I’m Kristin Luna, travel writer by profession and Southerner by choice. Here’s what I look like on an average day:
I’ve been working as a journalist for 14 years, covering an array of travel and feature topics for a smattering of national, international, and regional newspapers and magazines. On the side—and to satiate my pop culture craving—I’ve also served as a red carpet minion correspondent for a handful of entertainment magazines since the early days of my career. Thus, the content on this site isn’t strictly travel-related. I mean, I know you all like to hear the fluffy stuff, too, like how I interviewed Ben Affleck and left thinking he was a terrorist, or that Clive Owen is every bit as pretty in person. I’ve interviewed thousands of celebrities, literally—from funny guys Tom Hanks, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart to glamor gals like Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett and Julia Roberts—but if you ask me on the spot who my favorites are, I clam up and can’t think of a one (though if I ever get the chance to interview Taylor Swift, I can retire then and there). Here’s a bit of a celebrity tell-all if you’re really curious to hear the full scoop.
At the end of 2011, I returned from a round-the-world voyage by ship, which was hands down the coolest experience I’d ever had. Best of all, I was paid to do so. How? By being hired as the assistant field office coordinator for Semester at Sea, a study abroad program sponsored by the University of Virginia. I’m hoping to get the opportunity to do more voyages in the future, as it’s such a cool concept and attracts some of the brightest, most open-minded individuals I’ve ever met.
I spent four years in San Francisco before relocating back to my roots and dragging my husband, SVV, along for the ride. No, I’m not one of those bloggers who prefers to preserve the anonymity of her spouse; rather, those are his initials and the way he is still entered in my phone. (His government name is Scott, lest you be insanely curious.) We met in Utrecht, Netherlands on Sept. 2, 2005, then lived together in Aarhus, Denmark, before parting a year later and returning to our respective corners of the United States. (He also lived in Sicily for three years while in the U.S. Navy; I also lived in Edinburgh for a stint.) In the end, I left my magazine job and moved 3,000 miles for him. I’d say things worked out: We were married on May 22, 2010 in a seaside inn and pub on the California coast.
Speaking of which… I spent a couple years living in Manhattan, in a shoebox of an apartment, with roommates. While there, I worked for several of the major publishing houses, including Newsweek, Conde Nast, Time Inc., Bauer and Wenner Media by day, and on the red carpet circuit by night. I learned crucial elements key to my survival, like that Richard Gere is the scum of the earth (true story) and restaurants dedicated solely to one food—macaroni, PBJ, grilled cheese, you name it—do exist. The only thing I really miss about having an office job in New York is the daily offering of Crumbs cupcakes. (My waistline is much trimmer as a result of my departure.) More info about my career can be found on my embarrassingly out-of-date professional site here.
I tend to take in the ballpark of 10 international assignments a year and spend around seven months out of every 12 on the road, including a number of jaunts around California for my guidebook work and trips back South to visit my family. Scotland was my first love, after I spent a semester there during undergrad. It’s still one of my favorite places on the planet, and I’d move back there in a heartbeat if, you know, the sun ever actually came out to say hi. I’ll try to share as much travel insight as I’ve garnered, so long as you try not to take me as pretentious as a result. Deal?
SVV and I added a new addition to our small family in 2010: a Maltese pup named Ella. She makes frequent appearances on this site, as she’s pretty darn cute, and even hijacks my blog to add her own two cents from time to time.
I have visited more than 80 countries for my job, as well as my endless need to see every corner of the world; however, I feel like such a failure every time I get an e-mail asking me where to go in Laos or where to get the best bang for your buck in Koh Samui (I plead the fifth to both of the aforementioned questions, seeing as I’ve been neither). Cut me some slack if you will; I’m still young and have nearly two-thirds of the world left to cover!
I played tennis in college and have readopted my fitness fanaticism. In August 2008, I ran my first marathon, in San Francisco, the most ridiculous place a rookie could ever pick to run 26.2 miles. I’ll be honest: It sucked. I do plan to do more, however, in the future when my travel schedule allows for such tedious training—and in much flatter locales—but in the meantime, I try to compete in halves as frequently as possible.
All the photos on this site are taken by SVV or me, unless otherwise noted. We have a bit of an obsession with photography and are forever trying to fine tune our skills. Here’s a rundown of the equipment we use. We’re still working on perfecting our jumping shots. (I think we’ve come pretty close.)
We’re also big scuba divers, so expect underwater coverage from around the globe.
What else…? Well, I really do like camels. And chocolate. A lot. Enough even to have a website named after them both. There’s more meaning to the name than that, but I won’t go there here and now. I would post that famous picture of me atop a dromedary that made it’s way all over the Southeast and beyond, but I was a) a bit chunkier then, b) not wearing any makeup, and c) hadn’t showered in days as I was camping in the Sahara at the time, so I’ll save you the horror. Here’s my shadow on that very camel instead:
If there’s something else you want to know, just ask or check out this Q&A my husband did with me, revealing my deepest, darkest secrets (like my beliefs in salt and leprechauns, my take on spiders and whether or not I’d ever consider wearing fur). My life is an open book. I mean, I wouldn’t have this blog otherwise, now would I?
Kristen, Please make your blog an rss feed, its so hard for me to read at work
love your adventures
Jack
Kirsten, as a travel writer, we’re curious what you think of our site. NileGuide (www.nileguide.com) is a San Francisco-based startup with a mission to be a one-stop-shop for custom trip planning. We combine personalized travel recommendations with seamlessly integrated planning and booking tools. Plus, we offer a free downloadable customized guidebook to take with you on your trip. Next time you’re on the road (or just looking for a restaurant, hike, or bar in San Francisco), check us out.
Hello Kirsten, Andy Graham of HoboTraveler.com here in Pucallpa, Peru. I am working on a project this year to find the best Travel Blogs of 2009. I was happy to find this about page, it is amazing how few travelers give even a clue to what the are doing, the Peace Corps are the best, all the others assume we have ready everything thing they have ever written.
60 Countries a lot, good luck in your endeavors and enjoy life, it is interesting to see all the pictures of you. Thanks from Andy of HoboTraveler.com Travel Blog
How is it possible that not one, but TWO people in a ROW have spelled your name wrong?? Attention to DETAIL people. You’ll look like an idiot otherwise.
hahaha – & they call themselves writers.
Great read. Now I know a little about you, Kristin! (I pay attention to detail!)
I love traveling and living vicariously through travel blogs. Yours is fast becoming my favorite.
I just discovered your website and I think you are a hilarious. I have my own travel blog, but I think mine pales compared to yours! I will be dropping by often to read your posts and drool over your lovely photos!
Congratulations on winning Best Travel Blog at the Bloggies today. You rock!
Hi Kristin! I was just wondering where the picture of you in the boat was taken.
Wow! You have like my dream job!!!! A – interviewing celebrities / entertainment journalist and B – traveling and blogging about your experiences! That’s so great. I’m glad I stumbled upon this blog :] Will be back to read about your experiences for sure.
Linda
hi kristin,
I never visited your weblog before, but i seems to be a great one! I was reading you met your friend in The Netherlands, that’s where I’m from! If you have any advises on my weblog i would appreciate them. Thanks!!!
arjen
Hi kristin,
im from singapore and am a travel writer myself (: but im doing it part-time while I was studying in the university. It was one of the best experiences and Im sure you can testify to that ! WHat camera do you use for your pictures? They’re pretty good quality…
Hey there,
Great site! Would you mind if we linked to you?
We have just launched a new hostel review site (http:/www.Review-Hostel.com), and think your site would be of interest to our visitors. We’ll put you under ‘Our Friends’ section if that’s ok with you.
Lets us know what you think, and also being a fellow travel site owner we’d love your feedback on our new site!
Cheers,
Review-Hostel.com
HI!! I just came across you on Tumblr, followed the link and WALA!! Here I am. Most of you “email me here” links require the use of Outlook…or something. mine is broken. I would like to inquire about advertising. Can you email me?
Thanks!!
wow dis is wack
Hi Kristin,
Finally, I have found a blog really worth reading. I giggled at your comment on Edward Norton. I work for the airlines, and recently, he was on my LAX to JFK flight (for the second time). With his holier-than-thou attitude, I would donate the cost of a movie ticket to a good cause before wasting it on seeing him.
Dear blogger,
I contact you because we are both travel bloggers and probably have an overlapping audience. We could share that audience.
Are you interested?
My journey
From October 2009 – October 2010 I will travel around the world and find and support deserving causes (such as orphanages, streetkids projects, refugee camps, ngo’s) by working for them, offering publicity and donating some money. I organize it primarily through couchsurfing and understand Charity Travel as a humanly rewarding way of traveling while helping the needy people on the planet. I hope you like this idea – you are welcome to read more about it on
http://charitytravel.blogspot.com
I hope to globalize humanitarian aid by proving it is perfectly possible to remain independent of large bureaucracies – because the internet allows us to establish the right contacts.
I simply offer you a mutual link to attract attention to both our ventures.
Looking forward to your reply,
kind regards,
Kamiel Verwer
kamielverwer.blogspot.com
Hi,
I came across your blog and would like to have link exchange with you. If you are interested, please add my blog with the following information:
Travel & Living Bliss – Traveling is Shelyn’s lifelong passion. To escape from rat race trap and to travel freely is her inspiration. This blog serves as an initiative to move towards her dreams.
Kindly leave me a message what description of your site that you would like to put in my blogroll.
Thanks.
Shelyn
Very cool to hear Scotland is your first love. Mine too. I can’t get enough of the place – the profusion of whisky distilleries doesn’t hurt either
Just discovered your blog… I’m a writer for the National Geographic Channel (and other companies), thought I’d stop by! Sixty countries… wow, I’m falling behind. Beautiful images, will be back again soon.
http://www.jodikendall.blogspot.com
Broken record: Just discovered your blog.
Love love love it. Meeting your hubby abroad, interviewing celebs and making a living from travel writing? I think you have my dream life.
Hi Kristin,
I was taking a look over your blog and I really enjoyed reading your travel posts! I wanted to let you know about a cool new blog program UpTake is now offering that I would like to talk to you about. So, if you could email me at your earliest convenience, I would love to tell you more about it!
Best,
Brittany
dear Kristen, I love camels and would like to see your photos of them. I am preparing for a show of my paintings. the show will be called Camelot. Happy wedding day to you. Fondly, Ellie from Woodstock,n.y.
i want to see your images of camels if i can. ellie
Hi Kristen! This is kind of random, but I met your future mother in-law at a park in Fair Oaks, CA. I JUST started a blog a couple months ago that is all about meal planning, so your future mother in-law told me about yours! Your blog looks very interesting, and I will definitely keep up on it. I grew up in Germany, and did a lot of traveling myself growing up. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding.
Kristen, we would love to have to take a look at our new travelblogroll. It is a lively, up and coming and growing community of travel writers, some newbies and some seasoned who are networking and learing and sharing with each other. We are at http://www.travelblogroll.com. Your skill and style would be such a great and welcome addition to the group.
A big sorry, Kristin. I actually know how to spell. No excuse.
Kristin!
Love the blog…my niece turned me on to it! Would die to have your job – good for you! God speed out there…..keep on keeping on in the world!!
Excellent blog,loved the biography ,still going through your other posts
Kristin, Love you blog – linked to it from a comment you left on Andi Fisher’s blog; I met her last night at a tea + chocolate pairing at Schoggi. And I love even more that there are juice boxes in your photo with Rihanna – hilarous! Will definitely be consulting your blog as we plan our next big trip!
Kristin, I am so new to the blogging world it’s scary, but I am already absolutely hooked on your blog! I couldn’t be more jealous of all your adventures, so thank you for allowing me to live vicariously since I found you a couple days ago. You rock! Jenni
I just read your comment on blog article: Sailing from Panama to Colombia, where you said – “Girl, I feel your pain! I actually have turned down three assignments to Antarctica over the years, because while I’m dying to go there, my seasickness is so terrible, I know I wouldn’t survive the Drake Passage.”
I’ve come over here to tell you to GO!!! Nobody gets more seasick than me, I get car sick when I’m the driver for crying out loud. But I sailed across the Pacific Ocean (on a tiny old boat) because I didn’t want to regret not doing it. Was I seasick? Hells yeah—so sick that I vomited out my nose several times. Was I terrified? Yes, like I’ve never been before. Was it completely worth it? YES! Seasickness isn’t a reason to not go. I met a lot of sailors en route and ALL of them suffer seasickness. I’m talking about people who sail for 20 years, who live on a boat, who raise children aboard, who say “arrr” and “me mateys”—seasick, all of them.
Thanks for letting me know, Torre! The thing is that I dive and do all sorts of other activities that require I be on a boat (and often get seasick as a result), it’s more the thought of being so horribly ill for weeks on end. Doesn’t mean one day I won’t do it, but I’m more waiting for an opportunity when my husband can come along, too…if I’m to be that seasick, it would be nice to have some comfort in him! =)
Hi Kristin,
Regular reader here – I love the new site design! But, I just saw something that so reminded me of you, I had to tell you right away. I might be a bit of a Groupon junkie (thanks, Leah of a girlandaboy!) and there is one on right now for panaoramic photograhy prints:
http://www.groupon.com/deals/larger-than-life-prints-san-francisco?c=dnb&p=3
I was just browsing through the prints and I found one that seems tailor-made for you (a French Camel Crossing sign from Tunisia) – I had to tell you:
http://www.ltlprints.com/groupon/9470/LTLPrints/Panoramic%20Images
It might not be your thing, but I thought you’d want to know and the Groupon only has another day left. Oh, I hope you see it in time!
Cheers,
Laura
Laura, you’re such a sweetheart for thinking to send this along! I haven’t kept up with my Groupons lately thanks to there being so many services I can hardly keep count (Living Social, Bloomspot, Yipit, Homerun). Thanks for being so thoughtful! I think in my next house I will have a whole wall of camel prints, right next to my wall of maps =)
I’m currently in the Navy and stationed in Japan. Being stationed in Italy like your husband was is my dream.
Looking forward to following this wonderful travel blog.
Kristen, Wanted to reach out to you about a chocolate destination hotel. Do you have an email address? Thanks!
Kristin you have a wonderful site! Looks like I will be able to get the scoop not only on travel but other things from you as well. I saw you blog somewhere but cant remember exactly. The name Camels and Chocolates seem to stick out hopefully you will do a post on Aruba which is my next bluegreen resort destination.
Thanks for stopping by! I’ve actually never been to Aruba–though I visited its sister island, Bonaire, last summer–but won a trip there via Marriott Resorts that I’ll probably cash in this fall. Maybe you will have been by then and can give ME tips! =)
Wow! It sounds like you have a pretty amazing life…very entertaining at least! Thats amazing that you have already been to 80 countries. We really enjoy your blog, please keep it up
Thanks, you guys! I’ll have to check out your site, as well.
waa wee! I love the name of ur website Camels & Chocolate, very original. http://www.petratours.com.
Hey Kristin, I just discovered your site and love it! Check this out – I also lived in Aarhus for a year, come from the South, love dogs and LOVE to travel! Oh, and San Francisco is one of my fave places on earth! I’m adding your site to my links page and subscribing to your RSS – looking forward to reading more about your adventures! Cheers!
love your blog. i’m new to this and in costa rica for three months. love some feedback on my site!
Kristin,
One of your former THS teachers, Mrs. Price, sent me a link to your blog because she knew I would love it – and I do! (She’s my MIL.) I used to travel all over the place, too. I’ve got two little ones at home now so I travel a lot less these days. I’ll live vicariously through you, OK?
Kim
Kim, you just made my day! I love when people from Tullahoma (or relatives of people from Tullahoma) stop by to say hi! Not many do, yet when I’m back home visiting for a wedding or at church or something, so many people come up to me and say, “we read your blog every day!” I want to be, “then please leave a comment now and then!” I like to know who’s reading, particularly people I know “IRL” =)
Your MIL was always one of my favorite teachers–she has such a great sense of humor!
Hi from Hotels Directory. We find your blog rich of original, well written and pleasant to read stories. It is not common to find original content and useful travel info around. We try to bring some quality info with our hotel directory, we understand your efforts and like to follow your blog.
Hello from a fellow Tennessee native. I live in Franklin, so your hometown of Tullahoma is not too far away. I’m enjoying reading your blog and all the scuba stuff is a nice to see (I’m working on some posts on Cocos Island on my blog). I look forward to following your travels in the future.
Kristin, you are a beautiful and fun person! I love to read and see what you are up to! Thanks for letting the majority of us live vicariously through you!
I am so glad that I have found your blog! Love your posts and have been enjoying reading over them. We used to live in the Sacramento area and would go to San Francisco often. I always say that I don’t think you would ever run out of things to do there!
Kristen
I hope to put in as many travel hours as you have. You should check out our startup, http://www.qtripper.com, combining social networking with much needed information to create an easier and better travel experience. Users can choose to start a travel scrap book and enjoy watching their contributions be used in our dynamic travel guide aggregator or come to read and research trips, countries, or cities.
You are absolutely adorable. Just started focusing (seriously) on my blog after diddle dallying around with it while on the road for the last 14 months.
You inspire me!! Thank you!
HI Kristin,
I am bookmarking you for life now!
I came to your blog when i googled for top travel sites and i can see why you are recommended!!!
We are going on a road trip from SF, Nevada, Utah and Colorado and I wanted to read all about your American road trip.
I cant seem to find the archive for the full report though,,, can you help me?
Thank you!!
Thanks
Michelle
Singapore
We would LLYOV to have you cross post to our site!
Check us out at http://www.llyov.org!
Hi Kristin,
Greetings from Berlin!
I just came across your blog and I really like it! I’ve been living in Berlin since 1998 and have just started my own travel blog about the city.
Happy blogging and feel free to look me up next time you are in Berlin!
Good luck back east Tell SVV I said hello Glen Gary
Love your blog!
Awesome blog and interesting bio. 80+ countries too is immensely impressive. I keep wandering through the posts reading up on your past adventures. While I couldn’t do what you do, reading your blog inspires me to want to write more about my adventures in life & travel even if just for posterity.
Thank you, Anwar! So nice to hear, and welcome to these parts =)
Hello, I run the website http://www.eatwithalocal.com it connects travellers with local people willing to cook for them in their homes all over the world. If a host cannot cook at home they can choose to take the visitor out to their favourite restaurant. It is a great way of finding out about the culture of a country meeting and eating with the local people. Most hosts cook for ‘free’ but some choose to charge a nominal sum to cover ingredients. Would you check it out and give me some feedback please? Thank you, Vicki
Your life is cool
I miss you. Greetings from Serbia.