I’m a food and travel journalist, culinary educator, and cheese consultant. I’m also a native Californian Colorado resident previously located in Seattle and Maui. I currently live in Boulder. You might say I have commitment issues. I call it “nomading.”
My focus is on sustainability (minus the fossil fuels burned during my many moves and while traveling) and adventure travel.
I grew up on a small ranch, which is what inspired me to educate people about seasonal eating and where food comes from. After obtaining a Culinary Arts degree from Johnson & Wales University, and working more restaurant and random food industry jobs than I care to recall, I started The Sustainable Kitchen®, a home-based cooking school/farm tour program in Berkeley.
In between front- and back-of-house gigs, selling organic pastry to angry vegans at the farmers market, and scraping dried avocado off my dining room (aka “cooking school) floor, I scored a weekly newspaper food column. I woke up, and realized I’d become a full-time food and travel journalist.
Currently, I’m a contributing editor at culture: the word on cheese, and I write for Gadling and other travel sites, and various national and regional magazines. I’m a former cheesemonger and the co-author of Cheese for Dummies. Currently, I’m an independent cheese consultant, and Communications Coordinator for Haystack Mountain goat cheese, in Boulder County.
I’m still a dirtbag backpacker, regardless of where I find myself on assignment. I’ll eat anything, even if I’m not getting paid, as long as it makes for a good story. I travel with a lot of antibiotics.
I’m severely flight phobic, hence the name of this site. Xanax® enables me to explore the world, once I’ve roused from my drug-induced, airborne slumber. Travel is what inspires and motivates me personally and professionally.
My mom hates that I fly under the influence, her reasoning being that should something go awry at 37,000 feet, I won’t be at full mental or physical capacity. I say, if there’s a serious problem, we’re all fucked.
Why is this not a blog?
To me, a blog entails minutiae about one’s daily life, such as what one is eating for breakfast or random thoughts such as, ”I am picking my nose right now.” A blog is taking photos of what you’re about to eat in a restaurant (street food and meat that comes from animals more traditionally kept as pets don’t count).
I hate that shit.*
I prefer to think of this as a collection of travel and cooking tips and anecdotes; recipes—both mine and those collected on my adventures—and other odds and ends designed to inform and (hopefully) entertain those who love eating and wandering as much as I do.
Walk lightly, and carry a big vial of Cipro.
Salar de Uyuni at sunrise
Laurel
*Of course, this is a blog, but I tell myself it’s not because I’m something of a Luddite and, along with a Facebook account, I swore I’d never have one.
I have known you all your life, especially since i am two months older, and you have always been one of the best story tellers ever!
That Chile pic is beautiful!
Hi, just read your ‘About’ page and really liked it! I need some pointers on my own ‘About’ page. It’s difficult not to sound pretentious and reel out the same old lines of ‘I am doing this because I love Food or I like to write’ which are cliche at best and insulting at worst, of course anyone reading the blog will figure out both. So what makes a good ‘About’ page? Any thoughts?
Hi Meli,
Good question. I can really only give you my feedback as a professional writer (as opposed to blogger, since this is new for me) and editor. Writing an “About” page is like writing a bio or cover letter. You need to get your point and credentials across in as concise a manner as possible, and with regard to this genre, I think humor is key.
I love the name of your blog, and I like that you ask and answer questions about yourself on your About page. Why not stick with that? It’s not the same-old, it’s cute, and clever. The point of an About page is to tell your audience the who/what/where/why/how part. Who are you, and why should we care about or read your blog? You’re right that a lack of creativity won’t get you hits. I’m all for honesty…the thing I struggle with the most as a writer is “If I’m too ‘me,’ they’ll hate me.” You have to get over that.
Granted, you don’t seem as obnoxious as I am, but I just mean that you need to let go of what “they” think of you and your writing and just go for it. That’s not an excuse for sloppiness, however. Biggest Pet Peeve Ever: Blogs with grammatical errors and other typos and inaccuracies.
Skip the intro, and instead find a way to address your background in a sentence or two that you ask yourself. Why this blog? How did I get into food and writing? Give it a lot of thought, and see if you can come up with some short, quirky answers, or maybe fiddle with some of the questions. Let’s hear more about your mum’s baked goods. What emotions did they stir up in you? How did they make you love food? What’s your earliest food memory related to that?
Give it a try and I think you’ll be suprised–and happy–with the results. Drop me a line so we can all have a look at your new About page. Good luck, and all the best,
Laurel
Hi Laurel,
Thank you for your feed back, it’s really helpful. I’ll drop you a line when I’ve tinkered about with the ‘About’ page. Would love to hear more of your thoughts, they are much appreciated.
Meli
Hi Laurel,
I work for Seattle’s public radio station, KUOW. I stumbled upon one of your Gadling articles that is related to a segment idea we’re working on. I’d love it if you had a sec to get a hold of me, I have a couple questions for you.
Thanks!
Alexandra
weekday1@kuow.org