Zanny Merullo Steffgen

Final Gravity, A Beer Zine Issue 03 — Bean to Barstool Final Gravity Issue 03 tells personal, immersive stories from the world of beer, showcasing independent beer journalism and first person accounts from craft beer workers.

Final Gravity Issue 03 has great articles from @meganululani.bsky.social, @nooranandchawla.bsky.social, @zanmerusteffgen.bsky.social, & many others. Grab it super cheap here until our stock is back to a reasonable level: www.beantobarstool.com/shop/p/final...

I need this book! Lol 😅🤣😂

The Travel Writer’s Dilemma: Share, or Gatekeep?

Something I think about a lot as a travel journalist: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/10/t...

Vince Vaughn - Wikipedia

My latest for Fodor's! www.fodors.com/news/news/is...

Inside North Korea 2025 from a guide | Adventure.com Gareth Johnson has been to North Korea over 100 times. He was also one of the first people to enter North Korea earlier this year.

My latest for Adventure.com:

adventure.com/gareth-johns...

Get Paid to Write About Your Travels Zanny shares her secrets from 11 years of travel writing. From how to plan for travels and afford trips to pitching, writing, and even a private coaching discount thrown in, this course is all you nee...

Excited to announce I've finally finished putting together my online travel writing course, where you'll find everything from pitching advice and sample pitches to how to afford travels, find your place in the travel media industry, and more!

www.feelgoodfreelancewriting.com/courses/get-...

how long do you think the average cardinal has been thinking about what papal name they would choose

There's something addictive about booking the next international trip... And I just set up two!

As a freelancer, I've learned to reach out to old clients as soon as I can anticipate a slow down in my schedule. Today, prompting an old client meant landing enough work to know I'll have my rent covered the next couple of months!

Wouldn't it be great if chronic illnesses were a little less chronic.

I hit my 4-year anniversary of full-time freelance writing this week! Amazing how far I've come in that time, all the experiences I've had, and all I've learned along the way...

April is always my busiest month--just got through a week where I had SIX deadlines and can't wait for a little break...

Original 1925 jacket cover of The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby Here is a novel, glamorous, ironical, compassionate a marvellous fusion into unity of the curious incongruities of the life of the period which reveals a hero like no other one who could live at no other time and in no other place. But he will live as a character, we surmise, as long as the memory of any reader lasts. "There was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life. .. It was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again?" It is the story of this Jay Gatsby who came so mysteriously to West Egg, of his sumptuous er-tertainments, and of his love for Daisy Buchanan a story that ranges from pure lyrical beauty to sheer brutal realism, and is infused with a sense of the strangeness of human circumstance in a heedless universe. It is a magical, living book, blended of irony, romance, and mysticism. CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS The GREAT GATSBY FITZGERALD

They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.

-FS Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, published 4/10/1925.

Greenland and Jordan are up there for me!

I took three days to do an at-home meditation retreat and WOW did I need that... Hard to be ambitious and also value work-life balance.

Visiting Indigenous Communities in the Yucatan Peninsula Take part in community-led tourism experiences that offer the chance to participate in Indigenous empowerment and ecotourism

My latest for Travel Age West!

www.travelagewest.com/Travel/Adven...

Of course it's only when I sit down to meditate that I suddenly remember all the tasks I wanted to add to my to-do list... An added challenge for clearing the mind I guess!

For some reason late March-May has been my busiest time of year as a freelance writer since 2021. Anyone else in the throes of busy season?

Germany’s Camino trek rivals Spain’s famous pilgrimage—and is a lot less crowded The Camino de Santiago is more than just one 500-mile route through Spain. Here’s why you should consider hiking the German section of trails.

I got to write for my dream publication! www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/artic...

Ian Callen on how supported travel can open doors and break down barriers With Go Beyond Holidays, Ian Callen opens up a world of travel for those with different cognitive abilities – here, he shares his thoughts on inclusion.

Building on our inaugural Icons of Inclusion event last year, we catch up with Go Beyond Holidays co-founder Ian Callen to explore the challenges of travel for people with hidden disabilities and the need for better accessibility beyond physical accommodations.

@zanmerusteffgen.bsky.social

No task more challenging than writing a short bio about myself...

Call for pitches: We're looking at launching a destination-focused newsletter at point.me, and I'm looking for pitches from writers with deep expertise in a particular city or region(live in/visit often).
🧵

Getting woken up early by the fire alarm low battery chirp means it's the perfect day to work from the couch...

Despite the fact that I'm both well-traveled and a travel journalist, I'm terrible at packing and always get stressed out before my trips...

No Man is an Island The power of community

In today's Substack, my dad and I discuss community and its power in such an isolating time.

merullo.substack.com/p/no-man-is-...

I used to get frustrated at delayed replies to my emails (or no replies at all), but now that my inbox is packed full of PR pitches, newsletters, communications with clients and editors, and other random stuff I think I understand why that happens!

How to Interview Someone in a Foreign Language Freelance travel journalist Zanny Merullo Steffgen gives advice for setting up an interview in a language you don't speak.

Always fun to contribute to Your First Byline!

yourfirstbyline.substack.com/p/how-to-int...

Mission to Mars because travel writers are running out of places for their "where to go next" lists

As much as I love to travel (and have to do so for work), I always dread my trips as they come nearer... Something about being both a homebody and an adventurer?

The Light in Our Sky Series #4 A quote from Rumi

Some brief reflection on one of my all-time favorite quotes:

merullo.substack.com/p/the-light-...