Eileen Cotter Wright
Travel journalist. Boston-based. Perpetually curious.
Looking to collaborate? Work with me →
Hey there, I’m Eileen! Here’s a story: Twenty years ago, I landed in Seville, Spain for a semester abroad. Within two hours I had lost my passport. Through a series of expensive collect calls and visits to a spectacularly grumpy embassy worker, I sorted it out, and ended up having the kind of experience that quietly reorganizes your entire life.
Shortly after I earned my journalism degree, a functional Spanish vocabulary, and a persistent need to keep going places and writing about them. I spent years freelancing for print and online publications, covering travel and culture for the kinds of outlets I’d grown up reading. Then I married a Brit, moved to London, and discovered that pitching American glossies from overseas was its own kind of adventure. So I built something of my own.
Pure Wander launched in 2013 (and we’re still going strong!). While we offer personal guides and itineraries that are the real draw for planning travelers, I try to sprinkle in stories just for storytelling sake: no matter what the AI overlords and algorithmns demand, it’s so important to me to continue the tradition.
It’s gone through several transformations, but now has truely grown into something I’m so proud of: a real publication with a real editorial voice, focused on the kind of travel most people actually do. With family. With friends. In groups. With one kid who refuses to sleep on planes and one who somehow always does.
I’m still a working journalist. My bylines include Business Insider, The Telegraph, HuffPost, The Muse, and BuzzFeed, and I’ve been quoted or featured in Lonely Planet, Travel + Leisure, and Cosmopolitan UK, among others. I’m a member of the International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA), the Family Travel Association (FTA), and Wanderful, and I speak at travel and creator industry events. I’ve been doing this for nearly two decades and I still find it interesting and FUN, which I think is the whole point.
I live just outside Boston with my two daughters, my British spouse, and a rescue dog who has strong opinions about us getting out the suitcases (sorry buddy, you need a passport!)
CONTRIBUTORS
The Pure Wander Team
Mollie Millington is our UK and Europe correspondent. A London-based personal trainer and adventure runner, she has raced in Jordan, explored Antarctica, and plans every trip around a trail or a start line. ptmollie.com / @PTMollie
Jeannine Henderson covers the American South and beyond, based in Atlanta. @JeannineOnTheGo
We also publish guest contributors regularly. If you’d like to pitch a piece, visit our Write for Us page.
Want to work together? I partner with tourism boards, hotels, and travel brands on editorial content, social campaigns, UGC, and press trips.
About Pure Wander
Pure Wander is a travel publication for people who travel in packss. We cover family trips, girls trips, multigenerational adventures, and group travel of every kind, with the kind of honest, specific detail that actually helps you plan rather than just inspiring you to want to.
Most of what you’ll read here is written by Eileen (me!). We also publish a small roster of regular contributors and guest writers from around the world, because the best travel writing comes from people who were actually there.
If you’re planning a trip with people you love and you want real recommendations from someone who has done it, you’re in the right place.