About Jim

I cofounded and coedit the online travel and global culture magazine World Hum, which Michael Yessis and I started in 2001 to publish great writing and bring travel storytelling into the digital age. World Hum harnesses the full power of the internet by publishing videos, audio stories, essays and dynamic audio slideshows from the world’s leading travel writers and thinkers, and by fostering impassioned conversation both on the site and via social media such as Twitter. Acquired by Travel Channel in 2007, World Hum has won the gold Lowell Thomas Award from the Society of American Travel Writers for best internet travel site, and stories from World Hum frequently appear in Houghton Mifflin’s Best American Travel Writing anthology.

Partnering with Travel Channel Academy, I’ve also helped to develop and launch World Hum classes on Travel Writing in the Digital Age, which cover narrative writing, blogging, audio slideshow production and social media. The workshops draw on my nearly two decades of experiences as a professional writer and editor, as well as years of experience teaching travel writing at UCLA, UCSD and nonprofit writing organizations.

I began my journalism career as a reporter at the Los Angeles Times. I went on to contribute to National Geographic Adventure, Men’s Journal, Outside, The Washington Post and the Boston Globe before going to work full-time for Travel Channel. My travel writing has appeared in Travelers’ Tales Best Travel Writing 2007 and other anthologies.

I speak often about internet publishing, blogging, social media and digital storytelling — as well as my own experience transitioning from traditional print journalism to online publishing — at conferences such as Blog World Expo, the National Writers Workshop and the Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference.