SHORT BIOGRAPHY: La Carmina is a…

– leading alternative fashion, travel, food and culture blogger and TV host (Travel Channel, NBC, Food Network, National Geographic, Discovery)
– author of several books published by Simon & Schuster, and Penguin Random House
– award-winning travel journalist for The New York Times, Business Insider, Eater, Time Magazine,  Travel + Leisure, National Geographic, Fodor’s,  The Daily Beast and other global publications.
– La Carmina received the Best Blog of the Year award in 2017. Her travel writing won the Society of American Travel Writers Bronze prize in 2020.

She began her La Carmina travel & fashion blog a creative outlet during her studies at Yale Law. Since then, she has written several books for major publishers, hosted travel TV shows for major networks (including with Andrew Zimmern and William Shatner), won awards for her journalism (for publications like The New York Times), and explored over 70 countries for fashion and tourism projects. La Carmina’s worldwide adventures include speaking at NY Fashion Week, meeting the third gender in India, popping into Hobbit holes in New Zealand, dancing with drag queens in Israel, and volunteering with punk rockers in Burma.

La Carmina’s mission is to showcase underground and fringe subcultures in a positive light, and encourage meaningful, offbeat, alternative travel. Today, she pursues these passions through professional blogging and journalism, TV hosting and production.

See more details about La Carmina’s work and experience below. Contact her (gothiccarmina at gmail dotcom) for business inquiries.

♥ TV HOST FOR MAJOR NETWORKS: La Carmina has appeared on NBC “The Today Show”, ABC “Nightline” and CBS “The Doctors”. She co-hosted the Japan episode of “Bizarre Foods” with Andrew Zimmern for Travel Channel. She appeared on The Purge TV, and an NBC travel show with Star Trek’s Captain Kirk and Happy Days’ Fonz for  “Better Late than Never.”

NHK Japan filmed two documentaries about her work, including “Kawaii TV” and “New York Wave.” Her TV presenting and production credits include Food Network “World’s Weirdest Restaurants”, Discovery Channel and TLC Asia’s “Oddities,” CNN, National Geographic “Taboo” and “Roam”, Canal Plus France “Toque a Tokyo”, Travel Channel’s “Could I Live There” and “No Reservations Anthony Bourdain” promo, multiple programs on top German network Pro Sieben (including Joko & Klaas, Offline, Schulz in a Box), Dutch Pepsi, Sony Australia, Norway TV (with Prince Ari Behn), and more.

View her presenting reels below and here. See full clips on her TV hosting and arranging site.

♥ TRAVEL SHOW SERIES: La Carmina and her professional film crew are constantly on the road, shooting episodes for her ongoing travel series about alt culture, underground fashion and trends. Episodes include Budapest, Abu Dhabi, South Africa, Israel, Slovenia, Hong Kong, Iceland. Her travel videos air on AOL / Huffington Post Travel, Yahoo Travel and Business Insider, where they reach an enormous travel audience (500,000+ views each).

♥ COOLHUNTER & TV PRODUCTION ARRANGER: La Carmina runs a consulting and television fixing / producing company, La Carmina & The Pirates. As Japan fixers, they’re arranged television episodes about bagelheads in Tokyo, blood drinking in Hong Kong, and lip sewing body modifications in Vancouver. (See her television resume and hire the Pirates.)

♥ AUTHOR & JOURNALIST: La Carmina wrote several books including The Little Book of Satanism (a handbook of Satanic culture and history – Simon & Schuster), Cute Yummy Time (based on the Japanese food decoration trend – Penguin USA) and Crazy, Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo (lively stories of dining at weird theme cafes in Japan – Random House). She is represented by leading NY literary agency, Levine Greenberg Rostan (whose authors include Chuck Klosterman, Gillian Flynn, and Dan Ariely).

Carmina is an award-winning travel and culture journalist for major publications including: The New York Times, Travel + Leisure print magazine, National Geographic, Eater, AFAR, Sunday Times Travel, Business Insider, Time Magazine, The Daily Beast, Architectural Digest, Fodor’s Travel, CNN, Huffington Post, TravelAge West, BBC, various in-flight magazines (Hong Kong Airlines, Aeromexico) and more. She managed 200 writers and wrote 600+ articles for Google’s Touring Bird travel site. See her journalism clips here.

La Carmina was awarded Bronze in the 2020 SATW Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition. This prestigious annual award ceremony has been “recognizing excellence in travel journalism” since the early 1980s. La Carmina was also honored with the Auxiliary Blogger of the Year award.

♥ EDUCATION: Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, La Carmina is a Global Scholar / summa cum laude / Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Columbia University and Yale Law School.

♥ RECOGNITION & AWARDS: Her popular LaCarmina blog has been featured in major publications (The New Yorker, Washington Post, Vogue, LA Times). She has appeared as a guest expert and host on numerous TV shows, and on the cover of magazines (see press clippings). La Carmina has been invited on dozens of individualized press trips (Bangkok, Taipei, Maldives, Cape Town and more), and to speak / teach as a top blogger and digital influencer. Her travel journalism received a 2020 Bronze award from the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW).

Talks and appearances include: TEDx Vancouver, World Tourism Forum Turkey, Experience Romania conference, Luisaviaroma Italy, Pecha Kucha Tokyo, IFB conference, NY Fashion Week, Hong Kong Social Media Week, Mediabistro social curation summit, PRSA Travel and Tourism Conference.

Travel partners / sponsors include: Ritz-Carlton, Japan Rail Pass, LATAM Airlines, Fairmont Hotels, Eurail, Contiki, Travel Talk Tours, Royal Mansour Marrakesh, Gili Lankanfushi Maldives, Upper House Hong Kong, and dozens of tourism boards worldwide (Manchester, Israel, Cape Town, Thailand, Spain, New Orleans, Montreal, etc). She also collaborates with top fashion and beauty brands.

♥ FAQ: Where can I get your clothes? 

I’m currently selling my fashion wardrobe on Depop – details here! These include rare Japanese Lolita, Goth, Alternative garments at low prices. La Carmina offers exact shipping and bundle discounts, and packages come with photos and personalized notes.

Learn more about La Carmina’s closet sale.

♥ FAQ: What camera does La Carmina use to take photos? She currently shoots with a Sony a7 IV mirrorless camera. Her travel videos are mostly filmed on a Canon 5D Mark II, which is also what many fashion bloggers use to take outfit post photos. Underwater footage is shot with a GoPro camera. 

Got questions? Want to team up with La Carmina? Shoot her an email (gothiccarmina att gmail dotcom) and add her social networks (@lacarmina, linked on the right sidebar). She works consistently with international fashion brands, travel companies, TV shows, tours, hotels and more on blog and social media showcases, video, virtual reality, talks and more.

(Pictured above: shooting with Henry Winkler / The Fonz, for NBC’s Better Late than Never in Hong Kong.)

Add @lacarmina on social media: Instagram @lacarmina – Youtube – Facebook – Pinterest

La Carmina is an award-winning travel & culture blogger, author and TV presenter, specializing in personal stories about underground culture worldwide. She’s particularly known for her Asia pop culture & Gothic subculture coverage, including her popular guides to Tokyo Goth Punk shopping, the alternative bars and theme parks in Osaka, and the coolest clubbing in Japan.

She travels constantly with her film team, for jobs related to travel TV and fashion (hosting shows on NBC, Travel Channel, Food Network, National Geographic, ABC and more). Some of La Carmina’s favorite adventures include sailing in Cebu, staying in a Godzilla hotel in Tokyo, wearing a sari to India’s Taj Mahal, exploring the golden pagoda of Yangon, and meeting Hobbits in New Zealand.

Carmina is also the author of several books with major publishers (for Penguin Random House / Simon & Schuster), contributes regularly to print and online publications (The New York Times, CNN Travel, Nat Geo, Business Insider, Sunday Times), and managed hundreds of travel writers as a project manager for Google’s Touring Bird site.

♥ Below are links to her travel stories, organized by city and country. She has been to over 70 countries worldwide, with more destinations to come. See the latest stories on her LaCarmina blog and @lacarmina Instagram.

♥ To work with La Carmina (on press trips, travel partnerships, TV hosting, ambassadorships etc) – contact her here. Read more about her expert experience on the Biography page.

She’s collaborated with Eurail, Japan Rail Pass, Luisaviaroma Italy, Experience Bucharest, World Tourism Forum, PRSA Travel & Tourism Conference, Easter Island Travel, and dozens of tourism boards, fashion labels and luxury hotels / resorts worldwide such as Japan Tourism, Visit Cape Town, Upper House Hong Kong Hotel, Ritz-Carlton Bali, and much more.

DESTINATIONS / 70+ countries worldwide

Asia
♥ Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Koya-san, Naoshima, Hiroshima, Fukushima, Tohoku, Shirakawa, Hakone)
♥ Hong Kong
♥ Korea (Seoul)
♥ China (Shanghai)
♥ Taiwan (Taipei, Taichung)
♥ Singapore

Southeast Asia
♥ Thailand (Bangkok)
♥ Philippines (Cebu, Lapu Lapu)
♥ Macau
♥ Indonesia (Bali, Ubud, Nusa Dua)
♥ Cambodia (Siem Reap, Angkor Wat)
♥ Vietnam (Hanoi, Halong Bay)
♥ Myanmar / Burma (Yangon)
♥ Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi)
♥ Laos (Luang Prabang)

South Asia
♥ The Maldives
♥ India (New Delhi, Agra, Taj Mahal, Jaipur, Varanasi)

Australia and New Zealand
♥ Sydney, Australia
♥ New Zealand (Auckland and North Island, Paihia, Waitomo)

Middle East
♥ Egypt (Cairo, Giza, Luxor, Aswan, Dahab, Nile)
♥ Beirut, Lebanon 
♥ Israel (Tel Aviv, Jerusalem)
♥ Jordan (Petra)
♥ Dubai
♥ Abu Dhabi, UAE

Africa
♥ Egypt (Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Dahab)
♥ Cape Town, South Africa
♥ Morocco (Fez, Marrakesh, Essaouira, Berber village)

Europe
♥ Iceland (Reykjavik)
♥ Romania (Bucharest, Dracula’s Castle, Transylvania)
♥ Turkey (Istanbul)
♥ United Kingdom (Manchester, Whitby Goth Weekend, London / Camden / Shoreditch)
♥ Switzerland (HR Giger bar in Gruyeres, Geneva, Montreux)
♥ Paris, France
♥ Spain (Barcelona, Granada, Seville, Madrid, Cordoba)
♥ Portugal (Lisbon, Porto)
♥ Greece (Athens, Santorini)
♥ Belgium (Brussels, Wallonia)
♥ The Netherlands (Amsterdam, Utrecht, Miffy museum)
♥ Slovenia (Ljubljana, Lake Bled, Portoroz)
♥ Scandinavia and Nordic Europe (Helsinki Finland, Stockholm Sweden, Tallinn Estonia, Copenhagen Denmark)
♥ Eastern / Central Europe (Zagreb, Budapest, Belgrade, Bratislava, Poland)
♥ Western Europe (Czech Republic – Prague, Italy – Florence, Milan, Venice, Germany – Berlin, Leipzig, Vienna)

(Note: La Carmina has been 70+ countries, but some of these trips were from before she started her blog.)

Central America and The Caribbean
♥ Mexico (Yucatan Day of the Dead, Mexico City CDMX, Tulum, Riviera Maya, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo)
♥ Havana, Cuba
♥ Panama
♥ Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico & Caribbean islands

South America 

♥ Easter Island (Rapa Nui, Hanga Roa)
♥ Chile (Santiago, Valparaiso)
♥ Argentina (Buenos Aires)
♥ Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo)
♥ Colombia (Medellin)
♥ Peru (Cusco, Machu Picchu)

North America / USA / United States
♥ Salem + Boston, Massachusetts
♥ New Orleans, Louisiana
♥ Austin, Texas
♥ Portland, Oregon
♥ San Francisco, CA
♥ Los Angeles, California
♥ New York City, NY
♥ Philadelphia, PA
♥ Maui and Honolulu, Hawaii
♥ Miami, Florida
♥ Phoenix, Arizona
♥ Las Vegas, Nevada

Canada
♥ Canada / Vancouver BC / Kelowna / Parksville and Victoria / Vancouver Island
♥ Montreal, Quebec City QC
♥ Banff, Alberta
♥ Toronto, Ontario

La Carmina is constantly adding new cities and countries to this list. See La Carmina Blog and @lacarmina Instagram for the latest travel updates, and add her on her Blue Check Verified social media Tik Tok, Pinterest, Youtube, Twitter (username @lacarmina).

♥ Interested in having La Carmina feature your destination, hotel, tour, conference or event?
She partners with select companies on individualized FAM and tourism trips, media / blog / social network showcases (tours, hotels, fashion brands etc), travel video and virtual reality TV shoots, digital influencer destination marketing, magazine shoots, speeches / conferences, travel journalism and more.

Read more abut La Carmina’s past collaborations and contact her (gothiccarmina at gmail dot comm). We’re open to discussing all creative partnership ideas!