Ready to be inspired? These expert travel writers, authors, and photographers are here to help.
Travel & Words 2020, scheduled for the spring at Riverhouse on the Deschutes in Bend, OR, has been postponed until fall 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Check back for new dates.
Keynote Judith Fein and her photographer husband Paul Ross live to leave. Judith has garnered multiple awards for travel articles and, along with Paul, has contributed to more than 110 magazines, newspapers, blogs and websites. She has won prestigious Society of American Travel Writers gold awards for the best magazine and newspaper articles of the year. Judith’s high-energy, richly textured pieces have appeared in publications such as Afar, Smithsonian, AARP, Psychology Today, L.A. Times, Robb Report, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News, Hemispheres, Spirituality and Health, Wine Enthusiast, Islands and others. Broadcasting and television credits include The Today Show, Public Radio’s Savvy Traveler, All Things Considered, Marketplace, the BBC and a TEDx Talk on Deep Travel. Judith is the author of three travel books and is also an award-winning playwright and opera librettist.
Presenter Craig Romano is an award-winning author of more than 20 books. His Columbia Highlands, Exploring Washington’s Last Frontier was recognized in 2010 by Washington Secretary of State, Sam Reed and State Librarian, Jan Walsh as a Washington Reads book for its contribution to Washington’s cultural heritage. A prolific outdoors writer; he runs, kayaks, bikes and has hiked more than 25,000 miles in Washington, his home since 1989.
Presenter Adam Sawyer is an outdoor and travel writer and photographer. Locally, he has written for the Willamette Week, Portland Mercury, Travel Oregon, and Eater. His work has also appeared in Northwest Travel & Life, 1859, Alaska Airlines Beyond, Sip Northwest, Backpacker, and British Columbia Magazines. As an author, his titles include Hiking Waterfalls in Oregon, and Unique Eats and Eateries: Portland, Oregon. Adam is also a monthly guest on the Portland television show, Afternoon Live, and is a professional guide providing culinary, cultural, and outdoors-themed tours for Evergreen Escapes, Eat Adventure Food Tours, and UnCruise.
Paul Ross travels the world with camera, curiosity and humor. His articles and photos have appeared in Smithsonian, Popular Mechanics, the Fortean Times (The World’s Weirdest News), Hemispheres, and Nexos. He teaches travel photography and tries to keep up with all the latest developments (pun fully intended).
McKenzie Tobeck jumped into the social media industry while she was getting her Business Administration degree from Western Washington University. While in her third year of college, she founded Summit Social Media Management, which is now a full service Social Media Management business. McKenzie has worked, and continues to work with clients in several different areas, including Northwest Travel and Life Magazine, Amazon Best Selling Authors, Notable Insurance and Real Estate Teams and more. Looking into the future of her business, she is excited to continue her full scale management consulting, but she is particularly passionate about making social media easy and available to everyone through her curated content subscription and teaching materials designed for those who need guidance with their social media efforts, but wish to keep things in house. When she isn’t working on creating content and scheduling posts, you are most likely to find her in the barn with her horses, on a plane heading somewhere new or reading a good book!
Allen Cox serves as co-chair of Northwest Travel Writers Conference. He is Editor-in-Chief of Northwest Travel & Life Magazine, author of two guidebooks on day hiking, and a freelance travel and lifestyle journalist whose work had appeared in dozens of regional and national publications. In addition, he presently serves as VP, board member and Awards Committee Chair for International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association.