FAQs

Ramsey Qubein

                                                                                                                      TRavel writer

What is your primary focus as a travel writer?

I cover the business travel sector including airlines, airport, and hotels. I also enjoy writing about organizations or travel-related businesses that make it their mission to help others through charitable programs.


Are you available for freelance work from interested editors?

Yes, certainly. Editors are welcome to contact me directly if they have any particular travel or business related editorial needs.


How did you get started travel writing?

My interest in the aviation industry landed me an internship to write about the world's top airports for the travel trade industry. That led to covering the hotel world and writing travel agent-focused review articles on literally thousands of hotels. I still work in that position today and estimate that I have written close to 5,000 hotel review articles over the past decade that involved individual site inspections of each. It is a challenging, yet fun job that has me sometimes doing as many as ten hotel visits in one day. Time management is very important when doing hotel reviews!


You have visited more than 5,000 hotels. What unusual or unique experiences have you had?

Site inspections are a major part of the way I examine a hotel, and when visiting several sample rooms, we have walked in on people sleeping or changing clothes. It's certainly an awkward experience! I have also loved shivering my way through the Ice Hotel in Quebec and spending time in the famous kitchens of the Ritz Hotel in Paris cooking with the property's master chef. Two experiences that I will never forget!


What's your favorite place in the world?

It's such a tough question, but one that I get asked a lot. My favorite spots in the world are in the Mediterranean (Spain, Italy, Greece). I also write frequently about Africa and the Middle East, which sometimes get left out of peoples' travel plans, but there are so many beautiful places to explore in both regions.


How often do you travel?

It varies, but sometimes as much as two weeks a month. My goal is to visit every country and major city in the world. I have a long way to go, but it's an exciting goal. I travel around 350,000 miles per year, and according to my FlightMemory statistics, I have circumnavigated the globe more than 80 times. FlightMemory includes every flight route I have ever taken although repeat flights are not included meaning it is "under reporting" the total number of miles I have flown.


What is one of your favorite travel companies?

Traveling is more than just collecting memories and souvenirs. I was introduced to an amazing company called Clean The World, which takes gently used toiletries from hotels that guests leave behind and sanitizes/repackages them for use in developing countries. My goal is to spread the message of this amazing organization wherever I go to encourage more hotels to participate in their program and generate more financial and social support for their effort in fighting unnecessary disease in third-world countries through proper hygiene education and support. There are so many amazing organizations like Clean The World, and this is just one example of what inspires me to travel  and explore the world. Travelers are so fortunate, and we have a responsibility to make the world a better place.