November 27, 2024 • 34 mins
Join us for an engaging conversation with Elissa Garay, a distinguished travel and lifestyle writer whose career has spanned over twenty years. From her earliest days of storytelling to her transformative college experiences in Europe, Elissa opens up about her journey that combines her passion for writing and her love for travel. She takes us back to her first international trip to Greece, which ignited her wanderlust and set her on the path to becoming a renowned travel journalist. Through her work with prestigious outlets like Condé Nast Traveler and CNN, Elissa shares the highs and lows of crafting a successful career in travel writing and the unique challenges she faces in the fast-paced media landscape.
But there's more than just travel stories; Elissa delves into the pressing issue of sustainable tourism. Hear her thoughts on balancing a love for exploring the world with a responsibility toward preserving it. Having pursued further education in sustainable tourism, Elissa offers a nuanced perspective on the industry's environmental challenges and potential. She shares her mission to inspire more responsible and conscious travel decisions, highlighting how sustainability can foster cultural connections and bolster local economies. Elissa's insights are both educational and motivational, offering listeners practical tips on how to travel sustainably while still fully embracing the beauty of our planet.
Learn more about Elissa at https://www.elissa-garay.com/.
AFAR: Testing Out the Next Evolution of EV Travel -the Electric Camper Van
Travel + Leisure: This 5,000-year-old City in Peru Is a Less-crowded Alternative to Machu Picchu
Connect with her on:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElissaMGaray
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/TravelSpiritNYC
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elissagaray/
Thank you for listening! Please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to the Media in Minutes podcast here or anywhere you get your podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/media-in-minutes/id1555710662
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Angela Tuell (00:05):
Welcome to Media in Minutes.
This is your host, Angela Tuell.
This podcast features in-depthinterviews with those who report
on the world around us.
They share everything fromtheir favorite stories to what
happened behind the lens andgive us a glimpse into their
world From our studio here atCommunications Redefined.
This is Media in Minutes.
On today's episode, we aretalking with travel and
(00:32):
lifestyle writer and editor,Elissa Garay.
Elissa specializes insustainable tourism for national
outlets like Condé Nast,traveler, good Housekeeping Time
, cnn, parents Travel andLeisure and more.
With more than 20 yearsexperience in the field, Elissa
has also worked as an editor atleading travel publications like
(00:54):
Afar, photers, travel Zoo andSherman's Travel.
She is also an educator and wasthe lead journalism instructor
for Europe's magazine WritersAcademy.
Over the years, her work hastaken her to more than 60
countries on six continents.
Hi, elisa, how are you?
Hey?
Elissa Garay (01:13):
Angela, really good to be in touch.
Thanks so much for having me ontoday.
Angela Tuell (01:18):
Yes, I'm really looking forward to our
conversation.
In preparing for this episode,I saw that you always wanted to
be a writer.
When did you know that?
Elissa Garay (01:31):
Well, I was really lucky, I guess, to know very
young that writing was my bag,you know, I think we all sort of
get inherent gifts and talentsthat are just part of who we are
.
And yeah, I knew early on Ijust loved to write.
I, you know, I never really hadto think about what I wanted to
be when I grew up.
(01:51):
It was always kind of there forme.
I think in you know, fourthgrade or something, I won a
writing competition and thatjust did it for me.
Angela Tuell (02:01):
I was, yeah, I was like oh, this is it?
Elissa Garay (02:03):
You know it was validation that what I really
like to do, you know, was beingrecognized.
And yeah, I mean, I thinkwriting for me, you know, I feel
that I'm a creative person, soit really does allow for this
great, you know, outlet forcreativity.
I'm also a very, very curiousperson, so writing is a great
(02:25):
fit for that because you canexplore so many topics and sort
of indulge that curiosity.
And I'm also, like, a veryorganized person.
So I like it because it kind oflets you create order out of
some of the chaos in the world.
You know, you can kind of lookfor a question that you might
have.
Or, in my case, you know I do alot of travel, writing, go to
(02:47):
someplace you've never been andyou know, sort of go on this
journey from unknowing toknowing when you create a story
yeah, those are great ways todescribe it, and sometimes you
know a lot of people aren't aslucky to know exactly what they
want to do their whole life andmake it happen.
Angela Tuell (03:03):
Writing is definitely one that is a
challenge for many to make asuccessful career out of.
Elissa Garay (03:12):
Yeah, I mean, that's absolutely true.
You know, that was one of thefirst hurdles I faced.
You know how am I going to makemoney from writing?
You know, not everybody goes onto be successful book authors,
you know, right out of the gate.
So yeah for me.
You know, I knew early on thatif I was going to make this my
(03:34):
career, that I had to figure outsomething, and for me, that
something was journalism.
So yeah, so I studiedjournalism as an undergrad.
Okay, From there, you know, Ialso knew that I wanted to
travel.
So it was kind of hard tofigure out.
(03:54):
You know how there would be anintersection between the two.
I didn't grow up in a householdwhere there was a lot of travel
, but my father is Greek andwhen I was 16, he took me to
Greece on my first biginternational trip.
Angela Tuell (04:12):
Yes, not a bad place to go.
Elissa Garay (04:15):
Yes, exactly, the beaches, the clubs, the
antiquity.
You know I was just bit by thebug and you know I was like, oh,
I need more of this in my life.
Yeah, so you know, at the timeI didn't really even know about
travel guides because you know,I was from a family of program.
(04:35):
My senior year of college itbrought me abroad to live three
months in Denmark and threemonths in Holland, and from
there, you know, theintersection started to become a
(04:56):
little bit clearer about howyou could write about travel and
different cultures.
And then I found my finalproject for my degree was to do
an internship.
So I found a internship in.
It was like an online magazinefor expats living in Europe, in
Paris, so I took that.
(05:19):
I also found a Frenchman, butthat's another story.
Angela Tuell (05:24):
Were you living in Paris then at that time?
Elissa Garay (05:27):
Yes, yes, so, yeah .
So I spent about a year and ahalf living there after school,
you know, working for some smallpublications, doing some
internships, just sort offiguring out more about how I
was going to combine travel andwriting together.
But it was hard, you know, Iwasn't there legally so I
(05:51):
couldn't really get paid on thebook.
So I wanted to come back to NewYork, which you know I look
back at and just kind of want toslap 21-year-old me across the
face.
People in Paris.
What were you thinking you hadall this time in your career?
But nonetheless I did come back.
I found sort of an editorialassistant, sort of gopher
(06:14):
position at a newspaper.
It was the New York Post.
So, I was there for a littlewhile, but, yes, I quickly
realized that newspaperjournalism wasn't really the
right fit for me.
I really like the idea of likeyour business closing down right
(06:34):
.
You know, it's kind of likeworking at a hospital or
something like it never ends a24 hour newsroom.
So there's that.
And also, just, I didn'tnecessarily feel that I had the
chops to be a sort of hardhitting, you know, breaking news
reporter.
You know I wanted to dosomething a little more fun,
(06:59):
right, more feature.
So I started playing arounddoing some, getting some clips
in their travel section, and Irealized that magazine writing
was going to be a better fit forme.
So, yeah, from there I had Iapplied for some positions and I
got two offers at the same time.
One was for a magazine foranimal lovers and the other one.
(07:25):
Yeah, the other one was fortravel.
It was a they're still aroundthe Sherman's travel.
But at the time it was a very,very small publication.
So, yes, luckily I took thetravel route because you know,
my two cats would have been veryhappy with my animal writing
career.
They probably have a blingcollar.
(07:50):
It didn't quite work out forthem.
Travel writing definitely endedup being a great path for me.
I was hired with them and Iworked with them for about eight
years.
They grew a lot.
While I was there, they starteda travel publication called
Smart Luxury Travel.
It was like a luxury travel,but with some consciousness,
(08:16):
towards a cost, which isn'talways the case with some of the
higher end travel magazines.
Unfortunately, that magazinedid not survive.
We had a recession like around2010, 2011, if you remember that
, and there was a lot ofshutdowns, so the magazine
folded at that time and thenactually there were some layoffs
(08:39):
and I was laid off and Idecided at that time to go
freelance.
I had known some other peoplewho had went down that route and
I thought it would be a greattime to do some traveling and to
do some freelance work.
So I've been freelance now sinceabout 2011 or so or so.
(09:10):
Yeah, so it's been a while.
So, yeah, that was a good routefor me.
You know, I definitely enjoythe freedom of it.
I was able to get some contractediting jobs with other
publications from there, so Iworked for Photos for a while.
A far travel zoo, so yeah, thegoing was good for a while.
And then, of course, thepandemic hit.
(09:34):
So, yeah, that was, you know,like for so many people, and
especially any of us in thetravel industry, that was a
really hard hit.
You know, travel dried up forme.
Who was this sort of contractfreelancer taking on surplus
work for these?
You know, travel magazines allmy contracts dried up at the
(09:56):
time.
And then I had also, as one ofmy niche sort of specialty,
beats I had been covering thecruise industry for well over a
decade.
Yes so if you could recall, youknow, as a publicist, that was,
you know, the biggest PRnightmare out there you had.
You know, these cruise shipsbecame the big scary face of the
(10:19):
pandemic monster coming to getus all.
Yes.
So yeah, it was not a very goodthing to be specialized in,
because there was no cruisinghappening for a while.
Angela Tuell (10:32):
So yeah, I was going to ask how did you
navigate through it?
Elissa Garay (10:37):
Okay, so yeah.
So basically you know one ofthe options I had.
Well, I'm an environmentalist,so working in the cruise
industry and promoting thecruise industry I have always
kind of been at odds with it.
You know there are some cruisecompanies that are doing, you
know, the right thing, but forthe most part it's a big and
(11:00):
dirty industry.
Right thing, but for the mostpart it's a big and dirty
industry.
So I had some, you know,ethical dilemmas with that.
And you know, I know, theenvironmental news in the last
you know, 10, 15 years hasreally been ramping up.
You know we are at thisprecipice of real crisis here.
So I thought, you know how canI come back to the table?
(11:21):
I didn't want to walk away fromtravel.
I had built my whole career inthat field.
Yeah, I mean, traveling offersa lot of positives to the world,
you know.
I think it's a really importantthing.
However, I wanted to sort ofrefine my focus on to how we can
travel better, sort of refinemy focus on to how we can travel
(11:47):
better.
So I found a program Harvard hasan extension school which is
geared towards workingprofessionals, and they had a
sustainable tourism program atthe time that you could do sort
of as like a certificate underthe umbrella of a journalism's
master's.
So I was like, oh, this isperfect.
I'm going to just I'm going towork on getting this master's
degree.
(12:07):
I'm going to take thesesustainability courses and
really refocus my professionalniche as a sustainability writer
and, at the same time, havingthat master's would allow me to
teach, because I had been doingsome online teaching for a
(12:28):
European school called theMagazine Writers Academy that
essentially teaches writers howto break into freelance writing,
which I think is great.
You know, I had to learn theropes on my own and it's not
something that is necessarilypassed down in an orderly
fashion.
(12:49):
Right, yeah, easy to figure out,exactly so you know having some
people who have been there donethat kind of help crack the
code for you is, you know, areally helpful tool.
So I still think that's thecase that you know there's a
good market for that.
I do still.
Do you know guest speakingtoday for you know online
(13:11):
classes about how to break intofreelance writing?
So yeah so I've been working onthat master's for a while.
It's the world's slowestmaster's degree.
Master's for a while.
Angela Tuell (13:23):
It's the world's slowest master's degree.
Elissa Garay (13:32):
When will you have it Next year?
So I'm almost there 2025.
So, yeah, I'm excited, I'vealmost made it.
You know, I didn't want tooverwhelm myself.
I am still working.
I do have a young child, soluckily, this program is very
much crafted towards workingprofessionals who are coming
back mid-career.
But, yeah, it's really beengreat.
It's really allowed me tounderstand the science of
sustainability and the depth ofthe crisis and try to learn how
(13:58):
to apply that to the tourismindustry.
Angela Tuell (14:01):
Yeah, I love your articles.
Focus on those because they are.
It's so informative and a lotof information that we don't
know and as things are changing,and just to stay on top of that
, because I know a lot of uswant to be sustainable travelers
and do more good than harm, youknow, as we travel.
Absolutely.
Elissa Garay (14:19):
Yes, yes.
Angela Tuell (14:21):
And so your focus on sustainable tourism and
sustainability.
You know that looks differentfor everyone too.
How do you describe it?
Elissa Garay (14:27):
Yeah, Well, I mean , sustainability is this big
buzzword that most people can'treadily define, right?
I think it's interpreted by youknow who.
It comes through a lot ofdifferent filters.
It goes through a lot ofdifferent industries.
It could look like a lot ofdifferent filters.
It goes through a lot ofdifferent industries.
It could look like a lot ofdifferent things to different
people, which is confusing, Iadmittedly.
(14:49):
But if you want to look at a,like, basic, sweeping definition
that is broadly embraced, youknow, back in 1987, the United
Nations had this, they called itthe Bruntland Commission and
they defined sustainability asmeeting the needs of the present
without compromising theability of future generations to
(15:10):
meet their own needs.
And I, yeah, I really like thatone.
You know, it kind of reminds meof that Native American proverb
that we don't inherit the earthfrom our ancestors, we borrow
it from our children.
And you know, specific totourism, I think you know that
that's true.
We want our kids, we want ourgrandkids, we want them to be
(15:30):
able to travel and see the sameplaces that we've enjoyed and
really just to have a healthyplanet to live on, period.
I think there's been a lot ofborrowing from future
generations to enrich ourselvesin the here and now with a lot
of short-term thinking.
(15:50):
So, yeah, I mean, for me, whenit comes to sustainability and
tourism, that means that wereally want to minimize the
negative impacts of tourism andmaximize the positive ones, and
that's not just environmental,you know.
That also goes to economic andsocial dimensions.
Yeah, so you know what are someof those positives.
(16:13):
I mean, obviously, the economicbenefits are a real thing.
You know, tourism is a huge,huge industry.
It's 10% of the global GDP, oneout of 10 jobs.
So you know, that's that's nota small slice of the pie here.
Other positives is you knowthat it allows for this
(16:35):
interconnectedness betweencultures.
Right, it stops with thisothering.
I mean, I was so lucky, youknow, to be in my 20s and early
30s in a world where therewasn't really too much
prohibiting us from travelingbetween borders.
Angela Tuell (16:51):
You know I was going to Israel.
Elissa Garay (16:53):
I was going to Russia.
You know, and I feel you know,that being able to form
connections with differentcultures and seeing them as
being, you know that being ableto form connections with
different cultures and seeingthem as being, you know people
with the same feelings and wants, just like you, I mean it
really does help to create asort of international community.
That's important, especiallynow as we're starting to see
(17:17):
some of that fading away,unfortunately once again.
Yeah, and travel also.
You know, when it's done right,it offers a lot of preservation
opportunities.
You know, like in the Amazon,for instance.
Tourism I just got back from,you know, peru, as you know,
this summer and tourism donewell in the Amazon really is one
(17:40):
of the best things that you cando, because you're creating an
industry there that requires youto protect that nature, you
know, because that's the product, that's the commodity, that's
what the tourists are coming tosee.
So it does have a lot ofpositives.
But it also has negatives andyou know we have to look at
(18:00):
those too.
You know there's over tourism,there's a lot of exploitation.
You know, a lot of times,people here in the US they want
to go to these nice allinclusive Caribbean resorts, you
know, not realizing that not adollar of their money is going
to actually make it to the localpeople.
Because are you know, westernowned uh uh hotel brands that
(18:24):
are sending over you know, uh,western management and they're
kind of they call it tourismleakage.
You know they're basically allthe money that's made is going
right off the island.
So I don't know that people arealways aware of that.
Is there a good resource forthat?
Yes, so traveling moresustainably, I mean, I don't
(18:46):
think that there's going to besome silver bullet technological
solution and for the interim,that really means that we need
(19:09):
to take more accountability andchange our own behaviors.
And for me, you know, thesingle most important thing is
to consider that travel, at itscore, requires a lot of movement
, and movement right now.
You know plane travel has ahefty carbon footprint and you
(19:30):
know the carbon emissions crisisis is huge right now.
So people don't necessarilylike to hear it, but one of the
biggest pieces of advice that Ican offer right now is to fly
less.
You know I was.
I have huge Corbin Cormac debt.
(19:50):
You know I am so guilty.
You know I didn't do it before.
I knew really how, you know,bad things were.
But I do think we kind of haveto shift away from, you know,
this idea of just so cheapflights.
Let's just go for a weekendhere, a weekend there.
You know this idea of just socheap flights.
Let's just go for a weekendhere, a weekend there.
You know I definitely wasguilty for a while getting on a
(20:11):
plane easily seven, eight timesa year.
You know, without batting aneyelash about it, I want to do
better now.
So you know, I think I think wecan still travel, but just
travel better.
You know, like, maybe, insteadof five little trips, maybe
(20:31):
you're going to have one or twolonger, you know, slow travel
type of trips a year where yougo, you stay a little bit longer
and then you're only, you know,on two flights instead of five.
So it does cut back.
And of course, you know theother thing that you can do is
consider destinations that don'trequire flying, because flying
(20:52):
is the most carbon intensive wayof traveling.
So you know, I mean I live inNew York so I have a lot of
great options near me, and Ijust went down to DC, I went up
to Toronto.
I'm thinking now of, you know,taking a road trip down to North
Carolina, you know, witheverything that's gone on there
(21:13):
and doing a piece on how they'rerecovering.
So you know, definitely there'streasure everywhere, don't
overlook.
You know, traveling in your ownbackyard there's, there's lots
of good things to find thatdon't necessarily involve
getting on a flight.
And then another thing that youcan do is just try to look out
(21:37):
for accommodations and packageproviders that are doing the
right thing.
It is really hard for us asindividuals to do all of this
research independently, butluckily there are some brands
out there that really have madethis a core tenant of their.
You know their marketing brands.
(21:57):
For instance, you know I wasjust in Peru and I traveled with
Intrepid Travel.
They are an Australian touroperator who really has embraced
this of having sustainabilityat its core.
They work with hotel brandsthat are locally based, that are
run by local people.
(22:18):
They try to get you to some ofthe more off the path
destinations, so not everybody'srunning to the same places.
So you know not everybody'srunning to the same places.
(22:41):
So you know, trusting your moneywith a hotel or package, know
if you are traveling at a hoteland you're seeing really bad
environmental practices, youshould just document it.
You know, tell them you don'twant to see those single use
plastic straws.
But the same goes for goodbehaviors too.
You know when you do things,see things done right, to just
(23:01):
let them know that that thatthey support it.
Because I mean, basically whenyou go on a vacation, you can
kind of think of your vacationas a vote.
You know the way you spend yourmoney.
You're voting with your dollars.
You're voting for thebusinesses that are doing the
right thing.
So yeah, I mean that's my bigtakeaway.
And unfortunately, you know,just given the times, hopefully
(23:24):
newer technologies are coming.
You know they've made someprogress.
Technologies are coming, youknow they're.
They've made some progress withelectric planes, they're
looking into hydrogen planes.
But the fact of the matter iswe're just not there yet.
You could be the biggestenvironmentalist throughout the
year, but the second you get onone of those long distance
flights, especially one thatrequires layover, I mean you're
(23:45):
just blowing your carbonfootprint.
Angela Tuell (23:50):
Oh, that's, so sad .
Elissa Garay (23:52):
Yeah, I mean we have to adapt to the times.
You know we all have to have todo our part, and it's something
we just kind of have to own upto and talk to friends and
family about.
And, you know, just try toreduce some of our own impact.
Angela Tuell (24:06):
Yeah, so what are some of our own impact?
Yeah, so what are some of yourfavorite recent stories?
Well, we mentioned Peru.
Elissa Garay (24:12):
So yes, I did just go to a site, so I was.
You know, every time I go to adestination, I'm kind of looking
for stories outside of underthe sustainability umbrella.
So everyone goes to MachuPicchu, obviously that's you
know the big archaeological sitethere.
It's a huge draw.
But my husband, years ago, hadread about this site called
(24:37):
Corral in Peru, which I mean.
Compared to Machu Picchu, theyget just a fraction of the
visitation there.
Angela Tuell (24:45):
Yes, yes.
Elissa Garay (24:46):
Yeah, but it's really, you know, not that
inaccessible.
You could go there on a longday trip from Lima and it's
pretty, it's a fascinating place.
You know.
It's this 5000 year old citythat has completely redefined
science and archaeologistsunderstanding of you know how
(25:07):
civilization came up, becauseessentially this it was another
pyramid city and this city hadcome up basically in tandem with
Egypt.
So really a fascinating placeto stand and they've done some
good excavations there, you know.
I mean, if you're, if you'reinto antiquity, it is really it
(25:31):
was just a really good place togo.
I mean, there's so few peoplewho make it there outside of
Peru and you know it was just aneye opening destination.
So I did enjoy working on thatone and also just encouraging
people to kind of get off thebeaten path a little bit and see
something different and, youknow, maybe bring some of those
(25:53):
tourism dollars to places inother parts of the country.
Yes, and another fun story Iworked on over the summer I got
to test out one of NorthAmerica's first electric camper
vans.
Angela Tuell (26:09):
I saw that, yeah, yeah.
Elissa Garay (26:12):
So that was cool.
That was up in Quebec and thiscompany has retrofitted some of
its vans to work on electricityand I got to take it out for
five days and see what thatwould be like.
I did a feature on that forafar, so that was really cool.
(26:32):
I mean, I was very impressedbecause it was a sort of a
country it's sort of thecountryside of Montreal and
Quebec City where they're basedbut they are very advanced in
terms of EV technology.
I mean, you could basically goto a little tiny winery or farm
or museum, you know, and theywould have EV hookups.
(26:54):
So you know, even though it'sjust across the border from New
York, they are really, you know,decades ahead of where we are
with the infrastructure for that.
Yeah, so that was a good story.
Oh, and the Corral story was intravel and leisure.
This one was in afar.
Angela Tuell (27:12):
Yeah, yes, yes.
So we will definitely sharethose links in our show notes,
and I do have to ask.
Many of our listeners are PRprofessionals.
So any advice for us or petpeeves when working with you.
Elissa Garay (27:24):
Yeah, luckily I have, you know, pretty good
relationships with my PRcontacts.
So you know, I think we reallyhave to, you know, work together
for the best results.
I mean, if I had to pick somepet peeves, I would say one is
you know, sometimes I have to dofact checking for my stories
(27:46):
and you know the editor wants to.
Basically, when you get to thatpoint there, they wanted it
published, the story publishedyesterday.
You know, sometimes there's areal lapse in response times and
it could kind of get likecaught up in this like
bureaucratic process of havingto check in with the clients and
you know all of this so thatthat would be a pet peeve when I
(28:07):
ask, you know, like a simplequestion, and it ends up having
to go through this like weekslong process, you know, which
isn't always their fault.
Sometimes you know the clientsdon't get back to them or
whatever, but I'd say that's apet peeve.
And then another one I wouldjust say is you know, really
untargeted pitches.
You know something that I wouldnever write about I love when
(28:29):
you know.
Now, for the last four yearsI've been covering
sustainability.
I really enjoy it when somebodywrites to me and says I know
you're working on sustainabilitystories here's something under
that umbrella, yeah.
And then sometimes with thepitches or, you know, the news
releases, some PR reps can get alittle overzealous, you know,
(28:51):
following up two or three timeswhich you know it's obvious.
If we didn't get, if the writerdoesn't get back to you, they
just don't have anything for it.
So yeah the third email is notgoing to change that.
Angela Tuell (29:06):
That's good advice to point out.
Yes, something else I wanted toask is what keeps you up at
night as a writer, and I couldimagine it's a lot to do with
sustainability possibly.
Yeah, yeah.
Elissa Garay (29:20):
I mean that's obviously a big looming concern
At the moment as a woman in mymid-40s, going through, I guess,
perimenopause.
I get up at like three o'clockin the morning to use the
bathroom and then all of asudden I'm writing stories in my
head I don't know.
Hopefully this phase is goingto end because, yeah, it's kind
(29:41):
of exhausting.
I used to only sleep throughthe night in the last few years.
This is a new thing.
Angela Tuell (29:46):
I have experienced that as well.
I think we're in the same life,yeah yeah.
Elissa Garay (29:52):
So, yeah, the 3am story notes have got to go.
But, seriously, this last week,as a journalist, I have really
been worried about the freepress.
You know, again, I'm not a hardhitting journalist.
I, you know, work mostly inlifestyle travel.
(30:13):
You know I'm not coveringpolitics generally, but I did
just sign myself up for aconstitution and media class,
which is something I neverthought I would need to do in
2024 in the US.
You know, you kind of justfigured those things are given.
(30:33):
But, yes, I'm worried aboutfreedom in the press, the press
being targeted.
There's been a lot of animosityexpressed on the political
stage towards stories that arenot necessarily considered to be
positive.
So, yeah, I mean, journalistsare going to have a big job
(30:56):
ahead of them and you know, Idefinitely think they need to be
supported.
You know, get thosesubscriptions paid for.
Subscriptions paid for, yeah,yeah, and hopefully, hopefully
that's not eroded because youknow, having a free press is
really a pillar of democracy.
Angela Tuell (31:16):
So, yes, I definitely share that, share
that worry.
I graduated from the Universityof Maryland Journalism School
and their SPJ group about Iguess it would have been eight
years ago created shirts thatsaid not the enemy.
Elissa Garay (31:32):
Right.
Angela Tuell (31:32):
And had the drizzle on the back and they're
thinking about, you know,bringing those back out, because
it's something they're reallyhoping.
They don't have to fight, butyou know, might have to fight
going forward.
Elissa Garay (31:44):
So might have to fight going forward.
So, yeah, scary, scary conceptsnot something that should
really be part of the concernsBecause, like as a
sustainability writer, you knowwe're really wanting to worry
about how do we get ourselvesout of this environmental crisis
.
You know, not looking backwardsat protections that were
(32:06):
granted to us, you know, 250years ago, so it seems like a
lot of wasted energy, but, yeah,you have to adapt to the
reality of the time.
Angela Tuell (32:16):
So that that is something that's keeping me up
at night, right now You'll havea lot of sustainability work I'm
sure to write about.
Elissa Garay (32:26):
Yes, yes, hopefully some good news.
Yes, yes.
Angela Tuell (32:30):
So, to end on a positive note, what is something
that many people don't knowabout you, that you could share?
Elissa Garay (32:38):
Well, I worship cats there.
I'm a crazy cat lady.
I do have a child, though, soI'm not a childless crazy cat
lady.
Yes, I have been known to spendridiculous amounts of my
travels hanging out with thelocal cats, instead of you know
(33:00):
seeing the world, wonders thatare often you know, in the
shadows behind them.
Yeah, they're just so cool.
I don't know, there's justsomething about them.
They just have a mystique andthey're just so confident.
I just I wish I had a half ofthe confidence of some of these
cats have you know, that is sotrue, yes.
(33:22):
Yeah, so there my secret's out.
Angela Tuell (33:26):
I love it.
How can our listeners connectwith you online too?
Elissa Garay (33:32):
Well, they can reach me on LinkedIn and I am on
X and I do have a professionalpage on Facebook as well.
Angela Tuell (33:41):
Great, we will link to those in our show notes
and thank you so much.
Elissa Garay (33:46):
Thanks so much for having me, Angela.
It was really nice chattingwith you.
Angela Tuell (33:50):
That's all for this episode of Media in Minutes
, a podcast by CommunicationsRedefined.
Please take a moment to rate,review and subscribe to our show
.
We'd love to hear what youthink you can find more at
communicationsredefinedcom slashpodcast.
I'm your An gela Tuell.
Talk to you next time.
Welcome to Media in Minutes.
This is your host, Angela Tuell.
This podcast features in-depthinterviews with those who report
on the world around us.
They share everything fromtheir favorite stories to what
happened behind the lens andgive us a glimpse into their
world From our studio here atCommunications Redefined.
This is Media in Minutes.
On today's episode, we aretalking with travel and
(00:32):
lifestyle writer and editor,Elissa Garay.
Elissa specializes insustainable tourism for national
outlets like Condé Nast,traveler, good Housekeeping Time
, cnn, parents Travel andLeisure and more.
With more than 20 yearsexperience in the field, Elissa
has also worked as an editor atleading travel publications like
(00:54):
Afar, photers, travel Zoo andSherman's Travel.
She is also an educator and wasthe lead journalism instructor
for Europe's magazine WritersAcademy.
Over the years, her work hastaken her to more than 60
countries on six continents.
Hi, elisa, how are you?
Hey?
Elissa Garay (01:13):
Angela, really good to be in touch.
Thanks so much for having me ontoday.
Angela Tuell (01:18):
Yes, I'm really looking forward to our
conversation.
In preparing for this episode,I saw that you always wanted to
be a writer.
When did you know that?
Elissa Garay (01:31):
Well, I was really lucky, I guess, to know very
young that writing was my bag,you know, I think we all sort of
get inherent gifts and talentsthat are just part of who we are
.
And yeah, I knew early on Ijust loved to write.
I, you know, I never really hadto think about what I wanted to
be when I grew up.
(01:51):
It was always kind of there forme.
I think in you know, fourthgrade or something, I won a
writing competition and thatjust did it for me.
Angela Tuell (02:01):
I was, yeah, I was like oh, this is it?
Elissa Garay (02:03):
You know it was validation that what I really
like to do, you know, was beingrecognized.
And yeah, I mean, I thinkwriting for me, you know, I feel
that I'm a creative person, soit really does allow for this
great, you know, outlet forcreativity.
I'm also a very, very curiousperson, so writing is a great
(02:25):
fit for that because you canexplore so many topics and sort
of indulge that curiosity.
And I'm also, like, a veryorganized person.
So I like it because it kind oflets you create order out of
some of the chaos in the world.
You know, you can kind of lookfor a question that you might
have.
Or, in my case, you know I do alot of travel, writing, go to
(02:47):
someplace you've never been andyou know, sort of go on this
journey from unknowing toknowing when you create a story
yeah, those are great ways todescribe it, and sometimes you
know a lot of people aren't aslucky to know exactly what they
want to do their whole life andmake it happen.
Angela Tuell (03:03):
Writing is definitely one that is a
challenge for many to make asuccessful career out of.
Elissa Garay (03:12):
Yeah, I mean, that's absolutely true.
You know, that was one of thefirst hurdles I faced.
You know how am I going to makemoney from writing?
You know, not everybody goes onto be successful book authors,
you know, right out of the gate.
So yeah for me.
You know, I knew early on thatif I was going to make this my
(03:34):
career, that I had to figure outsomething, and for me, that
something was journalism.
So yeah, so I studiedjournalism as an undergrad.
Okay, From there, you know, Ialso knew that I wanted to
travel.
So it was kind of hard tofigure out.
(03:54):
You know how there would be anintersection between the two.
I didn't grow up in a householdwhere there was a lot of travel
, but my father is Greek andwhen I was 16, he took me to
Greece on my first biginternational trip.
Angela Tuell (04:12):
Yes, not a bad place to go.
Elissa Garay (04:15):
Yes, exactly, the beaches, the clubs, the
antiquity.
You know I was just bit by thebug and you know I was like, oh,
I need more of this in my life.
Yeah, so you know, at the timeI didn't really even know about
travel guides because you know,I was from a family of program.
(04:35):
My senior year of college itbrought me abroad to live three
months in Denmark and threemonths in Holland, and from
there, you know, theintersection started to become a
(04:56):
little bit clearer about howyou could write about travel and
different cultures.
And then I found my finalproject for my degree was to do
an internship.
So I found a internship in.
It was like an online magazinefor expats living in Europe, in
Paris, so I took that.
(05:19):
I also found a Frenchman, butthat's another story.
Angela Tuell (05:24):
Were you living in Paris then at that time?
Elissa Garay (05:27):
Yes, yes, so, yeah .
So I spent about a year and ahalf living there after school,
you know, working for some smallpublications, doing some
internships, just sort offiguring out more about how I
was going to combine travel andwriting together.
But it was hard, you know, Iwasn't there legally so I
(05:51):
couldn't really get paid on thebook.
So I wanted to come back to NewYork, which you know I look
back at and just kind of want toslap 21-year-old me across the
face.
People in Paris.
What were you thinking you hadall this time in your career?
But nonetheless I did come back.
I found sort of an editorialassistant, sort of gopher
(06:14):
position at a newspaper.
It was the New York Post.
So, I was there for a littlewhile, but, yes, I quickly
realized that newspaperjournalism wasn't really the
right fit for me.
I really like the idea of likeyour business closing down right
(06:34):
.
You know, it's kind of likeworking at a hospital or
something like it never ends a24 hour newsroom.
So there's that.
And also, just, I didn'tnecessarily feel that I had the
chops to be a sort of hardhitting, you know, breaking news
reporter.
You know I wanted to dosomething a little more fun,
(06:59):
right, more feature.
So I started playing arounddoing some, getting some clips
in their travel section, and Irealized that magazine writing
was going to be a better fit forme.
So, yeah, from there I had Iapplied for some positions and I
got two offers at the same time.
One was for a magazine foranimal lovers and the other one.
(07:25):
Yeah, the other one was fortravel.
It was a they're still aroundthe Sherman's travel.
But at the time it was a very,very small publication.
So, yes, luckily I took thetravel route because you know,
my two cats would have been veryhappy with my animal writing
career.
They probably have a blingcollar.
(07:50):
It didn't quite work out forthem.
Travel writing definitely endedup being a great path for me.
I was hired with them and Iworked with them for about eight
years.
They grew a lot.
While I was there, they starteda travel publication called
Smart Luxury Travel.
It was like a luxury travel,but with some consciousness,
(08:16):
towards a cost, which isn'talways the case with some of the
higher end travel magazines.
Unfortunately, that magazinedid not survive.
We had a recession like around2010, 2011, if you remember that
, and there was a lot ofshutdowns, so the magazine
folded at that time and thenactually there were some layoffs
(08:39):
and I was laid off and Idecided at that time to go
freelance.
I had known some other peoplewho had went down that route and
I thought it would be a greattime to do some traveling and to
do some freelance work.
So I've been freelance now sinceabout 2011 or so or so.
(09:10):
Yeah, so it's been a while.
So, yeah, that was a good routefor me.
You know, I definitely enjoythe freedom of it.
I was able to get some contractediting jobs with other
publications from there, so Iworked for Photos for a while.
A far travel zoo, so yeah, thegoing was good for a while.
And then, of course, thepandemic hit.
(09:34):
So, yeah, that was, you know,like for so many people, and
especially any of us in thetravel industry, that was a
really hard hit.
You know, travel dried up forme.
Who was this sort of contractfreelancer taking on surplus
work for these?
You know, travel magazines allmy contracts dried up at the
(09:56):
time.
And then I had also, as one ofmy niche sort of specialty,
beats I had been covering thecruise industry for well over a
decade.
Yes so if you could recall, youknow, as a publicist, that was,
you know, the biggest PRnightmare out there you had.
You know, these cruise shipsbecame the big scary face of the
(10:19):
pandemic monster coming to getus all.
Yes.
So yeah, it was not a very goodthing to be specialized in,
because there was no cruisinghappening for a while.
Angela Tuell (10:32):
So yeah, I was going to ask how did you
navigate through it?
Elissa Garay (10:37):
Okay, so yeah.
So basically you know one ofthe options I had.
Well, I'm an environmentalist,so working in the cruise
industry and promoting thecruise industry I have always
kind of been at odds with it.
You know there are some cruisecompanies that are doing, you
know, the right thing, but forthe most part it's a big and
(11:00):
dirty industry.
Right thing, but for the mostpart it's a big and dirty
industry.
So I had some, you know,ethical dilemmas with that.
And you know, I know, theenvironmental news in the last
you know, 10, 15 years hasreally been ramping up.
You know we are at thisprecipice of real crisis here.
So I thought, you know how canI come back to the table?
(11:21):
I didn't want to walk away fromtravel.
I had built my whole career inthat field.
Yeah, I mean, traveling offersa lot of positives to the world,
you know.
I think it's a really importantthing.
However, I wanted to sort ofrefine my focus on to how we can
travel better, sort of refinemy focus on to how we can travel
(11:47):
better.
So I found a program Harvard hasan extension school which is
geared towards workingprofessionals, and they had a
sustainable tourism program atthe time that you could do sort
of as like a certificate underthe umbrella of a journalism's
master's.
So I was like, oh, this isperfect.
I'm going to just I'm going towork on getting this master's
degree.
(12:07):
I'm going to take thesesustainability courses and
really refocus my professionalniche as a sustainability writer
and, at the same time, havingthat master's would allow me to
teach, because I had been doingsome online teaching for a
(12:28):
European school called theMagazine Writers Academy that
essentially teaches writers howto break into freelance writing,
which I think is great.
You know, I had to learn theropes on my own and it's not
something that is necessarilypassed down in an orderly
fashion.
(12:49):
Right, yeah, easy to figure out,exactly so you know having some
people who have been there donethat kind of help crack the
code for you is, you know, areally helpful tool.
So I still think that's thecase that you know there's a
good market for that.
I do still.
Do you know guest speakingtoday for you know online
(13:11):
classes about how to break intofreelance writing?
So yeah so I've been working onthat master's for a while.
It's the world's slowestmaster's degree.
Master's for a while.
Angela Tuell (13:23):
It's the world's slowest master's degree.
Elissa Garay (13:32):
When will you have it Next year?
So I'm almost there 2025.
So, yeah, I'm excited, I'vealmost made it.
You know, I didn't want tooverwhelm myself.
I am still working.
I do have a young child, soluckily, this program is very
much crafted towards workingprofessionals who are coming
back mid-career.
But, yeah, it's really beengreat.
It's really allowed me tounderstand the science of
sustainability and the depth ofthe crisis and try to learn how
(13:58):
to apply that to the tourismindustry.
Angela Tuell (14:01):
Yeah, I love your articles.
Focus on those because they are.
It's so informative and a lotof information that we don't
know and as things are changing,and just to stay on top of that
, because I know a lot of uswant to be sustainable travelers
and do more good than harm, youknow, as we travel.
Absolutely.
Elissa Garay (14:19):
Yes, yes.
Angela Tuell (14:21):
And so your focus on sustainable tourism and
sustainability.
You know that looks differentfor everyone too.
How do you describe it?
Elissa Garay (14:27):
Yeah, Well, I mean , sustainability is this big
buzzword that most people can'treadily define, right?
I think it's interpreted by youknow who.
It comes through a lot ofdifferent filters.
It goes through a lot ofdifferent industries.
It could look like a lot ofdifferent filters.
It goes through a lot ofdifferent industries.
It could look like a lot ofdifferent things to different
people, which is confusing, Iadmittedly.
(14:49):
But if you want to look at a,like, basic, sweeping definition
that is broadly embraced, youknow, back in 1987, the United
Nations had this, they called itthe Bruntland Commission and
they defined sustainability asmeeting the needs of the present
without compromising theability of future generations to
(15:10):
meet their own needs.
And I, yeah, I really like thatone.
You know, it kind of reminds meof that Native American proverb
that we don't inherit the earthfrom our ancestors, we borrow
it from our children.
And you know, specific totourism, I think you know that
that's true.
We want our kids, we want ourgrandkids, we want them to be
(15:30):
able to travel and see the sameplaces that we've enjoyed and
really just to have a healthyplanet to live on, period.
I think there's been a lot ofborrowing from future
generations to enrich ourselvesin the here and now with a lot
of short-term thinking.
(15:50):
So, yeah, I mean, for me, whenit comes to sustainability and
tourism, that means that wereally want to minimize the
negative impacts of tourism andmaximize the positive ones, and
that's not just environmental,you know.
That also goes to economic andsocial dimensions.
Yeah, so you know what are someof those positives.
(16:13):
I mean, obviously, the economicbenefits are a real thing.
You know, tourism is a huge,huge industry.
It's 10% of the global GDP, oneout of 10 jobs.
So you know, that's that's nota small slice of the pie here.
Other positives is you knowthat it allows for this
(16:35):
interconnectedness betweencultures.
Right, it stops with thisothering.
I mean, I was so lucky, youknow, to be in my 20s and early
30s in a world where therewasn't really too much
prohibiting us from travelingbetween borders.
Angela Tuell (16:51):
You know I was going to Israel.
Elissa Garay (16:53):
I was going to Russia.
You know, and I feel you know,that being able to form
connections with differentcultures and seeing them as
being, you know that being ableto form connections with
different cultures and seeingthem as being, you know people
with the same feelings and wants, just like you, I mean it
really does help to create asort of international community.
That's important, especiallynow as we're starting to see
(17:17):
some of that fading away,unfortunately once again.
Yeah, and travel also.
You know, when it's done right,it offers a lot of preservation
opportunities.
You know, like in the Amazon,for instance.
Tourism I just got back from,you know, peru, as you know,
this summer and tourism donewell in the Amazon really is one
(17:40):
of the best things that you cando, because you're creating an
industry there that requires youto protect that nature, you
know, because that's the product, that's the commodity, that's
what the tourists are coming tosee.
So it does have a lot ofpositives.
But it also has negatives andyou know we have to look at
(18:00):
those too.
You know there's over tourism,there's a lot of exploitation.
You know, a lot of times,people here in the US they want
to go to these nice allinclusive Caribbean resorts, you
know, not realizing that not adollar of their money is going
to actually make it to the localpeople.
Because are you know, westernowned uh uh hotel brands that
(18:24):
are sending over you know, uh,western management and they're
kind of they call it tourismleakage.
You know they're basically allthe money that's made is going
right off the island.
So I don't know that people arealways aware of that.
Is there a good resource forthat?
Yes, so traveling moresustainably, I mean, I don't
(18:46):
think that there's going to besome silver bullet technological
solution and for the interim,that really means that we need
(19:09):
to take more accountability andchange our own behaviors.
And for me, you know, thesingle most important thing is
to consider that travel, at itscore, requires a lot of movement
, and movement right now.
You know plane travel has ahefty carbon footprint and you
(19:30):
know the carbon emissions crisisis is huge right now.
So people don't necessarilylike to hear it, but one of the
biggest pieces of advice that Ican offer right now is to fly
less.
You know I was.
I have huge Corbin Cormac debt.
(19:50):
You know I am so guilty.
You know I didn't do it before.
I knew really how, you know,bad things were.
But I do think we kind of haveto shift away from, you know,
this idea of just so cheapflights.
Let's just go for a weekendhere, a weekend there.
You know this idea of just socheap flights.
Let's just go for a weekendhere, a weekend there.
You know I definitely wasguilty for a while getting on a
(20:11):
plane easily seven, eight timesa year.
You know, without batting aneyelash about it, I want to do
better now.
So you know, I think I think wecan still travel, but just
travel better.
You know, like, maybe, insteadof five little trips, maybe
(20:31):
you're going to have one or twolonger, you know, slow travel
type of trips a year where yougo, you stay a little bit longer
and then you're only, you know,on two flights instead of five.
So it does cut back.
And of course, you know theother thing that you can do is
consider destinations that don'trequire flying, because flying
(20:52):
is the most carbon intensive wayof traveling.
So you know, I mean I live inNew York so I have a lot of
great options near me, and Ijust went down to DC, I went up
to Toronto.
I'm thinking now of, you know,taking a road trip down to North
Carolina, you know, witheverything that's gone on there
(21:13):
and doing a piece on how they'rerecovering.
So you know, definitely there'streasure everywhere, don't
overlook.
You know, traveling in your ownbackyard there's, there's lots
of good things to find thatdon't necessarily involve
getting on a flight.
And then another thing that youcan do is just try to look out
(21:37):
for accommodations and packageproviders that are doing the
right thing.
It is really hard for us asindividuals to do all of this
research independently, butluckily there are some brands
out there that really have madethis a core tenant of their.
You know their marketing brands.
(21:57):
For instance, you know I wasjust in Peru and I traveled with
Intrepid Travel.
They are an Australian touroperator who really has embraced
this of having sustainabilityat its core.
They work with hotel brandsthat are locally based, that are
run by local people.
(22:18):
They try to get you to some ofthe more off the path
destinations, so not everybody'srunning to the same places.
So you know not everybody'srunning to the same places.
(22:41):
So you know, trusting your moneywith a hotel or package, know
if you are traveling at a hoteland you're seeing really bad
environmental practices, youshould just document it.
You know, tell them you don'twant to see those single use
plastic straws.
But the same goes for goodbehaviors too.
You know when you do things,see things done right, to just
(23:01):
let them know that that thatthey support it.
Because I mean, basically whenyou go on a vacation, you can
kind of think of your vacationas a vote.
You know the way you spend yourmoney.
You're voting with your dollars.
You're voting for thebusinesses that are doing the
right thing.
So yeah, I mean that's my bigtakeaway.
And unfortunately, you know,just given the times, hopefully
(23:24):
newer technologies are coming.
You know they've made someprogress.
Technologies are coming, youknow they're.
They've made some progress withelectric planes, they're
looking into hydrogen planes.
But the fact of the matter iswe're just not there yet.
You could be the biggestenvironmentalist throughout the
year, but the second you get onone of those long distance
flights, especially one thatrequires layover, I mean you're
(23:45):
just blowing your carbonfootprint.
Angela Tuell (23:50):
Oh, that's, so sad .
Elissa Garay (23:52):
Yeah, I mean we have to adapt to the times.
You know we all have to have todo our part, and it's something
we just kind of have to own upto and talk to friends and
family about.
And, you know, just try toreduce some of our own impact.
Angela Tuell (24:06):
Yeah, so what are some of our own impact?
Yeah, so what are some of yourfavorite recent stories?
Well, we mentioned Peru.
Elissa Garay (24:12):
So yes, I did just go to a site, so I was.
You know, every time I go to adestination, I'm kind of looking
for stories outside of underthe sustainability umbrella.
So everyone goes to MachuPicchu, obviously that's you
know the big archaeological sitethere.
It's a huge draw.
But my husband, years ago, hadread about this site called
(24:37):
Corral in Peru, which I mean.
Compared to Machu Picchu, theyget just a fraction of the
visitation there.
Angela Tuell (24:45):
Yes, yes.
Elissa Garay (24:46):
Yeah, but it's really, you know, not that
inaccessible.
You could go there on a longday trip from Lima and it's
pretty, it's a fascinating place.
You know.
It's this 5000 year old citythat has completely redefined
science and archaeologistsunderstanding of you know how
(25:07):
civilization came up, becauseessentially this it was another
pyramid city and this city hadcome up basically in tandem with
Egypt.
So really a fascinating placeto stand and they've done some
good excavations there, you know.
I mean, if you're, if you'reinto antiquity, it is really it
(25:31):
was just a really good place togo.
I mean, there's so few peoplewho make it there outside of
Peru and you know it was just aneye opening destination.
So I did enjoy working on thatone and also just encouraging
people to kind of get off thebeaten path a little bit and see
something different and, youknow, maybe bring some of those
(25:53):
tourism dollars to places inother parts of the country.
Yes, and another fun story Iworked on over the summer I got
to test out one of NorthAmerica's first electric camper
vans.
Angela Tuell (26:09):
I saw that, yeah, yeah.
Elissa Garay (26:12):
So that was cool.
That was up in Quebec and thiscompany has retrofitted some of
its vans to work on electricityand I got to take it out for
five days and see what thatwould be like.
I did a feature on that forafar, so that was really cool.
(26:32):
I mean, I was very impressedbecause it was a sort of a
country it's sort of thecountryside of Montreal and
Quebec City where they're basedbut they are very advanced in
terms of EV technology.
I mean, you could basically goto a little tiny winery or farm
or museum, you know, and theywould have EV hookups.
(26:54):
So you know, even though it'sjust across the border from New
York, they are really, you know,decades ahead of where we are
with the infrastructure for that.
Yeah, so that was a good story.
Oh, and the Corral story was intravel and leisure.
This one was in afar.
Angela Tuell (27:12):
Yeah, yes, yes.
So we will definitely sharethose links in our show notes,
and I do have to ask.
Many of our listeners are PRprofessionals.
So any advice for us or petpeeves when working with you.
Elissa Garay (27:24):
Yeah, luckily I have, you know, pretty good
relationships with my PRcontacts.
So you know, I think we reallyhave to, you know, work together
for the best results.
I mean, if I had to pick somepet peeves, I would say one is
you know, sometimes I have to dofact checking for my stories
(27:46):
and you know the editor wants to.
Basically, when you get to thatpoint there, they wanted it
published, the story publishedyesterday.
You know, sometimes there's areal lapse in response times and
it could kind of get likecaught up in this like
bureaucratic process of havingto check in with the clients and
you know all of this so thatthat would be a pet peeve when I
(28:07):
ask, you know, like a simplequestion, and it ends up having
to go through this like weekslong process, you know, which
isn't always their fault.
Sometimes you know the clientsdon't get back to them or
whatever, but I'd say that's apet peeve.
And then another one I wouldjust say is you know, really
untargeted pitches.
You know something that I wouldnever write about I love when
(28:29):
you know.
Now, for the last four yearsI've been covering
sustainability.
I really enjoy it when somebodywrites to me and says I know
you're working on sustainabilitystories here's something under
that umbrella, yeah.
And then sometimes with thepitches or, you know, the news
releases, some PR reps can get alittle overzealous, you know,
(28:51):
following up two or three timeswhich you know it's obvious.
If we didn't get, if the writerdoesn't get back to you, they
just don't have anything for it.
So yeah the third email is notgoing to change that.
Angela Tuell (29:06):
That's good advice to point out.
Yes, something else I wanted toask is what keeps you up at
night as a writer, and I couldimagine it's a lot to do with
sustainability possibly.
Yeah, yeah.
Elissa Garay (29:20):
I mean that's obviously a big looming concern
At the moment as a woman in mymid-40s, going through, I guess,
perimenopause.
I get up at like three o'clockin the morning to use the
bathroom and then all of asudden I'm writing stories in my
head I don't know.
Hopefully this phase is goingto end because, yeah, it's kind
(29:41):
of exhausting.
I used to only sleep throughthe night in the last few years.
This is a new thing.
Angela Tuell (29:46):
I have experienced that as well.
I think we're in the same life,yeah yeah.
Elissa Garay (29:52):
So, yeah, the 3am story notes have got to go.
But, seriously, this last week,as a journalist, I have really
been worried about the freepress.
You know, again, I'm not a hardhitting journalist.
I, you know, work mostly inlifestyle travel.
(30:13):
You know I'm not coveringpolitics generally, but I did
just sign myself up for aconstitution and media class,
which is something I neverthought I would need to do in
2024 in the US.
You know, you kind of justfigured those things are given.
(30:33):
But, yes, I'm worried aboutfreedom in the press, the press
being targeted.
There's been a lot of animosityexpressed on the political
stage towards stories that arenot necessarily considered to be
positive.
So, yeah, I mean, journalistsare going to have a big job
(30:56):
ahead of them and you know, Idefinitely think they need to be
supported.
You know, get thosesubscriptions paid for.
Subscriptions paid for, yeah,yeah, and hopefully, hopefully
that's not eroded because youknow, having a free press is
really a pillar of democracy.
Angela Tuell (31:16):
So, yes, I definitely share that, share
that worry.
I graduated from the Universityof Maryland Journalism School
and their SPJ group about Iguess it would have been eight
years ago created shirts thatsaid not the enemy.
Elissa Garay (31:32):
Right.
Angela Tuell (31:32):
And had the drizzle on the back and they're
thinking about, you know,bringing those back out, because
it's something they're reallyhoping.
They don't have to fight, butyou know, might have to fight
going forward.
Elissa Garay (31:44):
So might have to fight going forward.
So, yeah, scary, scary conceptsnot something that should
really be part of the concernsBecause, like as a
sustainability writer, you knowwe're really wanting to worry
about how do we get ourselvesout of this environmental crisis
.
You know, not looking backwardsat protections that were
(32:06):
granted to us, you know, 250years ago, so it seems like a
lot of wasted energy, but, yeah,you have to adapt to the
reality of the time.
Angela Tuell (32:16):
So that that is something that's keeping me up
at night, right now You'll havea lot of sustainability work I'm
sure to write about.
Elissa Garay (32:26):
Yes, yes, hopefully some good news.
Yes, yes.
Angela Tuell (32:30):
So, to end on a positive note, what is something
that many people don't knowabout you, that you could share?
Elissa Garay (32:38):
Well, I worship cats there.
I'm a crazy cat lady.
I do have a child, though, soI'm not a childless crazy cat
lady.
Yes, I have been known to spendridiculous amounts of my
travels hanging out with thelocal cats, instead of you know
(33:00):
seeing the world, wonders thatare often you know, in the
shadows behind them.
Yeah, they're just so cool.
I don't know, there's justsomething about them.
They just have a mystique andthey're just so confident.
I just I wish I had a half ofthe confidence of some of these
cats have you know, that is sotrue, yes.
(33:22):
Yeah, so there my secret's out.
Angela Tuell (33:26):
I love it.
How can our listeners connectwith you online too?
Elissa Garay (33:32):
Well, they can reach me on LinkedIn and I am on
X and I do have a professionalpage on Facebook as well.
Angela Tuell (33:41):
Great, we will link to those in our show notes
and thank you so much.
Elissa Garay (33:46):
Thanks so much for having me, Angela.
It was really nice chattingwith you.
Angela Tuell (33:50):
That's all for this episode of Media in Minutes
, a podcast by CommunicationsRedefined.
Please take a moment to rate,review and subscribe to our show
.
We'd love to hear what youthink you can find more at
communicationsredefinedcom slashpodcast.
I'm your An gela Tuell.
Talk to you next time.
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