Mindie Burgoyne is a storyteller from a long line of storytellers. She uses that capability today as a travel writer, blogger, author, tour operator and speaker. Her focus is traveling within the context of a story to mystical – magical places that stir the heart, mind, and spirit. Her tour company, Travel Hag Tours, LLC has two subsidiaries –Thin Places Mystical Tours provide group and individual travel opportunities to mystical/sacred sites in Ireland, Scotland, Brittany and the USA; and Chesapeake Ghosts – a trail of 11 regional ghost walks on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Travel Hag Tours – provides group packages and tours for women, girlfriends and true Travel Hags.
Mindie is the past president of the Eastern Shore Writers Association and has written six books on regional travel. Her writings and photographs have been featured in the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, CBS News, National Geographic Television Network, the Today Show, Maryland Life Magazine, What’s Up? Magazines, Coastal Style, the National Catholic Reporter, Guideposts, the Vancouver Sun, Metropolitan Magazine and Notre Dame Alumni Magazine as well as numerous business and travel websites. Mindie currently runs four blog sites – three focusing on travel and one is an opinion blog.
Writing Has Led Her Success
Formerly the publisher of Trinity Music and The Pastoral Press in Washington, DC, Mindie and her husband, Dan moved to the rural Eastern Shore of Maryland in 2002 where she has a government day job. Mindie does extensive freelance writing and runs two tour operations – Travel Hag Tours and Chesapeake Ghost Tours. She speaks at conferences and events on travel, travel writing and marketing communications. Whenever they can make time, Mindie and Dan roll along America’s roads with travel trailer in tow, scouting out the best fly fishing spots, flatwater kayaking trails, historic towns, haunted houses, and friendly people. This makes for interesting writing.
“My writing has driven all of my income” Mindie states. “Writing about places of mystery whether they are haunted sites, ancient monuments or images in the landscape that stir memory and intuition. Then my use of social media to promote my writing and tours led to an interest in training and speaking about the uses of social media platforms.”
Mindie readily admits that while she loves the tours and speaking, writing is her passion. It’s where all the “newness” happens. Mindie admits that she hates the writing process. “Crafting written work is art. It’s making something out of nothing, and that creation is seen only in the reader’s imagination. It’s hell. But the sense of accomplishment that washes over you when you discover people are actually reading your work and being changed by it is the addictive element that drives you to do it all over again.”
Life on the Eastern Shore of Maryland
Because landscapes and surroundings matter to the Burgoynes, Mindie and Dan moved from the Washington DC suburbs to the rural Eastern Shore of Maryland in 2002 when the last of their six children left home for college.
They could have chosen anywhere in the world to live. Dan, who is from central Maine and Mindie, a lifelong Marylander, found that the Eastern Shore of Maryland with its wild landscapes, friendly people and slow pace of life was close enough to visit friends and family, yet far enough away from the hectic pace of suburban life.
They bought a 120-year-old Victorian house in a small community that was the southern-most point in Maryland. There they can engage in their passions for gardening, fishing, photography, and writing. Because they are close to the beach, family and friends visit often in the summer.
More reading about Mindie and Dan:
WRITER / AUTHOR
Mindie is the author of six published books –Her next book, Thin Places: Celtic Doorways to the Otherworld, is about mystical places in Ireland – or places where the veil between this world and the eternal world is thin.
BLOGGER – Mindie blogs
The Travel Hag
Thin Places Mystical Tour of Ireland
Chesapeake Ghosts
CBS NEWS (travel and outdoors)
Who Cares What I Think? Mindie’s Opinion Blog
SPEAKER / TRAINER / STORYTELLER
On Travel – Mindie speaks on a variety of travel topics and does “virtual tours” from the podium for travel groups, conferences, community colleges and non-profits associated with travel and outdoor recreation. Subjects include travel to haunted and sacred places, mindful travel, and travel for women.
On Social Media and Marketing – Because of her personal success in using social media platforms, Mindie also trains and speaks on the use of Social Media to grow a business or platform. Her client list includes Universities, Colleges, Non-profits, Businesses and Community Organizations. She averages about 50 speaking engagements per year.
More on Mindie’s Speaking / Training / Storytelling Platforms
CLIENT LIST – FEES – TESTIMONIALS
TOUR OPERATOR
Chesapeake Ghost Walks
Thin Places Mystical Tours
Travel Hag Adventures
FREE NEWSLETTER – Mindie has free monthly / quarterly e-newsletter called the Travel Hag News. In it she highlights travel, family, business and mystical places.
Sign up here to be on the Travel Hag News mailing list.
Mindy, my name is Frank Miller and I am the Special Events Director for the Town of Ocean City, Maryland. I believe your tours are a terrific idea and I’d like to speak with you about a more “vested” Ocean City, Maryland effort for 2014. Shoot me an email so we can speak. Thank you!
Mindie,
Donna Quante suggested that you’re looking for a pro photographer to conduct a workshop at Eastern Neck. I can’t think of a better choice than Karen Messick. Her landscape work is extraordinary … and she’s a great teacher as well. Check out her blog: http://blog.karenmessickphotography.com or her website at http://www.karenmessickphotography.com
Hope this helps!
Geren
Thanks so much for the recommendation, Geren. I will definitely look Karen Messick up and inquire about her being able to offer a workshop. Glad we made a connection. I love the Town of Berlin, by the way.
mb
Hi Mindie,
I have gone through your blogs and would like to invite you for guest blog exchange. Please send me an email so that I can provide you with more details.
Regards
Gosh, Rachna. I’m really late on this reply. Forgive me. Right now I’m running four blogs of my own and have my full concentration on keeping up with those. Blogger exchange may be something for me to consider later. I’ll keep you posted.
Hey Mindie!
Could you please drop me an email. I’d like to stay in touch now that TBEX is over. The email on your biz card keeps coming back as undeliverable for some reason.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Jim O’Donnell
Hey Jim. So good to hear from you. I will drop you an email.
Hi Mindy!
So nice to meet you on Twitter 🙂 I love your blogs and want to congratulate you on your success as a writer(3 books wow!). I am working on my first fiction and it is a lot of work, but worth every minute. I would love for you to join a small “press trip” March 9, 2012 to the Academy Bed and Breakfast in downtown Annapolis. We are hosting three other travel writers and I would love for you to attend as well. It includes one night of accommodations, meals and optional activities. Please shoot me an email if you are interested, or just to stay in touch. Thanks so much!
Courtney
Hey Courtney. It’s always good to meet another blogger. Hope I can meet you in person someday soon. 🙂
Greetings,
My name is Mindy Laughton and I think it would be really good to promote myself by posting guest articles on travelhag.com.
Please let me know if you consider this type of thing. If you do, what are your guidelines? I would love to send you some articles for you to consider sometime.
If you have any questions, or you’d like to talk about it further, don’t hesitate to shoot me a message.
Thanks,
Mindy
Thanks so much for commenting Brigitte. I’m looking forward to seeing you and Shari this weekend. Hope it’s the first of many travel hag adventures.
I am looking forward to meeting you next weekend, when HAGS Travel to Jamestown Is. MD. I have so much to learn from you, and so many questions. I too have started to blog and will be doing more writing. This weekend I, along with my “HAG” traveler will be participating in Relay for Life in Middletown, DE . I look forward to reading your books, I am a former Latin teacher with historical interest in Roman, Celtic and Middle-age Stories. My favorite writers include ( which I am also FB friends with) Sharon Kay Pennman (NJ), Elizabeth Chadwick (UK) and Ken Follett.(UK). I am so excited!