Daily Inspiration: Meet Jackie Lapin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jackie Lapin.

Hi Jackie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I got hooked on history in the 4th grade when they took our class to one of the California Missions. I minored in California History at USC while getting my journalism degree. Shortly after graduation, I experienced my first Caribbean Cruise, and I loved capturing the amazing beauty and historic sites we visited. And after starting my career, I started finding relaxation and escape in historic novels, history books and biographies. It wasn’t long before photographing historic localities became my secret passion, and I made a point to jump on a plane at least once or twice a year for a few weeks of exploring.

As a professional—first as one of the world’s first female sportswriters, then as the founder of one of the nation’s two largest sports and cable TV PR firms, followed by authoring two personal growth books, and most recently conducting podcast tours for clients—writing was central to my life.

Now, in my later years, I’ve realized that while writing has always been a valuable skill and something I do well, what I truly want is to spend my time doing what I love. It was time to bring all of my passions and skills together. I began blogging and sharing my photography, which quickly grew into The Historic Traveler—and the rest, as they say, is history.

My storytelling skills, my love of history, my incredible array of photographs from more than 500 locations, and book recommendations of historic novels, mysteries, history chronicles and biographies — are what make The Historic Traveler so unique. Every article or magazine piece feature all of this. And then we expanded from there, creating a comprehensive community, online destination and membership for people who love history, travel or historic novels.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s always a challenge balancing work as a successful entrepreneur, and the needs of clients, staff, and marketing while finding time for the fun. It was important to me to create balance – which for me meant making time to travel and photograph incredible places. I’ve certainly not done nearly as much travel and exploring as I would have liked due to work demands. But I am grateful for the time I have had. I’ve been fortunate to have been to nearly 50 countries.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
The Historic Traveler is a complete departure from my professional career as an entrepreneur in PR, media, and marketing. It’s a truly creative endeavor—and something deeply personal to me.

I love discovering fascinating historic locations, writing brief introductions to each site, and sharing what to see—including hidden details you might not otherwise know about. I pair these insights with photographs from my archive and finish each piece with a selection of compelling books that make you feel as if you’ve lived the history yourself. (And yes—I get to read books for my business. Isn’t that great?)

I’m particularly proud of our 80-page quarterly digital magazine. In a relatively short amount of time, we’ve been fortunate to feature top historical novelists and experts in our Q&A section—something I’m especially excited about and leans into my roots in journalism and PR.

What truly sets The Historic Traveler apart, however, are our unique directories. There are many blogs out there, many new media companies, and many other travel magazines. We are proud to offer the world’s most comprehensive directory of historical novels, mysteries, and history books organized by country, state, or city. We also created the world’s first directory of historical TV dramas, including where to watch them on broadcast or streaming platforms. Our offerings include a directory of thousands of historic hotels, inns, and B&Bs across the U.S. and internationally; a curated list of history-focused films sorted by era; a wide-ranging directory of historical museums; and a comprehensive listing of the best travel guides for history enthusiasts. This rich collection of resources is complemented by practical travel tools and a white-glove travel concierge service.

Even with all those resources, creating a community of like-minded travelers was an important part of what I hoped The Historic Traveler could be. I love bringing people together through virtual meetups and book clubs, so we history lovers don’t have to suffer in silence—we can now find our people! And maybe one day, we can all travel together.

And lastly, after years of traveling the world with my camera, I’m hugely proud of our photo gallery with more than 60 individual collections. This my “coming out” as a photographer, and I am so excited to finally share this work with folks.

Best of all, membership in The Historic Traveler is completely free. We want fellow history lovers and readers to have access to everything they need to explore the world with us. If that sounds like you, we hope you’ll visit us at www.theHistoricTraveler.com/members.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I am still new to the travel industry, but long in the tooth on the marketing and media side. I think interest in historic travel is going to continue to accelerate. You can see it in the popularity of reels and YouTube videos about travel. People want to escape the headlines into something enjoyable, and we are perfectly placed for that–between travel and books.

As for marketing, I believe that AI is going to transform new media formats like mine in ways we cannot even imagine. And the people who are willing to venture with the change will innovate and develop new best practices for all of us. Those who want to hold on to old ways of doing things will be left behind.

Pricing:

• So what’s great about The Historic Traveler is that it is totally complimentary, no cost. We just want you to sign up so you can stay up on news and articles with our twice a month newsletter , and get access to the directories, travel concierge and community www..TheHistoricTraveler.com/members

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.TheHistoricTraveler.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/historictravelerintl
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/historictraveler
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-historic-traveler/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheHistoricTraveler
• Soundcloud: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/historictraveler
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thehistorictraveler

Image Credits
Photos by Jackie Lapin