I’m looking forward to a couple of other travel writing events this summer. I’ll be a guest speaker at a one-day travel writing seminar led by Orange County Register Travel Editor Gary Warner at UCLA Extension July 23.

And Aug. 11-14, I’ll be back on the faculty at the excellent Travel & Food Writing & Photography Conference at Book Passage in Corte Madera, California, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. I’ll be co-teaching an online travel writing and blogging track with Pam Mandel. The conference is evolving in the digital age, but at its heart is a celebration of storytelling. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more knowledgeable, passionate and nurturing group of teachers. They include conference co-chair Don George; Outside magazine founding editor Tim Cahill; “An Irreverent Curiosity” author David Farley; San Francisco Chronicle Travel Editor Spud Hilton; Afar magazine Executive Editor Julia Cosgrove; Los Angeles Times Travel Editor Catherine Hamm; Travelers’ Tales co-founder Larry Habegge; and many others.

Photo: Andrew Evans

I’m delighted that the story I wrote about that lunch, “Tijuana Terroir,” is featured in the new Lonely Planet collection, A Moveable Feast: Life Changing Food Adventures Around the World. I didn’t visit Carnitas Uruapan because the carnitas are any better than those I could find in San Diego, I realized in writing the piece, but because there’s something about eating food and listening to music in the country that inspired them that you just can’t replicate elsewhere.

Edited by Don George, the book features stories from Anthony Bourdain, Simon Winchester, Rolf Potts, Elizabeth Eaves, Doug Mack and others. At Book Passage in Corte Madera Nov. 14, I’ll be joining friends and writers Don George, Larry Habegger and Amanda Jones to celebrate the book’s launch and read. Details here.

Then in August, I’ll be back on the faculty at the Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference in Corte Madera, just north of San Francisco. Among the faculty members: Tim Cahill, Rolf Potts, Don George, David Farley, Jeff Pflueger, Jen Leo, Carl Hoffman, Michael Shapiro, Bob Holmes, Linda Watanabe McFerrin, Catherine Hamm, Phil Cousineau, Andrea Johnson and Amanda Jones. The Book Passage conference is always one of the highlights of my year, and this year it’ll cover food writing, too.

Photo by tibchris via Flickr, (Creative Commons)

We’ve posted half a dozen 2010 weekend dates for our Travel Writing in the Digital Age classes, which cover travel writing, travel blogging, audio slideshow production and using social media. They all take place at Travel Channel headquarters in Washington, D.C. Find more details, registration information and student testimonials here.

We cover how to turn travel tales into compelling stories and essays suitable for publication; how to create and write an evocative travel blog (and keep it going after a trip); and how to produce a dynamic audio slideshow that combines photography and voice-over audio storytelling. We also address how to use social media to help establish oneself as a travel writer and find a voice in the vibrant digital travel writing community.

Enrollment is open now for classes in November and December at Travel Channel headquarters in Washington, D.C. Michael and I have both taught travel writing at UCLA Extension (and I’ve taught it in several other locales), and we’ll be leading the courses. We’ll be adding more dates and locations in 2010. Registration and additional information can be found here. (Updated, April 25, 2010.)

In August, I’ll be returning to the annual Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference in Corte Madera, just north of San Francisco, to teach a three-day class on travel writing and the internet. Organized by Don George of Lonely Planet and Salon fame, the conference draws a great mix of students from around the country, and the faculty is the best you’ll find anywhere. Feel free to drop me an email with questions about either of these.

Photo of Sausalito marina by wili_hybrid via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

It’s got everything a newfangled travel website should have: big, splashy photos, great stories, like this piece by Anthony Bourdain, engaging voices like Tom Swick, and video, including this short piece about the redesign itself, and another about a recent reading we had in New York City.

We kicked off the new look with World Hum’s Top 40 Travel Songs of All Time. Dozens of World Hum contributors voted. One of my all-time favorites is number 10 on the list.

Now the real fun begins: filling out the new site with more great travel stories, videos and images.