I'm never going to understand why hotels won't provide you with an iron or steamer, insisting that you instead pay to have your clothes pressed by their housekeeping staff. It's a joke.

Phew, that was fast! I'm now booking into June for one-on-one pitch consultations and coaching sessions. Struggling with story placement or have a pitch you just can't get over the edge? Let's chat: lauraratliff.as.me/schedule.php

Interesting article today in The Atlantic about how moths have "evolved into an unbeatable enemy." The points in the article aren't wrong—it's hard to deal with moths—but I will share some tips I learned from a textile conservator. 🧵 theatlantic.com/science/archiv…

I regularly receive PR requests to amend published content: swap images, mention things that weren’t, move them up if it’s a roundup. Some aren’t even in there and ask to be retroactively added. Spot an error? Fine. Want to control coverage? Take out an ad and leave me alone.

YOU GUYS!! CHILLS!!!

"Perfection is impossible. In the 1,526 singles matches I played in my career, I won almost 80% of those matches. But what percentage of points did I win? 54% In other words, even top ranked tennis players win barely more than half the points they play. When you lose ever

Call for pitches! @AfarMedia is looking for a travel writer familiar with Albania for a brief write-up that will in appear in print + online. Rate is $400 (+ an extra fee for any social video content). (1/2)

I'm wearing workout Hokas for the first time, and the platform on it is making me feel like a Spice Girl. I've always thought that might come more naturally to me. And sadly, alarmingly, it does not.

Hi all—does anyone have a contact with the English wine region? Someone who works on marketing the region for tourism? Thank you!

The content that should be getting annual updates is the "Best Oyster Happy Hour in New York" roundup!

Another PR request: Do you know of any beach resorts that host high-profile cultural events? Something similar to when Soneva in the Maldives brought an edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival to the property.

Asia jet lag plus jury duty does not pass the vibe check.

Back from paternity leave (!) with some belated news – I'm now a Features Editor WIRED. I'm commissioning ambitious narrative longform journalism for wired.com + print. Particularly looking for stories + writers from outside the US. If that's you, let's talk.

Reminder freelancers: We have a free weekly newsletter w/calls for pitches/full-time/gigs. We also launched a daily job board where we put even more calls/jobs/gigs (there are 80+ up for this week). The board is $4/month but again newsletter is always free beatravelwriter.com/job-board

"We have no information to share, but we would love to be included in your article."

I commission film writing for i-D and I like people with interesting, thoughtful and left field ideas. If something’s been on your mind – films new or old – and you think the i-D audience would be interested in it, let me know.

You guys! I asked a potential source if they wanted to be quoted for an article. I requested a few sentences regarding their expertise on the topic. In response, they sent me IG captions (emojis included).

URGENT: I'm looking for a travel writer specialising in accessible tourism please! Looking to commission an accessible travel guide to Chicago ASAP. Thank you in advance! #journorequest

I sent a lead out to some PR folks looking for an expert to quote for an assignment. So far 11 or 13 responses did not clearly identify how their client was a fit for the story.

I will never understand why a hotel starting rate seems to be the most complicated piece of info to fact-check in this industry.