Introducing the Urban Travel Bloggers
If you’re fed up of reading about the tired itineraries and cliche-ridden exploits of destination newbies masquerading as travel journalists, then you’ll find the authentic approach and insight of the Urban Travel Bloggers as refreshing as a nice cold beer by the Spreeside. We live, love and occasionally loathe our metropolitan muses, and our intimate relationship with them means you’ll never find us churning out the standard guidebook fare, whether we are penning a flagship city guide or a riveting regular feature.
Our writers have been carefully selected for their specialist interests and knowledge, their ability to mix it up with the locals, their drive in getting the real stories behind the destination and, of course, their ability to dress up their digressions in prose so smooth its like silk pyjamas for your cerebrum.
The Urban Travel Blog’s team of writers and photographers are a mix of published authors, successful journalists, professional shutterbugs, respected bloggers, up-and-coming talents and several office-job dreamers (who like to swap story-telling for spreadsheets whenever they can). You can read more about all of them, and the Editor, below:
BLOGGER-IN-CHIEF
The founder and editor of Urban Travel Blog, Duncan was born in London, but after graduating from university some time in the last millennium has enjoyed a peripatetic lifestyle, recently swapping swigging vodka to keep warm in Poland for sipping cervezas to keep cool in Spain. In a travel writing career that has now spanned a decade he has enjoyed plenty of memorable adventures, from dining with Ferran Adria at his legendary 3 Michelin star restaurant El Bulli on the Costa Brava to delving into a poetry brothel for an eye-opening night of vice and verses. These days he is focused on making Urban Travel Blog the best resource on the web for those looking to take a city break, and he's been lucky enough to find some very talented people (below) to help him in his goal. For more on Duncan click here. Whilst to discover more about some of the better looking Urban Travel Bloggers simply keep reading....
SENIOR BLOGGERS
Playwright, children's author and travel journalist, Richard is based in Amsterdam, but regularly embarks around the world on new adventures - often on two wheels. Naturally he's also our go-to expert on his native Australia. Find out more about Richard here
Top trend-spotter and ardent traveller, London-based Sasha Arms has covered everything from prisons to piranhas in her varied journalistic career so far, which has included a stint as a reporter in Honduras. Read more about Sasha here.
Krakow resident, thinker and drinker, Stuart has spent the last 9 years exploring Eastern Europe and beyond, blogging about his travels, penning articles for local media and more recently contributing to the world-famous Rough Guide series of travel tomes. You can read more about Stuart here.
Bon vivant and amateur trumpet player, Ben likes to see as much of the world as possible, when he’s not busy saving it from behind his desk in London. More on Ben here.
Born and raised in California, Vince is a screenwriter with a love of both foreign travel, and his home town of Los Angeles. Vince is our eye on the West Coast and you can read more about him here.
American-born Marissa is an independent journalist living and working in Athens. As well as impressive freelance writing credits, she has her own travel blog on Greece, and is working on her second novel. Check out some of the insights she has shared with our readers on Greece, along with her adventures in other great European destinations, via her profile.
James Pengelley, aka "The Hairy Chef", is a baker, teacher, swimmer, filmmaker and travel writer, who hails from Western Australia. After serving as our Colombia correspondent, James has upped sticks and moved to Hong Kong. Check out his stories here.
One-time Chicago theatre actress, Constance A. Dunn's peripatetic life in Europe has enabled her to pen expert guides to a wide variety of cities, including her current home of Belgrade. Who knows where she will settle next, but one thing's for sure... you'll be able to read about it on Urban Travel Blog. More on Constance.
A productive member of society by day, Michael moonlights as a gambler, ball-room dancer, keen biker and, occasionally, travel writer. You can read more about Michael here.
One of our most prolific photographers, Chris also pens features from his travels, often revolving around his love of food and drink. Hailing from the US, he also gives readers his American perspective on London here and on his own blog. More on Chris.
BLOGGERS
Another US-born photographer/scribe, Craig is our Berlin correspondent. Drawn to the German capital by its Bohemian vibe, he is currently lamenting the city's gentrification whilst dashing out sardonic posts for Urban Travel Blog. Check out Craig's contributions here
Born in Canada, Marsha Moore has become an expert on her adopted city of London. Her recently published book 24 hours: London is the smart tourist’s tome of choice for exploring the city that really never sleeps… and now Paris is beckoning! You can read more about Marsha here.
Krakow-dweller and all-round East Europe guru, Thymn Chase has spent the last five years exploring the vodka-belt of the continent and has plenty of tales to tell from his travels. Once we’ve finished editing out the X-rated material we’ll publish them right here on Urban Travel Blog… read more about Thymn here.
Music, biking and travel aficionado James Ashford is also a keen writer, and occasionally takes time out to pen articles when he’s not busy earning real money in an office somewhere in London. You can read more James here.
Polish-born Pola has lived in USA since 2002 and is our local expert on Chicago. As well as balancing a 9-5 job, she is also the brains behind the popular Jetting Around blog. More on Pola here.
Blogger, Twitterer, journalist, Qype community manager and aspiring novelist, it’s small wonder that Rachelle has had to develop a coffee addiction to support her status as a hyperactive media junkie. A serial ex-pat, who has lived in five cities on three continents, Rachelle is currently based in London. You can read more about Rachelle here.
Englishman, Polak and mean-ass ping pong player, Robert Szmigielski has called New York, Copenhagen, Krakow and Warsaw his home over the last few years… but now resides in London once more. A keen sports and current affairs journalist, we’re pleased to have him also report for UTB. You can read more about Robert here.
With mixed Italian and Argentinean parentage and a childhood spent in Brazil, it’s little wonder that Susana developed an insatiable wanderlust from an early age. Currently based in the Big Smoke, she is also an expert on the Eternal City. You can read more about Susana here.
A freelance writer and hard-working student of journalism, Hannah currently resides in Cardiff, after upping sticks from Edinburgh. Her frequent visits to Prague make her an expert on Czech culture and tourism. Read more on Hannah here.
A full-time travel correspondent with Sta travelbuzz, Sam is an expert on adventures from around the globe, even if he has to live them vicariously through his readers all too often. However recent trips to the US, East Europe and Edinburgh have kept him busy on the road as well as at the desk. More on Sam here
With stints in France, Spain, Germany and Mexico under her belt, Emma Weinbren has got plenty of experience of the life abroad. Wherever she has called home she has taken her love of discovery with her, and her travel articles have appeared in various local and national media. Read Emma’s full profile here.
Since landing her first job as a performer on a Caribbean cruise ship, Natalie has been fortunate enough to combine her twin passions of being on stage and travelling the world. Her third passion is writing and after penning a guide to New York City we hope to be hearing more from her! Read Natalie’s profile.
One-time Krakow tour guide, former resident of Valencia and currently making the move to Sydney, Anna launches herself into the cultures of the cities she inhabits with abandon… and you can read the results right here on UTB. More on Anna here.
Incessant traveller, and very occasional writer, Sameer funds his abundant trips away from London with his in-depth knowledge of derivatives and market performances. For something more interesting check out his articles via his profile page.
Originally from Los Angeles and currently living in Vienna, Britta’s love of her expat life has inspired her to start her own blog and novel, and in her fledgling writing career she’s already been published in the Los Angeles Times travel section. You can read more about Britta here.
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Complementing the talents of our
travel writers, Urban Travel Blog’s team of contributing travel photographers chronicle the city experience in arresting images courtesy of their perceptive lenses.
In order to showcase their talents UTB now publish regular
Photo Stories, whilst many of the photographers below have also lent their images towards enhancing our
city guides and
feature articles.
Venezuelan photographer Francisco Goncalves gave up working in TV and advertising in Caracas to concentrate on his career as photojournalist. Currently based in Barcelona his photos have appeared in newspapers around the world... as well as on Urban Travel Blog. Check his stories here.
A photographic partnership based in Luxembourg, Keven and Krystyna use photography as an art form, a commercial enterprise and as a journalist tool on their travels. For UTB they have covered Krakow, Sofia, Chiang Mai and of course Luxembourg, and you can find out more about them (with links to all their stories) here.
An editor and journalist by trade, and avid traveller, Anna also knows her way around a camera often shooting the pics for her own scoops for local and international media. You can read more about Anna here.
A Polish-born London resident with a strong imagination, Magda is an active new media junkie as well as an avid shutterbug. Read more about Magda here.
Epicurean and engineer, Monika Chodakowska has called Poland, Italy, Denmark and the UK home during her many travels. She has recently picked up photography with stunning effects. Here’s more on Monika.
Originally an actor by trade, Spanish photographer Pablo Bermejo recently headed north from his native Murcia to Barcelona to pursue his photographic career. As well as building his own portfolio, Pablo is a founding member of the Street Project BCN team. Full profile here.
MORE CONTRIBUTORS ...
