About Me

I’m Daniel Scheffler, travel writer and trouble maker. 

Welcome to Without Maps, a newsletter for people who just love to travel, and are willing to forgo the guide book. My philosophy is in order to find yourself, you have to lose yourself. And if you’re willing, travel will be your convoy. So out with the preconceived ideas, and in with the unbidden. 

I have spent the majority of my life circling the globe. I have fed stray dogs in Cairo for a day, been tattooed in the back of a jewelry store in Istanbul, I’ve joined a chef to seek out new sources of protein in the Amazon. So I want to tell you how I travel, and how you could. I don’t like lists, or ‘Must Dos.’ I don’t care about aspirational luxury nonsense. In fact, throw out that word luxury whilst we are at it - you’re being conned. It doesn’t matter if you’re wealthy or not, alone or with your person, or people; you can have an amazing adventure. All you need is to open your mind. Don’t think about what I’m telling you, just feel it. It’s not head knowledge, it is heart knowledge. So come with me, and I will show you everywhere.

I contribute to the New York Times, National Geographic, Condé Nast Traveler, and a bunch of other publications - including Wonderlust Travel where I am the Special Features Editor. In the name of travel I have been on the BBC darling, and battled it out on CNN, I have hosted TEDx talks, Pecha Kucha discussions, spoken at IMEX conferences, plus “Everywhere," my iHeart podcast has completed its first season. Mae West was speaking to me when she said, and I paraphrase here as I like to do: “Good boys go to heaven, bad boys go everywhere” - hence the name for my travel show. 

Currently I am working on a book of travel essays to be published sometime soon and a new travel show that is just hankering for television. Not that I am counting but I’ve been to something like 127 countries, and used to fly somewhere every single week of the year for the sheer love of seeking stories of the world. That was before a global pandemic slowed me down just enough to open a travel-inspired store called Provisions in Carmel. 

I was born in Africa, bred all over Europe (the accent says England, darling) and then lived in New York for a decade. I now live in New York AND California with my husband, and our dog, Ella (who you soon fall in love with). More about me here: https://danielscheffler.com

Why Subscribe

I will be doing a weekly travel essay featuring musings about travel…sometimes a throwback to an old time (maybe horseback riding across Mongolia, or getting stoned with Berber people, or meeting John Waters) and other times I’ll be sharing a current trip I am doing.

Of course there are special podcast episodes, secret essays for your eyes only, access to the full archive, various anti-guide guide downloads, plus access to private tours with yours truly. You can subscribe for nothing, or for $5 per month or $30 for the year.

So saddle up and join me on this rollercoaster.