New Author & Travel Job Series: Angie Orth
Years ago, I shared a cubicle at one of the world’s largest PR agencies with Angie Orth, known to her readers and fans as Angie Away. When I was just a young travel publicist, she took off on a worldwide adventure, and has been lighting a path for women like me ever since.
She inspired me to go off on my own and know she’ll do the same for you by reading her story. She just became an official author this week talking about her adventures from travel publicist to true influencer in Flirting with Disaster (formerly Big Apple Angie)! Get her book.
Please meet Angie Orth.
She is the author of the memoir FLIRTING WITH DISASTER: TRUE TRAVEL TALES OF FEAR, FAILURE, AND FAITH (Hachette 2024), She hosts two podcasts: “Traveling with AAA” and “But Did You Die?!”you and the travel video series, “The Jet Sisters.” In 2006, she launched her award-winning website, Angie Away, and since then has helped hundreds of thousands of women see the world safely.
With 20 years in the travel industry, Angie’s experience has run the gamut from PR agency publicist to freelance journalist to red carpet host to memoirist. Today, she still does all the things as an on-camera host, podcaster, blogger and content creator. She's covered travel for AFAR, Cosmopolitan, Buzzfeed, Lonely Planet and The Today Show, and she loves storytelling, questioning the status quo and new destinations. After stints in Atlanta, NYC and a little bit of everywhere else, she’s back home in Florida with her hunky husband and dogs Leia and Skywalker.
What is your background and education?
I’ve got a B.S. in Public Relations from the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida. I nearly switched my major from PR to journalism in the middle of my reporting class with the infamous Professor Mike Foley, but he advised me that I could do it all without an official degree in journalism. So I stuck with PR. His advice to me: write every day if you want to be a writer. And that’s what I’ve done since, in one profession or another.
My first stop after UF was Atlanta for a taste of PR agency life. My clients ranged from chicken farms and prescription acne medication to pressure washers and peanuts. I enjoyed problem solving but truly wasn’t passionate about any of my clients until one day we landed a DMO. The contrast between my passion for the travel account vs. the chicken account was glaringly obvious. Once I realized that the agency was not interested in my growth, I made the move to the Big Apple to find something better.
I landed at Weber Shandwick in the travel practice (where I met Jess!) and worked with the Canadian Tourism Commission, Visit Beverly Hills, IHG and the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism on media events, video shoots, press trips and tourism campaigns at the dawn of the social media age. Talk about a perfect fit!
During that time, I applied for Tourism Queensland’s Best Job in the World - the first ever global social media campaign of its kind. Out of 34,000 people, I was chosen as a finalist. While I didn’t win the gig of Island Caretaker on the Great Barrier Reef, it did open my eyes to a whole new world of travel marketing. That’s when I started thinking about my next adventure, a yearlong round-the-world solo trip.
What's a typical day for you on the job?
I don’t think I’ve ever had a typical day on any job I’ve ever done! As much as we plan and strategize in the PR space, you just never know when a disaster is going to sideline all your brilliant tactics. Now that I’m out on my own, it’s even less certain what I’ll be doing day-to-day. It works for me - my brain loves to chase the new and shiny and interesting projects, so entrepreneurship is a great fit. Most days include some mix of the following:
Visual Content Creation - video and social media campaigns in partnership with brands and destinations
Writing - my newsletter, blog and books
Hosting - TV appearances, satellite media tours and podcast hosting
Coaching - 1:1 coaching with aspiring creators
Tourism / DMO Marketing & Consulting
Where can we all buy your book?
My first book launched March 12. It’s a travel memoir about the yearlong career break I took from my PR job to travel the world and decompress from the insanity of agency life, only to find disasters around every corner. It was anything BUT relaxing, but it did kick off my career as a travel content creator, and spoiler alert: I survived the year!
It’s available everywhere you buy books in hardcover, Kindle and audiobook formats. And I got to narrate the audiobook myself, so it’s particularly infused with sass. https://angieaway.com/flirting-with-disaster-book/
Any great teasers for readers?
Here’s an exclusive excerpt of Flirting with Disaster for Trip Whisperer readers:
Never go into the jungle alone with a man with a machete. It’s the third day of my solo trip around the world, and I’m already breaking a promise to my mother. I hear her voice in my head, saying, “Promise me you won’t talk to strangers. Remember everyone thought Ted Bundy was a nice guy!”
Glancing over my shoulder at the trail, it hits me that I’m all alone in the jungle with exactly that—a complete stranger. This one is swinging a curved, rusty blade. I just met him twenty minutes ago when my guide drove into his village, nudged me toward him, and said, “Go to the waterfall.”
As we wander so deep into the greenery that I can’t see the way back out, I ponder my rookie mistake. I’m... well, I don’t know where I am. Somewhere in a jungle in Fiji. Sticky with sweat and out of breath. On my way to a waterfall I’ve never heard of.
This lapse in judgment is out of character. As the eldest of three kids, I’m usually the cautious, prepared one. I make sure my friends get home safely. I triple-check the deadbolt. My sensible wheeled suitcase with backpack straps has safety doodads, rubber stoppers to wedge under hotel room doors, an orange whistle, and a money belt. Plus, I have all the ninja skills I’d learned in two lessons at a dojo in Long Island.
Wandering around the woods with strangers is for dumb girls in horror movies, or Little Red Riding Hood types who ignore their mothers and get eaten by wolves. I’m supposed to be smarter than this.
I’m suddenly aware of how dangerous this situation is, but I’m too hot and tired to escape now. I trudge up the trail toward the waterfall. Or my untimely death.
How long did it take to write and bring this book to life?
I took the trip in 2011 and have been developing the book ever since. I’ve written it mostly on airplanes, in fits and starts, in the Notes app on my phone. I got serious about publishing in 2020 and signed with a literary agency. In 2022, Worthy / Hachette offered me a contract for Flirting with Disaster. From departure day for my RTW trip to publishing day, it took 13 years, 2 months and 11 days.
Any tips for people wanting to become authors?
A lot of people say they want to write a book but they never actually write anything. The only way to be a writer is to actually be a writer. So write every day to keep those muscles growing. Repetition is the only way to develop your own voice.
I actually wrote a piece with all my writing advice, so linking here! https://angieaway.com/2021/03/01/how-to-be-a-writer/
What do you feel is your biggest career risk?
Anytime I’ve colored outside the lines has been a risk, whether in my personal life (moving to NYC to have a career vs. small-town expectations) or in professional life (leaving a stable career to wander the world without much of a plan). Professionally, I’ve tried so many things. Some have been successful - my blog, my book, my podcasts. Others… not so much. It’s all been a big experiment. It’s STILL a big experiment. But it’s the risks and the willingness to try new things that have made all the difference.
What is your top career advice tip?
Be great at what you do but don’t just be what you do. I loved PR so much and I was so grateful to be working with clients I adored, I let it take over my life. Don’t be twenty-something me. Have a life outside of work, have boundaries and don’t burn yourself out or destroy your health for a job.
What's your most memorable trip and why?
There are too many to name, but the road trip (sponsored by Ford) I took with my brother and sister from Denver to Seattle in 2014 was incredible. It was one of my first paid social media campaigns and just being able to have that experience exploring the West with my siblings made me think, “Yeah. Quitting was the right choice.” It was very validating.
What would you tell your younger self?
Your life is going to rock. Calm down.
Please share a fun fact about yourself.
I used to be a top-ranked junior dog handler and even got to show my pups at Westminster Kennel Club’s annual dog show at Madison Square Garden.
