Emily Pennington is Outside’s parks and travel columnist. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Condé Nast Traveler, Lonely Planet, Adventure Journal, REI, Passport Magazine, and Backpacker, to name a few. She’s visited nearly every national park in the U.S., and her new book Feral: Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America’s National Parks debuted in February of 2023.
How did you get started traveling?
Well, I was put on my first flight at only three weeks old, because my mother is from Sweden, and she really wanted to go home and show her whole family the new baby. So, in a way, you could say that I’ve quite literally been traveling my whole life. I was born with dual citizenship and had the immense privilege of gallivanting off to Europe with my mom, whenever money and school would allow.
How did you get started writing?
This is going to sound bizarrely esoteric, but writing was never something I sat down to practice as a kid. Poetry was something that poured out of me at a young age when I felt extreme emotions, as if exploding out of another dimension entirely. I had no idea until my late twenties that this wasn’t how everyone else experienced language, and it was around that time that I decided to set a proper two to three days a week writing schedule and get some proper essays in the bag.
What do you consider your first “break” as a writer?
Oh man, there were so many “breaks,” but the two I remember most were when Backpacker Magazine bought my first big print piece about Hamilton Lake (perhaps my favorite backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevada), and then again when Outside accepted my pitch about John and Alyson Kirk smashing pretty much every peakbagging record in the country. Writing for Outside Magazine on a regular basis was my ultimate goal at the time, and I still have to pinch myself to believe that it’s a reality.
As a traveler and fact/story gatherer, what is your biggest challenge on the road?
One of the most challenging things about the current travel writing industry is that the magazine and marketing dollars are completely flip-flopped, as opposed to how they were in the nineties. Many of the places I write about I have no budget to visit on my own, so what ends up happening is that lodging establishments and spas and restaurants host journalists, in hopes that they’ll write a positive piece. The trouble is that it’s very difficult to have an authentic experience of a place with this dynamic, so one has to keep an extra-keen eye out on media trips.
What is your biggest challenge in the research and writing process?
Never feeling like I have enough time to do justice to the truly incredible places I get to visit and write about for a living! I wish we were all making $2 a word, like in the supposed good old days, but today’s rates dictate that you have to be quick and detail-oriented. I always joke that if I won the lottery, I would still keep doing what I do, because it truly is a dream job, but I’d slow the f*ck down and savor every last ounce of a place before writing a narrative piece in my own, authentic voice.
What is your biggest challenge from a business standpoint?
Pitching! For some reason, I have no problem sitting down to write a 2,500-word feature and all of the lush, descriptive prose that goes along with it, but sitting down at my desk to pitch new content like some sort of digital used car salesman always feels like a chore. That being said, when my brain finally nags me enough to send out pitches, I, thankfully, have a pretty good acceptance rate.
Have you ever done other work to make ends meet?
I was very lucky in that I saved up a decent nest egg before leaving my day job as an executive assistant, so once I started travel writing and journalism full-time, I never looked back. I do, however, occasionally take on more product-focused content when I want a mental break or some extra spending money.
What travel authors or books might you recommend and/or have influenced you?
As someone who just wrote a memoir about visiting every national park, I’d have to say that Cheryl Strayed and Elizabeth Gilbert are massive influences on my work, but those are just the two juggernauts. Mary Oliver’s poetry has had a profound influence, as have books by Carrot Quinn, Kate Harris, and fellow Outside columnist Blair Braverman.
What advice and/or warnings would you give to someone who is considering going into travel writing?
Don’t expect it to be a 24/7 vacation. In fact, it’s almost the opposite. To be a wide-eyed and effective travel writer, I believe that your mind always has to be switched on and curious, especially in your “down time” and during trips. I’m pretty much always the person asking my guide the most questions and snapping random photographs at sunrise when everyone else is still asleep on tours. Get ready to work harder than you’ve ever worked before, but also to (hopefully) love what you do more than ever.
What is the biggest reward of life as a travel writer?
The sheer joy and privilege of getting to expand readers’ literal and mental horizons. There is so much magic in the new and the unknown, and my favorite part of being a travel writer is getting to instill some of that wonder in other people by encouraging them to venture outside of their comfort zones and experience a totally different culture or landscape. In this way, travel is a great equalizer and bonding agent. It keeps the mind young and open.
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