Great Escape Radio: Travel Writing | Photography | Publishing | Writing

“I found out a long time ago, the harder I work, the luckier I get.” –Joe Sindorf Host Jody Mayberry talks with Joseph Sindorf, an award-winning photographer and a favorite of everyone at Great Escape Publishing. Joe is heading to Namibia on the West Coast of Africa. It’s a new country for him and has been on his list for a while. He’ll be exploring the country and introducing it to Great Escape Publishing members on a photography expedition. Although Joe has been traveling for a long he still gets excited before a trip. “Traveling is an incredible thrill for me and also a huge privilege,” says Joe. “It’s not something I take lightly. I realize many people dream of a life like this.” Joe also understands the need to continue working hard. “I have to continually market myself and my work. One assignment leads to another and a happy client leads to repeat work and introductions to new clients.” Joe shares information about the gear he’s taking to Namibia and what he’s most looking forward to photographing while

“The strength of the wolf doesn’t come from its fangs, it doesn’t come from its speed, it comes from its pack.” –Unknown Host Jody Mayberry and Great Escape Publishing Director Lori Allen, talk about the strength of a pack. It’s all about the wolves… “I really love wolves,” Lori shares. “One day I’m going to make the mascot for Great Escape Publishing a wolf.” Lori once heard a broadcaster say, “The strength of the wolf doesn’t come from its fangs, it doesn’t come from its speed, it comes from its pack.” That’s how Lori feels about the Great Escape Publishing community. It’s what happens at the live events and every success story that emerges from these events is partially due to the strength of the pack. Listen in to learn more about the benefits of creating your own community—your own pack. “A creative spark will help motivate us to explore new things. But, if we can find the right pack, that can also take us to success.” Visit https://www.greatescapepublishing.com/events/ultimate-travel-writers-workshop/ a

“We rise by lifting others.” –Robert Ingersoll Host Jody Mayberry and Great Escape Publishing Director Lori Allen, discuss technical difficulties, good and evil and much more in this week’s podcast. Spurred on by the technical difficulties Jody has been experiencing lately with recording the podcasts, Lori shares other technical difficulties that happen when the “evil” side of her camera shows up, or when a technique she uses for writing fails her. “Life’s a constant battle of good vs evil!” She shares the message she found central to the plot of the recent “Wonder Woman” movie about spreading love as the way to save the world. This philosophy is at the heart of the Great Escape Publishing community. “One reason I believe our community is so special is that we help each other. People are joining our community after having successful careers in other fields. We have to reinvent ourselves and we do it by lifting each other up.” Lori had the vision for the Great Escape community to be one that pays it forward ye

“If you had told me that I would be a 75-year-old moneymaking photographer, I don’t think I would have believed you!” –Elizabeth Coughlan Host Jody Mayberry and Great Escape Publishing Director Lori Allen, introduce us to Elizabeth Coughlan.  “One of the great things about these podcasts is that the people we interview are inspiring. Elizabeth is one of those people,” says Lori. “And, she’s doing some really cool stuff with her photography.” After 40 years of teaching for international schools around the world, Elizabeth retired and began looking for something to do. She stumbled onto the Great Escape Publishing website and found its photography workshops. Elizabeth had owned various point and shoot cameras in her life, but when she got a real camera, she wanted to learn how to use it. Attending the Great Escape Publishing photography events not only taught her how to use her camera, it taught her how to sell her photos. “My first workshop was in Seville, Spain and Efrain Padro was the teacher. Efrain is a gr

“The Great Escape Publishing expeditions have launched my photography skills into another dimension.” –Stephanie Wolden Host Jody Mayberry and Great Escape Publishing Director Lori Allen, introduce us to Stephanie Wolden. “Photography is one of the only professions where you can get paid as you’re learning how to become an expert,” says Lori. “And Stephanie is doing exactly that.” Working as a sommelier over the last couple decades, Stephanie has had the opportunity to travel and gain an appreciation for fine food and wine. Now that she’s more focused on her photography, she’s working her way through the business side of it and learning as she goes. Stephanie shares her background with us… “My journey to photography has been a wiggly one! I’m from Southern California where I studied art history. After I earned my masters, I moved to Florence so that I could walk the streets of my favorite Renaissance artists—which led to my interest in photography.” Stephanie found Great Escape Publishing through a Google sea

“Authenticity over everything.”—Anonymous In this episode, host Jody Mayberry talks with Breakfast Stock Club Creator, Bonnie Caton. When Jody last spoke with Bonnie she was in Buenos Aires. You can listen to her last podcast episode here. Since then she’s backpacked through the Andes in Patagonia and spent a month in Bali. Now she’s back in Portland, Oregon and focusing on what’s new in photography. Jody asks Bonnie about a recent newsletter she wrote for Great Escape Publishing about a huge new trend in photography… how fake is out and real is in. “One of the things we talked about at our stock photography workshop in Provence, France was the trend of creating real photos versus the cheesy fake photos traditionally used for stock photography,” says Bonnie. “We’ve all seen perfect stock photos with a lineup of business people jumping in the air or perfect models set against white backgrounds.” But now, stock agencies want authentic looking photos. They want real people—not models—doing real jobs. “As a photo

“I had nothing to lose, so I answered the call and landed a fulltime writing gig!”—Jessica Pickett Host Jody Mayberry and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen, introduce us to Jessica Pickett. When Jessica came to GEP’s Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop in 2014, she didn’t see herself having much in common with other attendees because she was working full-time and would be traveling and writing in her limited spare time. But now, Jessica has already had more than 100 stories published—an ambitious undertaking for someone who works full-time. She says, “I was 29 when I first attended the Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop, married to a farmer and working in a fulltime career. Many of the people I met at the workshop were retired or getting ready to retire and I thought there was no way I would be able to do this.” Using the skills she learned at the workshop, she sent a query to a regional publication that was looking for writers. “I had nothing to lose, so I answered the call and landed a full-time wri

“Some people dream of success, while other people get up every morning and make it happen.” –Wayne Huizenga Host Jody Mayberry and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen, bring Noreen Kompanik back to the podcast to talk about aspects of her travel writing career. (You can listen to Noreen’s last podcast interview with fellow member and writer, Theresa St. John here.) Noreen has had hundreds of articles published and is a great resource for beginners. She’s helped other writers get past their first two or three articles and into the hundreds. She’s consistently positive, hard-working and helpful to others. Noreen shares how she transitioned from her career in nursing to travel writing. “I was a presenter at the Ultimate Travel Writers Workshop in Washington DC last September,” says Noreen. “On the break, some of the attendees asked me how I got to this point and I told them I re-wired my brain.” She also shares her thoughts on Robert Sperry’s theory of right brain/left brain dominance. She believes lear

“You’re never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C. S. Lewis Host Jody Mayberry talks with travel writer, Terri Marshall about her role as the success story manager for Great Escape Publishing. “I’m fortunate to see all the success stories that come in through letters and on the various Facebook pages and the Travel Writer’s Café,” says Terri. “The stories inspire me, give me a boost of creativity, and remind me of how far I’ve come in my own travel writing journey.” Most of Great Escape Publishing members don’t start with a journalism degree. They come to the programs from all types of backgrounds. Terri had a long career in tax and law before attending a Great Escape Travel Writer’s Workshop and ultimately becoming a full-time travel writer. “Great Escape Publishing does a wonderful job of providing the programs and tools to help people realize they can change the direction of their lives… and get out of that office cubicle!” Terri shares some of her favorite success stories and how tho

“A good first impression can work wonders.” –J K Rowling Host Jody Mayberry and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen, talk with travel writer, Terri Marshall about the importance of networking. Once a tax accountant, Terri transitioned to a part-time travel writer before making the leap to full-time travel writer a couple years ago. Having been writing for about a decade now, she’s a great person to talk to at Great Escape Publishing events. Terri shares her tips for successful networking and what it can mean for a travel writer. “Live events are excellent networking tools,” says Terri. “I’ve met most of the editors I write for at live events—either conferences, media marketplace events, or tourism and public relations events like cocktail parties and luncheons.” Terri shares with us the benefits of developing relationships through networking. Her suggestions for making a good impression and successfully navigating networking events include… …Presenting yourself as a professional …Dressing appropriate

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” –Benjamin Franklin Host Jody Mayberry and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen, introduce us to Betsi Hill. Lori shares her insight into Betsi… “People like Betsi are attracted to travel writing because that’s what drives them. Betsi loves the idea of having fun, living life, loving what she does and not being bogged down with commutes and other ordinary career issues.” Betsi’s quest for fun in her life has brought her success as a freelance writer, blogger and now as an editor-in-chief of a new publication. A key component of her success has been a result of attending trade shows and events. “As a travel writer, blogger and a new editor-in-chief of a start-up magazine, I go to trade shows, media marketplaces and other specialized shows with a three-pronged approach,” explains Betsi. “I’m interested in meeting people for the possibility of writing about a destination, garnering that precious perk called free travel, and finding out destinations and p

“Grammarly is an online service that quickly and easily makes your writing better and makes you sound like a pro, or at least helps you avoid looking like a fool.” - Forbes Host Jody Mayberry speaks with a returning guest this week, Mary Charlebois. Since starting her writing career, Mary has become a big fan of Grammarly. “There’s more to writing than beautiful words and prose,” says Mary. “Our work needs to be professional.” So, what is Grammarly? It’s an app that you can add to your writing applications such as Microsoft Word. Or it can be used in connection with your e-mail. Grammarly checks your spelling, punctuation, grammar and context. It even checks your documents for plagiarism—just in case you used too much of your cut and paste research in your document. Mary and Jody both use it. They agree that Grammarly is making them better writers. Listen in as they discuss all the ways Grammarly can be used to improve your writing across umerous platforms—including social medial where we tend to write more

“If there’s some synergy in your own interests and what we’re doing at International Living, you’re the best kind of writer for us.”  - Jen Stevens Host Jody Mayberry has Jen Stevens back on the show to talk more about what she does specifically as the Executive Editor for International Living magazine. (You can listen to last week’s episode with her here.) Jen explains the philosophy of International Living… “We believe our mission is to find opportunities around the world and help our readers take advantage of those opportunities. We strive to show our readers how to retire internationally, invest internationally and to become citizens of world.” The International Living team fundamentally believes the world is full of opportunity and you don’t have to be wealthy or well-connected to take advantage of those opportunities. “Every month we bring our readers information that is worth their while.” International Living has regular contributors living around the world who keep an ear to the ground to keep up wit

“If you want to be a travel writer, this is what you need to know. Does it work? YES!” – Jen Stevens Host Jody Mayberry and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen, introduce us to Jen Stevens, Executive Editor at International Living and architect of The Ultimate Travel Writer’s Program. Jen Stevens tells us how it all started… “Working at International Living, I spent a lot of time working with writers who were not professionals. We were working with expats to get their expertise and experiences and to get them to share their stories about what it was like to live in the places we were featuring.” Jen spent a lot of time working with these expats and writing and rewriting the stories she received. Then an idea struck her… “I thought, it’s not that hard to write a good article. If these people understood the fundamentals, they could write these articles on their own.” International Living and Great Escape Publishing teamed up and asked Jen to architect The Ultimate Travel Writer’s Program to share the f

“Why should I pick a favorite destination for photography when I can enjoy them all?” – Daniel Nahabedian Host Jody Mayberry and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen, introduce us to professional photographer, Daniel Nahabedian. Light is so important to Daniel that Lori refers to him as the “Master of Light” and looks to him on a regular basis for his post-processing techniques in Lightroom… “Daniel approaches photography from an artistic point of view and puts a lot of time and thought into his images.” Daniel talks to Jody about how it all started… “I studied law in France then moved to Abu Dhabi and worked for 5 years in Human Resources. But I was bored and wanted to do something creative.” A case of camera envy led Daniel to buy his first camera although he had no prior experience in photography. “Photography became my passion and a year after I bought that first camera, I quit my job and became a fulltime travel photographer.” That was 10 years ago. Listen in as Daniel shares with us some advice

“Supporting another’s success won’t ever dampen yours.” -- Anonymous Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry, talks with Great Escape Publishing Photographer and Instructor, Bonnie Caton about a new livestream event taking place in April. The Ultimate Photo Workshop in Baltimore is sold out; you can’t attend live. But this year, GEP is going to record the whole workshop and stream it LIVE in real time. So it’s the next best thing to being there. As Bonnie says, “You can attend in your pajamas if you want to and no one will laugh at you!” The Ultimate Photography Workshop is one of Great Escape Publishing’s biggest workshops. Professionals come in, open up their hearts and brains and give you all the information you need to succeed. “The great thing about the professionals we bring in is that they are very approachable,” explains Bonnie.  “These are seasoned pros who’ve been doing this for years, but they know what it’s like to be in your shoes.” Bonnie shares more details of what the Ultimate Photography Worksh

“Moving abroad has pushed a restart button in my brain…it’s kept me from getting into a rut.” – Bonnie Caton Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry, talks with Great Escape Publishing Photographer and Instructor, Bonnie Caton about how life as a photographer opens up new worlds. “One thing about working with Great Escape Publishing like I do is that you can live anywhere. My partner’s job situation changed too which means he can now work from anywhere. So we decided to go to Buenos Aires for a month,” explains Bonnie. After Buenos Aires, Bonnie will be moving to Bali, Indonesia for a month or two too. Listen in as Bonnie and Jody talk about the benefits of moving to a new location—even if only for a month or two. They discuss how it jumpstarts your creativity and how the freedom of living the photographer’s or travel writer’s life can open doors and new opportunities. Bonnie is already seeing the possibilities for projects that will come from her time living abroad. The opportunities are endless… For more info

“Don’t tell people your dreams. Show them.” - Anonymous Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry, talks with Great Escape Publishing Photographer and Instructor, Bonnie Caton. Bonnie has been working on a new project for Great Escape Publishing called the $10K Photo Power Hour. “In the Great Escape “Power Hour” series, we take something and break it down to the essentials required to succeed and deliver that to you in just an hour,” explains Bonnie. In the $10K Photo Power Hour, Bonnie breaks the steps down to take you from where you are now to where you want to be in your photography career. As she says, “$10k represents a benchmark for the amount of money someone can make when they move beyond doing photography as a hobby.” Listen in as Bonnie and Jody discuss some of the stumbling blocks new photographers encounter like inaction, lack of confidence and negativity from others.  Bonnie also explains why it isn’t always the “pretty” pictures that will make you money as a photographer. “If you think about somethi

“Imperfect action always trumps inaction.” –Lori Allen Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry, and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen, talk about a recent Great Escape Publishing newsletter that went out in reference to the story, Finding Garcia. The simple message of the story is this: When you’re asked to perform a task, don’t ask how and don’t ask why—just do it. Lori and Jody discuss how this relates to the tasks we are assigned in life. As an editor, photo buyer and employer, Lori just wants someone who can get the job done. “It’s always refreshing when someone just calls it and says ‘I’ve got this and I’ll get it to you’,” says Lori. Listen in to the discussion and see why it’s important to act…to call the fly ball…and to make decisions without excessive questioning and research. It’s what editors want in the travel writers and photographers they work with. Editors are looking for anyone who can find a Garcia. To sign up for Great Escape Publishing’s free newsletter, The Right Way to Travel, an