Candyce H. Stapen, Ph.D.

Candyce H. Stapen is an award-winning travel journalist, author, and digital content editor. As travel editor/producer at USA TODAY, Stapen launched the company’s digital travel sites. Stapen is a longtime family travel leader. She serves as Frommers.com’s family travel expert. Her work also appears in the Washington Post, Washingtonian, World Nomads, Family Travel Critic, Where to Retire, and many other outlets. Creators Syndicate distributes her travel columns to more than 3 million users and readers. Many of Stapen’s articles also interest couples, solo travelers, pet owners, culture enthusiasts, shoppers, eco-adventurers, spa-goers, foodies, cruisers, wildlife enthusiasts, and seekers of off-the-beaten-path delights.

Stapen has written thousands of articles and 29 books about family travel, including two for National Geographic. Stapen uses the words “family” and “parent” in the broadest possible sense. In addition to detailing destinations and advice for parents with young children, Stapen covers explorations with grade-schoolers, teenagers, and adult children. “Parent” encompasses grandparents, favorite aunts and uncles, and other extended family members or friends.

Stapen has won seven Society of American Travel Writers’ awards as well as earned Caribbean Travel Writer of the Year.

Stapen founded the non-profit Henny’s Kids to bring solar-powered laptops and computer training to rural elementary schools in Africa.

Candyce lives in Washington, D.C., and travels with her family whenever she can.

Candyce H. Stapen is an experienced digital editor for travel content.

USA TODAY:

  • USA TODAY travel editor/producer
  • Launched USA TODAY‘s digital Experience Travel sites, including Experience Las Vegas, Experience Cruise, Experience Food & Wine, and Experience Caribbean.
  • Expanded, revised, and edited USA TODAY‘s the Point, a digital travel product available at chain hotels.
  • Assigned and edited more than 850 articles written by 160-plus freelancers.
  • Starred in video news podcasts:

Bindu Trips:

  • Bindu Trips travel editor
  • Served as the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern travel editor for this digital travel site.
  • Produced articles and worked with writers to develop content about New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.

Away.com:

  • Away.com family travel editor and columnist
  • Developed family travel content for this digital travel site that covered destinations worldwide.
  • Produced and wrote articles about the U.S., the Caribbean, Europe, Central America, and family-friendly hotels and resorts.

Family.com:

  • Family.com travel editor for the Walt Disney Company family site
  • Developed and launched the family travel silo.
  • Tripled the number of users within three months.
  • Launched USA TODAY’s digital Experience Travel sites as a USA TODAY travel editor/producer.
  • Developed family travel apps that placed on Apple’s Hot List.
  • Provides expert travel advice on broadcasts, videos, radio, news articles and digital summits.
  • Appearances on NBC’s Today Show, CBS This Morning, USA Today, WUSA-TV, DC’s CBS affiliate, and many other programs.
  • Served as broadcast spokesperson for Cruise Lines International Association, Sam’s Club, and other organizations.
  • Seven-time Winner of Society of American Travel Writers’ Lowell Thomas Travel Award.
  • Awarded Caribbean Travel Writer of the Year for North America in 2004.
  • Author of 29 travel books, including two on family travel for National Geographic.

Founded Henny’s Kids, www.hennyskids.org, a non-profit that brings solar-powered laptops and computer-training, as well as soccer balls, to school children in rural Africa.

Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park, MD