Authors
Anthony Paonita is a writer based in New York and Italy. He’s written for More, Business, Reuters, and Business Week about technology, travel, food, and legal affairs.
Kelly Sheldrick loves to get off the beaten trail, and have unique travel experiences. That's why her preferred method of travel is by bicycle. She's cycled about 20,000km in over 15 countries, bring her country tally up to 70.
Ivanka Yurchenko is a writer and photographer with a passion for traveling. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, she spends a lot of time exploring the vibrant local culture that is filled with all kinds of events like music festivals, yoga retreats and art gallery openings. She enjoys writing about her travels to inspire other people to go out and see what the world has to offer. She left a job at marketing and went exploring Myanmar, India and Nepal. Now Ivanka is striving to become a great photographer to share the beauty of the world with as many people as possible.
Ian Fitzpatrick, Esq., is the co-founder of World Footprints, a platform dedicated to social impact travel storytelling. He is an accomplished travel and business journalist, award-winning podcaster, and public speaker. Ian contributes to DETOUR magazine and his articles have been featured in AAA World, The Lens, and The Miami Herald. An aviation and architecture enthusiast, Ian is also an avid supporter of Baltimore sports teams.
Sam Treacy is a current business student at the University of Victoria, who loves the thrill of exploring a destination’s culture, traditions and environment. After completing an exchange year in Austria in 2016, Sam is now interested in continuing her German studies, as well as studying other languages. When she’s not writing or studying, Sam enjoys travelling to both new and old destinations, as well as skiing, hiking and playing rugby.
JenLyn Fitz is a freelance writer who enjoys writing blog posts and articles about different topics, but her specialty is travel. She loves spending time exploring new places in the world with her husband and three children. In her spare time, she loves reading and working on cross-stitch projects. While her days and nights are busy, she would not change her life in any way.
Jacqueline “Jackie” Jones is a Barbadian author and entrepreneur who spends more time lost in the virtual world than anyone should. Jackie loves meeting new people as much as she loves traveling, and she’s often guilty of “interviewing” unsuspecting strangers whether they want her to or not. When she’s not dealing with the day-to-day of running two businesses (Originz Multimedia and Waterway Media), or spending time with family and friends, Jackie turns to words and is an accomplished speculative fiction writer.
Tonya Fitzpatrick, Esq., is the author of Destination Stewardship (Kogan Page, April 2026) and the co-founder of World Footprints, an award-winning social impact travel media company. She is a three-time TEDx presenter and global speaker whose work has appeared in publications including the Miami Herald, AAA World, The Lens, and Island Soul. Recognized alongside husband Ian as Black Travel Journalists of the Year, Tonya was appointed by Governor Wes Moore to the Maryland Tourism Development Board.
Jennifer Raskin is an internationally-published writer who had the pleasure of living abroad in Asia. Now back in the states with her husband and two daughters, she continues her thriving freelance writing career. She loves reading, weightlifting, and indulging in guilty pleasures like ice cream, donuts, and wine.
Derek Cullen is an adventurer and travel writer from Dublin, Ireland. Having traveled the world in search of new experiences since 2008, Derek now spends most of his time leading adventure tours through Africa.
