Contributors

We love our Contributors and enjoy building a community of writers! Take a look at who’s writing for Confetti Travel Cafe.

Contributors:

Nancy Zaffaro

Nancy Zaffaro loves to travel and explore. At home and away, she loves to hear people’s stories and feels at home just about anywhere. She grew up in inner-city Chicago, has also lived in Vancouver, Canada and Bellingham, Washington, and currently lives in Portland, Oregon.

In past work lives, she’s been a managing partner in a telecom construction company; as an artist, she sold her wire art and crafts at festivals and in shops throughout the West Coast; she edited a natural health newsletter and managed a natural health site in the early days of the internet; was a software technical writer; a freelance editor and writer; and an editor for two medical journals, working with an international editorial board. She received a B.A. in Creative Writing from Columbia College in Chicago and has published some fiction, poetry and photography in various, small literary journals. She is a member of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA) and the International Travel Writers Alliance (ITWA). Nancy is Confetti Travel Cafe’s Editor.  Contact her at editor@confettitravelcafe.com.

Jaimi Truhler

Jaimi Truhler is a recovering marketer with a passion for food, travel, and new adventures. She is an ITWPA member residing in Portland, Oregon. That is, when she’s not out chasing her next travel fix.

Patricia Conover

At sixteen, Patricia Conover fell in love with travel on a school trip to France. She’s had wanderlust ever since. She’s smitten by the experience of being lost in a completely unknown place and seeing the world through a fresh lens.  Born and raised in a suburb of New York City, Patricia spent her early career at G.P Putnam’s Sons and Random House. She cut her teeth on biographies, memoirs, novels and travel books written by the best in the business. Her recent writing has ranged from an overview of women in architecture to expat strategies for an international education. She’s written essays, features, profiles and criticism for publications including The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Oregonian and Community Newspapers.

Patricia is currently a project editor and writer for Going Global, publisher of guidebooks on culture, careers, economies, education, health, and travel. She also teaches English, journalism and new media at EFAP Paris, l’école de communication (the School of Communication) in Paris. Read about her adventures @ParisRhapsody.

Christopher P. Baker

Professional travel writer and photographer Christopher P. Baker (www.christopherpbaker.com) has written and photographed six books on Cuba, including Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro’s Cuba. He has written and photographed for more than 200 publications, from Motorcyclist to National Geographic Traveler and Playboy.

 Jessica Pickett

The daughter of a free-spirited, surfing waitress and a professional cross-country mover, Jessica discovered most of the country from the dog trot of an eighteen-wheeler before turning 5 years old. She was raised along the banks of the Sabine River and was fortunate enough to be able to call both Texas and Louisiana home. She embraces her naturally curious soul, love of nature, and appreciation for culture. After marrying a 4th generation farmer who had never taken a vacation, an entirely new adventure began. They now split their time between farm chores and traversing the globe. You can join them on their many (and sometimes muddy) adventures at TheRootedGypsy.com.

Kaylene Chadwell

Kaylene Chadwell is a southern American saving her pennies to see the world. She took her first international trip a little over two years ago and now can’t help but plan her life around traveling. A year ago, Kaylene combined two of her favorite activities, traveling and writing, by starting CheersToTraveling.com.

Betsi & Jim Hill

Betsi and Jim Hill, husband and wife of 28 years, are the traveling team at Betsi’s World. Betsi is a freelance journalist and blogger, and Jim is a freelance photographer.

Together Betsi and Jim craft lifestyle, history, culture and cuisine content and photography for each destination they visit.

Tomeka Allgood

Tomeka Allgood is a freelance travel writer and travel blogger based in Nashville, Tennessee. She is the founder and managing editor of Short Weeks–Long Weekends, a travel blog dedicated to the weekender. She writes on a broad range of topics that includes but is not limited to: art, history, culture, travel, music, food and wine. She specializes in places and attractions that relate to African American heritage and history.

Justin & Tracy Uselton

Justin and Tracy Uselton are the writers of A Couple for the Road, a couples travel blog that focuses on food, drink and culture written from a personal and artistic perspective for the avid traveler.

Rick Goulian

Rick Goulian and his wife Mary have been passionately traveling the U.S. and Europe for over 30 years. Rick is from New York and Mary is from Chicago, though Phoenix has been their home for 20 years. Their passion is seeing different places and experiencing different cultures every chance they get. You can reach Rick at dgiii@cox.net.

Lynne Curry

(Photo Joni Kabana Photography.)

Lynne Curry is a frequent contributor to Fine Cooking, Zester Daily and Civil Eats. A freelance food journalist, professional cook and blogger, she lives with her family in the mountains of eastern Oregon. Lynne is the author of  Pure Beef: An Essential Guide to Artisan Meat with Recipes for Every Cut and is working on her next book on pasture-raised meats and poultry.

Abby Tanner

I am an adventurer at heart, love the outdoors, and prefer exploring the natural wonders of our world to large cities. I like volunteering and learning about different cultures through spending time with locals. In short, I am consumed by my passion for travel.

I was introduced to traveling in my first year at Oregon State University. I was able to travel out of the U.S. for the first time for a volunteer trip to Guatemala, providing micro loans to local entrepreneurs to start small businesses. Since then, I have been hooked. In four years at OSU I traveled to over 20 countries spanning four continents. A lot of my traveling was centered on volunteer trips, and a majority of it is done with my partner, Weston (he’s pretty fun to travel with). One of our most memorable trips was to Uganda where we not only went gorilla trekking (it was remarkable, by the way!), but we got to work with an amazing nonprofit, TERREWODE, supporting women with obstetric fistula in Uganda.

Recently married in Switzerland, Weston and I are taking a year (or three!) to travel the world and are documenting our experiences along the way. We hope you will join us on this journey at WestByAdventures.com.

Chelsea Martin

Chelsea Martin is a Communication Coach and Organizational Development Consultant in independent practice. Learn more about her work at 4CProfessionalCommunication. Chelsea travels with friends, family, or solo and interest in Spanish and Latin American culture. She resides near Portland, Oregon.

Leslie Hayertz

Leslie Hayertz received her BA/ed. from Central Washington University and her MA from Middlebury College. As a Spanish teacher and interpreter, she’s traveled throughout Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Central America and Spain. After a gritty day of conjugating verbs with her students, she reverts to her native English to write plays, articles and fiction. Her work has appeared in various publications, including Calyx, Clinton St. Quarterly and Red Rock Review, and her one-act plays have had staged readings and a production in Alaska, Washington and New York. She lives in West Linn, Oregon.