Mark Chesnut is a journalist, writer and public speaker with more than 30 years of experience. The 2019 winner of the NLGJA Excellence in Travel Writing Award, Chesnut is the author of the book Prepare for Departure and publishes his own travel blog, DepartureLevel.com. His writing has appeared in Fodor’s, Forbes Travel Guide, Global Traveler, HuffPost, Miami Herald, Travel + Leisure Mexico, Travelocity, Travel Weekly, TravelPulse, The New York Times bestseller 1,000 Places to See Before You Die and various in-flight magazines. He speaks about travel at a variety of tourism industry events. Follow him on Instagram: @departure_level.