Mindy Stern

My journey to becoming a travel writer began with a brochure I spotted in a wine shop. “Spend a week in Tuscany learning to write about food, wine, and travel. May 2018.” That course led to my first published story: Milk and Cookies for Grownups, about the Italian after-meal tradition of dipping Cantucci (dry cookies) into sweet wine so divine, it’s called Vin Santo.

I was working as Director of Resident and Fellow Wellness at University of Washington, and approaching retirement. After years immersed in the lives of medical trainees – first as a teacher of behavioral medicine, later in the wellness program – I knew so much about the long road to becoming a practicing physician. Now, I had a plan: publish a book, Behind the White Coat: The Hidden Lives of Residents and Fellows.

The work was propelled by taking writing classes with my Tuscany-trip-teacher, Nick O’Connell, and at Hugo House. Then, Covid happened. When a class called True Stories, Real People ended, eight of us continued meeting by Zoom, writing and supporting each other for the duration of lockdown. I began searching for an agent and a publisher.

After the Supreme Court granted immunity to the US president, I wrote an opinion piece for my local paper. Then I left for Germany, to visit and travel with our granddaughters, who live in Berlin. I was in Nuremburg when the editor contacted me about the piece. “You know,” I said, “this paper used to have a travel column, and I planned trips based on those stories. Would you be interested in me writing a travel column for you?”

That off-the-cuff conversation led to creating Meanderings, which appears online and in print in The Mercer Island Reporter and other Sound Publishing outlets. I tabled my book project to focus fully on travel writing.

Once I’d established a track record, I was accepted to the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW). Attending the 2025 SATW conference in Detroit led to writing assignments for destination marketing organizations (DMOs) in Canada, Oregon, and Washington, and introductions to editors. I recently joined the North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA), and will attend my first NATJA conference in Little Rock, AK.

In June 2025 I received a Bronze Award from SATW’s Western Chapter in the category of Family Travel for my story, “Train Travel in the US, UK, and Germany.” I’m thrilled to share my writing with you and hope it inspires you to travel, and to follow your dreams.