grew, it became obvious that she had a love of all forms of travel and adventure.
We lived 1,000 miles from our family and we could tell they didn’t fully believe our tales of adventure with Kellisa. As our adventures became more extreme for someone in a wheelchair, so did their looks of disbelief. Kellisa turned 10-years-old in 2009, and I decided to start a blog to share pictures with some words in close to real time for family and friends.
Egypt, my youngest daughter, also loves to travel and her own forms of adventure, and is included in the blog along with some of my solo travels. 17 years later, the blog has grown to more than 50K unique monthly views.
What’s the most challenging part of being a travel journalist?
Finding the time to write because this is a side gig for me.
What is the most rewarding aspect of travel journalism?
When I get feedback that I inspired someone, especially a family with a special needs kiddo.
Here’s an example, “I’ve been wondering about traveling the world with my Micro Preemie. It took me a long time to feel OK about taking her outside of our little bubble. It felt like a huge deal to be on a plane together and going across the country. Your story is giving me hope that travel is possible, and we should keep trying to get out there! I promised my daughter that if she survived, I would show her the world. I don’t think that means being trapped inside a building day after day. I think it means what you guys are doing. This is inspiring!” Cheryl Silinskas (Micro Preemie Mother)
What is something you wish people knew about travel journalism?
It’s hard to relax because I’m always taking notes and trying to take useful pictures. I’m always thinking about how an experience will be translated into written form, along with supporting pictures.
How have your cross-cultural experiences shaped your point of view of the world?
My secondary reason to start the blog was the hope to inspire more wheelchair families to experience the great outdoors, because we can count on one hand how many families we’ve crossed paths with that also had a child in a wheelchair or even a walker. And with Egypt, it became painfully obvious that she didn’t see kids who looked similar. Minorities and the disabled are both not represented in fair percentages in the wilderness. We are hoping our blog will inspire all people to get outside and explore more.
What have you enjoyed most about being a NATJA member?
Reading about other people’s experiences and what I can learn from them. Kellisa and I are also looking very forward to attending our first NATJA Conference in May 2026 and all we will learn to take back to apply to our little world
