Karin Palmquist - writer, designer and compulsive traveler

Ad copy, advertorials, Web content, newspaper articles, magazine articles, technical writing, travel guidebooks, radio scripts and creative non-fiction.

Selected projects and samples:

>	Sixty articles on the economic and political situation in countries in Europe and Asia for The Washington Times.
>	Feature articles for media outlets such as The Washington Post Sunday Magazine, AdventureDivas.com, MSNBC.com and Rudy Maxa’s Traveler.
>	Profiles based on interviews with ten presidents and prime ministers from countries as varied as Iceland and Indonesia, as well as 50 ambassadors in Washington, DC.
>	Contributing editor for five guidebooks by Fodor’s, an imprint of Random House (Fodor’s Sweden 2006, Fodor’s Scandinavia 2006, Fodor’s Sweden 2004, Fodor’s Iceland 2004 and Fodor’s Scandinavia 2004).
>	Contributing editor for two guidebooks on world cities for Scandinavian Airlines’ media division (Our World, SAS Media 2008 and 2009).
>	Chapters in the travel anthologies ‘I Should Have Gone Home: Tripping Up Around the World’ (RDR Books), ‘I Should Have Stayed Home: Tantalizing Tales of Extreme Cuisine’ (RDR Books) and ‘The Risks of Sunbathing Topless’ (Seal Press).

I Could Do This in My Sleep

“It’s going to happen today for sure.”

I had been saying the same thing every day for three weeks. I didn’t feel too sure,and nothing in my editor’s voice over the crackly phone line suggested that he felt very sure either.

For three weeks I had been hanging out in Jakarta, waiting for an interview with Abdurrahman Wahid, the president of Indonesia. I had spent countless days waiting at the president’s office only to hear another excuse for why he couldn’t see me that day. Full story

Five Things We Love About Washington, DC

In the public imagination, Washington, DC might be a city colored in red and blue—the colors of the Republican and Democratic parties—but the true color of the city is green. Across the map, green areas interrupt the city grid, from well-known greens such as the National Mall, to little parks tucked away in residential neighborhoods. Stretching the entire length of Washington, north to south, is the enormous Rock Creek Park—a seven square kilometer expanse of ungroomed forest. Hiking trails and bike paths cut through the park, past picnic areas, tennis courts, stables and a public golf course. The park runs along a creek, and next to the creek is Rock Creek Parkway, a shortcut favored by residents where traffic tends to flow fairly easily in a gridlocked city. On weekends, most of Rock Creek Parkway is closed off to cars and the park is turned over to cyclists, rollerbladers, hikers and joggers. Full story

Santa Secrets

Did you know that Santa lives in Finland and that all those letters from children all over the world—close to a million of them every year—addressed to Santa Claus, The North Pole, actually end up in Rovaniemi, Finland, at the official Santa Claus Post Office? Santa himself lives down the road, in Santa Village. There he spends his time supervising toy production and responding to the massive number of emails he gets every day. Yes, emails. Santa has gone high tech. This is Finland after all. In keeping with the times, he now has his own website where you can keep up on his doings through a webcam. Full story

Just for Fun
Self-described accidental revolutionary Linus Torvalds on Linux, life and the love of code

Unknown to the masses and hailed as a hero by a devoted following, Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux operating system, will never be the household name his Microsoft counterpart is—in part be due to the way he chose to distribute his system. Instead of profiting from his creation, he offered it up for free on the Internet, pioneering the concept of open source code. What kind of man passes on a fortune and makes his code available to all for free? Full story

Arts & Literature
Color your world with programs about the world’s greatest artists—from the classic masters to up-and-coming talents. Loose yourself in the world of some of history’s greatest writers as they explore eternal human themes in comedies, tragedies and dramas. More

Destination: Mykonos
Going to Greece without visiting the islands is like eating a cake and missing out on the icing, the sprinkles and the filling. The islands are where you find all the fun. No other group of islands shows this better than the Cyclades. This cluster of islands in the Aegean Sea has it all—dazzling white buildings and blue-domed churches, sandy beaches and world-famous nightlife, all at a convenient ferry ride from Athens. If your top priority is sun and fun, head to Mykonos. Visitors don’t come to Mykonos to go sightseeing. They come for the beaches and for what goes on after dark. More

For Swedish Royals, Millennia of Battles

They’re young, they’re beautiful and they’ve got blue blood running through their veins. What more could a tabloid wish for?

Swedish tabloids, and their European colleagues, can’t get enough of Crown Princess Victoria (born 1977), her brother Prince Carl Philip (born 1979) and sister Princess Madeleine (born 1982). Especially the princesses are closely monitored with reports on their workouts (the crown princess’ boyfriend owns a gym), their diets, favorite designers, love affairs and even updates on the progress of Princess Madeleine’s summer tan. Princess “Madde” was voted “The most beautiful woman in the world” by Spanish gossip magazine “Hola” and no celebrity party is complete without a few reality show stars and at least one partying princess. Full story