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

Great Escape Radio Episode #74: How Bad Do You Want it to Work Out? “If you want it to work bad enough, it will work.” – Theresa St. John For more information on getting started with travel writing, visit www.greatescapepublishing.com/start/travelwriting. Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry, brings travel writer and photographer, Theresa St. John back to the show. Since we last heard from Theresa she’s been a busy lady. (You can listen to her previous podcast here: http://www.greatescapepublishing.com/great-escape-radio-episode-51-its-about-emotions/.) “One of my goals for this year was to go on 12 media trips in 12 months. As of mid-July, I had already been on 10—I’m pretty sure I’m going to make my goal and then some,” says Theresa. All of Theresa’s traveling started with a decision. After a difficult divorce that saddled her with a significant financial burden, she decided to invest in herself. Theresa attended the Great Escape Publishing Photography Workshop and also the Ultimate Travel Workshop in 201

Great Escape Radio Episode #73: Are You Growing or Decaying? “You need to do something every day to tell your body it’s springtime.” ― Chris Crowley To learn more about Breakfast Stock Club, go to: www.greatescapepublishing.com/breakfaststock. Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry talks with Bonnie Caton, Breakfast Stock Club Creator, about the importance of staying active. Bonnie shares her thoughts… “Lately I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I’ve realized that getting involved in travel writing and travel photography gets me off the couch and out of the house. It sends me on adventures and I end up having a much more interesting life in general.” In Chris Crowley’s book, Younger Next Year he states that 70% of aging is a choice. As humans, we exist in basically two states, we’re either growing or decaying. Bonnie explains… “As a holdover from the past when people endured times of famine, our bodies have a built-in decay mechanism that kicks in when we’re not moving.” Jody can relate – he moved from a j

Great Escape Radio Episode #72: Give Your Photos an Edge “You don’t take a photograph—you make it.” – Ansel Adams Take your photos to the next level with Lightroom here: www.greatescapepublishing.com/lightroom. Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry welcomes back Bonnie Caton, Creator of Great Escape Publishing’s Breakfast Stock Club, to talk about Lightroom. You can listen to her previous podcast about how she got started with Great Escape Publishing here: https://www.greatescapepublishing.com/great-escape-radio-episode-71-try-stock-photography/. What is Lightroom? Bonnie explains… “You know how everybody loves Ansel Adams’ photos, right? He was one of the best photographers in history. You look at one of his photos and you know that he spent days and weeks and months and years trying to find the right time and the right light to take a good photo. But, Ansel spent a lot of time in the dark room when he was developing his film adding light and subtracting light—making sure the contrast was just right and per

Great Escape Radio Episode #71: Try Stock Photography “When I have a camera in my hand, I know no fear.” – Alfred Eisenstaedt To learn more about stock photography and sign up for the free Breakfast Stock Club newsletter, go to https://www.greatescapepublishing.com/sign-up/breakfast-stock-club/. In this episode, Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry brings back Bonnie Caton, Creator of the Breakfast Stock Club. (You’ll find her previous episode/s here: http://www.greatescapepublishing.com/great-escape-radio-episode-7-stock-photography/.) She talks about how she got started with Great Escape Publishing more than 10 years ago, and why she encourages everyone—even beginner photographers—to give stock photography a try. Bonnie has three reasons she thinks stock photography is great… ***It’s approachable ***It gets you out for adventures ***It provides an avenue to passive income Listen in as Bonnie elaborates on each of these reasons and shares how each point can help you increase your portfolio while you’re ea

Great Escape Radio Episode #70: Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop For information on Great Escape Publishing’s upcoming live events, visit www.greatescapepublishing.com/menu/?type=event. “Action is the foundational key to all success.” -- Pablo Picasso Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry, talks to us about the impact of attending a Great Escape Publishing live event. Jody’s been listening to recordings from last year’s Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop and ran across a number of testimonials from attendees speaking to the quality and value of this live event. He shares several of those stories with us this week. You’ll hear from an attendee who traveled a day and a half all the way from Perth, Australia to attend the event in New Orleans last year—and he says he wouldn’t have missed it for anything. Others share how the event has given them the encouragement, tools and confidence to pursue a freelance career as a travel writer. Cindy from Baton Rouge, Louisiana shares how she spent three years trying to fig

Great Escape Radio Episode #69: Making a Difference through Photography “There are stories that need to be told. People need to get out there and tell the stories in a way that compels people to take action.” – Joe Sindorf Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry, and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen, bring Joe Sindorf back to GEP radio and he’s definitely back by popular demand. Joe Sindorf is an international humanitarian filmmaker who has worked in more than seventy-five countries around the world. He goes into the places where people are suffering: victims of tornados, tsunamis, social injustices, and other tragedies. His still photographs have been published in National Geographic Traveler, Outside, American Photo, World and Professional Photographer among others. His video work has won international film festivals, the NATAS Emmy Award, the George Foster Peabody Award (commonly referred to as the Pulitzer Prize for Television) and others (You can learn more about Joe and listen to his previous

Great Escape Radio Episode 68: Take care of yourself “It’s not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself and to make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary.” – Mandy Hale To learn more about how you can live better, travel farther and earn more as a travel writer, visit: www.thetravelwriterslife.com. Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry, and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen, discuss the importance of putting yourself first. We’re all guilty of it. We don’t always eat right, or exercise, or go to the doctor when we need to. But who are we hurting when we don’t do those things? We’re actually hurting all of those around us. It’s like Lori said in a previous podcast: “You have to take care of yourself. If you don’t take care of yourself, you’re hurting your whole family.” Lori has been pushing this same concept with Great Escape Publishing members recently. “A lot of our members are heading into retirement. And they are also feeling the effects of aging. Their bodies are breaking down. Ment

Great Escape Radio Episode #67: 1 Place in 6 Photos “They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and we’re going to give them a whole lot of pictures.” - Tom Smith To learn more about how you can get started selling your photos, visit: www.greatescapepublishing.com/start/photography. Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry, and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen, bring Efrain Padró back to the show to talk about his strategy for showcasing a destination through photographs. Efrain is one of Great Escape Publishing’s most sought after photography instructors. (You can listen to the previous podcast episode about him here: https://www.greatescapepublishing.com/great-escape-radio-episode-66-introducing-efrain-padro/.) He sells his photos to magazines, guidebooks, as fine art, and as stock. He has developed a system for showcasing a new place in six photographs. “I just visited the Grand Canyon and completely forgot to take photos of my food,” says Lori. “I really wish I had photos of the Navajo tacos o

Great Escape Radio Episode #66: Introducing Efrain Padró “The beginning is the most important part of the work.” - Plato For more information about how you can get started selling your photos, visit: www.greatescapepublishing.com/start/photography. Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry, and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen, introduce us to Efrain Padró. “Efrain is probably Great Escape Publishing’s most sought after instructor,” says Lori. “He’s kind, humble, even-keeled, and mellow. And, he’s super smart coming from a legal background.” Efrain’s also creative. He approaches the art of photography in his own unique way. Lori explains… “Efrain loves photographing nature. He especially loves evening photography: stars and night skies. I’ve seen him sit for hours in one spot to get a great photo.” You would think someone like that would be boring or not very interesting—but that’s not the case with Efrain. He’s known for his sense of humor. “Efrain’s very funny, you want him to be in your inner circl

Great Escape Radio Episode #65: When all the “stuff” doesn’t bring happiness… “$1,000,000 in the bank isn't the fantasy. The fantasy is the lifestyle of complete freedom it supposedly allows.” – Tim Ferriss, The 4 Hour Workweek Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry, and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen, introduce us to Laura Carswell. Lori just returned from Tanzania and today’s guest, Laura Carswell, was also on that trip. “Tanzania gets in your blood and it’s like a fever. You can’t shake it until you go back,” says Lori. It’s a combination of things… …animals …food …kind and generous people …diverse cultures …being outside in nature all day It’s also a place that makes us understand that we don’t need to accumulate so much stuff in life. Today’s guest, Laura Carswell, discovered this on her visit to Tanzania. “What I love about this podcast is that we have the opportunity to a large variety of different kinds of people who are all attracted to travel writing and travel photography – putting lif

Great Escape Radio Episode #64: How I Balance Travel Writing with My Full-time Job Plan your work and work your plan! – Amy Piper Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry, and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen, introduce us to Amy Piper—a new travel writing success story. “Everybody has a different approach to travel writing,” says Lori. “We have the creative types who like to throw a bunch of paint at the wall and see what blooms. And we have the business types who like to plan and meticulously map out their path to travel writing success.” Amy falls into the latter category—she’s a strategic thinker. As a well-established and successful project manager, Amy is a pro at meticulously methodically mapping out what she needs to accomplish. She’s applied those skills to her travel writing journey—and it’s working for her. Amy’s path to travel writing began with the home study program but it really picked up after she attended the Ultimate Travel Writing Workshop in New Orleans last September. In the firs

Great Escape Radio Episode #63: Skill vs Equipment “Investment in your skill brings confidence and confidence brings opportunities.” – Lori Allen Great Escape Radio Host, Jody Mayberry and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen discuss the basics of getting started in photography: what equipment you need and which investment is more important—the investment in your skill or investment in equipment. At Great Escape Publishing’s recent Photography Workshop in San Diego, Lori received a lot of questions about cameras. She brings forward some of those questions and answers them for listeners. “Nobody asks a chef what kind of pots they use,” says Lori. “Nobody eats a good meal and says ‘man, this guy must have a great set of pots,’ but, when people see a great picture, they want to know what kind of camera it was taken with.” Lori breaks down what you’re buying when you choose a camera… Cameras do affect the image quality – there is some truth to that. But it’s not as much as people think. When you’re buying

Great Escape Radio Episode #62: Creating Unique Tours “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” – Michael Jordan Host, Jody Maberry and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen talk about her upcoming travel to Tanzania, the marketing purpose behind the trip and how you too can arrange trips to the places you most want to explore in the world. Lori shares her personal African proverb… “There are those who return to Tanzania and those who have never been.” She’s been several times with photography expeditions, but this time she’ll be returning to Tanzania to film marketing videos for Great Escape Publishing programs. “We offer a course on how to create travel videos. The course illustrates how easy it is and how little equipment is needed to produce quality videos.” Video is big in the travel world and also in the marketing world. “We’ve noticed our video promotions outperform text advertising with still images at a rate of about 2 to 1 and sometimes more.” So, she’

Great Escape Radio Episode #61: Practice Makes Perfect “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” - Aristotle Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen discuss overcoming the obstacles to get started with photography or travel writing, practicing your craft, knowing when to quit and learning how to figure out the things you most want to do. People often talk to Jody about getting into podcasts. Their first comment is typically “I’m not very good behind the microphone.” Jody’s response is always the same…. “Of course you’re not. You haven’t done it yet.” Jody’s been doing podcasts for several years now and he’s gotten good at it. “The guy you hear in the first few episodes is not the same guy you hear today.” The same is true for photography, travel writing, leading tours or whatever endeavor you pursue. Lori discusses the initial stumbling blocks… “The technical stuff is often the first stumbling block and you do have to figure

Great Escape Radio Episode 60: Overcoming Your Fears “Pushing past our fears makes amazing experiences happen.” – Lori Allen To keep up with everything Great Escape Publishing has to offer, sign up for the newsletter at https://www.greatescapepublishing.com/subscribe/?src=podcast and receive a free report on five ways you can get paid to travel. Great Escape Host, Jody Maberry and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen talk about Lori’s recent travels, what surprised her and what she learned. Lori recently returned from a very special trip with her 7-year old daughter, Charlie. They traveled to the Southwest including the Grand Canyon, Sedona and to Arches National Park as part of a kid-friendly group tour. “Being outdoors all day, driving through landscapes that constantly change, having gorgeous weather and quality one-on-one time together was very special.” It wasn’t Lori’s usual mode of travel, however… “Group tours are usually something I won’t do, I prefer to be in control of my time. But this was

Great Escape Radio Episode 59: Life management “If you don’t take the time to plan the life you want, you’ll be stuck living a life you don’t want.” – Lee Cockerell Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen interview Lee Cockerell, former Executive Vice President of Operations for Walt Disney World on this episode. Lee led a team of 40,000 cast members and was responsible for operations of 20 resort hotels, four theme parks, two water parks, a shopping and entertainment center—the list goes on. He knows a thing or two about time management. In fact, he wrote the book on it: Time Management Magic. Lori felt it was important to have Lee on the show because Great Escape Publishing members often struggle with this. “In my calls with members, time management was a recurring thing,” she explains. “And it wasn’t just about managing tasks, members often said they didn’t have time to recognize or grab their dreams.” Lee ran Disney World which means he was a dreamer but also

Great Escape Radio Episode 58: But are you stuck? “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” - Walt Disney Great Escape Radio Host, Jody Maberry and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen, bring Allegra Stein back to the podcast to discuss why people feel stuck and how we can get past that feeling. (Listen to her previous podcast here: https://www.greatescapepublishing.com/great-escape-radio-episode-57-feeling-stuck/.) Inspired by Shenee Howard's 100 People Project, Lori has embarked on a challenge to call 100 people. She's reaching out to Great Escape Publishing experts, success stories, beginners, people who've inspired her on Facebook and people she's traveled with. In those calls, she’s discovered that many people feel stuck for a variety of reasons: lack of time, lack of cash, lack of focus. Distractions are real and we all experience them. Lori can relate to the lack of time and focus. She admits it’s a co

Great Escape Radio Episode 57: Feeling Stuck? "Let your dreams outgrow the shoes of your expectations." - Ryunosuke Satoro On this episode, Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen revisit Lori's quest to make 100 calls and introduce us to Allegra Stein. Inspired by Shenee Howard's 100 People Project, Lori has embarked on a challenge to call 100 people. She's reaching out to Great Escape Publishing experts, success stories, beginners, people who've inspired her on Facebook and people she's traveled with. Life coach Allegra Stein was just one of those calls. "Allegra is a relocation coach, but that's not all she's about. She's about reinvention, realizing your dreams and helping people get there," Lori shares. Listen in for Allegra’s inspiring discussion with Lori and Jody about her work. You'll learn about these interesting concepts… ***Campfire Coaching ***Overcoming "Internal Stuckness" ***Adopting the spirit of curiosity ***Dealing with thought tornadoes As All

Great Escape Radio Episode 56: Overcoming Your Fear "There is no illusion greater than fear." - Lao Tzu Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen venture into an interesting discussion about our fears. What should we really fear? And why do we fear things that are not likely to happen? It's something we all do. We can visualize the destruction from an earthquake, the horror of a terrorist attack, the fiery images of a plane crash… and that's what we fear. But, as Lori points out, we're more likely to experience health issues like heart disease, cancer and other physically limiting ailments than any of these visual destructions. Yet, we still eat those donuts and neglect applying sunscreen when we're spending time outside. It's an interesting, thought-provoking discussion that will inspire you to rethink your fears. It will also inspire you to seize the moments you have in life right now and use the opportunities available to you to live the life you've always dream

Great Escape Radio Episode #55 - The Unconventional Photographer “Dream it. Create it. Live it.” – Charlie Bulla For more information on how you can get started selling your photos, visit: www.greatescapepublishing.com/start/photography. Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry and Great Escape Publishing Director, Lori Allen introduce us to Charlie Bulla. “Charlie is an interesting guy,” says Lori. “He was a professional photographer with a wedding and portrait photography business but realized he just wasn’t inspired. So, he went back to photography school.” Charlie discovered Great Escape Publishing in his search to do something creative—he wanted to be who he is and create art with his photography. He certainly didn’t want to go back to doing weddings or anything that felt formal or rehearsed. Charlie’s path has led him to video and here’s what he had to say about that… “I never intended to get into videography – but just 2 hours after being introduced to it in photography school I was hooked. It changed my