Success Stories

Among Matador’s 25,000+ community members are dozens of successful travel writers and photographers. Some have been published in publications like The New York Times, and some have been hired straight out of a course at MatadorU to join Matador’s growing team.

Meet some of these writers and read about their stories:

Beebe Bahrami

A cultural anthropologist by training, Beebe’s writing focuses on the intersections between food, culture, and spirituality. Her book, The Spiritual Traveler Spain–The Guide to Sacred Sites and Pilgrim Routes, was published in May 2009, and her guidebook to unique historic walks in Madrid was published in spring 2010.

Anna Brones

One of Matador’s earliest members and contributing writers, Anna has been published in Travelers’ Tales, Transitions Abroad, and Pology. She also served as senior editor of Wend Magazine before launching her own social media consultancy. She also blogs about travel writing news and opportunities at Written Road.

Nora Dunn

Nora, who calls herself a professional hobo, is a location independent freelance writer whose book, 10,000 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget, was published in May 2009. She is senior contributor to the online publication Wise Bread and regular contributor to Transitions Abroad and Vagabondish. She has also been published in The Toronto Star.

David Farley

David is author of the book An Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Church’s Strangest Relic in Italy’s Oddest Town. He also edited Travelers’ Tales Prague and Czech Republic: True Stories. He writes regularly for WorldHum, and has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Conde Nast Traveler, National Geographic Traveler, and Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel.

Erin Granat

Besides writing for Matador and hosting her own video-blog, ERIN411!, Erin has had her writing published by Rolling Stone.

Richard McColl

British freelance journalist Richard McColl currently lives in Colombia and has filed dispatches for the BBC and CNN Traveller on subjects as diverse as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Panamanian tourism.

Mei-Ling McNamara

Matador’s Madagascar expert and regular contributor, Mei-Ling has written a travel guide to Senegal for Bradt Guides and has been published in Travelers’ Tales.

Kelsey Timmerman

In addition to dispensing advice about how to become a travel writer here on Matador, Kelsey has published his own book, Where Am I Wearing?

Alexis Wolff

Alexis, who has written extensively for Matador about studying abroad, has also been published in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2008, WorldHum.com, and Transitions Abroad.

Lola Akinmade

Lola is a writer and photographer, as well as the editor of Matador Goods. She has been published in Vogue, National Geographic Traveler, WorldHum, Guardian UK’s Been There, Forbes Traveler, Sherman’s Travel, CITY Magazine, Smithsonian.com, and the Away Network.


Hal Amen

Hal is one of the co-editors of Matador Trips. He’s been published in Traveling Stories Magazine and The Expeditioner.

Eva Holland

Eva is senior editor of WorldHum. She is a regular contributor to The Ottawa Citizen and has written for Postcards and Up! magazines, AOL Canada, and several Canadian newspapers, including The National Post, The Montreal Gazette , and The Vancouver Sun.

Tim Patterson

Tim is a contributing editor at Matador. He’s been published in The San Francisco Chronicle and contributed to Fodor’s Patagonia. He recently won a Pulitzer grant to report on the Kachin people of northernmost Myanmar.

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