Introduction
Is your publication interested in writing a story about Vagabond Journey.com or republishing any articles or photos included in this website? If so, you may start with this press kit to assist you in compiling your information. You may quote from any writing on the site, including the travelogue.
Wade and Chaya are available to be interviewed for stories that will appear in print magazines, newspapers, radio, television, online publications, or any other type of media. As he is perpetually on the road, it is best to make initial contact through sending an email to vagabondsong@gmail.com, and then further details can be arranged.
Overview
Wade Shepard Bio
Wade Shepard has been traveling the world for over 11 years, through more than 47 countries on five continents. He is a university trained archaeologist and journalist, and plies both of these trades regularly as he travels around the globe. Vagabond Journey.com is the final product of his impressions and experiences of the world as he moves through it. He is the editor of the Vagabond Journey.com eMagazine and writes a daily travel column at Travelogue. In the autumn of 2008 Wade paired up with Chaya in New York City and they have since traveled through Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Middle East together. They were married in June of 2009 and had their daughter, Petra, in August of the same year. He is now traveling the world with his family.
Chaya Shepard Bio
Chaya Shepard began her international travels at the age of 14 when she decided that she would travel from her family’s home in Maine to France — alone. With a hard head of stubborn steam she pulled the journey off, and set herself on a course of world travel that she has followed ever since. She had traveled to five continents before meeting up with Wade in 2008. Since then they have been inseparable, having traveled through Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Middle East while pregnant, and wandered around the American Southwest, the Dominican Republic, Central America, and Mexico with their infant daughter, Petra. The traveling family is set to go to Puerto Rico, Colombia, Brazil, and Patagonia in 2011.
Chaya writes a travel blog on Vagabond Journey.com at, Travels with Petra, which often discusses traveling while pregnant, with an infant, and with an incorrigibly stubborn husband.
Petra Hendele Adara Shepard Bio
Petra was born on Chaya’s family’s living room floor in August of 2009. At the time of her birth she has already logged in an impressive record of inutero travels: going from Budapest through the Balkans to Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Egypt while growing inside of her mother’s belly.
Since birth, Petra has traveled across the USA by car from Arizona to Maine, the Dominican Republic, Central America, and Mexico. She is all set and rearing to visit South America with her mom and dad in 2011.
Vagabond Journey Travels
Vagabond Journey.com overview
- 4,000+ unique visitors daily, 100,000+ monthly
- 150+ travel tips
- 250+ travel questions answered
- 1,700+ travelogue entries
- 6,000+ travel photos
- Alexa traffic rank: 60,000
- Google page rank: 4/10
- Twitter followers: 1,200
Wade’s highlights from 11 years of world travels
- Two months deep in the Peruvian Amazon along tributaries of the River Huallaga
- Excavating at the Copan archaeology site in Honduras
- Excavating a Manteno archaeology site on the coast of Ecuador
- Hitchhiking across China from Mongolia to Vietnam
- Living in a Tibetan monastery, Qinghai province of China
- Building a hermitage in the mountains of Japan
- Tramping in the Himalaya on the border of India/ Nepal
- Riding a bicycle across Europe
- Researching and publishing magazine articles on Tibetan refugees in India, Portuguese graffiti artists, traditional tattooing in Japan, Guatemala civil war refugees, cockfighting in Honduras, Mayan archaeology, Turkish motorcycle travelers, and Indian woodcarvers
- Traveling in Iraq and across the Middle East with his pregnant fiancé
- Beginning his travels as a family man
- Working a the Finca Tatin in the Jungle of Guatemala
Chaya’s highlights from 4 years of travel
- Teaching at a multi-cultural girl’s school in South Africa
- Working on an oral history project with a youth group in El Salvador
- Whirling with dervishes in Konya, Turkey
- Drinking chai with women in the Himalaya at the mountainous apex of India, Tibet, and Nepal
- Hitchhiking with a goat in Munsyari, India.
- Traveling into the Ecuadorian Amazon
- Hitchhiking across the Western USA while wearing a bridal gown
- Watching her pregnant belly grow while traveling from Budapest to Iraq to Cairo overland
- Beginning her travels with a husband and baby
Awards/ Honors
Wade and Vagabond Journey.com have received the following awards and honors.
- Ten Hot Travel Blogs to Watch in 2011- The Vagabond Journey travelogue was named to Johnny Vagabond’s top ten travel blogs for 2011 list.
- Most successful travel blogs of 2010- The Vagabond Journey Travelogue was named as one of the 9 most successful travel blogs of 2010.
- Great Modern Traveler Hall of Fame– Wade from VagabondJourney.com was a 2010 inductee into The Longest Way Home’s Great Modern Traveler hall of fame.
- Wisebread’s 40 Best Travel Websites that can save you a fortune- VagabondJourney.com made Wisebread.com’s 40 best money saving travel websites list.
- GuidetoOnlineSchools.com– Top 5 Travel Blogs in the world.
- Zen College Guide– 50 Best European Travel Blogs.
Press that Vagabond Journey.com received in other media sources
Television Media
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Wade and family were featured on KPHO-TV CBS 5 television news out of Phoenix, Arizona in a segment on how to eat roadkill to save money in times of economic crisis.Watch CBS news segment with Wade from Vagabondjourney.com. |
Print Media
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Wade was interview by De Pers Magazine (Netherlands) about how to fund travels with donations. |
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Interviewed by Verge Magazine (Canada) about international education and the benefits of independent study and studying abroad. |
Radio Media
| AM 770 CHQR (Canada)- Was a guest on Informed Traveller in a piece entitled Traveling Safe Means No Fear Mongering which was aired on March 27/2011. | |
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Interviewed by Albuquerque’s 104.1 The Edge radio station about Tom Helling’s Cross Walk across the USA. |
Online Media:
Wade and VagabondJourney.com have been featured in numerous online publications, including: AOL’s Shelterpop.com, Hobo Traveler.com, The Longest Way Home.com, CBS News Phoenix, Off Track Planet.com, Grump’s Getaway Guide, Travel Blogs.com, Students in Europe.com, Extended World Travel.com, Travel with a Mate.com, and Rolf Potts’ Vagablogging.net.
Photos from Vagabond Journey.com Featured in other publications
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FHM Magazine Published a photo from Vagabond Journey.com’s Guatemala photo gallery. |
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Journal of Latin American Geography Published photos from the Guatemala photo gallery. |
| SPACE Beyond Luxury used a photo from Vagabond Journey’s Turkey photo gallery in one of their issues |
Print media that has published articles written by Wade Shepard
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Cafe Abroad InPrint |
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Abroad View Magazine |
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Today’s Zaman (Turkey) |
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National Geographic Glimpse Magazine |
Possible Story Ideas
How to travel the world cheaply in times of economic crisis- The travels of Vagabond Journey.com are typically funded on a budget of under ten dollars a day per person. We could share budget travel tips as well as our experiences in an article about how to travel in the midst of a global economic recession.
How to fund travels by working on the road- I have worked internationally as an archaeologist, English teacher, gardener, journalist, and traveling webmaster. I also create hobohideout.com webpages for hotels/ hostels as a trade for free accommodation.
Living the Indiana Jones fantasy- What is the real life of an archaeologist like. How to become an archaeologist and fund travels through doing fieldwork.
How travel has changed in the past decade– What changes I have noticed in the global travel industry over the past ten years.
How the world has changed in the past decade- What changes I have noticed in the world that we live in from the time that I began traveling and now.
How to begin traveling, a newbie’s guide to vagabonding the world- Suggestions for those who wish to travel but don’t know where to begin.
Is it safe to travel the world as a solo female?- Chaya has often traveled internationally as a solo female and could offer many tips and encouragement to women who also wish to travel the world.
Is it OK to travel while pregnant?- Chaya traveled through 13 countries in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Middle East throughout her pregnancy with Petra, she would love to share the experience with other pregnant travelers.
How to travel with an infant?- Wade and Chaya are now on the road with a three month old infant, and could contribute lots of information to a piece on family travel.
Photos for Publication
Feel free to publish the following photographs of Wade and Chaya in any article or media piece that is about Vagabond Journey.com or contains permitted excerpts from this website. More photos are available upon request. Click on the thumbnails for larger photos.
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| China, 2006 | China, 2007 | Virginia, 2008 | Czech Republic, 2008 | Syria, 2009 | Chile, 2003 |
Photos of Chaya for publication
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| Virgin, Utah | Turkey | Laos | South Africa | South Africa | Maine, USA |
Photos of Petra for publication
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| Maine, 2009 | Arizona, 2009 | Arizona, 2009 | Flagstaff, Arizona | Flagstaff, Arizona | Phoenix, Arizona |
Vagabond Journey.com Press Releases
| Date | Title |
| Aug.2009 | Ask the Vagabond – Ask Travel Questions, Get Answers |
| July 2009 | Vagabond Follows the Cross Walk |
| Feb. 2009 | Vagabond Nears 10 Years of World Travel |
Contact
Wade, Chaya, and Petra are available for all interviews and inquiries by either emailing Vagabondsong at gmail, through Twitter at Vagabondjourney, or through Facebook at Wade Shepard/ Vagabond Journey.