Max Hartshorne: A Passion for Travel

**Max Hartshorne at the GoNOMAD Cafe in South Deerfield**

GoNOMAD Writer Profiles

Max Hartshorne: A Passion for Travel

The Art of Having a Great Time

"If you approach something with real passion and dedication and think about it all the time, and work on it until one a.m., eventually you're going to succeed."

Max Hartshorne has always had a passion for travel and travel writing and through hard work and bold initiative, he is now in a position to "live the dream."

Last year he visited Denmark, ranches in Montana, New Zealand's North Island, Bologna, Italy, Burgundy France, the island of Elba and many others. This year's trips have included Melbourne Australia, Quebec City, Centre Loire, France, Sarawak Malaysia Colombia's Pacific Coast and the North of England.

This is a guy who can have a great time in the frozen reaches of Arctic Greenland.

Max also did the "full monty" in the name of travel journalism when he traveled to De Anza Springs, the "clothing optional" resort in Jacumba, California, and wrote the most popular story in GoNOMAD's history: "American Nudist," which gets more page views than any two other stories combined.

When he's home he enjoys greeting guests at his internet cafe and publishing one of the country's top travel websites.

Besides working with writers from prestigious publications like the Washington Post, the LA Times, the Explorer's Club and the UK's Royal Geographic Society, he also helps aspiring travel writers get published for the first time. How cool is that?

Max on Toughie, riding at the SK Ranch in Montana.

Many aspiring travel writers have also gotten their start by working as interns at GoNOMAD, where they help work on the website, write articles and often take trips sponsored by local tourism boards. "Max is great to work with," said one student intern. "He's very motivated and he pushes you to do better."

In 2002 Max, then an editor at Transitions Abroad magazine, bought a travel website called GoNOMAD.com from its founder Lauryn Axelrod. At first GoNOMAD had its headquarters in Max's basement, where he worked on it part-time.

By 2005 the website had its own office in rural South Deerfield, Massachusetts and Max was working there full-time, along with Webmaster Joe O'Beng and Associate Editor (and cousin) Stephen Hartshorne.

Now the website is housed at the GoNOMAD Cafe, which features espresso, fruit smoothies, bagel sandwiches, free WIFI and classes where people can learn all about different facets of the Worldwide Web.

"I'm traveling, editing and teaching people how to work with the Web," Max says. "And I'm having a ball."

Max got his first editor's job at 21, when he helped start the Portland Chronicle in Maine. He worked in production, advertising sales, web design and editing for twenty-seven years.

Swimming in a cave in Hungary

His writing has been published in many newspapers and other publications including the Valley Advocate, the UMass Press, and Traveler's Tales Books.

Read more stories by Max Hartshorne:

Iquique, Northern Chile: Arid Land of Stark Beauty

Beaumont, Texas: Wildlife and Nightlife in the Heart of the Oil Patch

Alabama Attractions: A WWII Battleship and a Movie Classic

Alabama's Small Towns and Downtowns

Ecotourism in Cancun: Really!

Hiking the Alps Outside of Torino

Shiraz, Esfahan and Tehran: An Iran Photo Gallery

Visiting Iran: Ancient Cities, Natural Wonders and Friendly People

Dasht-E-Kavir, Iran: A Day of Freedom in the Desert