We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ramsey Qubein a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ramsey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I started with an internship at a travel media company. They brought me in to write about airports and aviation, one of my areas of expertise. That led to becoming involved on some of their hotel projects and writing hotel reviews for travel advisors. As I learned more about travel journalism and met interesting people along the way, my business began to grow beyond just hotel reviews, but also executive interviews and trend stories. It really is a people business. Networking is key, and treating people the way you want to be treated is a must.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a freelance travel journalist covering hotels, cruises, airlines and loyalty programs from around the globe. My work has appeared in numerous publications including Conde Nast Traveler, Travel+Leisure, Forbes.com, CNBC.com, AFAR, Robb Report, Readers Digest, BBC, USA Today, NerdWallet.com, Frommers.com, Fodors.com, Business Traveler, Airways and AAA magazines among others. As a frequent traveler, I fly more than 400,000 miles per year and have visited 173 United Nations countries, all 7 continents and 50 U.S. states.

I also write often about credit card programs, and the perks that come along with them. As a result, I have helped readers understand how they can travel in style without overspending just because of credit card loyalty programs. Readers often email me asking for recommendations on which cards are right for them, and I love when I hear from them later about the great vacations they have been able to take by making smart decisions about what is in their wallet.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

During the pandemic, as you can imagine, most travel stories stopped. Well, at least the inspiring ones. Instead, we switched to writing about how to get your money back or how to cancel tickets or cruises and retain value. Some of my most lucrative and biggest projects came to a halt. It was a scary time for me and everyone, of course. But, I also used that period of uncertainty to develop new content and secured some other big assignments and consulting projects with big travel brands. Now that things have returned to normal, I have more work that I can dream of, and am grateful for it.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Yes, of course. I want to help people travel better and make smart decisions on where they go and how they get there. I don’t really write long prose stories about a destination. Instead, my stories are geared towards providing actionable results on how to travel wisely. I also enjoy sharing what big travel brands are doing to succeed. Those types of executive interviews are always fun to do; I always learn something new, and hope the reader does, too.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ramseyq.com
• Twitter: https://x.com/DailyTravelTips