Thank you for your interest in working with Sand In My Suitcase...
We’re Janice and George Mucalov, once practising lawyers, now award-winning travel writers and bloggers.
We started writing travel articles for print magazines and newspapers.
And we still contribute many articles each year to leading consumer and travel industry publications in the U.S. and Canada, like Islands.com, TravelAge West, NUVO.com, Cruise & Travel Lifestyles, Taste of Life, North Shore News and Interval World.
See details of the magazines and newspapers we write for
Our luxury adventure travel blog, Sand In My Suitcase (launched in 2012), is another important online venue for sharing our travel stories with the world.
What makes our blog unique
We know the power of the written word, and we craft our posts with care.
Posts are well-researched, detailed and SEO-optimized – often 1,000 to 1,500 words or more in length. We spend time on the quality of writing.
Most readers may initially find us via Google. But we like to think they return as much for the beauty of our travel stories as for the practical content we provide.
Our readers
Sand In My Suitcase appeals to well-traveled and intellectually curious travel lovers.
We write for the 35+ reader who likes to spice up their luxury trips with a little adventurous fun – and who enjoys a good travel tale.
About Sand In My Suitcase
Our niche is luxury travel with a twist of adventure (and we have a penchant for expedition, river and small-ship cruising). Our posts focus on hotel reviews, cruise stories, good food (with wine, of course!), bespoke tours and soft adventure – everything from Normandy river cruising to walking safaris in Zambia.
We also take many of the photos that illustrate our posts. Readers often comment that the photos are beautiful (and we’re always delighted when magazines publish our travel photos).
Readers can find excerpts and stories adapted from our magazine and newspaper travel articles, as well as travel posts written just for this site.
Sand In My Suitcase is a recognized luxury travel blog
We offer a unique skill set to hoteliers, destinations, cruise lines and other brands interested in reaching an engaged target audience of luxury adventure travel enthusiasts.
“Best travel blog” and other honors
Sand In my Suitcase won "1st Place" for Best Travel Blog in the 2017 Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), Canadian chapter awards.
We also won "Best Blog Post" (3rd Place) in the 2018 SATW (Canadian chapter) awards for our Costa Rica post: "Oh My! See Snakes, Sloths and Spiders at Arenal Hanging Bridges."
Oh, and we have to mention that our site took home the Silver award for "Best Travel Blog" in the 2015 North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) annual competition. One last plug! Sand In My Suitcase is one of the "Top 100 Couple Travel Blogs" too.
Shameless self-promotion: See all our travel writing and blogging awards here
Blog stats
Average monthly unique visitors (UV): 15,000+ (and growing)
Average monthly page views: 25,000+
DA: 44
Readers like spending time on our site: An average of 4 to 12 minutes per post on many posts
Social media reach
Added bonus: We promote our posts on social media.
We have an additional 25,000+ social media fans
(We’re choosy about who we follow, so we don’t follow everyone back)
Twitter
@SandInSuitcase 7,600+
Pinterest
SandInSuitcase 8,100+
(175,000+ monthly views)
Facebook
SandInMySuitcase 2,400+
Facebook
Janice.Mucalov 3,390+
Instagram
sandinmysuitcase 3,480+
Google+
+JaniceMucalov 1,585+
We're not travel "influencers" in the big world of social media marketing, but we have some very real influence :-).
Readers rely on our blog to help make their travel decisions
Some examples?
The Mexico holiday-goers who ask us which Pueblo Bonito resort in Cabo to book.
The frequent fliers keen to know whether they should fly on EVA Air.
(This post consistently ranks #5 or #6 on Google searches for "Eva Air review" and "Eva Air Economy review".)
The cruisers interested in the world's best new cruise ship.
The groom who booked a particular honeymoon safari lodge in South Africa after reading our review (corresponding with us further by email).
Read the comments on these posts, and you'll get an idea.
How we can work with you
Blog content covering trip reports and reviews
(sometimes magazine/newspaper coverage too)
Sponsored posts
Advertising
Other? Let's be creative and see how we can work together!
Travel writing ethics
We're both members of the Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC).
Janice is also a member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and the North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA).
We never agree to write positive stories in exchange for a hosted travel experience.
Sponsored content includes a disclosure notice.
Get in touch
If you'd like more information or wish to work with us, let's talk!
Please see our Disclosure policy and contact us.
