I can’t remember a time when I didn’t enjoy writing. When I was in first grade, my teacher used to encourage us to practice our handwriting and language skills by writing stories that she would bind and laminate and turn into “books.” Three years later, my fourth-grade teacher recognized my talent and encouraged me to write as much as possible. It clearly came natural to me.
What didn’t, though, was travel. I didn’t vacation much as a child, with my exploration of the world limited to what I could find in printed materials. I had two large maps taped to the living room wall when I was growing up — one of the United States, with each state in a different, vibrant color, and one of the world, which I had torn out of an issue of National Geographic. Those, along with a number of road maps and atlases I collected as a child, fueled my interest.
After studying journalism in college, I pursued a career in sports writing, which inherently requires a significant amount of travel. (That’s where the name “Dateline Discovery” comes from — the excitement of writing on location from somewhere new.) I have already been to many places I had always dreamed about as a kid, but, as always, there are many more to visit. I want to see them, experience them, feel them, and hope that I can encourage others to have the same aspirations as I did many years ago.
Zac has been commissioned to write pieces for more than 30 of the largest news organizations in the United States. Most recently, his first-person story on going down the Olympic bobsled run in Lillehammer, Norway, appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
Want to get in touch? Email datelinediscovery@gmail.com.
