Amy Alipio
Amy Alipio is Senior Editor at National Geographic Traveler. She graduated from Sussex with an English BA in 1991.
My world view expanded exponentially” Amy Alipio
What fueled your passion for global travel and journalism, and encouraged you to undertake English?
I've always been interested in writing and reading. As a kid of about 7 or 8, I wrote a series of animal stories, on paper booklets I made myself. I remember one was the Rosie the Rabbit series. J.K. Rowling has nothing to worry about though. They were pretty basic. I caught the travel bug from my parents, who loved to travel — and were quite adventurous. I only realize how adventurous now that I have kids of my own and know how hard it is to travel with children. We'd go to their homeland of the Philippines every other summer and along the way we'd stop in places like Greece, Egypt, Japan, Singapore, and once even Australia. In high school, I flirted with the idea of being a good Asian daughter and majoring in biology in college, but I quickly realized that what really made me happy and excited was English literature, so that's what I majored in.
How did your experience at Sussex enhance your passion?
I did a junior year abroad at Sussex from my college in Ohio, and was immediately inspired by how internationally diverse it was. My world view expanded exponentially. I remember going to my first Guy Fawkes Day bonfire in Lewes with a group of students that included girls from Spain and France, and guys from Iran, Iraq and Northern Ireland. It was like traveling the world and learning about new cultures and finding commonalities, all in one place! I knew soon after that that I wanted to stay at Sussex so I transferred my American college credits over and finished out my final year at Sussex, where I also loved the small class size and access to interesting professors.
What did you do directly after graduating?
Directly after graduating Sussex, I did do a couple Masters degrees (an MA at City University in London, and my journalism masters at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada). But after graduating for good, my first real job was at the Smithsonian, back home in D.C. Currently I am senior editor at National Geographic Traveler magazine, where I started as an assistant editor 17 years ago. I feel very lucky to have a job where I can indulge my passions - writing, reading and travel - every day, and I'm not leaving here until they kick me out!