Wanted: Real People

     The electronic bulletin boards, chat rooms and social media sites for writers, particulary travel writers, are filled with requests for “real people” who have done something interesting – a home swap in Europe, climbed Mt. Everest, participated in tribal rituals in remote Bora Bora – that kind of thing.  It’s not reality TV.  It’s just reality.

     Real people experiences are the richness of any story, and we recognize that as travel writers we’re not real people.  We don’t know what we are exactly, but for the most part, freelance travel journalists are a little bit off the grid, traveling to the beat of our own drums, or keyboards as the case may be.

Abandoned railroad tracks have been turned into biking/hiking/equestrian trails.

  When I was working on a story about the Rails To Trails Conservancy and the beautiful rails-to-trails projects in this country for a story at American Profile, I needed real people who regularly take advantage of these great resources. 

  One of the trails I included in the story is the Elroy-Sparta Trail in Wisconsin, widely accepted as the oldest or first in the country.

   So I contacted my partners in crime in that part of the country, Mary Bergin and Melanie McManus. 

     Mary is a great resource.  She has her own newspaper syndication in that part of the world and has written two books about the little nooks and crannies of Wisconsin.  She is an expert on pie, and since I am a huge fan of pies, particularly raspberry, and since she was raising money to have me bailed out of jail in Egypt, and because she’s not afraid to travel with a teddy bear, I decided Mary is a credible source.  As you read my story in this week’s American Profile, you’ll see the resource that Ms Bergin provided for me. 

  Then Melanie – well, she’s a little over the top with fitness and exercise.  Not an ounce of body fat on her.  She writes regularly for Runner’s World and Bicycling and Shape and the like.  So at the risk of her not being a “real” person in that regard and also because she’s a

Melanie and me at the Sphynx in Egypt, just before I was hauled off to jail.

travel writer, two strikes against her in the real life column, I couldn’t help but use Melanie’s family experience of biking the Elroy-Sparta Trail as the lead to my story.  At least her kids and husband are real.

   The rest of the people in the story, I just found the old fashioned way – calling and talking to people, doing a little leg work, research and such.  It’s called journalism, baby.

  I also included the Old Dominion Trail in the Washington, DC area.  It’s the most utilized rails-to-trails project in the country.

The Katy Trail at Sedalia, MO

   And then I included Missouri’s fabulous Katy Trail, the longest in the country.  Actually, my adoration of the Katy Trail was the inspiration for pitching this story in the first place.  There’s a big cross state ride on the Katy June 22-26, which I’ve never done, but hey, there’s still time for YOU to sign up.

The Katy Trail near Rocheport.

   So the story is out in American Profile this week.  With a circulation of 8 million or more, hopefully some of you will be seeing it in print form. Except in the Eckert household in Holland Michigan.  I understand it was a little soggy and Mr. Eckert trashed my brilliant efforts.  Shame, shame.

   But for the rest of you, as you read the article and admire Bruce’s photo from the Katy Trail,  you can say “AhHa, now I know the story behind the story.”  Not quite Paul Harvey’s “the rest of the story, but you get the idea.