Work with Mara Gorman

My background

A few pertinent details: I’ve been traveling since childhood, took my first-born on a 6-week, 3500-mile road trip when he was 3 months old, and have been writing here since June of 2008.

I love social media, and when I’m not blogging, you’ll often find me on Facebook or Twitter.

Away from travel blogging? I am an award-winning freelance writer and editor with over ten year’s experience working on websites and in print covering topics like parenting, lifestyles, children’s health, and education for clients like KidsHealth and USA Today. I know lots about information architecture, content management, and other geeky things having to do with the backend of the Internet. I also have a Master of Fine Arts degree in nonfiction writing from Penn State. You can see more about my experience (and samples of my work) by visiting my LinkedIn profile.

So what can I do for you?

I’m so glad you want to know! I’d love to write for you on a freelance, contract, or barter basis. But preferably not for free, thanks for asking.

I’m also open to travel campaigns and have worked successfully with a variety of CVBs, resorts, and travel brands. I have a loyal and international audience of parents and other people who love to travel and read about travel and buy things that are related to travel. I also have a husband and two boys who are open for just about anything, from learning to downhill ski  to kayaking with manatees to visiting Colonial Williamsburg. If you have a fantastic location you’d like us to visit or a brand you’d like to promote, please let me know.

I know a lot about traveling with kids, but also about social media, parenting, and well, about blogging. If you work for a museum, resort, or attraction that’s trying to reach out to families or about what kind of in-person, online, or blogging campaigns might work best, I’d be happy to discuss a paid consulting relationship with you.

I live in Delaware. Yes, it’s a small state (it is a state though; not, as I’ve been asked, a town in New Jersey). No, I don’t think there are any other travel bloggers here. I’m very interested in visiting points of interest in the MidAtlantic region of the United States, pretty much of all of which is an easy drive from my house. Represent one of those points of interest? Please let me know!

And finally: I like to give back to communities I’ve visited and  those I hope to visit in the future, especially to the children who live in those communities. I’ve participated in the travel blogging fundraiser Passports With Purpose since it started in 2008 and in 2010 participated with Tripbase in a project to fund clean drinking water in the developing world.  If you’ve got a philanthropic project or travel campaign that you think would be a good fit for The Mother of All Trips, I’d love to hear about it.

Editorial and advertising policy

I do accept advertising but not paid text links or sponsored posts. Ads are ads, content is content, and on my site the two are clearly distinct. Ads also must be to G-rated sites.

This is not a product review site, but from time to time I may make mention of a product or book that has the potential to make traveling with kids easier or better. If the product was sent to me for free, I always disclose that information.

I do take trips that are sponsored or paid for by airlines, resorts, or other tourist attractions. I always share when this is the case and am explicit about who paid for what. I also keep my writing relevant and honest so that you know you are getting a fair review. (That means sometimes I say I don’t like things. But I also say why). And I’ll never accept money to plug a product, book, or destination.

Think you’ve got a product I’d like to use or place to visit that I’d like? Let me know – but please make sure it is relevant and relates somehow to travel.

I also don’t exchange links with sites I don’t have a relationship with or publish guest posts from people I’ve never met before online or in person.

Connect with Mara

Want to advertise? Interested in having me write for you? Got questions? Let’s talk!