Becoming a Travel Journalist with Ashlea Halpern (Re-Release)

This week, we’re throwing it all the way back to October 2020, when we launched our Genius Womxn podcast. If you’re a newer listener to our show, you might not have had the chance to work through our whole library yet, and that’s why I want to share with you this very special episode we did with travel editor Ashlea Halpern back then. Ashlea is the editor-at-large for AFAR Media, contributing editor to Conde Nast Traveler, and the founding editor of The Urbanist, a pop-up travel blog from New York Magazine. Ashlea has also worked as special projects editor at Bon Appétit, Strategist editor at NYMag, and senior editor at Time Out New York. She’s visited more than 65 countries and lectured about travel writing at Stanford University. I think it is safe to say that Ashlea has a passion for the world and for telling stories. In this episode, we talk about armchair reporting in the world of travel restrictions, what service journalism is and why it’s important, navigating the male-dominated journalism space without female mentors, and how we need to separate our sense of worth from our work when pitching our ideas. In our chat, Ashlea also shares her brilliant advice for breaking into travel journalism (like finding a niche, something I always talk about too, and not giving up when you get a rejection). This episode is full of incredible insights and wisdom for anyone interested in getting started in travel journalism and I’m super excited to share it with you. I hope you enjoy it!