I don’t write very often about the actual work I do for Global Traveler because, quite frankly, I doubt many people would find it very interesting. I telecommute, working thousands of miles from my coworkers, and I’ve actually visited only a small number of the fascinating places written about in the pages of our magazine. I truly enjoy my work (who wouldn’t love reading about all the amazing places we cover?!), but when folks ask what I do for a living and I tell them I am a proofreader, usually their eyes begin to glaze over and I imagine them thinking, “Oh, how boring, nitpicking all day about where a comma should go!”

Believe me, there are times when I wish I could wow someone with an exciting and unusual job description. Just the other day I was listening to an interview on NPR with a young woman who, as a graduate student, worked as a “date” booker for a high-end call-girl agency. Now there’s a person who I am sure provides plenty of stimulating conversation at parties! Conversely, her work might be an awkward topic around the family table at Thanksgiving; my profession might be terribly mundane, but it isn’t likely to cause Grandma to choke on her turkey!

However, my purpose goes beyond merely making sure punctuation is properly used, the right words are capped, spelling is correct and the rules of grammar are observed. I fact check and keep an eye out for inconsistencies and style issues. These are things which editor in chief Lisa Matte and associate editor Jan Hecht watch out for, too, and periodically we put our heads together and hash out a solution or answer to some issue which crops up as we’re reviewing an article. If you’re not asleep yet, let me give you an example.

Several pieces in each issue provide contact information for hotels, restaurants and places of interest in destinations all over the world. Whenever possible, we provide addresses, phone numbers and website addresses so that our readers might be able to visit those locations, or at least easily get further information about them, on their own. The question arose the other day as to what form we should use to present an address. For instance, in some cultures, street numbers follow the street name rather than preceding it, as we are used to here in the United States. Should we “Americanize” the address for the majority of our readers or present it in the form typical of the country of its origin? Should we use abbreviations and spellings familiar to English-speakers or use the form in the original language?

Such questions may appear to be so much dithering over unimportant details, but let me assure you that the editorial staff at GT seriously consider that our readers are real people who will use the information we provide to help them make travel plans and visit the places written about in the magazine. Our decisions usually are made against this final arbiter: What will make the most sense and be most useful to someone in a different culture who doesn’t speak the local language?

In this particular case, we imagined travelers jotting down the address of a fabulous restaurant that had been praised on our pages, eager to try the unique cuisine offered there. It might be on their first night in a city completely new to them, and they might not be able to speak the local language. Hungry, tired but excited to step out in this fascinating destination, they hail a cab and hand over the name and address of the eatery to the driver. What will make the most sense to HIM, the one responsible for getting his passengers to their destination? An “Americanized” version of an address, or a form familiar to him and used throughout his city or country? Voila! The answer is clear, yes?

It’s the attention to those little, seemingly inconsequential yet important details that I believe helps make Global Traveler an excellent, reliable source for the business and leisure traveler. And, while it ain’t very glamourous, I’m proud to do my part!

– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader

My globe-trotting daughter’s overseas travels will soon be coming to an end. She has finished up her month-long community health nursing studies in England and will be flying back to Chicago this coming Wednesday. She’s had a thoroughly marvelous time and says she will really miss lovely England and all of the other places she has visited. Clearly the travel bug has bit hard, and neither of us is unhappy about that at all. Fortunately, aided by plenty of planning and preparation and a slew of good advice from others who were familiar with the cities on her itinerary, she met with few bumps in the road or unexpected difficulties along the way.

Since this journey was first planned, the final leg, after the studies in chilly England were complete, was to be a long weekend in Greece, primarily in Santorini. Jenny and her friends decided that rather than spend time in another big city, they would only stop over for a night in Athens on either side of some island time. The idea of warm days (at least, comparatively warm) spent at a relaxed pace after all the rush and bustle of the rest of the trip has been a bright beacon for the last several months.

So it is with some trepidation and more than a little interest that I’ve been watching the news of financial crisis and strikes in Greece over the last several weeks. Jenny has had little desire or opportunity to closely follow the news while abroad, but I didn’t burden her with constant updates about what I was hearing concerning her final stop. I did give her a brief heads up a few weeks ago when the stories of the first batch of strikes cropped up. I purposely kept my remarks low-key; I saw no need to make her anxious and figured if something of the events in Greece filtered through to her, better that it come from me. I didn’t want to scare her or her friends off of their plans; the situation doesn’t seem dangerous to them, and the last thing the Greek economy needs is tourists and their money staying away.

This past Wednesday saw the largest demonstrations (mostly peaceful) yet in Athens, with civil servants protesting the government’s austerity plans aimed at fixing the debt crisis and proving to the European Union that it can get the economy under control. In addition, strikes grounded flights, stopped ferry service and affected public transportation in Athens. I let Jenny know all of this, since they were to fly to Athens, take the metro to Piraeus where they would then catch a ferry to Santorini. I told her that I doubted more strikes would follow so quickly on the heels of this one-day event. I was glad to hear that she was not overly concerned, even if her travel plans might be affected along the way. She seems to have acquired enough travel savvy and confidence that the recent events in Greece will not faze her or deter her from her plans.

From what I can tell from a few brief lines on Jenny’s Facebook page, so far everything has gone as planned. Santorini is “gorgeous” and time at the beach is on the schedule for today. I’m so thankful my little girl has had such a fantastic and horizon-expanding trip. Even if she should meet with a few unexpected surprises on her way home, she’ll be able to add them to her list of events that have helped her evolve into an experienced global traveler.

– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader

My younger daughter, Jenny, is just finishing her first week in Europe. While her primary purpose while there is to complete her community health nursing clinical in England, that program doesn’t actually begin for another two weeks. She and several of her classmates are currently traveling about the Continent, and her brief phone calls and Facebook postings indicate they are having a wonderful time. I think it would be difficult for anyone with such an experience before them to not enjoy it thoroughly, but Jenny and her friends did a lot to ensure their good time through solid groundwork in planning and organizing their modest version of the Grand Tour.

It’s possible that just getting 10 individuals to agree on their two-and-a-half-week itinerary consumed the majority of their planning sessions, but I know that all of them also spent plenty of Internet time researching where they were going and how (most economically) to get there. Most of the girls had friends or family members who had traveled abroad (and some, like Jenny, had already been overseas, but none on their own), and all of us were dishing out advice, as well. (I was able to pull out articles from the past few years of Global Traveler on every city on their itinerary, plus others covering everything from health insurance to travel safety.) Going forth with maps and directions steering them from every airport or train terminal to their hostels in each city boosted their confidence that they could navigate their way just about anywhere. With Madrid and Barcelona under their belts already and only a snow-cancelled flight from London to delay the start of their adventure, this merry band seems to be off to a great start.

Here are a few things we are glad are a part of this trip, and which we would recommend to any traveling student:

– An international cell phone: Jenny was able to rent one for an extremely reasonable fee and calling rates. At least two other girls in the group have one as well, so if the entire party splits up, they can maintain contact. Although the plan is to keep in touch with friends and family back home primarily through the Internet, we’ve already found cause to be thankful for the immediacy and ease of having phone contact available. Which leads me to essential item number two:

 – Automobile Association of America’s VISA Debit card: We hit upon this item several years ago when Jenny’s big sister, Sarah, studied abroad, and I used one myself last spring while cruising the Mediterranean. It allows one to withdraw funds in the local currency from any ATM, and although there is a small transaction fee, the convenience and other benefits the card offers are worth it. Because I also have access to the account with my own card, I can load additional funds if needed, and there is an emergency contact number in virtually every country in case of loss or theft of the card (which Sarah had cause to use). When Jenny accidently punched in the wrong PIN number in Barcelona (jet lag and sleep deprivation), she used that cell phone to call me to confirm the right code and unfreeze the card (a nice safety feature). But for those once-in-a-lifetime, special purchases or truly emergency situations, Jenny also has

– A credit card which doesn’t charge for non-U.S. currency transactions. We REALLY stressed the unique and/or emergency aspects of the use of the card (and the fact that those are HER purchases), but we wouldn’t have sent her off without one.

 – A student discount card. Jenny and her friends used the Student Travel Agency to book their hostel stays and a few flights and get their rail passes. They found this simplified paying for those items, although the fares weren’t always the cheapest to be found. They expect to make great use of the STA’s discount card, which will provide them free or reduced entrance to an enormous number of museums and attractions all over Europe, in addition to all kinds of percent-off deals at a wide range of businesses in the cities they’ll be visiting. A side note: so far they’ve been very happy with the locations and cleanliness of the hostels they booked through STA, and all have had WiFi access.

We’re thrilled that Jenny’s trip is off to such a good start, but as any experienced traveler knows, all that preparation and the recommendations of those who’ve been there before certainly had a lot to do with it. Happy travels, ladies!

– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader

Yesterday afternoon, the Global Traveler editorial staff completed work on the January 2010 issue of the magazine. As usual, it was a fast and furious push to get the final approved files to the printer by deadline. That is not to say that we aren’t well organized, but it is the nature of the business that there may be last-minute changes to the layout due to the purchase of additional ad space and late-breaking news that requires changes to content. Generally, too, the editor’s and publisher’s letters are written close to deadline to allow for timely commentary.

Allow me to draw aside the veil on producing an issue of Global Traveler, from my somewhat limited perspective:

Sometime in early fall, editor in chief Lisa Matte produces the editorial calendar for the coming year. It outlines the proposed major features and destination articles, aiming to provide an interesting mix of subjects from around the world relevant to our readers. Nothing is set in stone, however, to accomodate events which may affect travelers. For example, late in November of 2008 Mumbai suffered attacks by terrorists on sites frequented by foreign visitors. Six weeks later, contributing writer Patrick Adams was in Mumbai, and his article in the February 2009 issue of Global Traveler described the city’s reaction to and recovery from the assault.

While Lisa and associate editor Jan Hecht may receive the raw text for articles well in advance of the deadline for the issue in which they will appear, most of the work on an issue occurs within the four weeks prior to the “files to printer” date. Plying their red pens, they address length and formatting issues, edit for clarity and focus and confirm facts and details. The text then passes on to art director Tracey Cullen, who fits the words and accompanying photos and graphics into the allotted space for each piece. Often, if the writer has not done so,  she must chase down images for obscure places and activities. I don’t pretend to know how she works her magic, but I am always impressed with the results!

Generally, Lisa or Jan look over the first pdf of the proposed article before it is presented to me. I then do my grammar-teacher bit on punctuation, spelling and sentence structure as well as checking for consistency in style and format (bold this, italicize that) and confirming facts, web addresses and the like. I send my list of edits to Tracey, and she then sends back an amended pdf reflecting those changes. We continue that dance until I send a final “No correx” message, and Lisa gives her final seal of approval for release to the printer. 

Most of this occurs via email, as each of us lives in a different city (and I live in an entirely different time zone). Although it may sound quite dry and isolated, we actually have established a very lively communication. While we debate style issues and confer on editorial content, we also share personal anecdotes and the occasional silly photo from our pasts. It makes for a friendly, fun and intellectually interesting working relationship that I very much treasure.

I will enjoy a bit of a lull now (and hopefully my co-workers will, too) before work begins on our February issue. I’ll spend the next week catching up on my Christmas to-do list, but I look forward to reading the next batch of articles coming my way — and yours –  soon!

– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader 

My younger daughter, Jenny, heads off for two-and-a-half months in Europe in January, and she has had no problem coming up with a lengthy wish list of items for Christmas and her January birthday. While she has let it be known that cash would be most welcome, she’d also be happy with a whole slew of seeming necessities for the journey: a new piece of luggage or two, a video camera, iPhone . . . you get the picture: some big-ticket items.

Since she reads this blog, I won’t reveal what has been crossed off her list, but let’s just say that I’m hoping to find some items for her that will prove to be extremely useful on her journey and a lot more friendly to my budget. While I’ve done some traveling, I haven’t had to live abroad for an extended period with only a couple of suitcases to hold what I’d need for that time. And I certainly wouldn’t claim to be aware of all the handy and ingenious gadgets out there that make travel in a foreign country easier or more enjoyable. In addition, I’m pretty sure that what I might consider essential would not necessarily match what Jen feels she couldn’t do without.

I always look forward to Alexandra Kirkman’s Tech Toys column in each issue of Global Traveler. She presents an amazing array of items which seem to answer a plethora of busy travelers’ needs. I’m not particularly technically proficient but can clearly ascertain the value of the most advanced of products she finds. And not all are of the high-tech variety, either, but each provides a solution for situations many travelers face. I’ve been skimming through past issues to consult the column and believe I’ve found a few surprises Jenny may be glad to have along with her.

Nevertheless, I’d welcome hearing from those of you out there who travel often and have suggestions for those don’t-leave-home-without-it items. Whether it be the right kind of shoe for navigating cobblestoned streets, a readable travel guide — or even what NOT to take — I’d appreciate the input. Actually, any sort of travel tips aimed at a young woman traveling in Europe and staying in hostels with friends would be great. Fellow GT blogger and staffer Kim Krol has already graciously and generously offered Jenny some great comments and observations from her own study and travel abroad experiences. I think that’s one of the most admirable characteristics that I find the majority of global travelers possess: an eagerness to share with and assist fellow wanderers in their explorations of the world.

– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader