Once while visiting a chimpanzee research facility, I was invited with other guests to get on a trampoline and jump with the chimps. Among the large group that was visiting, I was surprised that it was only myself and one other person who elected to do so.
I thought it would be a dream experience, but it turned out to be a little more nerve-wracking than I imagined. My hairy companion kept looking up and baring his teeth at me, making me fearful that the chimp was planning to take a chomp out of me. It was only later I realized that he was smiling! So given a second chance, I’d do it again. Rich Jumps with the Chimps!
I reside in Columbus, Ohio, but I like to say that I travel the country and the world looking for offbeat and off-the-beaten-path stories. In my travels, I’ve attended and graduated from the Elf School of Reykjavik and can even tell you what the Amish wear to the beach in Florida (Exactly what they wear back home on the farm. They even get in the water wearing it). I’ve covered everything from the Lizzie Borden murders to the 200th anniversary of Silent Night, the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s voyage to America, and the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
Prior to my current career of full-time freelancing (primarily covering travel), my past experience has been as a staff writer at Ohio Magazine and as managing editor of Ohio’s Country Living, which focused on regional travel. So that makes me particularly well-versed in stories tied to the Buckeye State, the states surrounding it, and in fact, much of the eastern U.S. I just ate my way along the Mississippi Blues Trail, for example, and for an upcoming story I will go even farther afield exploring “Dark Dublin” on a trip to Ireland that’s coming soon. Will I make it to the infamous “Hellfire Club?”
Examples of stories like these are loaded on this website for your perusal. I’ve included what I like to consider my “greatest hits,” as well as recent freelance work, and work at previous publications. One of my favorite gigs was writing a weekly column for Columbus Alive, a local alternative newspaper, where I was able to write funny pieces on places and events close to home. I love to laugh, not to mention travel and writing about it, so I’m all over any assignment that offers the opportunity for all three. Quirky? That’s my middle name.
My freelance work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Cleveland Plain Dealer, National Geographic Traveler, AARP, Virtuoso Living, Private Clubs, AAA World, AAA Explorer, AAA Home and Away, AAA Highroads, Long Weekends, American Way, The Wine Buzz, TripSavvy.com, fodors.com, and GoWorldTravel.com
My work has won awards in the annual writing contests of both the Midwest Travel Journalists Association (MTJA) and the Society of American Travel Writers (One piece on the Phallological Museum of Iceland scored honors from both organizations). And I’ve very proud to be one of the winners of MTJA’s Mark Twain Travel Writer of the Year in 2013. I aspire to win again soon!
Rich Adventures
