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* List of recent work.
* Most stories available for reprint or repurposing.
Hitting the Trail
* Stories available from destinations worldwide.
* Expeditions include end-to-end hikes of the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide Trails.
While Karen is a recognized expert on hiking and backpacking, she also writes about other outdoor activities, including kayaking, scuba diving, backcountry skiing, and climbing.
Diving in Polynesia
* Need to know whether you got the facts straight about an outdoor story.
* Need another opinion.
* Want to make sure the equipment you're recommending is the right gear for the conditions.
* Need information about trails, hiking skills, equipment, or outdoor safety.
* Want to find out what's new.
* Need a few tips that can only be learned by putting a few thousand miles on your boots.
* Need photos of a remote place to accompany a story.
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Karen Berger is a writer focusing on travel, the outdoors, the environment, global health, music, and the business of being self-employed. She is the author of 15 books, including Backpacking and Hiking: An Eyewitness Companion (DK, 2005), which has been published in American and European editions in 12 languages. Her most recent book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Piano Exercises was published by Alpha Penguin in January, 2011.
Outdoors Writing
In the outdoors realm, Karen is known as an international expert on hiking, backpacking, and adventure travel. She has earned her reputation with footsteps -- literally millions of them -- having completed the so-called "Triple Crown" (thru-hikes of the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail) and having trekked more than 17,000 miles on 6 continents. In addition to hiking, she has had worldwide experience scuba diving, horseback riding, kayaking, climbing, and skiing. She is the author of Trailside's Scuba Diving (W.W. Norton), an instructional book used to train new scuba divers.
Her work has included:
* Contributing editor for Backpacker
* Hiking expert for GORP.com
* Parks and outdoor activities expert for Away.com
* "Outdoor Smarts" columnist for Scouting magazine
* Technical adviser to PBS's Trailside television show
* Technical adviser to Grollier's Encyclopedia.
* Television and radio appearances including local television news programs and radio programs such as nationally syndicated shows for NPR , Sirius/XM Satellite Radio, and Outside magazine.
* Instructional videos and a podcast on long-distance hiking
* Lectures and slide shows for such venues as Mensa meetings, local schools, environmental and hiking groups, high-country alpine huts, and the Smithsonian.
Travel Writing
Karen's many interests -- music, history, environmental issues, cuisine, arts, language, and culture -- inform her general interest travel articles, which have ranged from learning Swahili in Zanzibar to reviewing French hotels to swimming with sharks to visiting iconic music cities.
Her travel stories have appeared in Backpacker, Islands, Robb Report, Family Circle, National Geographic Traveler, Westways, Texas Journeys, the New York Times, New England Travel and Life, Weight Watchers, Child, AMC Outdoors, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, Virtuoso's Travel+Life, France Guide, Scouting, Out Here, Forbestraveler.com, GORP.com, Away.com, Epic.com, TravelClassics.com, USAToday.com, MSNBC.com, Weather.com, Heathymagination.com, and other major Internet and print markets.
Music Writing
Karen has a degree in music from Northwestern University, where she studied classical piano and held a journalism internship. She has also studied jazz piano and frequently jams and performs with friends. She has yet to find a piano light enough to take on the trail, but when she is at home in the Berkshires of southwestern Massachusetts, she teaches piano and can be found gigging in local clubs.
Karen has recently returned to her roots in the writing business -- writing about music. She has written three books on music for the idiot's Guide series (on teaching music, piano exercises, and piano chords). Previous articles about music have appeared in the Chicago Reader and the Westchester Gannett newspapers, as well as Hudson Valley, Clavier, the Instrumentalist, Accent on Music, Frets, and Keyboard magazines. Her stories have included interviews with many world renowned performers, including Dave Brubeck, Shlomo Montz, Peter Serkin, Alexis Weissenberg, and James Galway. (Her interview with the irrepressible Irish flutist won an EdPress "Distinguished Achievement Award.")
Karen blogs about music and music education for MusicalResources.
Self Employment and Small Business Management
Having been self-employed for 20 years, Karen shares her knowledge about business issues for writers and self-employed creatives through her articles for Suite, a book on running a music teaching business, and a blog about how artists can survive and thrive in the creative economy (www.CreateWorkLive.com).
Disclosure: While most of my travel articles are based on self-financed independent trips, I occasionally accept subsidized travel if the destination coincides with my editorial goals. There is no implied quid-pro-quo for positive coverage: Regardless of how a trip is financed, I try to bring back the most objective and useful information possible so you can make the right decision about your upcoming adventures. My travel articles are based on first-hand experiences. I have visited every destination I write about and personally tested all the gear I evaluate -- Karen Berger
Karen Berger has earned her reputation as a hiking expert with footsteps -- literally millions of them. 17,000 miles. 6 continents. And hundreds of stories. As a contributing editor for Backpacker, the outdoor expert for GORP.com, a parks and outdoor activities expert for Away.com, the "Outdoor Smarts" columnist for Scouting, and the author of twelve books, she has written about world-wide travels, developed a comprehensive on-line resource about hiking skills, and answered hundreds of reader questions.
In addition to hiking, she has had worldwide experience scuba diving, horsebackriding, kayaking, climbing, and skiing.
Writers: Do you need a source for a story about adventure travel or hiking and backpacking?
Editors: Do you need a story by an outdoor expert?
Karen has been interviewed for feature articles or quoted as an outdoor expert in the New York Times, New York Post, L.A. Times, Wall Street Journal, Oregonian, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, Baltimore Sun, San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, Sports Illustrated, Self, Walking, Fitness, People and a host of other publications. Her stories about outdoor adventure have been published in a similarly wide range of periodicals, from Islands to Backpacker, and from Men's Fitness to Family Circle. For a complete list, see the Articles page; or you can select a clip at the top of the left-hand column on this page.
She has also served as a technical adviser to PBS's Trailside television show and to Grollier's Encyclopedia, has been interviewed on a variety of local television news programs, has spoken on radio programs including NPR and Outside magazine's nationally syndicated show, and has appeared on several videos, including instructional videos on long-distance hiking. Her outdoor slide shows have fascinated and inspired audiences at venues including Mensa meetings, local schools, environmental and hiking groups, high-country alpine huts, and the Smithsonian.
She's also an active in the hiking community, where she is a member of many trail associations and advocacy groups. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Appalachian Long Distance Hiking Association.
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