Editor Insights Pt.1: Ashlea Halpern, Nikki Vargas, Ashley Halligan

Welcome back to the Travel Media Lab! Today we kick off a two-part series called Editor Insights, where we hear from all the amazing travel editors who have come to our podcast over the last six seasons and shared their wisdom with us. Working with editors is an integral part of being a travel photographer and writer, and I truly love it. From pitching and developing angles to submitting drafts and incorporating their feedback, which always or most of the time makes the story better. I love every part of interacting with editors. Editors have a lot to say. They work with writers and photographers on a daily basis, and they have observed so many lessons that we’ll hear in this two-part mini-series. In today's episode, we're going to hear from three veterans in the travel media industry. Ashlea Halpern, editor-at-large for AFAR, contributing editor to Conde Nast Traveler, and the New York Times, and the founding editor of The Urbanist, a pop-up travel blog from New York Magazine. Nikki Vargas, commissioning editor at Fodor’s Travel, the Founding Editor of Unearth Women Magazine, and a travel writer, and author who has been featured in VICE, Food & Wine, and more publications. Last but not least, Ashley Halligan, the Founder of Pilgrim Magazine, also published in places like Backpacker and Alaska Magazine. These three women have an incredible wealth of experience in travel media, and in today's episode, you're going to hear their advice for beginners, what they look for in the pitch and why they think rejection is not the end of the world and what to do about it. We also discuss storytelling, finding your niche, demanding better pay, and what it means to hustle, as a freelancer. It is such an incredible conversation. If anything that you'll hear today resonates particularly well, be sure to go and check out full episodes with each of these editors, where they go even deeper into their path to where they are today. We’ve linked their individual episodes below. I hope you enjoy hearing from these three editors, as much as I do, and don’t forget to stay tuned for part two!