About John Lamkin, Journalist & Photographer
John Lamkin is a freelance travel journalist and photographer based in Taos, New Mexico USA and part-time in the Mexican states of Oaxaca & Quintana Roo.
His education was at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California, University of California-Los Angeles and the San Francisco Art Institute.
He was founder of San Francisco Camerawork.
Besides travel journalism, he has done copy writing, technical writing, poetry and has been editor of Camerawork Quarterly, Music of the Spheres magazine and several newsletters. He is editor of Paloma Blanca Press and a consultant in self-publishing and editor of Soul of Travel online magazine.
He is a member of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA) where he serves as Board Member and as Global Membership Chairman, and of the International Travel Writers Alliance (ITWA), and the International Society for Travel Writing (ISTW). He is also a member of MediaBistro's AvantGuild and Travelwriters.com.
In addition to his freelance work, he is a Contributing Writer for LuxuryLatinAmerica, Luxury Avenue Magazine, Suite101, Northern New Mexico Travel Examiner for Examiner.com, and columnist for The Syndicated News.
John has spent several decades traveling in Latin America and speaks Spanish fluently.
He is readily available for assignment (commission) in Latin America and Southwest USA and elsewhere in the world with some lead time.
John at Mitla Zapotec ruins
state of Oaxaca MEXICO
photo by Paul Ross
NOTE TO EDITORS, PR PEOPLE AND OTHER FRIENDS:
UPCOMING TRIPS:
I will be on assignment in the Greater Phoenix, Mesa, Verde Valley Wine Trail areas of Arizona in October 2011.
I will be in Mexico from December 2011 until April 2012 working on assignment and researching for my upcoming book (see below). I will be in the Yucatan Peninsula, Chiapas and Oaxaca. Any story leads and lodging/PR/Tourism contacts greatly appreciated.
RECENT TRIPS: Cancún and the southern Yucatan Peninsula where I had a magazine and an online assignment on luxury real estate. I also toured Chihuahua and the Copper Canyon. I came back with a wealth of material to work with.
Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico with more stories and review of five-star Las Hadas Hotel/Resort.
Cuenca, Ecuador Luxury real estate, destination and much more material.
Please contact me if you are interested in features on these subjects or assignments on other subjects.
***
The Book: I'm writing a book on the undiscovered Yucatan
Peninsula of Mexico.
Any ideas, suggestions, etc.? I'm interested
in ideas and suggestions about unusual and out-of-the-way places and things. Also, any Mexico Tourism, PR,
lodging people that want their area or property looked at in the process of my
research/travels contact me.
My book about the undiscovered Yucatan
Peninsula of Mexico, a non-fiction exploration of little known and
seen places and aspects of the area, is not a guidebook, but includes
some resource information and maps.
I've spent much time traveling in the
Peninsula, so the book is mainly experiential. I take the reader to
many obscure places such as:
- An island where Mayan royalty were
buried and which later became a base for Capt. Jean Lafitte and
other pirates to attack shipping lanes in the Gulf and to the small
village where Jean's brother lived and died, where some residents
still bear the Lafitte name;
- To a very unusual prison which has
had no violence in over ten years and even has a spa;
- To the caves where families have
made Panama style hats for generations;
- To small Mayan villages where the
language is still spoken and the old traditions still kept;
- To the jungles where Mayan shamans
still practice their art;
- And, to old haciendas, some in
ruins, some still working and some now luxury resorts known only to
the rich and famous.
The book will instill a sense of
adventure in the “armchair traveler” and will provide the
adventurous traveler with the information necessary to live these
adventures.
Book Photos: Mayan Shaman performing ceremony - Chacchoben, Q. Roo (left) and Mayan Girl - Village of 20 de Septiembre, Campeche (right)
I can be reached by the contact email on this site or johnlamkin(at)gmail.com
Thanks, John