Professional Bio
Since 2017, Polly Witker has overseen marketing and travel product development for a luxury travel company specializing in experiences related to conservation and humanitarian initiatives. She has managed partnerships with regional industry partners, and also worked directly with clients to bring to life their dream trips in more than a dozen countries in Africa and Asia including South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Maldives, Seychelles, Ivory Coast, Japan, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, and India. Polly has personally scouted luxury properties and transformative experiences in many parts of the world. She spent a year living and working in Istanbul, and she has personal connections to community tourism experiences in Nepal, Costa Rica, Belize, and Uganda, and a special passion for wildlife conservation.
Polly is also the Senior Content Director for sustainable travel non-profit organization Impact Travel Alliance, where she oversees editorial projects and manages a team of five+ volunteers. A passionate belief that tourism can positively impact the planet has led Polly to speaking engagements on this topic for TEDxBeacon Street’s Explore themed event in 2018, and for an Explorer’s Club panel on sustainable travel for their World Ocean’s Day event in 2019.
Polly brings a remarkably diverse skillset to her work, having previously spent over ten years in roles doing brand strategy, content creation, blogging, media relations, writing and editing, event planning and production, influencer partnerships, client relations and account management for a diverse roster of brands from Burton Snowboards to Donna Karan.
About Polly, in her own words…
I call Brooklyn, New York my home. I’ve also lived in a commune on a steep hillside behind Honolulu, and I spent a year living, teaching, learning, and exploring in Istanbul.
People take trips for all kinds of reasons. For necessity like work or weddings, to run away from or toward someone, to feel the thrill of an unknown place, to learn or teach something, or to give back somehow. To earn bragging rights, to take a break, to take photos. To make memories.
I’ve taken trips for all of those reasons. But mostly I travel to find offbeat adventures, make new friends, and for the stories that grow as I go. I get a lot of requests for travel advice, and there is nothing I love more than helping others to travel well and discover the places and people that will make their experiences unique. There is plenty here on Polly Goes to spark your imagination and wanderlust. I hope you'll feel inspired to go looking for adventures and after finding them you'll come back with your own stories to tell.
I’ve previously lived and worked as a shopgirl in Waikiki and as an English teacher in Istanbul and rural Italy. I spent a decade working the fashion industry in New York City as an editor, stylist, publicist (yes, I have some good stories). I’ve had many job titles, but I’ve always been a writer. You can check out more of my work here on the blog or in my portfolio, and you can hire me as a freelance content creator or communications consultant.
Background…
I was born in New York City and both sides of my family have deep roots there, going back centuries. When I was little my lullabye was the sound of sirens rolling up Park Avenue, trick or treating meant riding the elevator to the top of our apartment building and working our way down, and instead of a guard dog we had a doorman named Lenny the Hook. Then suddenly at the age of eight I found myself attending school in an old farmhouse in the mountains of western Massachusetts, chasing frogs across muddy ponds at recess and climbing trees in the backyard. Maybe it was that first thrilling culture shock that sparked an interest in exploration. Maybe I also inherited it from my dad (see below). Either way, I’m happiest when I find myself in an unknown place faced with the challenge to adapt, observe, and make new friends. And if it’ll make a good story, count me in.
Inspiration…
I grew up with a father who lived a full life and explored the world before I was born...Tokyo, Corsica, Tortolla, St. Petersburg, Pakistan, South Korea, Yemen...the list goes on and the stories of his adventures could fill hundreds of books. Our afternoon games of make believe involved climbing onto an imaginary magic carpet, my dad sitting behind me pointing out his favorite spots around the globe. Now my old man is in his 80’s and he doesn’t have to go anywhere. He can close his eyes, look back and recount the most incredible adventures. Is there anything better than that?
A few of my favorite travel memories...
Driving a motorbike through the lunar landscapes of Cappadocia, Turkey
Steering a horse across the rough plains of Chilean Patagonia
Hitchhiking and hiking on foot up soaring rock pinnacles to reach the ancient monasteries of Meteora, Greece
Standing on the bow of a boat, beer in hand, to explore the floating villages of Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake
Stopping for gelato in each of the five villages during an epic solo hike through the Cinque Terre
Fishing, drumming, and life lessons with the Garifuna people of Hopkins, Belize
Exploring, shopping, eating, drinking, and interviewing local entrepreneurs in Berlin’s edgiest hipster neighborhoods
Getting lost in Istanbul, Rome, Buenos Aires, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Santiago, Sofia...