Interviews With Professionals! - Katherine Parker-Magyar - Famous and Adventurous Travel Writer!

Katherine Parker-Magyar is a famous travel writer who has written for Business Insider, The Daily Beast, The Week, Trip Savvy, and many other popular publications! With over 35,000 followers on Twitter, I think we can all agree that people are hungry for her writing! We have a special treat for you all here today on Interviews With Professionals! I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Katherine on Twitter, and as an author of fictional treasure hunting novels myself (The Tesoro Series), I quickly found that Katherine is truly the adventurous protagonist of her own...incredible...story...

If you love adventure, you need to follow her on social media and subscribe to her website right now (details below)!

Thank you, Katherine, for joining us! It’s quite the honor. And THANK YOU for sharing all of the incredible travel photos located at the bottom of this post. You’re truly living the dream!

Hope you all have a safe, healthy, happy, and, most importantly, BLESSED week!

So without further ado, let’s begin the interview!

According to your website, you write a variety of pieces including (but certainly not limited to) Travel, Essays, Lifestyle, and Culture. Which type of work do you feel the most passionate about and why?

I love writing about so many different topics, and I have such a wide range of interests, that it’s hard to choose. But I’d say that Travel is my favorite topic to write about, because you can write about so many different things under the umbrella of travel—relationships, spirituality, culture, politics, nature, and more. And, let’s be honest, the research that goes into a travel story (aka the trip itself) is part of what makes travel writing so enjoyable. There are worse career responsibilities than flying to Nepal for two weeks.

You are a WORLD TRAVELER. Just reading your website made me feel like I was reading an enticing novel about an adventurous main character. What are your top three favorite destinations at the moment?

My three favorite destinations are: Kenya, Nepal, and Peru. Kenya is just a must-visit for people looking to explore Sub-Saharan Africa—I recommend traveling to Nairobi, Nanyuki (where Mount Kenya is located) and then the Masai Mara. Nepal is a once-in-a-lifetime destination (though, after visiting once, you will likely be so hooked, you will come back again and again for years). From the Himalayas, and Mount Everest, the jungles of the southern regions of the country, there’s so much geographic diversity in such a relatively small nation. Book a safari with Tiger Tops, and a trek with Mountain Travel Nepal. Finally, Peru is gorgeous, and there’s no better way to explore the Central Andes—from Machu Picchu to Rainbow Mountain—than through the REI Ausangate Trek. The guides are lovely, and you will get to experience the vibrant Andean culture firsthand when you stay in Andean lodges with your local hosts.

If your life was a fiction novel, who would your supporting characters be?

I love this question, because I do often think of my life as a novel (I am a writer, after all). My main cast of supporting characters would be my family (siblings, parents) and friends (from high school, college, New York, etc.). But then, what would really make my novel stand out from all the rest, and give it spice, would be the large cast of supporting characters I met on my travels, who I continue to keep in touch with to this day. From truffle hunters in Tuscany to Sahara guides in Morocco, Caribbean sailors in Grenada to nature guides in the Amazon Rainforest, I’ve been able to meet some fascinating, wonderful people in my lifetime, and they would definitely be the highlight of my life story (both fiction and nonfiction, at this point).

Is there a place you haven't visited yet that you would really like to see? If so, where would that be and why?

I am absolutely dying to visit Antarctica. I was meant to sail to Antarctica in the fall of 2019, but then had to reschedule due to timing, and now there’s a plague! So, I’m wondering when I will get the chance ever again! But, the second I do have the opportunity, it’s top of my list. (P.S. It’s cheating to fly to Antarctica, you must brave the Drake Passage. The journey is half the fun, after all).

Are there any upcoming projects that you'd like to share with the audience?

I’m always writing and researching new stories, and, since I’m spending this winter and spring out in Jackson, Wyoming, many of my articles will be based in the American West. Readers can subscribe to my newsletter, Keeping up with KPM, to stay up to date on my latest work. (I promise it’s nearly as amusing as keeping up with the Kardashians, though tragically sans Scott Disick).

From anytime in your career, what written piece are you the proudest of and why?

My favorite piece so far has to be my story on visiting Kenya for the first time. Kenya is my absolute favorite place that I’ve ever visited, and I feel like I was able to successfully capture its magic— The Pride of Africa: Why Now Is The Time to “Come Home” to Kenya. Another story would have to be an article I wrote for The Week about downloading a budgeting app, which may not sound very amusing, but I promise you’ll be entertained: I Skeptically Downloaded a Budgeting App, the Results Were Amazing.