Work With Me

My greatest passion is telling moving stories about people and places around the world through words, images, and video.

I studied writing and photography (both formally at the University of Victoria, and on my own) for my entire life. I’m an award-winning blogger, the About.com Snowboarding Expert (now rebranded as thought.co) a Huffington Post columnist, and have written Travel + Escape, Transitions Abroad, AFAR, Action Asia, and En Voyage (the Eva Air inflight magazine) among others.

I also founded and managed my own magazine for expats living in Taiwan and worked as the blog manager for Canada’s 2nd biggest OTA, FlightNetwork.com.

I’m an active member of the North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) , the inbound president of the Professional Travel Blogger’s Association (PTBA), and am an AFAR Expert and Guide Writer.

I regularly speak at conferences and events about social media marketing and travel blogging, and have starred in several video productions for brands, tourism boards, and television shows.

Below you will find more details about my experience and examples of my writing, photography, speaking, and video work.

Working Together

I am available for the following types of work:

• Writing
• Photography
• Video appearances
• Public speaking
• Social media promotion
• Press/blog trips

If you’re looking for somebody to help you market your travel destination or company through stories on social media and blogs, then you should take a look my online marketing firm, Xpat.Media.

Awards and Mentions

My blog (formerly Matt-Gibson.org) was awarded the NATJA 2015 Gold Medal for an online portraits and people and was a finalist for NATJA’s 2015 Best Independent Travel Blog award. xpatmatt.com often appears on travel blogger toplists, such as Off Track Planet’s favourite bloggers of 2012, one the Top 100 Travel Photographers in the World by ChillliSauce, and was labeled one of Canada.com’s 11 Canadian Travel Blogs Sure to Inspire.

The Internet is a very complimentary place and there isn’t space to list all of the nice things people have said here. If you’d like to see more you can find a full list here.

Areas of Expertise

I have a high-level of expertise the following topics and areas:

• Snowboarding and skiing (both on-hill and backcountry)
• Fitness
• Hiking
• Endurance sports
• Western North America (especially national parks and ski areas, and the Canadian Rockies)
• The Philippines
• Taiwan
• Mandarin Chinese
• Chinese Culture
• Inbound marketing (using blogging and social media for business)
• SEO

I have substantial experience in the following topics and areas:

• Scuba diving
• Surfing
• Paragliding
• Kitesurfing
• Kayaking
• Canoeing
• Southeast Asia
• Guatemala

I speak conversational (and some business) Mandarin Chinese and simple Spanish.

Publications

Here are links to a few of my profiles, interviews, editorials, and essays.

• Adventurous Taipei | En Voyage (the Eva Air Inflight Magazine)
• My Experience During the Vancouver Riot | Huffington Post
• Rita and The Mysterious Injustice of Globalism | The Liberty Project
• Custom to the Core | Kootenay Mountain Culture
• Canada’s Top 100 Travel Bloggers | Let’s Roll
• Pulling the Strings | Action Asia
• Rolf Potts on Travel Blogging | Transitions Abroad
• 5 Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve Your SEO | Adventure Travel Trade Association

My Favorite Blog Posts

I have often found that the stories I want to write most aren’t suitable for any publication that I know of. So, I publish them myself. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Driving at Night with No Lights
• Ghosts and Angels on the Beautiful Island
• A Timeline of My Life as a Writer
• The Mysteries of the Eskaya Tribe

Video Work

Keen Uneek Docu-Commercial | Blue Ant Media

A short documentary-style commercial discussing my work and life and featuring the Keen Unique shoe, for release both online and on Blue Ant Media’s Canadian cable channels.

48-Hours in Calgary | Tourism Calgary

I worked with Tourism Calgary to create the itinerary for this video, which I host, to showcase the various adventures possible within the city limits in a quick 48-hour shoot.

House Hunters International | HGTV

I starred in an episode of the Canadian reality show House Hunters International, which followed me from Canada to Taiwan and documented my search for a home there.

Public Speaking

I regularly speak about SEO, online marketing, blogging, and social media at travel industry events such as ITB Asia, Arabian Travel Market, and Digital Innovation Asia. I’ve also held seminars on those topics in association with Training Edge Asia and ST Jobs Singapore.

Below are videos of some of those presentations.

Arabian Travel Market

I organized a series of six presentations and workshops with Shane Dallas and Samantha Dancy on behalf of the Professional Travel Bloggers Association for Arabian Travel Market. This presentation was titled How A Blog and Bloggers Create Value for Your Brand.

Digital Innovation Asia

I was part of a panel discussing travel blogging, social media, and online marketing at Digital Innovation Asia in Bangkok, June 2013

Photography

My photography is often published alongside my writing. Here are a few of my favorite shots from over the years. More can be found in the photoessays section of my website.