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Credits

  • I blog about travel, culture, art and more for the Huffington Post, one of the most-read blogs on the web, and write a column about travel and luxury lifestyle twice a month for The Street. I'm teaching a travel writing workshop over at the Renegade Writer. I've contributed to American Archaeology, AmericanStyle, Boston Magazine, Business Traveler, BusinessWeek, The Chicago Tribune, The Christian Science Monitor, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Continental, Group Travel Planet, Fast Company, Glamour, Ladies’ Home Journal, Men's Journal, Money, Mother Jones, New York Magazine, Psychology Today, Robb Report, Reason, Sierra Magazine, USA Weekend, The Washington Post, Working Mother, Yankee, Yoga Journal, among other places. I've been a Contributing Editor at Inc., and Editor-at-Large at American Demographics magazine, a New York Times Professional Fellow and a National Press Foundation Fellow. My articles have won awards from the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the American Society of Business Press Editors. I started my career writing books, and am the proud author of Americans at Play, which is about trends in outdoor recreation and travel (New Strategist 1997) and Best of Health, which is about trends in health. (New Strategist, 2000).

Featured Work

  • Into the Wild--Inc.
    The senior managers of Timbuk2, a San Francisco-based manufacturer of messenger bags, gathered on a gently sloping granite ledge at an altitude of 12,000 feet, overlooking the blue-gray shimmer of one of the dozen or so Ice Lakes, slopes of stubby pine trees, and beyond onto ragged peaks. It was the middle of June, but snow still mounded on the ground. A thunderstorm had just skirted the campsite and the wind screamed constantly, cold and fierce. The group was halfway through a seven-day backpacking trip organized by the National Outdoor Leadership School, or NOLS. Accompanying them were two NOLS instructors and me; I'd tagged along to see what would happen.
  • Island of the Midwinter Sun --Men's Journal
    Can a Caribbean island withstand a cruise ship assault?
  • Your Name In Stick Up Lightbulbs: New York Magazine
    How infomercial king AJ Khubani finds the "but wait there's more" products that make millions.
  • Gary Heavin is On a Mission From God: Inc., October 2006
    This story just won a 2007 outstanding article award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors. It's a profile of Curves, the 30 minute fitness franchise, and its charismatic leader, Gary Heavin. There's one Curves for every two McDonald's in the United States, which was reason enough to spend two weeks in Waco figuring out what makes such a simple concept make such big bucks. This story is the first feature on Curves to run in a national business magazine.
  • A Wild Pair--Robb Report
    My profile of a luxury safari lodge in Kruger National Park.
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January 2008

Is New York City Not the Best City On Earth? --Huffington Post, 1/28/2008

I did a little musing on my own hometown, and the whole concept of anointing a city "best". (I think it's all very arbitrary and idiosyncratic.)
I thought I'd provoke a chorus of passionate New York City defenders, but that's not happened...yet. 

January 30, 2008 in On Places & Travel |

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How to Take a Safari in a Hurry: TheStreet.com 1/23/08

Img_0116A South African safari is one of those vacations that you might dream about for very long time --imagining yourself climbing into a Land Rover under that big dome sky, and bouncing across the veldt, dotted with iconic, low spreading fig trees, until you spot a herd of elephants -- and then cautiously following your armed guide, single-file, to take a closer look.

Then, as the sunset paints the green and tan grasslands rosy, stopping to take in the view while you sip a cocktail and snacking in some biltong (South African jerky) -- until your guide picks up the low rhythmic sound of lions communicating with each other. You’ll track the lion pride down and ride along with them as they prowl.

A safari really can be like this-- but South Africa is very far away, and the vacation time that you can afford to take seems very short.  But no need to put off your safari dreams for retirement, as I discuss in my latest column for TheStreet.com

January 23, 2008 in On Places & Travel |

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Learning to Ski in Aspen --The Huffington Post, 1/14/2008

Img_0382 My second dispatch on Aspen --this time, focusing on learning to ski --has run in the Huffington Post. To get a handle on why I found the first day of ski lessons so difficult, I gave Dr. John Eliot, performance psychologist, a call. I first spoke to Dr. Eliot for a story I wrote for Inc. a while back, he's currently on sabbatical from Rice University. He gave me great insight into why skiing is difficult for adults, why it's easier for kids but may be harder for teenagers, and how to best prepare your mind for learning a new physical activity like skiing. Have a listen to our chat here. Download alison_stein_wellner_interviews_dr. John Eliot 1.mp3

January 12, 2008 in On Health, On Lifestyle, On Places & Travel |

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Have the Beach to Yourself In Honduras --TheStreet.com, 1/7/08

Pict0136 The Caribbean island of Roatan in Honduras is capturing a great deal of media spotlight these days --I've contributed to that with a story forthcoming in Men's Journal --but there are several other places to enjoy a watery vacation in Honduras, as I report in this story for TheStreet.com .

January 08, 2008 in On Places & Travel |

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