The Return of The Daily Beast Travel Section!

What's going on and what they're accepting

Hi everyone,

And welcome to all my new paid subscribers, I’m so happy to have you! I received hundreds of dollars in donations to Parkinson’s Disease organizations within a few hours of sending my Giving Tuesday Parkinson’s Newsletter, which had me crying tears of joy. If you’d like to get a year of free access to my paid newsletter, please see my Giving Tuesday Parkinson’s Newsletter for more info. I’m offering a discount on a paid subscription until EOD tomorrow, Friday, to anyone who donates to Parkinson’s-related organizations.

What’s that pic above? Well, the image on the left is a picture my niece drew of me last week when I FaceTimed her from Germany. Note the backpack and hip pouch. The only time I wear the pouch on my belly (vs my hip) is at the airport. The pic on the right is me at Amsterdam’s airport this past Monday. My niece was spot on and I’m framing the pic.

Now…. to the big news about The Daily Beast…

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THE DAILY BEAST RETURNS

If I had to choose one outlet that is my favorite to write for, it would probably be The Daily Beast. The first article I ever wrote for them was about Solo Bike Touring Cuba back in 2018. The Daily Beast’s travel section had launched earlier that year and I’ll never forget that the editor, Will O’Connor, took a chance on me, as I was a brand new travel writer with almost no clips.

I’ve written at least 15 travel features for The Daily Beast and I love writing for them because they accept stories about less-popular places that other outlets shoot down (like this piece I wrote them about Nebraska Being Worth a Visit Because it’s so Unsexy) and because they give me a lot of freedom. They allow me to write long, deep features that dig into the nuances of a destination and list out everything I did there, even if it wasn’t the usual top attraction. They let me write what I want and don’t make unnecessary edits.

This summer, Will left as editor and the position was not filled. Before leaving, he put me in touch with a news editor there who would be overseeing the editing and publication of articles Will had already commissioned. I was informed there was a pitch freeze that would last at least several months. Just when the freeze was expected to maybe lift, it was extended and the news editor left for 6 weeks of parental leave.

The news editor returned from leave a few weeks ago so last Monday, I pitched him a story from my cruise ship in Germany. He ran it by the news team, immediately approved it, I filed it Wednesday, and it published on Friday. If interested, here it is:

Europe Really Loves Black Friday Now - Wait, WTF?

I’m also working on another travel article that was approved by him two weeks ago that will publish next week. Will had expressed interest in the article back in February, but as there still is no full-time travel editor at The Beast, the article’s angle had to be tweaked to align with the very narrow style of story they are commissioning now.

Here’s how I got two articles approved within two weeks, what the Daily Beast is commissioning now, and how to get your destination considered.