Melissa | Head Drifty
Melissa is the founder of Driftyland and a full-time writer. Aside from being an avid traveler, Melissa acts, paints, and works with community theater. She currently resides in Wilmington, North Carolina with her oversized panda/Ewok hybrid, Morrie.
Read More: The Drifty Guide To Iceland
The Writers
Alix | Special Contributor
Alix grew up in the South of France, studied in Paris, met she husband during a year abroad in Budapest. She's now raising their two kids who have more stamps on their passports than years lived on Earth on the New Hampshire Seacoast. She believes in taking any opportunity that comes your way, eating all the food, and traveling first and thinking later.
Read More: The Drifty Guide To Rome, Italy
Chase | Special Contributor
Chase Harrison is a actor, writer, and director in the Wilmington, NC area where he has lived for the past 13 years. In that time he has had three plays produced, "Wendigo" "TheaTerror, and "In Sanity" Two of which have gone on to win The Best Original Production award at the Wilmington Theater Awards (Wendigo in 2016 and TheaTerror in 2018) As well as writing plays, Harrison is one of the theater critic for Encore Magazine.
Read More: The Mousetrap Play: A Timeless London Theatre Mystery Worth Unraveling
Jessica | Special Contributor
Jessica is a UNCW graduate with a BA in French. She is also an alum of the NC School of Science and Mathematics. She is freelance model and a signed actor represented by Rusty Wiggs of Artist Resource Agency.
She is fluent in English and French, and is in the process of learning German. She has a cat named Marvin that loves her and merely tolerates other humans. She is an avid reader, and writing has always been a passion of hers.
Read More: The 8 Best French Films On Netflix (And A Few TV Shows)
John | Special Contributor
John is a freelance writer with over 4 years of experience. He has written for and continuously writes on Travel and Technology and is published on Kayak, Sixt, Thrive Global, Medium and blended gear. In his free time, he helps other writers hone their skill as a proofreader and editor or winds down with a good book.
Read More: The Drifty Guide To Nairobi, Kenya
Nick | Drifty Writer
Nick is a writer, director, film geek and amusement park junkie. When he’s not hanging with his wife and son, he enjoys working in local theater and hunting down new roller coasters. He holds degrees in English and Film Studies and is the former managing editor of The University Times at UNC-Charlotte.
His mind stores useless trivia better than it does important information. His dream is to retire and run a boat charter in Zihuatenejo. He thinks Michael Bay is an awesome filmmaker and will fight you over it.
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Brennen | Drifty Writer
Brennen Daniels is a freelance writer who is best known for his poetry which has been featured in multiple publications including The Moody Standard and Thin Space: Art and Theology Journal.
Brennen lives in Chicago IL and is double majoring in Communication Studies and Theology focusing on the intersection of art, technology and theology. You can regularly find him gallivanting around the city with a loud group of humans looking to get into somewhere they shouldn’t be.
Read More: The Drifty Guide To Oahu, Hawaii
Talia | Drifty Writer
Talia Francena is a freelance writer based out of Providence, Rhode Island whose specialties include creating web content and copywriting. She received a B.S. in Psychology from Rhode Island College, where she also uncovered the secrets of telekinesis. When she's not writing, she enjoys playing music and spending time with her kitty.
Read More: The Drifty Guide To New Orleans
Carlos | Drifty Writer
Carlos Peñalba is a freelance travel writer and photographer currently based in La Coruña (Spain). He lived in London and New York for 15 years while working for a software firm before embarking on an 18-month backpacking exploration of Asia, from Nepal to Japan.
He is the author of The Year I Became a Nomad: A Journey Through Asia on a quest for freedom, love and happiness, a travel memoir about his Asian adventure. His photos have been published amongst others by NatGeo Traveler, Condé Nast Traveler, and Doctors Without Borders.
Read More: The Drifty Guide To Madrid
Amanda | Drifty Writer
Amanda Smith is a writer, photographer and graphic designer currently pursuing a degree in Creative Mass Media. She gathers most of her inspiration from nature and feels most at home on forest trails or in the mountains. She currently lives in Memphis, TN with her Catahoula Leopard Dog.
Read More: The Drifty Guide To Costa Rica
Neda | Drifty Writer
A passionately curious person willing to discover all wonders of the known Universe, from astrology to geopolitics, while dancing to good music during the journey. And she loves writing about all of them!
She enjoys traveling and never leaves the house without a passport in her handbag, just in case adventure calls. :blush: So far, she has lived and studied in four amazing countries, and doesn’t think she will settle down soon.
Read More: The Drifty Guide To Budapest
Andreja | Drifty Writer
Andreja grew up in the Mediterranean town of Koper in Slovenia. She is an environmentalist, master of geography and a passionate traveller. During her trip to the Philippines, she met her future husband and is currently living in the tropical island of Siquijor in the Philippines. Her dreams are to open a backpackers hostel, write and publish her own book and grow old in a cottage by the sea.
Read More: The Drifty Guide To Siquijor
Nathan | Drifty Writer
Nathan Huffstutler is an English professor at a college in southern Wisconsin, where he lives with his wife April, their three daughters, and Hazel (their redbone coonhound). Together, they love to hike, bike, hunt for library books, and laugh.
Read More: The Drifty Guide To Savannah