Socialite Spotlight: Julia Dimon

Wiles July issue celebrates the independent spirit and to kick off this week’s Socialite Spotlight we are highlighting globetrotter Julia Dimon.  Julia is a travel expert, a hard-core adventuress, travel writer and TV travel personality who has traveled around the world to over 80 countries across all seven continents. Julia is the co-host of Word Travels, a 40-episode TV series about the real lives of travel writers, broadcast worldwide on National Geographic Adventure, Travel Channel UK, Halogen, Outside TV, City-TV and OLN.

Julia also hosts the popular online travel series, Destination Getaway, for MSNBC and is co-hosting a new ‘active lifestyle’ morning show called Outside Today, broadcast on Outside Television Network. This flagship show, co-hosted by Survivor: Africa winner Ethan Zohn, reaches 61 millions viewers a year across the US. Julia also hosts a series of segments for Outside Television called Urban Adventures.

Let’s just say she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty…or break a nail.  Julia has traveled in conflict zones and she’s trained as a gladiator in Rome, camel trekked the Egyptian pyramids, confronted Santa Claus in the Arctic Circle, eaten deep-fried guinea pig in Ecuador and run with bulls in Portugal.  From the depths of the Great Barrier Reef to the top of Machu Picchu, she’s hiked with silverback gorillas in Uganda, snorkeled with whale sharks in Mozambique, climbed The Great Wall of China, dog-sledded in Greenland, camel trekked in Jordan, slept with lions in the Serengeti, lived as a Buddhist monk in Korea, survived a survival course in the jungles of Belize, wrestled with indigenous Cholitas in Bolivia, toured genocide memorials in Rwanda, and made lip-plates with the Mursi women of Southern Ethiopia.

Julia’s writing career began at the age of 12, with a monthly movie-review column for the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily newspaper. “Julia’s Flicks” was regularly published in the Star for over six years. From movie reviews, Julia moved into travel features. For four years, she wrote a monthly travel series for the Toronto Star, called “Confessions of a Backpacker” before she became a weekly columnist for Metro News.

Julia’s genre of travel journalism focuses on quirky, human interest stories with an emphasis on culture, social activism and responsible travel. Her mission is to create awareness of issues typically not addressed in the travel genre.  While many travel pieces focus on mainstream sanitized tourist attractions, Julia has pushed the boundaries of the genre, backpacking solo through off-the-beaten path locations on a quest for unique stories.

Julia is a regular keynote speaker for the NY Times Travel Show, the Boston Globe Travel Show, The Chicago Tribune Travel & Adventure Show and the Washington, DC Travel & Adventure Show. Julia also serves on the Declaration Committee of Seven Natural Wonders, to determine the 7 natural wonders of each continent. She was nominated for a Gemini Award (honoring the best in Canadian Television) for ‘Best Documentary Series.’

Julia Dimon has partnered with American Express to launch a new travel rewards card and Kayak.com, the world’s leading travel search engine, as their national spokesperson and “chief travel junkie.” Plus, she hosted three commercial campaigns for the Tourism Authority of Thailand, televised across Asia, India and the Pacific Rim on National Geographic Adventure channel. She has also worked with Nestle and Puerto Rico Tourism as part of a country-wide Satellite Media Tour about Spring Break Travel.

Visit Julia’s popular blog Travel Junkie Julia www.traveljunkiejulia.com to  get expert travel advice, budget travel tips and read more stories about her adventures in exotic destinations.

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