Hello, Hola, Bonjour and Ciao,

I hope this note finds you in good health and good spirits. In the spirit of sisterhood and collective upliftment, I am writing to share some travel media related information that recently came my way.

I publish this newsletter 2-3 times per year with the goal of informing the African American news media community about upcoming events, news, calls for submission, residencies and updates on my travel work. Here’s hoping you find something interesting or useful within.

Calls for Submission, Jobs & Travel Media Opportunities

• National Geographic: Call for Travel Pitches - Summer Travel, LGBTQ+ travel, National Parks (in search of National Park writers), Outdoor adventure (hiking, camping, etc.), Train Travel (US), cultural tourism, Set-Jetting, Travel content with pop culture /social media tie-in. Deadline For Responses 3/14/2025 kwin.mosby@natgeo.com​
• The Maya Angelou Travel Scholarship for Women of Color $10,000 - Deadline: March 3, 2025.
• Midnight & Indigo is a literary magazine dedicated to celebrating and amplifying the voices of Black women writers. They are accepting pitches.
• National Endowment for the Arts’ Creative Writing Fellowships​
  They are accepting applications for prose works. The fellowships are for published creative writers, to enable writers to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and career advancement.
  Value: Up to $50,000 Deadline: 12 March 2025
• The New York Amsterdam News is Looking for Freelance Journalists.
• Intrepid’s first writing competition of 2025 (their 8th since 2014) invites writers to consider the idea of the pilgrimage. 1200-1800 words. Free entry with the option to upgrade for guaranteed feedback. $300 USD top prize + publication opportunities Deadline March 1^st.
• Fodor’s Travel is seeking buzzy, zeitgeist-y, and newsworthy stories that are told with a bold voice. According to a recent pitching call, they pay $400 to $450. Email your pitch and writing clips to pitches@fodors.com. Their pitching guidelines.
• Food & Wine is a monthly magazine is looking for story pitches focusing on US destinations and ‘Where to Go Next’ features for 2025.” Their print rate is $1 per word. If interested, send your pitches to stacey@staceyleasca.com​
• Viator, a Tripadvisor company, is a marketplace for travel experiences. They’re seeking roundups, guides, features, tips, and essays. Rates start at $250.
• Leading Like a Lady is seeking contributing writers to cover topics related to Digital Nomad Lifestyle. $0.25 per word.

Travel Writing News

• Black birdwatcher wins Emmy! Christian Cooper, whose life changed after a racial profiling incident in NYC Central Park, turned his fame into a powerful platform for wildlife advocacy. From producing a book, graphic novel to hosting his show Extraordinary Birder on Nat Geo.
• Maggie Duncan Simbeye is Tanzania’s First Indigenous Woman Safari Owner!​
• United Airlines Implementing ‘History Making’ Flight Network Expansion In Africa​
• Black Entrepreneur, Hashim Walters, Wants to Buy Spirit Airlines to Make it America’s First Black-Owned Commercial Airline
• Ghana’s ‘Year of Return’ delivers a bittersweet buzz as tourists push up prices.
• Kelly Carter’s new company, Napa Valley Noir, crafts private tastings at boutique wineries and exclusive access to winery owners and winemakers to vineyard lunches and cave dinners at elite estates.
• NATJA Announces 33rd Annual Award Winners for Excellence In Travel Journalism
• The U.S. Mint made 504,000 Bessie Coleman quarters. The coin honors Bessie Coleman, the first African American and woman to receive an international pilot's license in 1921 from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in France. The reverse side of the coin depicts Coleman preparing for flight.

• According to the Paid Passport initiative, only 20% of Black Americans hold a passport, compared to nearly 45% of the U.S. population. For many, a $165 passport application and processing fees are a significant barrier. That's why Imani Bashir is covering the application fees for 100 eligible applicants–and you can get involved by spreading the word and donating any amount to the Paid Passport initiative.
• ​Diy With Joy is a travel and food culture blog, community and a resource for Millennial travelers who seek to dive deeper into their travel experiences. This platform includes solo travel guides, destination travel guides, food travel experiences, Travelsmart tips, and meaningful travel stories.
• Green Book Global Launches New Road Trip Planner For Black Travelers
• ​I'm Much Happier Living in Iceland Than In The U.S. - Black expat story by Jewells Chambers.
• ​Ebony Anglers is a competitive black women’s fishing team.
• More Black Americans Are Leaving The U.S. To Live In Africa—Here's Why by Faith Katunga for TravelNoire

Elaine and Go Girl 2 News!

​Vote for Elaine

• Wanderful has named me as one of three finalists for their prestigious Lifetime Achievement Bessie Award. It is such an honor to have my work uplifted by such an amazing organization. Unfortunately, voting is restricted to organizational members and to people who have attended one of their summits. Voting deadline is 2/28/25. The Bessies Awards are named after Bessie Coleman, the first woman of African American to hold a pilot’s license.

• On 2/8/2025, globetrotting journalists, Elaine Lee & Evelyn C. White gave a Black History presentation on Black travel in the US & abroad in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, which gave African Americans the right to travel more freely in the USA. The event was entitled: “Freedom is a Mighty Fine Thing: African American Travel and Travelers.” Pics and video clips.​

• Elaine Lee had the honor and privilege to take Road Scholar’s Civil Rights Trail trip in November 2024. Here is her 2025 Black History month contribution to their organizational blog.

• Imagine this Backroads trip! An 8-day exhilarating summer bike/boat adventure in Spain and Portugal…spending your days cycling through the glorious hills of Portugal's Douro Valley to visit medieval towns, national/local parks, amazing vineyards, epic vistas, historic sites, magnificent churches, quaint hillside villages, and craft markets. Read more! See Pics.​

Travel TV, Podcasts and Internet

• Anthony and Marlie Love, travel experts and creators of the “Traveling While Black” social media channels, debuted their new series, “TWB with Anthony and Marlie" on FOX SOUL network on October 12. Their youtube channel has 13,000+ subscribers.

• Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, Co-host’s Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom: Protecting the Wild. It shares inspiring stories of conservation success and highlight amazing animals across the country.It airs weekends.

Travel Trade and Travel Writing Events

• Applying to Residencies & Fellowships with Faith Adiele and Nadine Kennedy Johnstone. Ever dreamed of writing your book on a beach in Brazil? In a castle in Italy? On a boat-turned-writing-studio in the Canadian Rockies? In a restored Moroccan riad? With friends in a cottage in a California vineyard? Drawing on her experience attending 30 artists’ residencies around the globe and judging applications for half a dozen, award-winning travel memoirist Faith Adiele will take you through the basics of applying for that iconic room of one's own. Tuesday March 11, 8:00 am PST/10:00 am CST/11:00 am EST Zoom Registration and pay.​

• Join Christine Job at her 3/14/25 workshop “Expat Well: Financial Forum“ to supercharge your expat plans with practical advice from financial experts on the intersection of expatriation and financial planning. Register here.

Travel Writing: Biz/Classes/Info

• Do Black writers get stuck in a race rut? by Georgina Lawton
• Christina Jane - Travel BLOGGER + CONTENT CURATOR has a travel writing new newsletter.
• How To Start A Travel Blog (Properly!) – A Beginner’s Guide
• The Future of Trav​el Writing. What will we be writing in the next decade? Two seasoned pros make their predictions.
• ​500 Print Magazines That Want To Publish Your Travel Writing.
• ​TALKING TRAVEL WRITING - As a free reader, you’ll get a monthly email with some of the latest insights and tips from the travel writing world. Want to get intel directly from commissioning editors, fellow writers and experts in the field, as well as exclusive pitch call outs.
• The Travel Writing Success Monthly Newsletter and Resource Guide produced by award-winning travel writer Tim Leffel are amazing! The third edition of Travel Writing 2.0 is available now.

Misc.

• Kevin Kelly’s 50 Years of Travel Tips ​
• US Airlines Pull in Billions a Year in ‘Junk Fees’, Senate Report Says!
• Apple's New Airtag Feature Could Make Lost Luggage Woes A Thing Of The Past
• In for the Long Haul: Expert Advice on Flying in Comfort
• Researchers find that travel could be the best defense against ageing ​
• ​Norse Atlantic Airways is a Norwegian low-cost, long-haul airline that I just learned about, with flights between Europe, North America, Africa and Asia.

About Go Girl 2

Go Girl 2 is a rich collection of fifty-four powerful travel tales, poems, and photos that will inspire, educate, and entertain black women globetrotters, as well as provide vicarious thrills for the avid armchair traveler. Dive into stories by a new generation of travel writers, including luminaries Lola Akinmade Åkerström, Lebawit Lily Girma, Martinque Lewis, Rue Mapp, and Noo Saro-Wiwa, on spicy adventures in the frozen Arctic to sun-drenched blue Caribbean, to the discovery of cultural treasures in Africa, Australia, the Americas, and Asia. To round out the anthology, stories by Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, Jill Nelson, Linda Villarosa, Faith Adiele, and Evelyn White, along with other crowd favorites, have been republished from the original Go Girl. At the end you will find a bonus resource and planning guides.

To order Go Girl 2, you can simply go to Amazon for print copy or kindle. If you want a signed copy directly from the publisher, they will be available after 10/1/24. Just send a check for $25 plus $5 for P&H to UGOGURL PRODUCTIONS • 2340 Powell Street, Suite 160, Emeryville, CA 94608. For more than one or special requests simply email me at elaineruthlee@gmail or call 510 603 5672. You can also venmo Elaine at: @eleegogirl or send a payment to Paypal at: @UgogurlProductions.

Elaine Lee is the editor of “Go Girl: The Black Woman's Book of Travel and Adventure". She is also a San Francisco/Bay Area based lawyer, globetrotter, and travel journalist. She has visited 70 countries and completed two solo trips around the world. Her travel writings have been showcased in numerous national magazines, anthologies, and websites. She has shared her love of travel on many local and national radio, TV shows and travel conferences. Her website ugogurl.com is a leading portal for information on black travel, black travel writing and travel media information.

What the mirror said by Lucille Clifton listen, you a wonder. you a city of a woman. you got a geography of your own. listen, somebody need a map to understand you. somebody need directions to move around you. listen, woman, you not a noplace anonymous girl!

Ugogurl Productions

​www.ugogurl.com​

Elaineruthlee@gmail.com

2340 powell street #160, Emeryville, CA 94608
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