Washington Post Magazine Story Selected for Best American Travel Writing!

I’m thrilled to announce that my November 2019 story for The Washington Post Magazine on the Calvary Zion children’s home in Kenya will appear in the 2020 edition of The Best American Travel Writing, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The publication date is November 3. The story also won a silver award in October 2020 in the prestigious Lowell Thomas travel writing competition.

The piece examined orphanages and the complexities of voluntourism, and told the tale of how God told Jane Karigo, the home’s founder, to care for the street children in her town near Mombasa. The story was also re-published in the New Zealand Herald.

Two stories that I wrote for my “Everyday Heroes” column in The Saturday Evening Post were winners in the 2020 North American Travel Journalists Association awards. My profile of Warren Stortroen, titled “An Environmental Megastar at Age 86,” won gold in the 60+ travel category. Since his retirement from the insurance biz, Warren has volunteered around the world over 100 times with Earthwatch, a scientific research organization, and he even has his own fan club called the Warrenites. 

My piece on Tammy Neblock-Beirne, MD, took honorable mention in the profile category. Tammy has volunteered her surgical skills in countries such as India, Guatemala, and Uganda, and she is one of the founders of One Global Village, which runs a school at a clinic in the tiny village of Dagabo, Mali.

I’ll be featuring Tammy in the 650,000 Hours podcast, which will debut soon. To sign up for my monthly 650,000 Hours newsletter, which covers travel, living your best life, giving back, and maximizing your 650,000 hours of life, go here.