About Amateur Traveler
The Amateur Traveler podcast and blog are the creation of Chris Christensen.
Why should you trust me?
I have been an online travel journalist (blogger and podcaster) since 2005.
I have won awards and recognition, including:
- 2025 – Named to the Podcasting Hall of Fame, class
- 2024 – Travel Creator Award for Best Travel Podcast at TBEX North America
- 2018 – Amateur Traveler won a bronze for Best Travel Podcast in the North America Travel Journalism awards.
- 2016 – Amateur Traveler won a gold for Best Travel Podcast in the North America Travel Journalism awards
- 2014 – Amateur Traveler won the Travel+Leisure Magazine 2014 SMITTY Award Winner for Best Independent Travel Journalist/Blogger
- 2014 – Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award from the Society of American Travel Writers
- 2014 – Invited to the White House for the Travel Blogger Summit
- 2011, 2012, and 2013 – Podcast This Week in Travel won a North America Travel Journalism award
- Amateur Traveler is also used to teach English at Oxford University and is part of the English proficiency test for the Thailand Foreign Ministry
More About Amateur Traveler
- Working with the Amateur Traveler
- Amateur Traveler Media Kit
- How to Pitch an Episode for the Amateur Traveler Podcast
- Guest Post Guidelines for the Amateur Traveler blog
- Articles About Amateur Traveler
- The Amateur Traveler Manifesto
More About Chris Christensen
When did the Amateur Traveler start?
The first Amateur Traveler podcast episode went out on July 2nd, 2005.
Who should read the Amateur Traveler blog?
We try to create content that helps you plan your travels. That might be information for people starting to travel, like our Travel 101 content, or it might be articles on how to travel, how to save money, or where to go.
Who should listen to the Amateur Traveler podcast?
The Amateur Traveler audio podcast is about travel destinations. It helps you decide where to go next. The show is intended for travelers. We create the show targeting a North American traveler who only has 1-2 weeks of vacation, although it gets listened to by people in other countries as well.
The show usually features an interview with a destination expert or a traveler who has been to the destination recently. The show intends to motivate people to travel. The Amateur Traveler media kit has quotes from people who have, in fact, been motivated by Amateur Traveler to do just that.
Chris Christensen at Meteora, Greece
Why did you create the podcast?
The podcast content predates the other blog content. I am a podcast junky and listen to around 70-90 podcasts. I knew I wanted to do a podcast before I knew what the podcast would be about. Then, on Memorial Day in 2005, we had friends over for a BBQ, and all the best stories were travel stories. It was then that the idea for the podcast and website was created.
What is your background?
When I started Amateur Traveler I was working full-time as an EVP of Engineering and Operations for a Silicon Valley company that ran online communities. I still make a living in technology as a director of engineering at American Express.
Growing up, we did a lot of traveling for vacation, usually pulling a small trailer between various national parks. The success of a vacation for the Christensens was measured with an odometer. Those childhood experiences are one of the reasons I still have such a love for national parks.
I enjoyed learning new languages before I traveled, and I studied German, French, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin, Turkish, Russian, Swahili, and Greek. I find the language to be a great window into a culture. For instance, in Swahili, the language uses the same word for guest and stranger. In Chinese, the character for good is a woman with a baby. Although I have studied a number of languages, I am only fluent in English, and that only when properly caffeinated.
Do you make any money off of things you advertise on Amateur Traveler?
Not always, but I should. Just assume every link is an affiliate link and leave it at that. I don’t recommend products that I don’t like, so don’t ask me to.
For instance, we participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
