Perceptive Travel is an award-winning site comprising a monthly narrative webzine and a much more frequent blog.
We garnered a Silver medal from the North American Travel Journalists Association for “Best Online Travel Journalism Site,” then followed it up with two Gold prizes including “Best Online Travel Magazine.” We won a Gold from the Society of American Travel Writers for “Best Travel Blog.” Both the blog and the bloggers themselves have repeatedly been recognized in other awards and gotten into highly regarded book anthologies. Many individual articles have won Solas and NATJA Awards, as recently as 2024.
Sheila and the editor Tim Leffel are frequently invited to speak at travel industry events and Tim served six years as the North America Conference Director for TBEX, the largest and longest-running convention for travel content creators, held on multiple continents each year.
To learn a little bit about our adventurous, frequently traveling readers, you can check out the Perceptive Travel media kit. Comprehensive content marketing programs that include this site and many others are available through the 360 Degree Travel Network content marketing agency that has 100+ bloggers.
Tim and the talented bloggers below put up 8 to 12 posts each month, going beyond surface-level list posts and tired destination round-ups. They seek out the offbeat and interesting places, people, and stories from dots on the map big and small.
The Perceptive Travel blog started in 2007 and has been steadily growing from there. While a few people have come and gone over the years, here’s who’s on board now; click their names to see the full bios. You can also find contact info here.
Sheila Scarborough is a three-time expat (Bahrain, Japan, and the Netherlands) who is equally comfortable looking for plastic food on Kappabashi Dori in Asakusa, Tokyo, boot-scooting at Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth, or enjoying high tea at Fortnum and Mason, London. She blogs about tourism, social media, and technology at Sheila’s Guide to the Good Stuff, and co-founded Tourism Currents, which offers online and in-person training in social media for tourism and hospitality. Read Sheila’s posts here
Skye Class is an American-born writer. He quit his job in 2014 and within a year had visited 35 countries. Writing his own blog at SkyeTravels.com, he has also been featured on Lonely Planet and collaborated with dozens of other travel blogs. While he calls Earth his home, he has been an expat in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Chiang Mai, Thailand. His hobbies include outdoor activities, sports, eating and reading. He’s always looking for the next great adventure. See Skye’s articles here.
Kerry Dexter writes about music, the arts, history, and travel. Her work has appeared in VH1.com/SonicNet, National Geographic Traveler, Barnes & Noble Music, Strings, Journey to Scotland, and elsewhere online and in print. Her blog Music Road is a five-time nominee for top arts and culture blog at the Irish Blog Awards, and her post Irish music, Irish landscape was recognized as among the top-ten best posts across all categories. Read Kerry’s posts here>>
Laura Byrne Paquet is an Ottawa-based freelance travel writer and the founder of Ottawa Road Trips. She has written for more than 80 publications and websites in Canada and elsewhere, including BBC Travel, National Geographic Traveler, Chatelaine, and Afar. Laura has written or co-authored 15 books over the course of 20 years. See Laura’s articles here.
Chantae Reden
is a writer with a passion for travel, politics, action sports, and adventure. She is currently based in Suva, Fiji, where she spends all her free time surfing, diving, trekking, and binge-listening to political podcasts. She is also a guidebook writer for Moon Handbooks. You can find more of her adventure writing on her blog, Chantae Was Here, as well as on her ocean-themed website, The Salt Sirens. See Chantae’s articles here.
———————————————————-
Former Perceptive Travel Blog Contributors
Kristin Winet
is an award-winning writer, editor, teacher, and novice shutterbug currently based in Tucson, Arizona. In addition to blogging for Perceptive Travel, she’s been featured both online and in print and is wrote her dissertation on travel discourse, feminism, and digital media. Say the words culture, adventure, good food, good wine, or good company, and she’s packed (with a good book in tow, no less). Read Kristin’s posts here
Jennifer Walker is an Anglo-Hungarian freelance writer and editor based in Budapest, Hungary. After a sordid past involving a career in nuclear physics, and after completing her PhD, Jennifer threw caution – and physics – to the winds to follow the cliché expat writing dream. She’s a compulsive traveller and has lived in the UK, Hungary, Spain, Germany and Georgia. Follow her to unusual places on her travels or hidden places in Budapest on her blog Off the Bohemian Track. Read Jennifer’s posts here
Brian Spencer is a freelance writer and editor currently based in Singapore, where he moved in 2012 following more than a decade in Brooklyn (yes, the “hipster” part). He’s also lived in Bangkok, went to college in Murfreesboro, TN, and grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, MI. He models his street basketball game after Rasheed Wallace – three-point bombs and defense, baby – and rarely meets a craft beer he doesn’t like. Read Brian’s posts here
Mike Gerrard is a freelance travel writer who also writes about drinks, especially spirits. He has a regular travel blog on The Huffington Post, and is an Editorial Staff Writer on Chilled Magazine. He has written for numerous publications, websites, and companies worldwide, including National Geographic, American Express, Google, and Microsoft. He has won a number of awards for his work, including AITO’s Online Travel Writer of the Year. He splits his time between Cambridgeshire in England, and Arizona. Read Mike’s posts here
Chris Backe focuses on the weird, the offbeat, the bizarre, and the unique places around the world. He’s been seen on Atlas Obscura (including their most recent book), io9, Mental Floss, and dozens of other places. He’s written dozens of itineraries and guidebooks to places around the world, all focused on the lesser-traveled type of places. When not traveling, he’s also a budding game designer and decent swing dancer.
