Karen Catchpole Karen Catchpole is an award-winning freelance travel and food journalist with more than 20 years of experience covering leisure travel and hospitality. Since 2006, she has been traveling and reporting full-time through the Americas. This has allowed her to gain a deep understanding of travel in Latin America including iconic destinations, emerging destinations, best hotels, best adventures, top chefs, the most compelling travel and culinary trends, and more. Her freelance travel stories are published by Travel + Leisure, Afar, Departures, Hemispheres, American Way, Delta Sky, CNN Travel, BBC Travel, National Geographic Travel, Elle, WSJ. Magazine, Good, Roads and Kingdoms, The Dallas Morning News, The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, Luxury Latin America, and many other outlets. Karen is also the co-creator of the ongoing Trans-Americas Journey, a working road trip through North, Central, and South America, and a travel blog, which has been noted as a top couples' travel blog by USA Today.• 15+ years of experience traveling and reporting full-time in North, Central, and South America• Received an honorable mention from SATW Lowell Thomas Travel Awards in 2014 About Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure, a Dotdash Meredith Brand, is a top travel media brand with a mission to inform and inspire passionate travelers. Our expert team includes a network of hundreds of writers and photographers across the globe, all providing a local eye on the best places to stay, eat, and explore. We reach an audience that takes 76 million round trips annually, offering valuable travel tips, ideas and inspiration, and products you need to get you to your destination — whether it’s a small town or big city, beach or lake, national park or theme park, road trip, cruise, or long-haul flight, and everything in between. Learn more about us and our editorial process