I met AnnaMarie in one of my favorite cities—Tbilisi, Georgia! We went on a couple of outings and had an all-around great time hanging out. I love her positive attitude, not just toward nomad life, but life in general!
9 Fun Facts
First Name: AnnaMarie
Age Range: 30s
Nationality: American
Nomadic Stance: Full-time
Last Corporate Job: Managing editor at an outdoors, travel and lifestyle magazine
Current Job: Freelance journalist and founder of Reverie Creative
Favorite Country: Spain
Next Stop: Saudi Arabia
What do you like best about the nomadic life? Adventure (and the interconnectedness of this community that makes the world seem so small!)
2 Questions
1) As someone who works remotely, how did you create your job and how is it changing with AI?
After studying journalism, I worked as a managing editor in New York City for two online magazines, both of which were focused on travel, the outdoors and lifestyle at large.
I spent so many nights—for years on end—attending press events and product launches for lifestyle and outdoor gear brands, networking with industry experts, PR and other writers and editors. I also went on regular paid press trips around the world, covering cruise ships, hotels, camping companies, ski and snowboard resorts and more—getting geared up along the way.
While these jobs only fueled my desire to ditch everything and travel the world on my own, I had a life that felt too good to be true to risk quitting. But when the last magazine got acquired and my team got laid off, I cried in my Brooklyn bathtub for about five minutes before booking a one-way ticket to Thailand—to what would ultimately become the next decade of my life.
I didn’t know then that it was a blessing in disguise, giving me the push I needed to finally try freelancing full-time with nothing left to lose! Thanks to the community of contacts I’d cultivated by networking in New York for so long, I was successful from the start.
AI & Digital Nomading
I spent several years as a nomadic travel and wellness journalist before these spaces took a hit when the pandemic put them on pause. I pivoted to copywriting full-time in the fintech space with an amazing opportunity at Forbes.
This contract snowballed into startup copywriting clients across tech and helped me build real confidence in my career as a content strategist. But I’ve kept freelancing for magazines—as long-form, in-depth journalism will always have my heart.
In 2022, I decided to combine my love for travel, the outdoors and wellness with my UX copywriting and product marketing experience to build my niche copy studio, Reverie Creative.
While AI is certainly slowing down demand, I believe it can be a powerful resource when used as a tool—not as a replacement. At the end of the day, consumers want to connect with brands that get them, and that requires human empathy and creativity that simply cannot be contrived with generative AI.
AI is changing the landscape, but learning to leverage it responsibly and adapting to the ensuing changes to content and SEO strategies is critical right now. I shared some deeper thoughts on AI in a LinkedIn post here.
2) What inspired you to write a series of travel books for children?
I became an aunt about a year and a half ago, and many of my friends started having babies (lots of ‘em!) for whom I was buying books.
There are now so many little ones in my life who I want to inspire as the self-proclaimed “cool aunt,” but I’ve only found a few books capable of turning them into the future adventure buddies I’m determined to make them.
For example, I bought my nephew a book about surfing ABCs, and I knew I needed some new material after seeing his face light up when we read, “P is for Party Wave!”
I love living life outside—particularly by the ocean—and so I decided to turn my own tales into catchy kids’ rhymes with greater life lessons to be learned. The books were only meant to be for fun for family and friends, but the first one, Sol and Sage Surf the Sea Swell, sold so many copies that I’m excited to release the next two.
One will be about hiking in the Himalayas (and confidence, inspired by my trekking guide who kept me confident), and the third one will be about vanlifing around the Aussie bush (and appreciating the journey over the destination, inspired by my beat-up, old, converted camper, Daisy, that broke down daily.)
They’re being illustrated by an artist I connected with while on a surf trip in Indonesia, and I can’t wait for them to come out very soon!
Has your life changed with the advent of AI? Does this create more or fewer opportunities for you to travel and work remotely? How have you introduced the concept of travel to the children in your life?
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Christened “Wander Woman” by National Geographic, Erin Michelson is a professional speaker and author of the Nomad Life™ series of curated trips and travel guides, including the #1-ranked “Explore the World with Nomads.”