KAREN EDWARDS

Travel, lifestyle and entertainment writer, specialising in responsible travel

I am very grateful to be able to combine my passions (music, travel and writing) into a career.

For the last 13 years, I have written extensively about travel, wildlife conservation, sustainable living and culture – alongside health and wellbeing – for national magazines, websites and inflight magazines. With a 20+ year background in music and entertainment journalism, I also contribute related stories to magazines, websites and newspapers. 
Since 2021, I have contributing advice and mentorships as the Senior Journalist for JournoResources​.

My travel and lifestyle articles have appeared in a variety of publications including Breathe, Cosmo online, Conde Nast Brides, Discovery (by Cathay Pacific), Fabulous, Grazia, High Life (by British Airways), In The Moment, Metro UK, Sunday Mirror, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, Telegraph Travel, The Face, The Independent and Time Out. I’ve also taught myself the basics of portrait and landscape photography – and my images occasionally accompany my articles in print and online.

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Travelling on my own and as a member of the press has taken me to far-flung places and has given me incredible life-changing experiences. It even allowed me the opportunity to train and work part-time as a guide on small expedition ships – in remote locations such as Antarctica, the Russian Far East, Alaska, Papua New Guinea and Australia’s Kimberley region – where I was able to share my knowledge and experience with fellow adventure travellers. It was during this time that being a responsible traveller became increasingly important to me. I had always travelled in a way where I interacted with local experiences and enjoyed slow, overland travel but I was now more in tune with how important this was. Witnessing the impact of tourism in various environments and communities, from Svalbard to Bangladesh, expanded my understanding of the potential negative aspects of the industry. This has inspired me to travel in a more conscious way myself, and focus my writing towards more ethical travel experiences.

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In early 2023, I stepped into the role of Sustainability Editor at Wanderlust Travel Media. My first assignment was to put together the magazine's first ever Travel Green List, a 36-page feature on the stand-out regions, accommodation, travel operators and transport providers striving for a more considerate travel industry. 

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Artist interviews, consulting and media training

I continue to work closely with music artists, their management and PRs to write and produce tour programmes, biographies and
media packs. This has meant interviewing high profile artists on a regular basis to put together interesting and engaging content

for live shows and print/online media. 

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Commercial content

With the media landscape continually transforming and adapting, I also write commercial content across variety of digital
platforms, with a focus on sustainability and lifestyle - often contributing to commercial divisions of
The Independent (Ignite) and The Guardian (Guardian Labs).

 

Book publications

The Planet-Friendly Kitchen and The Little Book of Activism, were published by Summersdale in May and June 2021 respectively.
365 of Mindful Meditations, was released in December 2021. 
My fourth non-fiction title, The Responsible Traveller, delves into the environmental and social impact of tourism, and offers advice on how to be more aware when exploring our incredible planet. This title was published in July 2022.

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Background in music and entertainment journalism

Having completed a BA (Honours) Journalism course in Greater London, I began my writing career covering one of my great loves, music. During my first seven years working as an entertainment journalist, I had the pleasure of interviewing a variety of music and film personalities for magazines such as Fabulous, Hello!, First News, FHM, Grazia, Bliss, Cosmopolitan (U.K. and South African editions), OK!, Mixmag, More, New!, Notebook, Sneak, Stylist, TV Hits and (my all-time favourite) Smash Hits.

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I spent four exciting years as Deputy TV & Reviews Editor at heat magazine, where I regularly interviewed influential music artists, TV and film actors and authors. My job was to oversee the then highly-acclaimed heat music, book and DVD review pages. I was also fortunate to be a part of the team who grew heat’s showbiz news website, heatworld, along with its social media channels, learning about digital publishing from its early days. It was upon leaving heat, at the start of 2011, that I took the plunge into freelancing. Since then, I have worked across a myriad of publishing companies - from Bauer and Hearst to Reach and News UK. I have worked as Web Editor for The X Factor website at ITV and Fremantle Media UK, Contributing Editor at Sunday Mirror’s Notebook magazine and launched a website for Microsoft Skype. It was natural progression when I decided to move on from the world of entertainment to focus on travel.