Media Kit

Thank you for your interest in collaborating with Sand In My Suitcase…

We’re Janice and George Mucalov, once practicing lawyers, now award-winning travel writers and blog publishers.

Passionate travelers, we started as travel journalists writing for leading print magazines and newspapers like USA Today, Islands, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, South China Morning Post, Vancouver Sun, TravelAge West and AAA Carolinas GO.

In 2012, we launched our luxury adventure travel blog.

Today, Sand In My Suitcase is a top-ranked source of travel content that informs and inspires.

(We also publish Cabo Visitor, a niche travel blog on Los Cabos, Mexico.)

High-traffic travel blog

We know the power of the written word, and we craft our posts with care. We spend time on the quality of writing and the photography.

Posts (most 2,500+ words) are well-researched, detailed and SEO-optimized to attract the maximum reader traffic.

Most readers initially find our high-traffic blog via organic searches on Google. This means they find us because Sand In My Suitcase both answers their travel questions and fuels their dreams.

We like to think, however, that readers return as much for the beauty of our travel stories as for the practical content we provide.

We have more than 3,600 loyal subscribers who read our regular email newsletters (see samples) – and who book trips and hotels based on our recommendations and articles.

About Sand In My Suitcase

We create engaging experience-rich travel stories with a focus on:

• Curated itineraries – Often with a dash of soft adventure (think our 14-day Croatia island-hopping route)
• Cultural explorations – From Athens’ ancient marvels to the art of bathing naked at Baden Baden’s Friedrichsbad Spa
• Hotel reviews – Including luxury hotels with private pool suites
• Cruise reviews and tips – Small ships, tall ships, deluxe new ships… we love them all
• Food and wine – Because great meals are half the joy of travel!

We have a special love for Hawaii, Mexico, Europe, the Caribbean and our home province of British Columbia (Canada)

But we’ve written about everything from wandering the spice-laden streets of Zanzibar’s Stone Town to savoring champagne and caviar on Seabourn Cruises and the famous art you must see at the Met Museum in NYC.

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).

With our editorial background and travel expertise, we offer a uniquely valuable skill set for hotels, tourism brands and cruise lines looking to reach an engaged audience of luxury-adventure travelers.

Successful hotel collaborations

Each year, Sand In My Suitcase inspires more than 1,600 hotel nights being booked on Booking.com alone, with an average spend of $1,550 USD per stay.

We also partner with Stay22, which drives hundreds of automatic hotel bookings monthly through Expedia (worth thousands of dollars) when readers browse our site.

Readers use our blog to make their travel decisions

We have some very real influence. Some examples?

• Mexico holiday-goers – Who ask us which Pueblo Bonito resort in Cabo to book.
• Frequent fliers – Keen to know whether they should fly on EVA Air. (This post has an average rank of #3 on Google searches for “Eva Air review” and “Eva Air Economy review”.)
• Cruise travelers – Wondering if they should buy Viking Ocean Cruises’ drinks package.
• Couples visiting Bora Bora – Who ask which of the overwater bungalow resorts in Bora Bora is best for them.

Read the comments on these posts, and you’ll get an idea.

“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 a Finalist award for “Best Travel Column/Blog” in the 2018 Travel Media Association of Canada awards.

Oh, and we have to mention that our site took home the Silver award for “Best Travel Blog” in the North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) 2015 annual competition.

Engaged newsletter subscribers

We know newsletter subscribers are gold – and we’re fortunate to have 3,600+ loyal and engaged readers. Our open and click-through rates beat the industry average.

See our newsletter profile with links to sample issues.

Travel writing ethics

Janice is a long-standing member of:

• Society of American Travel Writers (SATW)
• North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA)

We never agree to write positive stories in exchange for a hosted travel experience.

See our Editorial and Disclosure Policy for more details.

Get in touch

If you’d like more information or wish to work with us, let’s talk! Newsletter sponsorships? Supported media trip? Contact us.