Interview With Kim Foley MacKinnon, Travel Writer and Guidebook Author

Kim Foley MacKinnon is a Boston-based editor, journalist, and travel writer. Her work has appeared in the Boston Globe, Food Network, Your AAA, Travel + Leisure, and US News & World Report, among others. Kim is the author of several Boston-based guidebooks including Secret Boston, 100 Things to Do in Boston Before You Die, and more.

Kim joins us on the Travel Writing 2.0 blog to talk about what initially inspired her to travel, differences between writing guidebooks and travel articles, and why staying connected is more important than ever.

You’ve been a travel writer for most of your adult life, what initially inspired you to start traveling and writing? What has the journey been like for you?

I wanted to travel the world as soon as I could read. National Geographic magazines and books like Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile fueled a lifelong passion to see the places featured within those pages (still waiting for access to Narnia). And while I always wanted to be a writer, I didn’t quite imagine I’d be a travel writer. I started out as a journalism student, working at the Boston Globe on straight news in college.

Later, I became a guidebook editor, then moved on to writing guidebooks and freelancing travel articles. I can’t imagine doing anything else now.

Congrats on being elected the new president-elect of the writers’ organization SATW. You’ve been in many roles there previously, so describe the advantages in our social media age of belonging to a professional trade organization for travel writers.

Thanks! It can be very solitary being a writer and now, more than ever, so many of us are alone in our homes. I think it’s important to be in an organization with like-minded people. We can network, bounce ideas off each other, learn about new trends, and generally enjoy some of the camaraderie 9-to-5-ers have.

Having this foundation of friends and contacts during the pandemic has been a lifeline for me, leading to new opportunities and work. I also believe in giving back to an organization that has given me so much.

What advice would you give to someone near and dear to you who wanted to become a travel writer in today’s market?

Being a travel writer doesn’t mean you’re on a permanent vacation, despite what many people think. Travel writing, like any job, involves all the usual things (paying your dues, climbing the ladder, etc), but you should have a passion for sharing the world with other people.

On the more concrete side of things, besides hopefully writing well, mastering a little bit of everything publications need, from photography to social media, is a requirement for every type of journalism these days.

You’ve successfully balanced the demands of raising a daughter and travel writing. Can you tell us a little bit about how you did it?

Well, you always hope for balance and I think we’ve been mostly successful at it. I think it helps that I’ve had this career since my daughter was a baby. Me being away for a week or so every month used to be our family’s normal. Now she is a college graduate and she spent her entire junior year abroad in China, Germany, and Ireland. Looks like she inherited my love of travel!

You have written several guidebooks throughout your career. How does writing a guidebook differ from writing travel articles?

To begin with, the sheer volume of information! Writing a travel article usually involves just one place or experience, while a book covers so much more detail. The bonus of writing a guidebook is that I get to include things I might have to leave out of an article.

Your travels have taken you all over the USA and to many international destinations. What are some of your favorite travel experiences?

My favorite travel experience is usually the one I just had, but if I had to pick just three, I’d say taking my daughter on her first international trip when she was two to Italy and just being embraced by everyone everywhere (thus refuting every warning I got about traveling with a toddler). Next, snorkeling in the Galapagos; if I was told I could only revisit one place in the world, I’d pick there.

Then every U.S. cross-country trip I’ve ever taken, from one with a girlfriend more than 20 years ago when we had no money and camped to last summer with my family, when we drove from Boston to the Grand Canyon and back in less than three weeks.

Kim Foley MacKinnon is a Boston-based editor, journalist, and travel writer. Her work has appeared in a wide variety of publications. Travel is her passion, with food a close second. She only has three states left to complete the whole set and has visited almost 60 countries at last count. You can find more about Kim at her website EscapeWithKim.com and follow her on IG and Twitter @escapewithkim.