Discover, learn and engage with locals.That’s why I travel. I believe in transformative travel and seek out destinations, tours and attractions offering up experiential type activities. My career began in the 1980s in television writing, producing and directing everything from TV news segments to lifestyle programming, music and corporate videos and eventually travel related videos and programming. I worked for various tourism boards and organizations (primarily foreign) in a senior PR/marketing capacity and later owned a tourism marketing/PR company  representing clients from Africa to South America.  I returned to my media roots about 10 years ago to freelance and write columns for both national travel trade and consumer publications in U.S. and Canada.  I’ve seen the tourism industry from both sides so appreciate and understand the needs of tourism suppliers as well as editors and publishers. I have travelled to almost 90 countries on all continents except Antarctica.  My main interests: spa/wellness, cultural destinations, soft adventure, hotel/resort/spa profiles, quirky tours, culinary, wine, beer, volunteerism, nature/wildlife, exotic destinations, local markets, personality profiles, storytellers, business travel, family travel, golf, travel trends/issues and community focused travel suppliers.  Meeting the locals is the most important thing for me.  My regular writing outlets are primarily national magazines and national online consumer and travel trade publications primarily in Canada but U.S. as well. Open to individual or group press trips.  I believe in 100% professionalism and won’t take press trips unless I can get at least two or three stories.

My regular outlets include:  Travel Life Magazine – (print & digital) – national upscale quarterly travel magazine. Write features in every issue  Articles focus on destinations, tours, spa/wellness, unique accommodation and trends. Spa/wellness columnist and travel features writer for Travel Ticket Magazine, a consumer travel magazine based in the U.S. Regular contributor to Spa Inc. magazine, Canada’s national spa magazine. Write features on spa/wellness trends, issues, spa destinations and reviews. Former contributor to Ensemble Group’s collection of national magazines, Bon Vivant, Ensemble Vacations, Ultimate Family Vacations, and Extraordinary Experiences. Some articles also run in the U.S. version of the magazine.  Contribute features and Wellness Travel editor for UltimateOntario.com – online publication that focuses on Ontario destinations, attractions, tours, hotels/resorts and spas. Spa Inc. Magazine – national spa magazine (print & digital) Regular contributor.  Articles on spa/wellness issues, trends, spas and resorts. Vacayou Magazine – U.S. based North American wellness travel online publication. Focus on wellness travel, resorts, spas, and wellness activities and trends. Other publications I have written for include: Dreamscapes Magazine – (print & digital) – national travel magazine distributed by Canada’s national newspaper, Globe & Mail.  Wrote column in each issue”Celebrity Travel Corner” – travel profiles of personalities/celebrities.  Also contributed occasional destination features. TravelIndustryToday.com — national online travel publication (trade focused) – wrote two regular monthly columns for 9 years – The Ryall Report – destinations, resorts, travel trends, travel industry issues.   The Spa Scene – focus on spa resorts, destinations, trends, spa reviews.  Wings – Sunwing Airlines, inflight magazine. Contributing editor and wrote personality profiles, destination features, hotel features and corporate features. SpaLife Magazine – national spa/wellness online publication.  Contributed spa reviews, spa destination features, celebrity profiles. Skift.com – Contributed to leading travel and hospitality industry publication based out of New York with over 250,000 subscribers of key industry decision-makers and executives.  Articles on travel trends, issues, MICE market, news, etc.  TravelMarketReport.com – U.S. based international travel trade online publication – contribute occasional features — Canadian travel trends, travel news stories, travel industry supplier features.  Occasional contributor to Vacay.ca – national travel and culinary online publication focused on primarily Canadian based content.  Contributed destination features, hotel/spa profile features, celebrity/personality profile features.  Occasionally contribute to various other publications depending on story angle.

Written articles for Globe & Mail, The Toronto Star, WestJet Magazine, Yahoo.com, Canadian Traveller, Travelweek, GolfCanada.com, Where Muskoka Magazine, iFly.com  Air France publication, TravelZoo.com, Chic and other publications.

Asked to speak about Canadian travel market, spa/wellness, travel trends, media relations and tourism marketing at international tourism and media conferences in Canada and internationally as well as on TV, radio, print and online.  Have judged various spa award competitions including Canadian Spa Awards, SpaFinder’s Wellness Travel Awards and Asia Spa Awards since 2014. Board Director for the Leading Spas of Canada.