Alison DaRosa is a journalist to the core. During a 30-year career at the San Diego Union-Tribune, she covered everything from fashion to national politics, wrote a must-read city column and was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for news reporting. While at the paper, she also worked as a stringer covering Southern California for The New York Times and wrote a monthly column for National Fisherman.

Alison spent her last 15 years at the paper reporting on what she loves most: Travel. As the paper’s Travel Editor/Writer/Photographer, she roamed the globe. The stories and images she produced made her a six-time winner of the Society of American Travel Writers' Lowell Thomas Gold Award, the most prestigious prize in travel journalism. She was a three-time first-place winner of the Northern Lights Award, Canada’s highest honor for travel writing and twice won the Pacific Asia Travel Association’s Gold Award for travel writing.

When she accepted an early retirement buyout from the Union-Tribune, Alison helped launch San Diego News Network, an online news outlet. She built San Diego Essential Guide, a highly rated travel app for mobile devices; Sutro Media, its parent company, has since folded. She also taught Travel Writing for the University of California San Diego Extension.

These days, Alison wanders the world on assignment for Wine Dine & Travel magazine and writes a monthly Travel Deals column for the San Diego Union-Tribune. She also freelances for a wide range of online and print publications. Her travel stories have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Oregonian, The Denver Post, USA Today, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, Mapquest.com and AOL.com. Her stories have been offered by Creators Syndicate – and appear in several travel anthologies. She is an active member of the Society of American Travel Writers.

A native San Diegan, Alison earned a BA degree in Journalism from San Diego State University. She is a graduate of LEAD San Diego, a yearlong program aimed at developing local leaders. She serves as a trustee on the board of the Cabrillo National Monument Foundation.

In summer, it's hard to tear her away from her hometown; find her at La Jolla Shores with her taxi-cab-yellow boogie board.