AWARDS
Presented to recent Travel Classics Attendees
Summer 2025
Ruksana Hussain
(TCWest 22)
Winner
How-to-Service category
2025 ASJA Awards
“How to Behave When Visiting Sites of Remembrance.”
Lisa Niver
(TC Ireland 23)
Winner
2025 Telly Award
Southern California Journalism Awards for the LA Press Club
"Celtic Charm" a 24-minute travel TV special filmed in Ireland for The Jet Set TV
Sherry Spitsnaugle
(TCWest 24)
Gold
SATW Western Chapter 2025 Writing Contest, Adventure Category
“Grafting Coral in Bora Bora Paradise” (Luxe Beat Magazine)
Crai Bower
2025 NATJA "Illustrated Story (Words + Images)” Award (Bronze),
2025 SATW Western Chapter “U.S. & North America Travel Feature” (Bronze)
2025 SATW Western Chapter “Adventure Travel Feature” Award (Silver)
Alona Abbady Martinez
(TCWest 19)
Charlie Award
2025 Florida Magazine Association Awards
Chef Profile column in Boca Raton Observer
Judith Fein and Paul Ross
(TC West frequent attendees)
Winner of the 2024 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award for Travel
And Just In...
See all the SATW Lowell Thomas 24-25 Award Winners coming to Travel Classics Québec.
We look forward to honoring you on opening night, October 13 at Le Chateau Frontenac.
Bravo Everyone!
Category 102 Travel Magazines
Gold: Travel + Leisure
Silver: Condé Nast Traveler
Bronze: AFAR
Category 104 Editorial Travel Website
Silver: Fodors.com, Jeremy Tarr, Digital Editorial Director
Category 106: Robert Haru Fisher Award for Travel Health/Safety Coverage
Bronze: Kinsey Gidick, ‘What Happens When a Doctor Responds to a Medical Emergency on a Plane?’ Thrillist
Category 108: Foreign Travel
Gold: Cassandra Karpiak, ‘This Safari Camp Offers the Dreamiest Treehouse Stay for an Epic Night in the Wild,’ BLOX Digital Content Exchange/Associated Press
Category 112: Service-Oriented Consumer Work
Silver: Kathleen Rellihan, ‘Top 8 Destinations on Earth to Take a Cold Plunge,’ Outside
Category 113: Environmental and Sustainable Tourism
Silver: Crai Bower, ‘Starry, Starry Nights at Dark Sky Preserves,’ The Saturday Evening Post
Category 117: Coverage of Diverse Communities
Bronze: Sheeka Sanahori, ‘A Stranger Invited Me to Our Family’s Reunion,’ Thrillist
Category 124b: Travel Audio-Podcasts and Guides
Silver: Derrik J. Lang, Locations Around the World: Part I,’ Traveling with AAA, Automobile Club of Southern California
NEWS
Congrats to Kevin Garrett! A longtime member of the Travel Classics’ writers’ community, Kevin had two of his images selected for the Booth Western Art Museum permanent collection. Click here for more about the Booth Western Art Museum.
Congrats to Katherine LaGrave, who was recently named Executive Editor at Afar. Katherine will be one of 18 speakers at Travel Classics International 2025 next month, hosted by the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, Québec City, Québec.
RESOURCES
EVENTS
IMM North America
January 21-22, 2026
Javits Center, NYC
Annual NATJA Conference & Marketplace
June 2-5, 2025
Riviera Resort & Spa
Palm Springs, California
Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference
August 14-17, 2025
Corte Madera, CA (Just north of San Francisco)
Society of American Travel Writers
2025 Annual Convention
September 10-14, 2025
Detroit, Michigan
ORGANIZATIONS
Society of American Travel Writers
American Society of Journalists and Authors
North American Travel Journalists Association
WORKSHOPS
Beginner Travel Memoir Workshop
August 18-22, 2025
Central Paris
Advanced Travel Memoir Workshop
September 1-5, 2025
Central Paris
COURSES
Instructors: Amanda Castleman, Jessica Poitevien and Leslie Hsu Oh (on hiatus)
Six-week online course beginning September 3, 2025
Travel Writing I
Instructors: Amanda Castleman, Jessica Poitevien and Leslie Hsu Oh (on hiatus)
Six-week online course beginning October 21, 2025