Guess Who's the New Editor of Matador Life?

It all happened very suddenly.

One day I received a tweeted message from my friend Vicky Baker, Guardian journalist and author of Going Local Travel blog -- for travelers who want to break off the beaten track. She wanted to let me know about a position for contributing editor on Matador Life -- a section of the Matador Network, the worlds largest online travel magazine. The Life section focuses on thriving between trips.

Less than a week later, I was hired. Yes, I am now officially, as of two weeks ago, editing Matador Life.  (Quite a testament to the efficacy of social media.)

It’s been an interesting transition. Much of the work is similar to what I’ve been doing here for the last couple years, but now, I’m working with a team of about 36 people, many of whom I knew through Twitter, Couchsurfing, Burning Man  and just general blogging.

The editors are spread all over the world – with quite a few of us in South America. That means all meetings, discussions and decisions are made via e-mail and chat. It's impressive how well it all works.

That everything is shared and discussed forces me to be more awake and aware. I find myself reading more, and wasting a lot less time as I juggle writing and editing articles, working with outside contributors, reading the articles on Matador and generally trying to stay in touch with what’s going on in the rest of the world. I'm also learning a lot about blogging and the backend of running a website.

Please allow me to introduce you to two members of this unique group:

Julie Shwietert-Collazo – Managing editor of Matador. I met her through Twitter about a year ago. She’s well read, well traveled and a fantastic writer and researcher. That she’s managed to keep pace with a newborn – the beautiful Mariel – amazes me as much as anything else she does. When I heard about the job opening from Vicky, I e-mailed Julie immediately.

You can read more about Julie both on Matador and at her own website, Collazo Projects.

David Miller – the senior editor of Matador.  Soon after writing Julie, I saw an email from David pop up in my mail box.  We chatted a bit back and forth, but when he offered the job, I didn’t have to think much before saying yes.

David is funny. He uses words like stoked and fired up a lot, and I notice other members of the team use them a lot as well.  David also clearly knows how to run a team because, as I said earlier, it works well.

You can read more about David --  who will be moving to Patagonia soon with his wife, Lau and their adorable 2 year old Layla -- at his blog.

What's Next For The Future Is Red?

It seems, though, the types of articles I’ll be writing for Matador overlap quite a bit with what I do here on thefutureisred. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, so from now on, you can find my articles about yoga, children, parenting, work and travel on Matador. I’ll provide links for those along with links to articles from the other editors and authors.

As for original content on The Future Is Red? I will continue to write about Salta, travel in Argentina and topics that don't seem to fit for Matador. Like going to the gym, some lovely photos of Henry Moore's sculpture from Noah and a short dissertation on that lovely phenomenon known as camel toe.

I also have some surprises coming up, so stick with me.

Comments

[Candice]

Yay! Welcome aboard!

[Technomadia]

Congratulations!!

[Daniel]

Congrats Leigh! You'll do a great job. Looking forward to reading!

Dan
Casual Kitchen

[Cheap Like Me]

Hooray! It's going to be a fun ride.

[Alanna]

Hey awesome! I look forward to keeping up with you in more than one location. I'm currently upping my writing, with all this time off...so I also plan to be more involved with Matador. Look forward to seeing what you do!

[Michael]

Good for you, Leigh...congratulations!

[Benjamin]

You continue to inspire me, Leigh, and give me the courage to believe that following one's passions completely works out as it should. Congratulations, and thanks. :)

[Julie]

As David would say, big ups!

[Jen]

Congratulations! Isn't it amazing what this Internet allows us to do, right from the comfort of our own home, wherever in the world that might be? Wonderful!

[Collette]

Oh how wonderful! It sounds like it will be a very interesting job. It's great when you can find something you like to do & get paid for it! Looking forward to seeing the new stuff!