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Sustainable Adventures with Travel Writer Elissa Garay

• Angela Tuell • Season 4 • Episode 24

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Join us for an engaging conversation with Elissa Garay, a distinguished travel and lifestyle writer whose career has spanned over twenty years. From her earliest days of storytelling to her transformative college experiences in Europe, Elissa opens up about her journey that combines her passion for writing and her love for travel. She takes us back to her first international trip to Greece, which ignited her wanderlust and set her on the path to becoming a renowned travel journalist. Through her work with prestigious outlets like Condé Nast Traveler and CNN, Elissa shares the highs and lows of crafting a successful career in travel writing and the unique challenges she faces in the fast-paced media landscape.

But there's more than just travel stories; Elissa delves into the pressing issue of sustainable tourism. Hear her thoughts on balancing a love for exploring the world with a responsibility toward preserving it. Having pursued further education in sustainable tourism, Elissa offers a nuanced perspective on the industry's environmental challenges and potential. She shares her mission to inspire more responsible and conscious travel decisions, highlighting how sustainability can foster cultural connections and bolster local economies. Elissa's insights are both educational and motivational, offering listeners practical tips on how to travel sustainably while still fully embracing the beauty of our planet.

Learn more about Elissa at https://www.elissa-garay.com/.

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Angela Tuell:

Welcome to Media in Minutes. This is your host, Angela Tuell. This podcast features in-depth interviews with those who report on the world around us. They share everything from their favorite stories to what happened behind the lens and give us a glimpse into their world From our studio here at Communications Redefined. This is Media in Minutes. On today's episode, we are talking with travel and lifestyle writer and editor, Elissa Garay. Elissa specializes in sustainable tourism for national outlets like Condé Nast, traveler, good Housekeeping Time, cnn, parents Travel and Leisure and more. With more than 20 years experience in the field, Elissa has also worked as an editor at leading travel publications like Afar, photers, travel Zoo and Sherman's Travel. She is also an educator and was the lead journalism instructor for Europe's magazine Writers Academy. Over the years, her work has taken her to more than 60 countries on six continents. Hi, elisa, how are you? Hey?

Elissa Garay:

Angela, really good to be in touch. Thanks so much for having me on today.

Angela Tuell:

Yes, I'm really looking forward to our conversation. In preparing for this episode, I saw that you always wanted to be a writer. When did you know that?

Elissa Garay:

Well, I was really lucky, I guess, to know very young that writing was my bag, you know, I think we all sort of get inherent gifts and talents that are just part of who we are. And yeah, I knew early on I just loved to write. I, you know, I never really had to think about what I wanted to be when I grew up. It was always kind of there for me. I think in you know, fourth grade or something, I won a writing competition and that just did it for me.

Angela Tuell:

I was, yeah, I was like oh, this is it?

Elissa Garay:

You know it was validation that what I really like to do, you know, was being recognized. And yeah, I mean, I think writing for me, you know, I feel that I'm a creative person, so it really does allow for this great, you know, outlet for creativity. I'm also a very, very curious person, so writing is a great fit for that because you can explore so many topics and sort of indulge that curiosity. And I'm also, like, a very organized person. So I like it because it kind of lets you create order out of some of the chaos in the world. You know, you can kind of look for a question that you might have. Or, in my case, you know I do a lot of travel, writing, go to someplace you've never been and you know, sort of go on this journey from unknowing to knowing when you create a story yeah, those are great ways to describe it, and sometimes you know a lot of people aren't as lucky to know exactly what they want to do their whole life and make it happen.

Angela Tuell:

Writing is definitely one that is a challenge for many to make a successful career out of.

Elissa Garay:

Yeah, I mean, that's absolutely true. You know, that was one of the first hurdles I faced. You know how am I going to make money from writing? You know, not everybody goes on to be successful book authors, you know, right out of the gate. So yeah for me. You know, I knew early on that if I was going to make this my career, that I had to figure out something, and for me, that something was journalism. So yeah, so I studied journalism as an undergrad. Okay, From there, you know, I also knew that I wanted to travel. So it was kind of hard to figure out. You know how there would be an intersection between the two. I didn't grow up in a household where there was a lot of travel, but my father is Greek and when I was 16, he took me to Greece on my first big international trip.

Angela Tuell:

Yes, not a bad place to go.

Elissa Garay:

Yes, exactly, the beaches, the clubs, the antiquity. You know I was just bit by the bug and you know I was like, oh, I need more of this in my life. Yeah, so you know, at the time I didn't really even know about travel guides because you know, I was from a family of program. My senior year of college it brought me abroad to live three months in Denmark and three months in Holland, and from there, you know, the intersection started to become a little bit clearer about how you could write about travel and different cultures. And then I found my final project for my degree was to do an internship. So I found a internship in. It was like an online magazine for expats living in Europe, in Paris, so I took that. I also found a Frenchman, but that's another story.

Angela Tuell:

Were you living in Paris then at that time?

Elissa Garay:

Yes, yes, so, yeah. So I spent about a year and a half living there after school, you know, working for some small publications, doing some internships, just sort of figuring out more about how I was going to combine travel and writing together. But it was hard, you know, I wasn't there legally so I couldn't really get paid on the book. So I wanted to come back to New York, which you know I look back at and just kind of want to slap 21-year-old me across the face.

Elissa Garay:

People in Paris. What were you thinking you had all this time in your career? But nonetheless I did come back. I found sort of an editorial assistant, sort of gopher position at a newspaper. It was the New York Post. So, I was there for a little while, but, yes, I quickly realized that newspaper journalism wasn't really the right fit for me. I really like the idea of like your business closing down right. You know, it's kind of like working at a hospital or something like it never ends a 24 hour newsroom.

Elissa Garay:

So there's that. And also, just, I didn't necessarily feel that I had the chops to be a sort of hard hitting, you know, breaking news reporter. You know I wanted to do something a little more fun, right, more feature. So I started playing around doing some, getting some clips in their travel section, and I realized that magazine writing was going to be a better fit for me. So, yeah, from there I had I applied for some positions and I got two offers at the same time. One was for a magazine for animal lovers and the other one.

Elissa Garay:

Yeah, the other one was for travel. It was a they're still around the Sherman's travel. But at the time it was a very, very small publication. So, yes, luckily I took the travel route because you know, my two cats would have been very happy with my animal writing career.

Elissa Garay:

They probably have a bling collar. It didn't quite work out for them. Travel writing definitely ended up being a great path for me. I was hired with them and I worked with them for about eight years. They grew a lot. While I was there, they started a travel publication called Smart Luxury Travel. It was like a luxury travel, but with some consciousness, towards a cost, which isn't always the case with some of the higher end travel magazines. Unfortunately, that magazine did not survive. We had a recession like around 2010, 2011, if you remember that, and there was a lot of shutdowns, so the magazine folded at that time and then actually there were some layoffs and I was laid off and I decided at that time to go freelance. I had known some other people who had went down that route and I thought it would be a great time to do some traveling and to do some freelance work.

Elissa Garay:

So I've been freelance now since about 2011 or so or so. Yeah, so it's been a while. So, yeah, that was a good route for me. You know, I definitely enjoy the freedom of it. I was able to get some contract editing jobs with other publications from there, so I worked for Photos for a while. A far travel zoo, so yeah, the going was good for a while. And then, of course, the pandemic hit. So, yeah, that was, you know, like for so many people, and especially any of us in the travel industry, that was a really hard hit. You know, travel dried up for me. Who was this sort of contract freelancer taking on surplus work for these? You know, travel magazines all my contracts dried up at the time. And then I had also, as one of my niche sort of specialty, beats I had been covering the cruise industry for well over a decade.

Elissa Garay:

Yes so if you could recall, you know, as a publicist, that was, you know, the biggest PR nightmare out there you had. You know, these cruise ships became the big scary face of the pandemic monster coming to get us all. Yes. So yeah, it was not a very good thing to be specialized in, because there was no cruising happening for a while.

Angela Tuell:

So yeah, I was going to ask how did you navigate through it?

Elissa Garay:

Okay, so yeah. So basically you know one of the options I had. Well, I'm an environmentalist, so working in the cruise industry and promoting the cruise industry I have always kind of been at odds with it.

Elissa Garay:

You know there are some cruise companies that are doing, you know, the right thing, but for the most part it's a big and dirty industry. Right thing, but for the most part it's a big and dirty industry. So I had some, you know, ethical dilemmas with that. And you know, I know, the environmental news in the last you know, 10, 15 years has really been ramping up. You know we are at this precipice of real crisis here. So I thought, you know how can I come back to the table?

Elissa Garay:

I didn't want to walk away from travel. I had built my whole career in that field. Yeah, I mean, traveling offers a lot of positives to the world, you know. I think it's a really important thing. However, I wanted to sort of refine my focus on to how we can travel better, sort of refine my focus on to how we can travel better.

Elissa Garay:

So I found a program Harvard has an extension school which is geared towards working professionals, and they had a sustainable tourism program at the time that you could do sort of as like a certificate under the umbrella of a journalism's master's. So I was like, oh, this is perfect. I'm going to just I'm going to work on getting this master's degree. I'm going to take these sustainability courses and really refocus my professional niche as a sustainability writer and, at the same time, having that master's would allow me to teach, because I had been doing some online teaching for a European school called the Magazine Writers Academy that essentially teaches writers how to break into freelance writing, which I think is great. You know, I had to learn the ropes on my own and it's not something that is necessarily passed down in an orderly fashion.

Elissa Garay:

Right, yeah, easy to figure out, exactly so you know having some people who have been there done that kind of help crack the code for you is, you know, a really helpful tool. So I still think that's the case that you know there's a good market for that. I do still. Do you know guest speaking today for you know online classes about how to break into freelance writing? So yeah so I've been working on that master's for a while. It's the world's slowest master's degree. Master's for a while.

Angela Tuell:

It's the world's slowest master's degree.

Elissa Garay:

When will you have it Next year? So I'm almost there 2025. So, yeah, I'm excited, I've almost made it. You know, I didn't want to overwhelm myself. I am still working. I do have a young child, so luckily, this program is very much crafted towards working professionals who are coming back mid-career. But, yeah, it's really been great. It's really allowed me to understand the science of sustainability and the depth of the crisis and try to learn how to apply that to the tourism industry.

Angela Tuell:

Yeah, I love your articles. Focus on those because they are. It's so informative and a lot of information that we don't know and as things are changing, and just to stay on top of that, because I know a lot of us want to be sustainable travelers and do more good than harm, you know, as we travel. Absolutely.

Elissa Garay:

Yes, yes.

Angela Tuell:

And so your focus on sustainable tourism and sustainability. You know that looks different for everyone too. How do you describe it?

Elissa Garay:

Yeah, Well, I mean, sustainability is this big buzzword that most people can't readily define, right? I think it's interpreted by you know who. It comes through a lot of different filters. It goes through a lot of different industries. It could look like a lot of different filters. It goes through a lot of different industries. It could look like a lot of different things to different people, which is confusing, I admittedly.

Elissa Garay:

But if you want to look at a, like, basic, sweeping definition that is broadly embraced, you know, back in 1987, the United Nations had this, they called it the Bruntland Commission and they defined sustainability as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. And I, yeah, I really like that one. You know, it kind of reminds me of that Native American proverb that we don't inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. And you know, specific to tourism, I think you know that that's true. We want our kids, we want our grandkids, we want them to be able to travel and see the same places that we've enjoyed and really just to have a healthy planet to live on, period. I think there's been a lot of borrowing from future generations to enrich ourselves in the here and now with a lot of short-term thinking.

Elissa Garay:

So, yeah, I mean, for me, when it comes to sustainability and tourism, that means that we really want to minimize the negative impacts of tourism and maximize the positive ones, and that's not just environmental, you know. That also goes to economic and social dimensions. Yeah, so you know what are some of those positives. I mean, obviously, the economic benefits are a real thing. You know, tourism is a huge, huge industry. It's 10% of the global GDP, one out of 10 jobs. So you know, that's that's not a small slice of the pie here. Other positives is you know that it allows for this interconnectedness between cultures. Right, it stops with this othering. I mean, I was so lucky, you know, to be in my 20s and early 30s in a world where there wasn't really too much prohibiting us from traveling between borders.

Angela Tuell:

You know I was going to Israel.

Elissa Garay:

I was going to Russia. You know, and I feel you know, that being able to form connections with different cultures and seeing them as being, you know that being able to form connections with different cultures and seeing them as being, you know people with the same feelings and wants, just like you, I mean it really does help to create a sort of international community. That's important, especially now as we're starting to see some of that fading away, unfortunately once again. Yeah, and travel also. You know, when it's done right, it offers a lot of preservation opportunities. You know, like in the Amazon, for instance. Tourism I just got back from, you know, peru, as you know, this summer and tourism done well in the Amazon really is one of the best things that you can do, because you're creating an industry there that requires you to protect that nature, you know, because that's the product, that's the commodity, that's what the tourists are coming to see. So it does have a lot of positives.

Elissa Garay:

But it also has negatives and you know we have to look at those too. You know there's over tourism, there's a lot of exploitation. You know, a lot of times, people here in the US they want to go to these nice all inclusive Caribbean resorts, you know, not realizing that not a dollar of their money is going to actually make it to the local people. Because are you know, western owned uh uh hotel brands that are sending over you know, uh, western management and they're kind of they call it tourism leakage. You know they're basically all the money that's made is going right off the island. So I don't know that people are always aware of that. Is there a good resource for that? Yes, so traveling more sustainably, I mean, I don't think that there's going to be some silver bullet technological solution and for the interim, that really means that we need to take more accountability and change our own behaviors. And for me, you know, the single most important thing is to consider that travel, at its core, requires a lot of movement, and movement right now. You know plane travel has a hefty carbon footprint and you know the carbon emissions crisis is is huge right now. So people don't necessarily like to hear it, but one of the biggest pieces of advice that I can offer right now is to fly less. You know I was. I have huge Corbin Cormac debt. You know I am so guilty. You know I didn't do it before. I knew really how, you know, bad things were. But I do think we kind of have to shift away from, you know, this idea of just so cheap flights. Let's just go for a weekend here, a weekend there. You know this idea of just so cheap flights. Let's just go for a weekend here, a weekend there. You know I definitely was guilty for a while getting on a plane easily seven, eight times a year. You know, without batting an eyelash about it, I want to do better now. So you know, I think I think we can still travel, but just travel better. You know, like, maybe, instead of five little trips, maybe you're going to have one or two longer, you know, slow travel type of trips a year where you go, you stay a little bit longer and then you're only, you know, on two flights instead of five. So it does cut back.

Elissa Garay:

And of course, you know the other thing that you can do is consider destinations that don't require flying, because flying is the most carbon intensive way of traveling. So you know, I mean I live in New York so I have a lot of great options near me, and I just went down to DC, I went up to Toronto. I'm thinking now of, you know, taking a road trip down to North Carolina, you know, with everything that's gone on there and doing a piece on how they're recovering. So you know, definitely there's treasure everywhere, don't overlook. You know, traveling in your own backyard there's, there's lots of good things to find that don't necessarily involve getting on a flight.

Elissa Garay:

And then another thing that you can do is just try to look out for accommodations and package providers that are doing the right thing. It is really hard for us as individuals to do all of this research independently, but luckily there are some brands out there that really have made this a core tenant of their. You know their marketing brands. For instance, you know I was just in Peru and I traveled with Intrepid Travel. They are an Australian tour operator who really has embraced this of having sustainability at its core. They work with hotel brands that are locally based, that are run by local people. They try to get you to some of the more off the path destinations, so not everybody's running to the same places. So you know not everybody's running to the same places.

Elissa Garay:

So you know, trusting your money with a hotel or package, know if you are traveling at a hotel and you're seeing really bad environmental practices, you should just document it. You know, tell them you don't want to see those single use plastic straws. But the same goes for good behaviors too. You know when you do things, see things done right, to just let them know that that that they support it. Because I mean, basically when you go on a vacation, you can kind of think of your vacation as a vote. You know the way you spend your money. You're voting with your dollars. You're voting for the businesses that are doing the right thing.

Elissa Garay:

So yeah, I mean that's my big takeaway. And unfortunately, you know, just given the times, hopefully newer technologies are coming. You know they've made some progress. Technologies are coming, you know they're. They've made some progress with electric planes, they're looking into hydrogen planes. But the fact of the matter is we're just not there yet. You could be the biggest environmentalist throughout the year, but the second you get on one of those long distance flights, especially one that requires layover, I mean you're just blowing your carbon footprint.

Angela Tuell:

Oh, that's, so sad.

Elissa Garay:

Yeah, I mean we have to adapt to the times. You know we all have to have to do our part, and it's something we just kind of have to own up to and talk to friends and family about. And, you know, just try to reduce some of our own impact.

Angela Tuell:

Yeah, so what are some of our own impact? Yeah, so what are some of your favorite recent stories? Well, we mentioned Peru.

Elissa Garay:

So yes, I did just go to a site, so I was. You know, every time I go to a destination, I'm kind of looking for stories outside of under the sustainability umbrella. So everyone goes to Machu Picchu, obviously that's you know the big archaeological site there. It's a huge draw. But my husband, years ago, had read about this site called Corral in Peru, which I mean. Compared to Machu Picchu, they get just a fraction of the visitation there.

Angela Tuell:

Yes, yes.

Elissa Garay:

Yeah, but it's really, you know, not that inaccessible. You could go there on a long day trip from Lima and it's pretty, it's a fascinating place. You know. It's this 5000 year old city that has completely redefined science and archaeologists understanding of you know how civilization came up, because essentially this it was another pyramid city and this city had come up basically in tandem with Egypt. So really a fascinating place to stand and they've done some good excavations there, you know. I mean, if you're, if you're into antiquity, it is really it was just a really good place to go. I mean, there's so few people who make it there outside of Peru and you know it was just an eye opening destination. So I did enjoy working on that one and also just encouraging people to kind of get off the beaten path a little bit and see something different and, you know, maybe bring some of those tourism dollars to places in other parts of the country. Yes, and another fun story I worked on over the summer I got to test out one of North America's first electric camper vans.

Angela Tuell:

I saw that, yeah, yeah.

Elissa Garay:

So that was cool. That was up in Quebec and this company has retrofitted some of its vans to work on electricity and I got to take it out for five days and see what that would be like. I did a feature on that for afar, so that was really cool. I mean, I was very impressed because it was a sort of a country it's sort of the countryside of Montreal and Quebec City where they're based but they are very advanced in terms of EV technology. I mean, you could basically go to a little tiny winery or farm or museum, you know, and they would have EV hookups.

Elissa Garay:

So you know, even though it's just across the border from New York, they are really, you know, decades ahead of where we are with the infrastructure for that. Yeah, so that was a good story. Oh, and the Corral story was in travel and leisure. This one was in afar.

Angela Tuell:

Yeah, yes, yes. So we will definitely share those links in our show notes, and I do have to ask. Many of our listeners are PR professionals. So any advice for us or pet peeves when working with you.

Elissa Garay:

Yeah, luckily I have, you know, pretty good relationships with my PR contacts. So you know, I think we really have to, you know, work together for the best results. I mean, if I had to pick some pet peeves, I would say one is you know, sometimes I have to do fact checking for my stories and you know the editor wants to. Basically, when you get to that point there, they wanted it published, the story published yesterday. You know, sometimes there's a real lapse in response times and it could kind of get like caught up in this like bureaucratic process of having to check in with the clients and you know all of this so that that would be a pet peeve when I ask, you know, like a simple question, and it ends up having to go through this like weeks long process, you know, which isn't always their fault.

Elissa Garay:

Sometimes you know the clients don't get back to them or whatever, but I'd say that's a pet peeve. And then another one I would just say is you know, really untargeted pitches. You know something that I would never write about I love when you know. Now, for the last four years I've been covering sustainability. I really enjoy it when somebody writes to me and says I know you're working on sustainability stories here's something under that umbrella, yeah. And then sometimes with the pitches or, you know, the news releases, some PR reps can get a little overzealous, you know, following up two or three times which you know it's obvious. If we didn't get, if the writer doesn't get back to you, they just don't have anything for it.

Elissa Garay:

So yeah the third email is not going to change that.

Angela Tuell:

That's good advice to point out. Yes, something else I wanted to ask is what keeps you up at night as a writer, and I could imagine it's a lot to do with sustainability possibly. Yeah, yeah.

Elissa Garay:

I mean that's obviously a big looming concern At the moment as a woman in my mid-40s, going through, I guess, perimenopause. I get up at like three o'clock in the morning to use the bathroom and then all of a sudden I'm writing stories in my head I don't know. Hopefully this phase is going to end because, yeah, it's kind of exhausting. I used to only sleep through the night in the last few years. This is a new thing.

Angela Tuell:

I have experienced that as well. I think we're in the same life, yeah yeah.

Elissa Garay:

So, yeah, the 3am story notes have got to go. But, seriously, this last week, as a journalist, I have really been worried about the free press. You know, again, I'm not a hard hitting journalist. I, you know, work mostly in lifestyle travel. You know I'm not covering politics generally, but I did just sign myself up for a constitution and media class, which is something I never thought I would need to do in 2024 in the US. You know, you kind of just figured those things are given. But, yes, I'm worried about freedom in the press, the press being targeted. There's been a lot of animosity expressed on the political stage towards stories that are not necessarily considered to be positive. So, yeah, I mean, journalists are going to have a big job ahead of them and you know, I definitely think they need to be supported. You know, get those subscriptions paid for. Subscriptions paid for, yeah, yeah, and hopefully, hopefully that's not eroded because you know, having a free press is really a pillar of democracy.

Angela Tuell:

So, yes, I definitely share that, share that worry. I graduated from the University of Maryland Journalism School and their SPJ group about I guess it would have been eight years ago created shirts that said not the enemy.

Elissa Garay:

Right.

Angela Tuell:

And had the drizzle on the back and they're thinking about, you know, bringing those back out, because it's something they're really hoping. They don't have to fight, but you know, might have to fight going forward.

Elissa Garay:

So might have to fight going forward. So, yeah, scary, scary concepts not something that should really be part of the concerns Because, like as a sustainability writer, you know we're really wanting to worry about how do we get ourselves out of this environmental crisis. You know, not looking backwards at protections that were granted to us, you know, 250 years ago, so it seems like a lot of wasted energy, but, yeah, you have to adapt to the reality of the time.

Angela Tuell:

So that that is something that's keeping me up at night, right now You'll have a lot of sustainability work I'm sure to write about.

Elissa Garay:

Yes, yes, hopefully some good news. Yes, yes.

Angela Tuell:

So, to end on a positive note, what is something that many people don't know about you, that you could share?

Elissa Garay:

Well, I worship cats there. I'm a crazy cat lady. I do have a child, though, so I'm not a childless crazy cat lady. Yes, I have been known to spend ridiculous amounts of my travels hanging out with the local cats, instead of you know seeing the world, wonders that are often you know, in the shadows behind them.

Elissa Garay:

Yeah, they're just so cool. I don't know, there's just something about them. They just have a mystique and they're just so confident. I just I wish I had a half of the confidence of some of these cats have you know, that is so true, yes. Yeah, so there my secret's out.

Angela Tuell:

I love it. How can our listeners connect with you online too?

Elissa Garay:

Well, they can reach me on LinkedIn and I am on X and I do have a professional page on Facebook as well.

Angela Tuell:

Great, we will link to those in our show notes and thank you so much.

Elissa Garay:

Thanks so much for having me, Angela. It was really nice chatting with you.

Angela Tuell:

That's all for this episode of Media in Minutes, a podcast by Communications Redefined. Please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to our show. We'd love to hear what you think you can find more at communicationsredefinedcom slash podcast. I'm your An gela Tuell. Talk to you next time.