5 Minutes With JD Andrews

For McCool Travel’s 36th travel profile, I am happy to present JD Andrews, an Emmy-award winning video producer. Even though we are both from South Florida, I have not met JD—but my sister has. Next trip!

JD Andrews

Every picture tells a story but not every story has a picture, that’s why I’m here.
Travel is my passion; creating inspiring and evocative videos and photographs is my profession and social media is the way I connect with the world and share them both.
A video producer for more than twenty years, exploring the globe (93 countries across all 7 continents), capturing, shooting and editing travel/tourism videos for various companies, cruise lines, airlines, DMO’s and tourist boards.
Honored with numerous international and local awards, including four Emmys. A self-proclaimed ‘geek’ and ‘early adopter’ I got into Social media back in 2007. A few years later becoming one of the most influential travel people on Twitter and winning the Travel Shorty award (The Oscars of twitter) in 2011.
Featured on various travel websites including: National Geographic, The New York Times, Traveler, BBC Travel, Huffington Post, Instagram, AOL Travel, PopSugar, Mashable, Boingo, Visit Scotland, Adventure Collection, and Gadling.

JD Andrews in Neko Harbor Antarctica
JD Andrews in Neko Harbor Antarctica

Hometown
Miami, Florida
Always in my luggage…
on every trip I must bring my camera, headphones and iPad
3 favorite home-away-from-home places…

  • Hawaii (Maui) – I love it there
  • London – it is very expensive but easy to get around and there’s SO much to see and do
  • Venice – some people get lost in the old city but I love all the alley ways and secret shortcuts and of course the food and people are amazing

A favorite travel memory is…
There are so many but the one that I’ll always cherish is —In Rwanda, after hiking up this traitorous trail seeing a family of mountain gorillas. One of the babies wandered through the brush and was only about 2 feet away from me. I looked into his (or her) eyes and felt a real sense of wonder, for both of us.

JD Andrews Rwanda
Gorillas, by JD Andrews

3 favorite travel brands…

3 money-saving travel tactics I use are…

  • If you find something you really want to purchase, ask a local to buy it for you (one you can trust not a stranger off the street) They usually don’t over charge them like they would a tourist.
  • As we all know, airports are extremely overpriced so if you have access to an airport lounge, go. Internationally they always have free food, drinks, and wi-fi. I use Priority Pass and it’s been a life saver on long layovers.
  • Don’t pay the high hotel prices for food, water or coffee. Look for a store close by or a little coffee shop. Almost anywhere is less expensive than your hotel.

3 ways that I have fun while traveling are…

  • I always try to do something adventurous and unforgettable in a destination. You’ll forget a lot about your trip but you will never for get a bungee jump, river rafting or hang gliding.
  • I get lost. I like to just walk and see what I see. Of course I make sure I don’t wander into a dangerous situation but I tend to always find something amazing when I’m not looking for it.
  • Sharing my trip and adventures on social media. It may sound weird but I really like to share.
JD Andrews hang glide
JD Andrews hang glide

8 word (or less) travel mantra…
“Sometimes you have to go to know that you should have gone”
My favorite non-travel website…
mashable.com – I’m a big geek
most memorable souvenir …
A Pope bottle opener from Vatican City
recent discovery …
Croatia, beautiful country!
I am fortunate to have met …
over 500 people IRL (In real Life) from Twitter
I would like to meet …
Richard Branson, Jonathan Ive, and Alyssa Milano


Thank you, JD!
Follow JD Andrews:

WEBSITE:
SOCIAL MEDIA:
TWITTER 154k Followers  –  https://twitter.com/earthXplorer
INSTAGRAM 22k Followers  –  http://instagram.com/earthxplorer/
FACEBOOK 13k Followers  –  https://www.facebook.com/earthxplorerMedia
PINTREST 7,082 Followers  – http://pinterest.com/earthxplorer/
JD Andrews
JD Andrews

Check out McCool Travel’s previous profiles.
McCool Travel presents tips from travel experts in our 5 Minutes interview series—featuring travel industry giants, super frequent travelers, and adventurous persons. Previous 5 Minutes post: Erin Gifford.


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