Latest News + Updates: Gearing up for the holidays

I usually try to write a latest news and updates post that summarizes how the last couple of months have been going workwise. I’ve been taking on more corporate editorial work in Stockholm mostly to deepen my roots in the city as well as consolidate my freelancing work so I can focus on more personal projects including growing Slow Travel Stockholm and NordicTB, working on book ideas, and personal photography projects. I still take on freelancing projects especially when editors reach out directly to me and overall, I’m trying to be smarter and more strategic in the way I approach assignments as well so I’m not wasting precious time down dead ends.

I’ve updated my publications list with the latest assignments but two notable ones worth mentioning are the December 2015/January 2016 issue of National Geographic Traveler where I contributed a piece on Seychelles in their annual “Best of the World” feature. You can learn more about Chef Sherla who I mentioned in the piece in my photo essay, Creole Cooking with Chef Sherla at Four Seasons Seychelles.

Was also commissioned to do a couple travel pieces for AFAR on Oslo and Stavanger in collaboration with a major cruise line. Also contributed an opinion piece of traveling with a Nigerian passport for Medium in collaboration with the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC).

Upcoming articles – Sweden.se, Gore-Tex, National Geographic Traveller UK (several), British Airways, The Guardian, Travel + Leisure, Duty Free Magazine, Cultures & Cuisines, Montage Magazine

Photography

I’ve been editing large sets of photographs from West Sweden and Emilia Romagna, Italy, usually in the wee hours of the morning and I usually share my editing process publicly on my Facebook page which you can also follow. In addition, I’m continually uploading into my National Geographic Image Collection, and selling photos to tourism boards and image banks such as Sweden’s official image bank.

Partnerships

So excited about our Nordic Travel Bloggers (TB) collective which has started working actively on various campaigns and concepts including launching #UNESCOHamburg, #WurstAdventure, and #SantaLineXmasTrip with StenaLine. You can visit our site to check out our latest news and updates and of course, if you’ll like to collaborate, definitely get in touch.

There’s also a potential partnership in the works that I’m super excited about. If all goes well, it will feature three things I absolutely love – travel, portraiture, and doing good.

Awards & Honors

Was shortlisted in the 2015 Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) as a finalist in the “Colors of the World” Category. Also made FlipKey’s 10 Travel Photographers to Inspire You.

An unexpected surprise was winning Årets Instagraminspiratör  (Inspiring Instagrammer of the Year) from travel agency Travellink at their recent blog event. It’s a huge honor for my Instagram account in which I share broken-out photos using picture puzzles inside of a single image.

Travel

After Thailand in October, I cancelled my trips for the rest of the year so I can catch up on work committments and clean up my plate. But 2016 is already shaping out to be quite the travel year with anticipated travel every single month, starting off with Washington DC for National Geographic’s annual seminar and Nat Geo Creative business meetings, and back to Helsinki, Finland, for NBE and MATKA, as well as Estonia in January.

Hope you guys are having a wonderful start to the holiday season. Hope to significantly wind down, take the entire week between Christmas and New Year off work, and relax with family.