Today we’d like to introduce you to Jan Schroder.
Hi Jan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was working at the High Museum of Art as the membership manager and began writing weekly stories for Creative Loafing. (Back then I had to print out the story and drive it across town to turn it in.) After staying home and raising my two children for a few years, I started writing a weekly column for Atlanta Intown newspaper, then known as Atlanta 30306. Two other papers were added and I became editor of all three. One day I got a letter (remember those?) inviting me to the Turks & Caicos for two nights, my first press trip. I traveled a few more times for the newspaper, then left and became managing editor of Travelgirl magazine for 12 years, and was lucky enough to travel from Belize to Berlin to Bora Bora.
During that time I was also working for Schroder Public Relations, my husband Chris’s company, and ghostwriting blogs for a wealth manager and CEO. In addition, I had a small book publishing company and wrote and published several books. Chris started a newsletter company, The 100 Companies, and we began publishing The Travel 100, a monthly publication sent to around 350k a month. I also freelanced for outlets that included Orbitz, Fodor’s Travel, ShermansTravel, West Jet Magazine, Celebrity Living, Simply Buckhead and Global Traveler, and appeared on Belinda Skelton’s Atlanta Living radio show as a travel expert. Another side gig I have is working as an essay coach for students applying to college and grad school.
This past October my husband and I spent six weeks in Portugal. We were in Lagos for the month of October, writing and producing weekly videos for International Living magazine.
I feel really fortunate to spend my life exploring the world and sharing my experiences with readers. I can’t imagine a better job.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I worked in the print world for more than 12 years, then transitioned to primarily digital. It was not an easy transition for me, as I was self-taught. My teacher was not that knowledgeable or patient! The toughest part for me was understanding SEO and finding the best tool that worked for me. Freelance travel writing has gotten harder as many outlets have shut down. At least three magazines I wrote for no longer exist. And pay rates are typically low. Many travel writers have other jobs to pay the bills.
I love having my own outlet with The Travel 100. The struggle is getting people to understand the power and reach of a newsletter. We are not a glossy print publication but have about 85-90k openers every month.
I also struggle with keeping up with social media. I decided to focus primarily on Instagram. but found it hard to increase followers. Thanks to my Portugal trip and having International Living promote following me on Instagram, I was able to increase those to 12.5k.
At one point I had five jobs and multiple deadlines a week. Balancing those with a heavy travel schedule was really tough and way too stressful.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
These days I’m primarily known as a travel writer and editor. While I enjoy writing, I really enjoy the editing process. One of the things I’m most proud of is a book I wrote and published, doing everything except the design. Several years ago, I met with Tom Murphy, the owner of Murphy’s restaurant in Virginia Highland, just about every week for months to get his stories and weave them into a book. I also interviewed more than 30 people, many of them famous chefs who got their start at Murphy’s. I gathered stories from long-time customers and photos spanning the life of the 30-year-old restaurant (now more than 40 years old). We published the hardback book and Murphy’s had a fun event with several of the chefs to celebrate its publication.
More recently, I’m really proud of the work we did for International Living magazine, covering what it’s like to be an ex-pat in Lagos, Portugal.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Travel was one of the industries hardest hit by COVID. How do you cover travel on a monthly basis when no one is going anywhere? I had to get creative. I ended up writing a lot about camping and renting RVs, neither of which I’ve ever done. The angle I took was tips for newbies so others could learn along with me about these two activities that many people turned to during the pandemic. I also wrote about travel-themed books and movies and virtual tours of places like the Keukenhof gardens in the Netherlands.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thetravel100.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janschroder/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jan.b.schroder/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/GirlontheGoJan
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheTravel100
