Travel journalism

Just as travel photography is my main area of interest as a professional photographer, travel journalism is my main professional interest as a writer. Over the years I’ve been lucky to have had opportunities to write about incredible destinations in the UK and overseas, including the Lake District, Nepal, Spain and Japan. My experience as a news journalist and features writer means I can conduct ad hoc or planned interviews in the field, and as a working photographer I can almost always file portraits, street photography, landscapes and/or wildlife photography with my copy. For me, travel journalism is an especially pure form of journalism, as it brings in news, opinion, culture and interviews – and opportunities to give readers a glimpse of life on the trail or in a distant megacity.

Most of my work concentrates on hiking and adventure travel, and any travel that is open, accessible and friendly to the LGBT+ community. Here is a sample of work for publications including The Great Outdoors, Adventure.com, Pride Life, Trail and Great Walks:

Adventure travel writing

• Great Walks (Australia), February 2024: Another commission from Australia, for a feature on the South West Coast Path and Cicerone Press’s superb guidebook for the route.
• The Great Outdoors, February 2024: TGO‘s new editor asked me to write a short reflection on my experiences with mental health and hiking for a feature in her first issue at the helm.
• Great Walks (Australia), January 2024: Great Walks commissioned a feature on the Kungsleden, Sweden’s immense Arctic hiking route, which I completed in August 2023.
• Adventure.com, August 2023: I wrote about my experiences of ADHD and adventure, in a closely reported feature drawing on interviews with other hikers about mental health and the outdoors.
• Trail, June 2023: I wrote a very personal Cape Wrath Trail story looking at the adventure’s impact on mental health and wellbeing.
• Great Walks (Australia), March 2023: Australia’s top hiking magazine commissioned me to write a Cape Wrath Trail story, in which I explained why I think the Cape Wrath Trail is one of the greatest hikes in the world.
• The Great Outdoors, February 2023: I co-wrote a Lake District hiking story with my friend and colleague Alex Roddie, based on a stroll through Wasdale and its surroundings.
• Bird Watching, November 2022: Bird Watching commissioned this feature on South Downs Way wildlife after I walked the route in winter 2021.
• The Great Outdoors, October 2022: A long South Downs Way hike has me thinking about history and nature.
• The Great Outdoors, January 2022: I wrote a personal reflection on my favourite Lake District bothy, and what calls me back to the hills.
• Adventure.com, June 2021: Adventure.com took this reflective story on the pandemic, mental health and nature.
• Trail, September 2019: I wrote about risk-taking in mountaineering, based on interviews with mountaineers and risk psychology experts in the UK and Norway.
• Let’s Explore, Issue 2: I wrote a story about hiking the Pennine Way for an independent travel magazine.
• Pride Life, Winter 2014: I wrote about adventure travel in Nepal after enjoying a memorable trip along the Annapurna Circuit.

Leisure travel writing

• Pride Life, Spring 2015: Pride Life commissioned this feature on a wine and vineyard tour holiday in Spain’s beautiful Rioja region.
• Pride Life, Winter 2018: My husband and I visited Japan for our honeymoon, and Pride Life asked me to write about it for this feature on LGBT+ friendly travel in Japan, including Tokyo, Osaka, Naoshima and Kamikochi.

Travel guides

• The Great Outdoors, March 2023: TGO asked me to write a Cape Wrath Trail route guide for the magazine and website.
• The Great Outdoors, November 2022: I took my dog on a Cotswolds hiking adventure to Laurie Lee’s favourite pub in Slad – The Woolpack.

Book reviews

• The Great Outdoors, May 2023: I wrote a book review about Gail Simmons’ excellent book Between The Chalk And The Sea.
• The Great Outdoors, January 2023: I wrote a book review for Raynor Winn’s brilliant memoir Landlines.

My travel journalism also features here on my blog, including pieces on Japan’s Sumo championships, Scotland’s toughest hike, essays on travel photography, and travels in the Lake District. I’m always in search of my next adventure, and aim to focus more on hiking and adventure journalism in the coming years. I look forward to seeing what I get to write in my travel journal as I look out for the next story…