New to BoardingArea: Josh Trips

My name is Josh, founder of Josh Trips, and I’m the newest member of the BoardingArea family. For my first post on BoardingArea, I wanted to introduce myself to give you an idea of my background, what you can expect from my travel blog, and some information to help you decide if you’d like get your travel news, reviews, and advice from me.

Background

Although I’m new to BoardingArea, I’ve been a travel writer for eight years now, spending about five of those years as a freelancer travel writer for NerdWallet.

My passion for travel started at a young age. I grew up in South Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia, and my dad was in a debilitating car accident when I was young. The accident made it difficult for him to work and left us without a lot of cash, so at first my passion for travel was an unrequited love.

I would spend countless hours staring at globes and maps, dreaming of all the places that I would visit one day. Every Sunday, I would memorize the travel section of The Philadelphia Inquirer and run to my parents telling them about how flights to The Bahamas or Bermuda were on sale. I would also hang out at my local travel agency, reading everything I could about destinations around the world. Although my parents couldn’t afford for us to travel much (except for the occasional trip to see relatives in Florida), when I was 10 years old they got me a subscription to Condé Nast Traveler for my birthday.

I went to college at the University of Arizona and then to law school at the University of Pennsylvania. After my first year of law school, I landed a summer associate role at a prestigious law firm and bought a passport with my first paycheck. About 17 years later, I’ve now visited over 60 countries on every continent except for Antarctica.

How I got into travel writing

I spend most of my professional time as a tech attorney, running my own law firm where I negotiate software and other commercial contracts for public and large private companies. But with my background, I’ve always had a passion for finding travel deals, so I’d constantly be telling my friends about how they could travel for less.

One night, I was out with one of my best friends likely talking his ear off about some travel deals, and he suggested that I start a travel blog. I decided to give it a shot. After a year or two of writing for an audience of myself, friends, and family, I was hired as a freelance travel writer for NerdWallet and my focus shifted away from Josh Trips to writing content for NerdWallet.

When I started Josh Trips, my dream was to write for BoardingArea (I can’t tell you how many times I tried to get on here!). A few months ago, one of my best friends from college asked if I had ever heard of a blog called One Mile at a Time and I told him it was my favorite travel blog. It turns out, my friend knew Ben and I asked for an introduction. I sent Ben some of my work from NerdWallet and he graciously agreed to connect me with the CEO of BoardingArea — and, with those stars aligning, I’m now a writer on the site where I get the bulk of my travel-related news and deals.

What you can expect from my travel blog

Shifting my writing from NerdWallet back to Josh Trips is going to be a big adjustment for me. At NerdWallet, I would often pitch story ideas but most of the articles that I wrote were assigned to me. Having the freedom to write about whatever I want, whenever I want to is a luxury and I’m really excited to see where it takes me.

While I can’t say the exact type of content that I’ll be publishing regularly here, some topics that I’m passionate about are:

• Travel deals.
• Hotel and airline loyalty programs.
• Earning and spending credit card points.
• Luxury travel and destinations.

Since travel writing is a side project of mine and not a full-time job, it’s unlikely that I’ll be publishing articles every day. Instead, my plan is to focus on topics that I’m passionate about and where I can offer a unique perspective. Also, I can’t promise that my articles will always be typo or error free — while I’ll always do my best, I apologize profusely in advance if I misspell anything or get something wrong.

Hobbies outside of travel

Outside of my travel, my hobbies include fitness (especially Pilates), music, hiking, video games, FIRE investing, and raising my dog, Marley.

Bottom line

I’m proud to be the newest member of the BoardingArea family and hope that I’m able to provide you with useful content, tips, and advice to guide and inspire you on your travel journey.