Skip To Main Content
Mark Orwoll on Muck Rack

Mark Orwoll

(Lowell Thomas Travel Writer of the Year Silver Award - 2025)
  • Freelance Travel Writer, Freelance
  • None, Freelance Journalist
  • None, FREELANCE (HIGHBROW MAGAZINE)
New York
As seen in: LinkedIn, Yahoo Life, Business Insider, Los Angeles Times, Slate, Substack, Traveller, Audible Blog, The Culture Trip, Condé Nast Traveler and
Covers:  Travel, food and drink, trains, international destinations, adventure, cruising, offbeat places, outdoors, cities, and the things that make a destination weird.
Doesn't Cover: Interviews (except in context of a travelogue), cosmetics, fashion, news updates, reprinting a slideshow you wrote for your client. I'm an individual journalist, so don't have a set group of readers.
Writer of travel. Person of Interest. Notorious waterfront character.

Get in touch with Mark

Contact Mark, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.

Learn more about Muck Rack

Actions

Share this page

Mark Orwoll’s Biography

Read Full Bio →

Mark Orwoll has more than 40 years as a travel writer and editor, and 600-plus broadcast appearances as a travel expert on national and international media outlets, including more than 75 times on NBC's TODAY, both in New York and on location. He earned a Silver Award in the 2025 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year awards sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers. A published author (Just One Little Hitch, a travel memoir, Pleasant Villain Press; Cross Purposes. Pleasant Villa…

Mark Orwoll’s Journalist Portfolio

See all →
Insider View: Where I Was When War Broke Out in the Middle East

Insider View: Where I Was When War Broke Out in the Middle East

Key Points AI-assisted summary Despite rising tensions and recent preemptive attack on Iran by Israel and the…

View article →
The Long Road from Jerusalem

The Long Road from Jerusalem

A note to the readers: Mark Orwoll was on assignment in Jerusalem when the United States and Israel attacked …

View article →
They Say It's the Worst, Dumbest Trend for Married People. I Did It-and It Was an Absolute Thrill...

They Say It's the Worst, Dumbest Trend for Married People. I Did It-and It Was an Absolute Thrill...

My friends all had the same reaction: "Vow renewal? In Aruba? For God's sake, man, why?!"

View article →
Opinion: Goodbye to La Mirada, my childhood home

Opinion: Goodbye to La Mirada, my childhood home

A lot has changed in the Los Angeles suburb since my family first moved there in 1955. Now we've just sold th…

View article →
Mortality and the Devil's Pool - Travel & Cultural Analysis From Around the World | East-West New...

Mortality and the Devil's Pool - Travel & Cultural Analysis From Around the World | East-West New...

A journey through Africa's Namibia offers both the luxury of safari camps and the Devil Pool's apparent dange…

View article →
This Scenic 30-hour Overnight Train Through Turkey Feels Like the Orient Express - but Costs Less...

This Scenic 30-hour Overnight Train Through Turkey Feels Like the Orient Express - but Costs Less...

"You could almost say that where the Orient Express ends, the Eastern Express begins," writes a seasoned trav…

View article →

Articles

Ceuta, Unfortunately, Is in the News

|
By Mark Orwoll
| Yournews Verified
Don’t let the palm trees fool you. If you want to go to Morocco, just sail to Tangier, not Ceuta. Credit: Diego Delso/Wikimedia Commons If you haven’t been in a dark hole watching AI videos, you know that Ceuta has been a hot topic these past few days. Fnideq (pronounced Fnideq), Morocco, is separated from the autonomous Spanish city of Ceuta by just a mile and an easy-to-climb seawall.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?

Sri Lanka Killed My Smoking Habit—and Nearly Me

|
By Mark Orwoll
| Yournews Verified
After a train trip to the religious capital of Kandy in the Central Highlands, all I wanted was to buy a pack of cigarettes, not get murdered in the streets By Mark Orwoll The superficially safe-looking skyline of Colombo, Sri Lanka. But just wait until the sun goes down. Photo by Just a Brazilian man/Wikimedia Commons THE TEMPLE OF THE TOOTH in the ancient religious capital of Kandy.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?

I Have Discovered the Cure for the Common Cold

|
By Mark Orwoll
| Yournews Verified
EVERY FREQUENT TRAVELER DREADS anything out of the ordinary that could disrupt a well-planned itinerary at the last minute. I am not talking here about “ordinary” disruptions such as hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, or the president canceling the budget of the entire U.S. air system without congressional approval. We can plan for all those.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
See all 173 licensed articles (178 Total)

Interview

See all →

Have you ever used a typewriter?

I started on a manual, graduated to an IBM Selectric.

How is social media changing news?

Readers are increasingly less likely to consider the source of their news, and believe any headline they come across, no matter how dubious.

Who's your favorite fictional journalist?

Tintin.

Awards

See all →

Lowell Thomas Travel Writer of the Year

2025 - Silver Award

The Lowell Thomas Awards, named for the pioneering travel journalist, are sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers and judged by independent journalists and educators. The Travel Writer of the Year category is based on a body of work submitted by the entrants.

View Award

North American Travel Journalists Assn.

2023 - Long-Form Narrative

Bronze Award. Long-Form Narrative. "Austria’s Alps Adapt Traditions to Meet the Relentless Advance of Climate Change," East-West News Service

View Award

North American Travel Journalists Assn.

2022 - Cruises

Bronze Award. Cruises. "Forward with Onward." Porthole Cruise & Travel

View Award

Society of American Travel Writers (East)

2020 - Cruise

2nd Place. Cruise. "On a Myanmar River Cruise, a Rare Chance to meet Burmese Monks," Condé Nast Traveler

View Award

North American Travel Journalists Assn.

2020 - Adventure

Gold Award. Adventure. “Hunting for Landmines in Cambodia: ‘If You See A Bomb, Don’t Touch It,'" Matador Network

View Award

North American Travel Journalists Assn.

2020 - Cultural Travel

Honorable Mention. Cultural Travel. Mark Orwoll, “On A Myanmar River Cruise, A Rare Chance To Interact with Burmese Monks,“ Condé Nast Traveler

View Award

North American Travel Journalists Assn.

2020 - Eco, Environmental or Volunteer Travel

Silver Award, Eco, Environmental or Volunteer Travel, “Hunting for Landmines in Cambodia: ‘If You See A Bomb, Don’t Touch It’," Matador Network

View Award

Society of American Travel Writers (East)

2019 - Magazine Article

2nd Place. Magazine Article. "Into the Howling Wilderness," Hemispheres.

View Award

North American Travel Journalists Assn.

2019 - Cruises

Silver Award. Cruises. "Experiencing the Andaman Sea in a Tall Ship Under Full Sail,” Map Happy

View Award