About Our Contributors

Christine Krzyszton is a Baby Boomer and co-owner of Travel For Boomers. She lives in Northern Michigan. Her passion is to see the world in a weekend for very little money (or free) while enjoying the comforts of elite perks. She has amassed over a million frequent flier miles and top tier status with two airline alliances. She spends one or two weekends a month exploring the world and, while not yet retired, she’s knocking at the retirement door. She has written travel articles for a regional men’s magazine for over two years. Prior to that, she had her own weekly article, called “Wanderlust Weekly,” which ran for 52 weeks. Previous articles on education and travel were expressly written and published for Silk Painters International.

Editor Kim Weiss is a North Carolina-based journalist, publicist, and co-owner of Travel For Boomers. She’s spent more time traveling throughout the U.S., to most major U.S. cities, and some not-so-major, than traveling abroad (although England and Brussels are stamped on her passport). What she brings to Travel For Boomers is over 30 years of experience as a professional journalist and magazine editor, and a decade of running her own boutique public relations agency, Blueplate PR. At TFB, it’s her job to make sure our writing quality is top-notch, that we’re hitting on all the appropriate topics for our “Boomer” audience, that we have plenty of great photos and other graphics to enliven the blog, and that all of our contributors make their deadlines despite their world travels. She’ll also do some blog posts herself, including compiling the “Make My Monday” deals and specials.

Pamela Scala, known as “Thrifty Pam” by her kids when they were little, lives up to the moniker in her Boomer years by flying and staying for free, finding the best deal for luxury travel, and generally being really frugal. If there is a way to save money traveling, Pamela will find it. She lived for 25 years in the Chicago area, where she did almost anything to get away from the weather. Snow is a four-letter word, after all. Having had enough of that, she and her husband moved to a barrier island in Florida where they happily wear flip-flops year round. Travel? Anywhere, anytime. Back alleys and hidden storefronts don’t scare her. Biking where no motorized vehicles can go and people take their water buffalos for an afternoon walk is right on target for Pamela. Luxury travel that includes flying in the front of the plane is the only way to go as long as it is for free. Pamela’s focus for Travel for Boomers will be cruising, travel safety, and traveling with special dietary needs.

Bill Morris is a North Carolina-based writer, and, yes, a fellow Baby Boomer who has traveled the world – usually in pursuit of fish but often in search of nothing more than the next cold cerveza.  He is the author of the novel “Saltwater Cowboys” (www.saltwatercowboysbook.com) and the winner of the 2003 Doris Betts Prize for Short Fiction.  He was a finalist in the 2003 O. Henry festival competition and a runner-up for the 2010 Thomas Wolfe Prize.  His nonfiction has won Excellence-in-Craft recognition from the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association and the Carteret Writers annual competition.  A Duke graduate, he splits his time between Durham, NC, and a spot in coastal Carolina not far from the Cape Lookout Light. We welcome Bill’s excellent writing skills insightful travel posts at TravelForBoomers.com.

Allen Weiss is an award-winning director/camerman/photographer who has traveled the globe for work and play. He’s also an accomplished writer, creating advertising copy for the likes of Banana Republic and Camel Red, among other clients. Allen spent 15 years as a professional photographer in Raleigh, NC, and New York, NY, before he turned his attention towards short films, public service announcements, and television commercials, both regionally and internationally. Recently, he launched Allen Weiss: Works on Film & Paper to offer still photography of all varieties, film and video, and freelance writing/branding. We welcome his unique perspective to Travel For Boomers.com. (And, yes, he’s editor Kim Weiss’ husband!)

Denise Otero isn’t a Baby Boomer, but she is a travel consultant specializing in Italy. And she works with us Boomers all the time! She is originally from the USA but spends most of her time between London and Italy. She lived in Venice for a few years. Since then, her love for Italy continues and she has been traveling there extensively for over 10 years. Her interest in travel led her to completing a Masters degree specializing in the tourism industry from George Washington University. Denise also spent time as a Tour Manager for one of the largest travel corporations. This gave her the opportunity to travel all of Western Europe but her true passion for Italian culture and lifestyle always brought her back to Italy. This ongoing romance with Italy and its culture developed into a desire to help others experience Italy at its finest and on a deeper level. As a result, she founded her company Your Friend In Italy Ltd.

Patricia Patton is originally from Seattle but lived in New York for many years before moving to the Jersey shore. She loves her home but often dreams of traveling even when she is awake. Some of her more lasting life lessons were learned as avery young woman on trips to Europe and Africa where she had to stretch herself.  She learned that we are all pretty much the same even though we may not experience the world in the same ways.  She has travelled widely and worked in the hospitality industry for many years. You can find her over on her own blog, www.boomerwizdom.com, a site dedicated to aging young and traveling light. Follow her at @Boomerwiz or www.facebook.com/BoomerWizdom.

Lisa Marie Mercer is a self-proclaimed “obsessive-compulsive traveler” who hops the globe on a regular basis. Her mission: To seek out new events and discover new places, sometimes boldly going where other travelers rarely go. Lisa spent a summer at school in Italy, a week in a medieval castle in a small town outside Prague, and five years working as a tour guide in Breckenridge, Colorado. She and her husband are currently living in a coastal town in Uruguay.

Jan Ross is a Baby Boomer who retired after 20 years as an elementary school librarian to finally travel the world and write about it – two things she’d wanted to do all her life. Jan writes travel columns for two print magazines, Living Well 50+ and Kentucky Doc, as well as doing freelance writing for other print magazines and a variety of online venues. She maintains her own travel blog, WanderlustWonder, and spends a great deal of time either daydreaming about lounging on a beach or actively doing said lounging. She loves luxury hotels and doesn’t even want to consider staying any place without room service. She enjoys fabulous food in marvelous restaurants and loves touring around new cities – especially foodie tours. She’s a good writer but a not so good photographer, so she takes her obliging husband of 35 years along on most of her trips since he is an excellent photographer. They would probably spend all their time traveling but they have to get home to their two grown children and “the most wonderful grandson in the universe.” She will be writing about luxury travel on a budget income — how it can be done! You can contact Jan at janross53@gmail.com.

Elieen Ludwig is a travel writer, photographer, and fellow Baby Boomer. On her website, FreelanceTourist.com, she writes about travel from a tourist perspective while trying restaurants, hotels, movies, local and distant attractions and lands. She is owner of three other sites: Pho­tog­ra­phy, Web Design School, and Social Media School. (Each are in dif­fer­ent stages of devel­op­ment and evolution.) A passionate photographer for most of her life, she uses photographs to show her world to others. She says she was bitten with the travel bug at an early age. Her mother liked driving places and taking her to cultural activities whereever they lived, or into New York City to visit Radio City Music Hall. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and, of course, Travel For Boomers!