February 27th, 2015
Guest Speaking & The Next Pin on the Map (Colombia)!
Since I first pressed publish on The Pin the Map Project, I could never have imagined how far this blog would take me. With nothing more than a passion for writing and travel, The Pin the Map Project has grown in readership and following and has allowed me to review hotels from England to Argentina, to write for brands I admire like FOOD & WINE, Matador and GoNomad, and to work with travel companies I admire and love like Tinggly and some other exciting brands (all will be revealed in due time!).
A simple scroll down this page shows how far The Pin the Map Project has come in a year—from my first reader nominated blog award to my contributing writing with The Daily Meal, Examiner and Elite Daily, to my prescence at the New York Times Travel Show. To kick off 2015, I could not be more excited to share that I will be a guest speaker at the upcoming NY Travel Festival in April. Leveraging both my experience in blogging and advertising, I will be joining a panel discussion about how brands and bloggers work together. Also, I am absolutely head-over-heels thrilled to share that I will be headed to Colombia on assignment for VICE to cover the unique food scene in Cartagena. Specific details of the story are under wraps, but as a major fan of VICE and its incredible reporting, I am very happy to head south of the border on behalf of such an iconic brand.
There are other very exciting iniatives coming down the pipeline that I will be revealing in time. Check back!
February 23rd, 2015
A 2015 Update on The Pin the Map Project
Not with a fizzle but with a bang, 2015 has hit the ground running with The Pin the Map Project partnering with Tinggly Experiences , an up & coming travel company that offers amazing experiences for travelers around the world. Stay tuned for giveaways where readers of The Pin the Map Project can enter to win a Tinggly experience for free! Also, I have recently joined the nine other talented writers as the lucky 10th Travelette of Travelettes.net! Each month, I will be contributing three stories to this popular travel site. Stay tuned for exciting travel stories and content!
December 16th, 2014
A Look back on 2015 and What’s New on The Pin the Map Project
As another year draws to a close, I can’t help but reflect back on the wild ride that has been 2014. From both a personal and professional level, this year has taken me far from where I started and allowed me to grow and blossom in ways I could have never foreseen. Perhaps my crowning achievement this year was pouring my heart and soul into The Pin the Map Project and taking it from an idea that existed a year ago to the online travel destination it has become today.
To see this website grow in readership and opportunities, to see my writing take me from Colombia to Uruguay, Argentina to France in the past year alone is truly amazing and I am utterly grateful and in shock for all that has come of The Pin the Map Project. Perhaps in the biggest twist of all, I have finally decided to step off the corporate treadmill and pour myself into my writing. It is a daunting choice but one that I feel is necessary and worth taking a risk on.
Having recently returned from assignment in Europe, I am looking forward to kicking off 2015 with an assignment in New Orleans (perhaps it will be a sign of the year ahead!). Of course, a blog is just a blog without the readers that have e-mailed me, commented on my posts, contributed to my site and inspired me to keep on writing no matter what.
Happy holidays everyone! Here’s to the New Year!
OCTOBER 22ND, 2014
Camera Bag GIVEAWAY + the Launch of The Pin the Map Project Video Channel and Travel Shop!
It has been an exciting week for The Pin the Map Project and the launch of two NEW sections: The Pin the Map Project Video Channel and The Travel Shop! In honor of this, I have decided to host my first GIVEAWAY for an amazing NEW Ghope camera bag (that also happens to be my absolutely favorite travel accessory)! You can enter the contest here.
SEPTEMBER 18TH, 2014
Joining Examiner.com as their newest Travel Destinations Contributor!
At this point one might say my cup runneth over as I have accepted contributing writing roles with Examiner.com, Elite Daily and The Daily Meal! While my writing schedule has been kicked into high gear, I am thrilled about the opportunity to further expose my writing, The Pin the Map Project and inspire travel in others! My writing gig at Examiner.com will focus on destination pieces and guides.
SEPTEMBER 8TH, 2014
Joining Elite Daily as a Contributing Writer!
As an avid reader of Elite Daily-a publication reaching over 3.9MM readers per month and covering a wide range of topics from politics to travel, I am thrilled to share I am the newest contributing writer to join their team! My articles will have a focus on travel of course and will share tips on planning, solo travel and more!
AUGUST 22ND, 2014
Heading off to Argentina-TONIGHT!
It has always been a dream of mine to fly to Argentina and I never could have imagined that my first visit would be as a solo traveler and that I would be on assignment for epicurean website, The Daily Meal! Although I am admittedly nervous about venturing abroad sans travel buddies, I am excited for the soul-searching nature and empowering self-discovery that comes with walking the streets of a destinatino solo.
True to form-my trip to Buenos Aires is open to serendipitous encounters and spontaneity. Who knows? Maybe I’ll venture to Uruguay or perhaps mosey to Iguazu? You can follow along on my travels via Instagram, Twitter and of course my blog!
JULY 30TH, 2014
Joining The Daily Meal as the newest contributing travel writer/photographer!
Second to my love of travel would have to be my love of all things food & drink. When I’m roaming the streets of a new destination, I often turn towards the local cuisine to best connect with the culture and flavors. So when I was recently offered the opportunity to combine my passion of travel with my love of food, I (quite literally) began dancing around my apartment! Popular food and drink website, The Daily Meal, reaches over 10 million readers and focuses on epicurean trends. As the newest contributing travel writer/photographer, I will be eating my way around the world and sharing my adventures with their readers. My first big assignment will involve exploring the Buenos Aires food scene while in Argentina next month. Stay tuned for some great things!
JULY 17TH, 2014
The Newest Member of the Professional Travel Bloggers Association
The Pin the Map Project has just been approved for membership for the Professional Travel Bloggers Association! The PTBA’s mission is to promote the interests of travel bloggers in the industry by supporting and fostering their careers. By connecting bloggers with travel professionals, tourism boards and PR people-the PTBA is an excellent resource for budding travel writers looking to take their work to the next level. To gain acceptance to the PTBA, one needs to show proof of 3,000+ page views in the past 30 days as well as have had a blog for longer than 9 months. Thanks to my outstanding readers, I have been able to exceed the requirements for the PTBA and am now the newest member!
JULY 14TH, 2014
The Next Pin on the Map…
In the time that I’ve been travel writing I’ve found two things to be true:
1. The travel community is supportive, encouraging and friendly.
2. Opportunities arise and you can either snatch them up or let them sail by.
There are thousands of people struggling to be travel writers, signing up for courses and elbowing their way into the bloggosphere, so when a chance arises to take your writing to the next level, attention must be paid. Recently, The Pin the Map Project has connected with travel agencies in Buenos Aires to discuss partnership ideas and covering the local scene. With complimentary tours booked, connections made and meetings planned, I have thrown another pin on the map for a destination I have always dreamed of visiting: Argentina! Next month’s trip will be my first foray into solo traveling as I venture to the end of the world to a city that, in my opinion, epitomizes passion and good living. If you or a friend have any buddies in Buenos Aires that would be interested in meeting, feel free to email me at [email protected]!
JULY 3RD, 2014
The Pin the Map Project receives the Very Inspiring Blogger Award!
The Pin the Map Project recently received a nomination for the Very Inspiring Blogger from Caitlin of Head Out West! It is such an honor to be recognized by fellow travel bloggers I admire and to be nominated for awards that celebrate new travel sites on the scene.
JUNE 19TH, 2014
The Pin the Map Project Gets a Brand New Look!
Notice anything new? The Pin the Map Project has a new look and it’s all thanks to the very talented Amanda Grove over at Suitcase Designs! Amanda helped take my blog to the next level by creating a custom logo and re-styling the layout to be easier to navigate. We are in the midst of transitioning the blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org, so please excuse any kinks on pages or posts! Everything should be fully updated within the next 48 hours.
JUNE 5TH, 2014
10 Signs You’re a Tourist in NYC
After almost 4 years of living in New York City and working in and around Manhattan, I have brushed elbows with enough New Yorkers and tourists to spot an NYC newbie. As a student in MatadorU, I had the amazing opportunity to contribute to Matador Network and share the signs that scream tourist in New York. You can read the article here.
MAY 29TH, 2014
How to Balance Wanderlust with a 9-5
As an avid fan of Vagabondish.com, I was thrilled with founding editor Mike Richard, published an article I had written about balancing wanderlust with a full-time career. You can check out the published piece here!
MAY 28TH, 2014
And the award goes to…
Recently, a reader nominated The Pin the Map Project for the Liebster Award-a badge that highlights budding travel bloggers. A big thanks to the Traveling Explorer of It’s a Hanoian Life for the nomination! The Traveling Explorer is a travel blogger from Montreal who worked as a teacher in Berlin before moving to Hanoi in Vietnam. Writing about her life and travels abroad, she shares stories of colorful road trips through Malaysia, visits to Bangkok and life as an ex-pat in Hanoi. Check out my answers to her questions and Liebster nominations here.
MAY 22ND, 2014
An Upcoming Makeover!
I am thrilled to share the news that I am working with Suitcase Designs, to completely re-design The Pin The Map Project this summer! What can you expect? A sleeker layout, new website logo and easy-to-navigate site.While the back-end updates and designing will not affect what readers and visitors see, as of June 15th the website will have a new look. It took me a while to select a designer to work with before I finally found Suitcase Designs and the beautiful work they have done for other sites in the past. Blogs like Postcards from Rachel and True Colours have been designed by Suitcase designs and will give you an idea of the clean style and layout you can expect to find on The Pin The Map Project this summer!
