Amanda Castleman, a middle-aged white woman with dirty blonde straight hair, parted on the right. She has blue eyes and a wry smileWriter and Photographer Amanda Castleman specializes in travel, adventure, health, science, business and the environment. A former wilderness guide, she has won two Lowell Thomas awards and a grand silver Solas for Best Travel Writing for stories involving nature.

Amanda has worked on 30-odd books, including titles for National Geographic, Frommer’s, Michelin, Time Out and Rough Guides. She has taught journalism and travel writing since 2003, and has worked as a graphic designer, web developer and editor-in-chief, launching a magazine group and a Silicon Valley start-up.

EXPERIENCE

Freelance writer, editor, instructor and photographer (September 2004 to present)
Writer and photographer for outlets including Afar, AARP, Outside, Sierra, Islands, Journey, Hemispheres, National Geographic, Delta Sky, American Way, The Guardian, BBC Travel, Scuba Diving, Sport Diver, Hidden Compass, Coastal Living, Cooking Light, Bon Appétit, Robb Report, USA Today, the UK’s Sunday Express, The Seattle Times and The New York Times.

Regular contributor gigs have included Afar, MSNBC, Yahoo, Travelgirl, Cruise Critic, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, New Jersey Life, Moviemaker Magazine, Road and Travel and various Northwest publications including Visit Seattle and The Washington State Wine Tour Guide.

Editing: Michelin, Frommer’s, Thomas Cook, Addiction.com, Seattle Bride, Knowledge Leader, Wanderlust & Lipstick and Geotraveler Media Sweden. I also launch-edited TripSketch, a Silicon Valley start-up.

Custom-content: AAA, AOL, Chase, Delta, United, Airbnb, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, American Express, The New York Times‘ T Brand Studio, Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Acura Style Magazine, Andria Mitsakos PR, GEICO Now (via Totem), Holland America, Content Works (now Enveritas), Jones Advertising, 10Best, PADI, Shareable, Thomas Cook, Travel Tacoma, Vertex, Sagacity titles like Visit Bellevue and The Washington Wine Guide, and Visa Black Card Magazine (now Luxury).

Writing and Digital Media Instructor: Writers.com, The Travel Writing Master Class, Writing Rome, Write Like a Honey Badger and the Richard Hugo House.

Book credits: Frommer’s, Michelin, National Geographic, a travel-writing textbook and Greece, A Love Story.

Write Like a Honey Badger (October 2019 to present)
Founder and instructor: UI, UX, developed the brochure site and LMS, managing instructors, teaching online (pitching and travel writing)Travel Writing Master Class (March 2016 to present)
Founder and instructor: after 13 years of online instruction, I created my own program.

Tripsketch (February 2007 to December 2010)
Editorial Consultant and Founding Editor-in-Chief: I helped launch this Silicon Valley start-up. Duties included UI, UX, designing the site’s look and feel, and hiring and managing 80+ freelancers.

Freelance Journalism, Greece, Cyprus, the UK and US (October 2002 to August 2004)
Travel Writing Instructor: www.writers.com. Regular Contributor: Road and Travel and The Athens News. Clients included The Mail on Sunday, Wired News, The Rough Guide to Italy and Time Out’s Athens Guide.

American Academy in Rome, Italy (September 2000 to August 2002)
Visiting Writer. Freelance Journalist for the International Herald Tribune’s Italy Daily, Wired and the UK’s Daily Mail, among others. I began a novel, Fishing for Saints, and produced Aristophanes’ Clouds.

Oxford Mail and The Oxford Times, Oxford, England (September 99 to August 2000)
Feature Writer and Sub-Editor. Although primarily a reporter – specializing in travel, books, IT, human interest and the environment – I also proofread and designed pages.

Oxbow Books, Oxford, England (September 98 to September 99)
Web and Graphic Designer. Duties included design and maintenance of a commercial web site, book publicity, cover design, typesetting and proofing for an independent publisher.

Freelance Editing and Design, Oxfordshire, England (October 97 to September 98)
Graphic Designer: Past Times and Woolacott Davidson Advertising Agency. Assistant: Oxford University Press, ELT department. Copyeditor: various theses.

The Gist Magazine Group, Oxford, England (November 96 to October 97)
Founding Editor. I launched four British commercial monthly titles (circulation 40,000). Duties included commissioning, DTP, supervising pre-press and staff management.

The Daily, University of Washington, Seattle, America (September 93 to September 96)
Various positions including Editor-in-Chief and News Editor. Duties included reporting, photography, subbing, editing and DTP. As Editor, I trained new employees and directed a 60-person staff (circulation 18,000).

Savage Love Live, Seattle, America (September 94 to September 96)
Part-time Researcher. I prepared background for pundit Dan Savage’s weekly radio program.

EDUCATION

University of Washington, Seattle, America
BA in Latin with a classical studies minor

AWARDS

  • Silver Solas Award for stories about travel by water, 2023
  • Lowell Thomas (travel writing’s ersatz Pulitzer) silver in cultural writing, 2020
  • Grand Silver Solas Award for Best Travel Story of the Year, 2020
  • Lowell Thomas bronze in Adventure Writing 2007
  • Columbia Scholastic Press Association – Golden Circle Awards
  • First Place In-depth News/Feature Writing
  • Third Place Feature Photography
  • First Place News Publication Single Subject Presentation
  • First Place Newspaper Publication Photo Layout
  • Pacemaker Award (for top five student newspapers in America)
  • First-place In-depth Reporting, Society of Professional Journalists, West Coast
  • Most Hated Liberal on Campus, University of Washington Conservative Club

BOOKS

FREELANCE

Afar, AARP, Seattle Times, American Forests, Sierra, BBC Travel, The New York Times, Outside, Islands, Delta Sky, American Way, Hemispheres, Cooking Light, Coastal Living, Robb Report, Washington Journey, Fodor’s, Thrillist, Lonely Planet, Cruise Critic, Hidden Compass, The San Francisco Chronicle, Nations Indigenous Lifestyle Magazine, Hidden Compass, The Telegraph, USA Today, 10 Best, New York Daily News, Alaska Airlines Magazine, Visa Black Card Magazine, Yahoo, MSN, Acura Style, The International Herald Tribune’s Italy Daily, Wired Magazine, Wired News, Athens News, MSNBC, Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, The Sunday Express, Sport Diver, Scuba Diving, New Jersey Life, Salon Magazine, Michelin, Frommer’s, Time Out, Rough Guide, MSN Underwire, BBC Thames Valley FM, Cotswold Life, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle Bride, AOL Travel, Northwest Dive News, Wanderlust and Lipstick, travelgirl, Thomas Cook phrasebooks, Wanderlust and Lipstick, Wandermelon, Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness, Single State of the Union, Greece A Love Story, Italy A Love Story, Rome in Detail, Bank Travel Management, Corriere della Sera, The International Examiner, MSN Daily Access, AmEx’s Square, GEICO Direct, The Washington State Visitors Guide, AA Guide to Rome, In These Times, Moviemaker, Travel Age West, International Living, Trip, Living Abroad, Intelliguides, Z-Guides, Road and Travel, Adbusters, Gloucester Echo, Western Daily Press, Nervy Girl, Bitch, Northwest Travel, Aspen Daily News, Outdoor West, Business and Marketing Management, Wanted in Rome, Continental Drift, Destinworld, eMedia, Red Group, Efemera, Fresh Direction

SKILLS

  • Packages: Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Lightroom, Dreamweaver and Illustrator), InDesign, Excel, Word, Powerpoint, various databases and content management systems including WordPress
  • Internet: web-site architecture, construction and maintenance, including SEO, HTML, CSS, tweaking basic Java script and Drupal nodes, UI flows, keywording. WordPress and CMS savvy.
  • Graphics: photography and editing high-definition video; experience with packaging, book covers, website branding, newspaper and magazine design, and outputting digital files for color repro
  • Languages: BA in Latin, competent Italian, fading German and Ancient Greek
  • Diving: Advanced open-water and drysuit certification

OTHER EXPERIENCE

  • Co-founder of The Monkey Barrel, an office co-op in Seattle (2011)
  • Co-founder of OTTER, a learning management system (2010)
  • Founder and instructor, Writing Rome (2009)
  • Producer for the revival of Clouds in Rome (2001)
  • Producer of Aristophanes’ Clouds for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2000
  • Co-author of the play Il Cowboy di Natale (Rome, 2000)
  • English tutor to a disabled university student (1995-96)
  • Graduate of Cascades Mountaineering Course, NOLS (1993)
  • Assistant wilderness guide, Tired Dog Tours (1992-93)
  • Lifeguard and swimming instructor, YMCA (1989-93)
  • Participant in John Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth (1987-90)
  • Child actress, American Dairy Association commercial (1986)
  • Museum interpreter at Plimoth Plantation (1984-6)