Travel Journalism with JD Shadel

They have a master's degree with distinction in international relations from the University of Exeter and is a former human rights commissioner for the city of Portland . Jd's work has been featured as an example in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary . You know you've made it when you've done that .

They're a fantastic moderator and MC , a fashion icon , an inspired social critic , current London resident , and JD is , hands down , the best person named JD you will ever meet from Appalachia . Jd , welcome to no Show .

I'm so excited to chat with you both and I've been listening to your past archive of podcasts and I have to say you are excellent hosts and I'm excited to see what questions we get into . I said at the start , when you first invited me on the show , that you could ask me anything , so let's see where we go .

What's an op-ed and what's an objective ? Look at a place is something that I think seasoned travelers really think about when they read good writers . How do you navigate through that ?

Who gets featured often relates to the budget that they have to , you know , get the word out about how great they are . And travel journalism itself is a hard to monetize profession , to be honest , and so a lot of people that are committed to that quite full time are also doing a blend of different things .

And in that context I think it can be quite easy to , you know , just go on the press trips , just write about what you're paid to see and experience , and I've always felt a little icky about that kind of approach . That's not any slight to anyone that does that .

I think there's actually a really good argument for why travel writers unfortunately need to take press trips , you know , as just a way of like budget for the experience and for the coverage which media outlets are rarely providing . So first just say there's a lot of icky feeling things happening in travel journalism .

That said , there've been some really positive things that have emerged in years . One is the focus on avoiding parachute journalism , which has been sort of the norm . I think that's led to a lot of exotifying people in places when you know predominantly white men are traveling around the world and writing about their experiences , their impression of a place .

I think there's been a move to diversify the voices telling these stories , a focus more on local storytelling . One of the projects that I am most proud of in my career was I was the Portland Oregon travel writer for the Washington Post for a number of years while I was based in Portland and I got to work with the digital team on that .

That project , which was so cool because really they uh work . They did like 50 city guides to cities all over the world and there was no parachute journalism . It was working with locals on the ground , have locals tell the story . Of course that creates its own sort of dynamic of you know the locals are gonna hopefully love where they're at .

But yeah , I think it's . It's really an interesting dynamic where travel journalism is itself a challenging ethical profession and I think that creates , you know , some blurred lines in terms of , like you said , like what is opinion , what is subjective , who's paying for that experience ? And I think that's really interesting .

I just wish a little bit more literacy in audiences could help people read a bit more critically as well .

You know , the original influencers in travel are travel agents , right , but it's very transparent that that is the role and that's why they're paid on these all in all included trips .

It kind of reminds me of like celebrity access , like , okay , we're going to give you this comp stuff Only if we know that you're going to give us a review . That's pretty good , you're never going to travel all the way out there and then trash the place .

There are a few outlets that do provide that budget , but they're far and few between , and a lot of the content that you see is necessarily funded by the subject of the reporting , which you know is is great , for exposure doesn't lend itself to much critical assessment of a destination's merits , and I think that's where I used to work in guidebook writing as well

, and I was a travel editor and that was one thing I observed , which is it's like you know , you'd see , destinations that had the budget to host a lot of travel writers would get a lot more of the coverage and a lot more of the glowing coverage , and I think that's where it's just a bit challenging .

The whole economics of travel journalism are kind of fucked up .

I'd say we are a part of a very fascinating and broadening ecosystem of inspiration and information about travel , about the world , and there's some really positive , cool stuff happening on social where I think social has had a lot of negative impacts on travel , certainly in discourses around destinations and over tourism .

The flip side is that it's also , you know , opened up an audience for folks who might not normally get featured in the traditional gatekeeping barriers of travel journalism , and so I'd say it's a mixed bag , but they're not really in competition .

They're often serving very different audiences , very different needs and hosting different and interesting kinds of conversations . So there is , of course , like the icky influencer , you know , pay to play kind of thing , which nobody really loves .

But I think what I'm really talking about is most influencers would prefer to call themselves content creators and I think within the world of content creation that there's a really a lot of interesting stuff happening , a lot of really interesting voices , a lot of talented people that are , you know , showing us the world in different ways than travel journalism might

traditionally do .

We all take , I think , the user experience of airports , hotels and public spaces for granted and we skip over how the UX for those experiences is tested for a very narrow slice of the sensory , gender , age , identity , high of the population , and it's given rise to a term called sensory inclusive city . Philadelphia just announced itself as one .

Can you talk a little bit about ? You just wrote an article on this . Can you talk a little bit about what a sensory inclusive city is and what it aims to be ?

A lot of people have invisible disabilities , a lot of people have different sensory needs that mean just the experience of travel can be quite stressful and , as you pointed out , we don't really think about the design of public spaces like airports or hospitality destinations like resorts , museums , hotels , through a very inclusive lens .

So I think the last decade or so we've seen a rise of certifications that often focus on training but also the facilities . There's a growing awareness of design , sensory inclusive design as well , and just inclusive design across the board .

Some of that is regulated by different you know the ADA in America , for example , but a lot of other sensory needs are not really thought of or centered in conversation . So it's a really important topic . But I say it's a myth because the reality is you can't create a sensory inclusive city and you can't create .

You know , training doesn't necessarily address a lot of sensory needs and , as some of the people I spoke to in the article acknowledged , it's a very good goal . It might be more appropriate to use terminology like a sensory-informed city , focusing on training , focusing on providing resources to folks who travel with different needs and abilities , and that's really

what we get into . That was a piece I published in the Future of Travel column and that's exactly the kinds of big questions we like to ask . Look at something like Philadelphia's certification . What that means , what that actually you know , is that a certification other cities should be looking to , and it's a really positive development .

It's just it's a bit confusing sometimes for travelers , including those with sensory processing needs , to think about , like you know , what that actually has an effect on their travel ?

As someone who can fit under that umbrella , that very broad umbrella that they apply , I've used some of the amenities that they've they've offered travelers at different destinations and it can say they're doing really good work .

They have a really rigorous training scheme , and I think where their work really shines is stadiums , event venues really like those places where , for example , if you're at a game or a concert and you are experiencing overstimulation once upon a time , you might have to leave the stadium and you might not get let back in due to ticketing rules , and so the way

Culture City has worked to create , you know , multi-sensory rooms in stadiums and a lot of NFL stadiums , I think is a really empowering , powerful story . Stadiums , I think is a really empowering , powerful story . Questions , though , start to arise .

With a lot of other certification schemes , even Culture City , I think you know there's not a lot of information on their website about what that certification means what it accomplishes , its efficacy , and that can make it hard for travelers to necessarily understand and navigate all of the different certifications that are targeting often very specific groups of travelers .

Some try to take more of a broader umbrella approach and sensory needs are just one of many areas of the of the traveling world that has certifications . So it's a really interesting conversation world that has certifications .

So it's a really interesting conversation and I'd say it's a lot of good intentions and the efficacy just really depends on what goes into those certifications . And I have to say the piece you know has some criticism of the sensory inclusive city terminology . But overall I was very impressed with my experiences with culture city and think they're good people .

Now , carbon offsets has been something that we've sort of lived with for a couple of decades now , but I still don't feel like most Americans know exactly what you're talking about when you're talking about carbon offsets . If you had to define carbon offsets , how would you do so ?

There are sometimes , you know , different regulations that speak to how those schemes work , but I'm primarily talking about the offsets that someone could buy , say when they're booking a flight to offset a certain amount of carbon , and the critic that I interviewed for that story described it as like paying someone else to go to the gym for you , which I think is

a really great way of understanding the lunacy of the carbon offset market , because the reality is like . The reality is like there's no way to simply offset the exploding emissions that are coming from aviation . That doesn't mean that offsets are always evil . I just think they don't solve the climate crisis .

If we're evaluating through the lens of do these solve the climate crisis ? Do these mitigate the travel industry's impacts on the environment , then the answer is no . Do some offset programs have a more meaningful impact on forestry preservation , green energy projects , which are where a lot of the money from offsets goes ?

It's paid into , typically , some of these different kinds of programs . Some of them are known to be scans . Some of them do provide money to different projects . That might be worthwhile and I think that that can be great .

But again it's like if we're talking about the baseline goal of solving the climate crisis or mitigating the emissions involved in a certain activity , then critics would have you look very closely at the claims being made on the basis of offsets .

With certifications and approvals , what's the report card on hotel and travel company marketing to LGBTQ plus audiences ? Is it on the right path or mixed reviews ? I know Jeff and I have talked a lot about this and that is equally as evolving and as thorny these days .

And for travel companies , perhaps even more complicated , because it's our roles to create a sense of welcome and comfort for all right . So , hotels on the West Coast , you want to include amenities that Chinese travelers want . Tea in addition to coffee is an easy example .

Right At the same time , the joy of travel is experiencing new things and especially new people , and experiencing and celebrating differences . So when travel companies target a demographic like LGBTQ+ , it can feel a little disingenuine .

That's a term often used in LGBTQ plus activism circles to describe a corporation or even a country that wants to market itself as queer inclusive , as a distraction , maybe , from something else , or even as a marketing ploy to capitalize on the perceived budget that queer travelers , queer trans travelers may have an interest in going to that place .

This is a really interesting conversation . It's something I think a lot about as a queer person , as someone who travels , as someone who writes and reports on queer travel , as someone who travels , as someone who writes and reports on queer travel , I think the report card on travel is really a mixed bag for a few reasons .

Firstly , it did feel like there were some positive changes happening for a few years and now it feels like things are rolling back in a few key ways . I would say like if you ask queer , queer and trans travelers generally , it's exactly that .

It's like we just want to receive good hospitality , we just want to be welcomed , like it's not a complicated thing , like you know , if you're a kind , good person , it's not like anyone is asking for any particular special treatment .

It's just that for a lot of history , queer and trans travelers have to think quite , you know deeply about our personal safety , about how welcomed we will feel at a destination , and that can really ruin a trip , and it's not just holidays and vacations .

I think we also have to remember that for a lot of people , travel is a necessity , something that they have to do , not something necessarily that they choose to , whether it's their job or you know , even immigration can lead to the need for travel , and so there are human rights issues embedded in the travel industry here , and you know it can even be in small

things . Like I mean , I have just in the last decade been traveling with a partner on the West .

Like I mean , I have just in the last like decade been traveling with a partner on the West coast and , uh , you know , checked into a rural Oregon hotel for the staff to passive , aggressively give us a room with two beds when the reservation was for a single bed and there was clearly other rooms available at that hotel .

And so those are the kinds of things that , you know , even those small types of passive , aggressive things you can experience when you're traveling can really dampen the mood a lot .

And so I'd say the certifications that aim to train staff to better , just , like you know , not tolerate intolerance and to really just treat , you know , queer and trans travelers with respect and dignity that any other traveler would receive . Those are good things . It was good to see more of that happening .

I think that led to some positive changes in the industry .

But now , as a lot of this has gotten a lot more politicized , where queer and trans people have become scapegoats for far-right authoritarian politicians , that has trickled into the way the travel industry is talking about inclusion and you know where a few years ago it might have felt like things were starting to move in the right direction .

Now it feels like there's a backsliding and it's not in the hotel space but definitely the destination marketing space . What happened with Visit Florida in the last couple of months , you know ?

Taking down any content which welcomes queer travelers , lgbtq plus travelers to Florida , and that's pretty startling because Visit Florida had a pretty positive reputation , I think , among a lot of LGBTQ plus travelers as well as content creators , travel journalists . So you just see this kind of rollback , regressive attitude .

I don't know if it's so much just like identity politics or the culture wars the so-called culture wars that have made queer and trans people the scapegoats , or if it's like a lingering .

You know homophobia , transphobia , it's probably all of the above but it has created an environment where now I think you know again , we are , as a community , thinking a lot about our safety and about , like , where we're going to be welcome , because it's not fun to take a holiday or to go on a business trip and then just feel like you're constantly on where

you know you're not really welcomed , and so I think that that would be my answer to that question . It's a mixed bag . It does feel like there's some regression , but thankfully we do have many allies , and I would just say fly more queer flags please . If you're a travel business , put the .

Modern terminal construction has sort of moved on from the quaint marine terminal you know kind of small terminals that you'd see in cities to this kind of big box , anodyne , very liminal space that took root in the 80s and 90s and you know terminals in the 2000s , while nice have a decidedly corporatized shake-shack kind of feel and all this has .

There are a lot of reasons for all of this . You know planes got bigger , security needs got bigger . The space had to be treated differently than , I think , the more boutique spaces of , say , the 30s , 40s , 50s . Pdx , though , in its new incarnation , subverts that . What did you think when you first got the tour of the new space ?

I , unfortunately , have quite a lot of anxiety when I travel , even though I am a travel writer and travel quite frequently .

I show up to airports very early so I spend a lot of time in airports when I am traveling and PDX is one of those airports that I actually really enjoy going to and that's led me over the years to do some work with the airport as well .

I wrote a zine about the opening of the airport previously , wrote a comic , wrote a crowdsourced poem that the executive director of the airport read at a demolition party when Concourse A was torn down . So I have a lot of history with PDX and I'll say I really was kind of shocked when I first took the tour before

the airport opened . It opened August and I was there in February , got a tour of the in-progress construction site and you know I'd seen all the renderings .

It's a really cool project because it aims to use locally sourced timber , which is a more sustainable construction material than some of the alternatives , and it has the first mass timber roof of a major American airport , which is pretty cool . And so the photos , the renderings , looked cool .

The photos from the construction site look cool , but when you're actually in this space it is a really stunning design . It really embodies the character and the spirit of the Pacific Northwest . I mean , there's real trees living in the airport , which is really cool . On top of that , the airport has a unique administration which manages a lot of its own leasing .

A lot of airports outsource leasing , and so that means you get the shopping mall effect , whereas in the new main terminal , 100% of those brands are Pacific Northwest born brands , which is a really cool thing to say about an airport , so as , as more of those shops open over the next year , you know , you'll be seeing more kind of favorite , beloved brands opening

at PDX , and so it really does feel like a microcosm of the region . It's like when you're in the space that you are being welcomed to the Pacific Northwest or reminded why you don't want to leave , and that's cool when you compare that to other airport projects .

I mean , there are a few iconic international ones of course , but PDX really does stand out nationally and that's why I am really excited to yeah , to see it open .

The other thing was it's the only airport outside of Nashville that has a live musician in the terminal right Sunday morning . The guy's out there playing guitar . It was awesome .

There's just a lot of cool things about PDX . It's the localist airport I've been to . That's a term that they're using to describe it and I feel like that's very accurate .

All said , I've spent a good amount of time there in Portland since 21 , and I'm in love with the city and its surroundings . It has just a wonderfully rebellious spirit and it keeps getting its act together and cleaning itself up and the downtown's better . Everything is going the right direction . I'm all in on Portland .

My question to you is when will travel coverage shift to the version of Portland that I see ?

But I've always seen a side of Portland that I don't think the media really captures . I think it's often the Portlandia cliche or it's the Trumpian doomsday . You know dystopia , and the fact is it's like you know , I live through Portland , through all of the downturn .

It was the media darling in the early 2010s and then it became the punching bag for American urban decline , or the doom loop , as people would say , and just that narrative never felt true if you're actually there . So I don't have an answer for you . I would love to write .

If you're a travel editor listening to this and you want some accurate , fun coverage of Portland , I would be happy to do more of that . It's again . I live in London now , but I frequently go back to Portland . It's my second home and I I'm in love with the city as well . So I don't know . It's a very weird city .

I mean , there's some things I don't like about it . There's some weird stuff going on there , but it's weird in both the . You know the Wallsian sense of like it can be kind of weird , and it's also weird in the keep Portland . Weird like fun sense . It has range and so , yeah , let's change the narrative on that . Don't have an answer for you .

Love Portland , let's keep it weird in the right way .

. At a bar with shapes for a name , which I think is one of the best bars in the world , it's so cool , it's so interesting , it's so weird , it's very pretentious , but like also people that are really nice and it's open till 4 am . So you get the cool cocktail bar vibes open till 4 am .

It has kind of a , you know , primary color theme and if you're into sort of like you know I don't know like pre-mixed cocktails that are actually really great to have a little primary color paint splotches on the Negroni bottle , go check it out . Must recommend .

And then in Portland that's very hard because most of my life in Portland was spent in dive bars , so I have many dive bars , but I am a huge fan of Bar Diane in Northwest Portland , which is a little wine bar just right off 21st Ave my old haunts and they just really great .

You know , pretty affordable wine , pours , DJs on the weekends , really chill vibes must check out . So those would be my answers , but every time someone asks me that I find a recommendation close . So now I'm just going to make sure that Bar Diane is in fact open and it looks like it is Great .