Gadling

Hey folks, here it is, our next gadling podcast, featuring an interview with Lonely Planet's Don George.  If you are a traveler and/or pay much attention to the world of travel writing, then Don George's name will probably be familiar. For years, George worked as the travel editor at the San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle, and then founded and edited Salon.com's kick ass travel site Wanderlust.

So the first thing you're going to notice is what a cool guy George is…affable as heck and a great sense of humor; the kind of guy that would be great to run into while traveling. The next thing you'll notice is how knowledgeable George is about travel writing. This is a guy you can learn from.

In the interview, we talk about George's career, how he rose from inexperienced scribe to successful travel writer; the rise and demise of Wanderlust; how YOU can be a better writer; and all about Lonely Planet.

George is currently the Global Travel Editor at Lonely Planet, an apt 21st century title which really means he gets to take on lots of amazingly cool projects. Like what, you ask? Well, like this new book called Travel Writing, and a regular column at Lonely Planet.com called What Would Don George Do?  We talk about the book in the interview, but the quick and dirty is that George, who has been in the travel writing biz for a quarter century, has condensed all these years of experience into this wonderful little volume of advice, interviews, examples and technique. The point is, if you are at all serious about travel writing as either an occupation or a literary art form, get this book.

So enough chatter…enjoy the podcast.

Host: Erik Olsen.
Format: 35 minutes

Jump to:
02:14 - First big break
5:10 - Advice for aspiring travel writers
7:57 -  Working at Lonely Planet
10:33 - his new book: Travel Writing
15:00 - Founding Wanderlust
19:05 - Favorite travel writers
21:51 - Writers from the past
23:40 - "Lonely Planet Effect"
28:59 - Keeping Lonely Planet ahead of the game
31:50 - What's next for Don George

(Technical note: this interview was recorded using Skype directly onto my laptop using a Plantronics headset, so there are infrequent drops you may notice…not many but a few.)

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