Cruising From Stockholm

cruisingfromstockholm.com is published and maintained by Ralph Grizzle.

An American journalist who has covered the cruise industry for nearly two decades, Ralph Grizzle recently moved to Scandinavia to cover the cruise industry’s “new center of gravity” in Europe.

Working to assimilate himself into Scandinavian society, the hard-working journalist is developing a taste for herring and schnapps, usually with the former being followed by the latter in quick succession.

From Ralph Grizzle
I began my journalistic career at the age of 32, following the conclusion of my ’sabbatical decade.’ From 1980 through 1990, I bicycled across America, pedaled through Europe and island-hopped the South Pacific.

After backpacking through Bali, bussing through Java, hopping a boat to Singapore and crossing Malaysia to Thailand, I flew into Burma, tramped to Dhaka and endured a 32-hour train ride from calamitous Calcutta to bustling Bombay.

From there, I hopped a plane for Greece and traveled to Switzerland before returning home, where I settled, quite naturally, into a career of travel writing.

I publish a magazine, The Avid Cruiser. You’ll find a link to the digital version on this page. Just click on the “flipping” icon.

“Your magazine is the best cruise magazine and also one of the best — if not the best — travel magazines I have ever read.”

Since 1996, I have contributed to HEMISPHERES, United Airlines’ award-winning inflight magazine. I currently write the magazine’s “Afloat” column. My columns feature both a print article in the magazine and a video at HEMISPHERES’ web site. (Note: HEMISPHERES does not always archive the videos, so if the link does not work, click here.) HEMISPHERES magazine boasts an audience of 2.2 million monthly readers with the highest median U.S. household income, $123,233, of any U.S. publication.

	Links to my Hemispheres columns in jpeg format

The North American Travel Journalism Association, awarded my article, Ship Shape, which appeared in the September 2005 issue of Hemispheres, in the category of ‘Best Cruise Writing.’ I also publish C Magazine, a cruise magazine distributed in the Benelux countries, with my business partner in Europe, and I contribute to numerous other publications, including TravelAge West, and web sites, such as the Chicago Tribune-owned, Trip Help

Hanging A Right At Hamlet's Castle. Ralph Grizzle on his way to Helsingborg, Sweden, his home-base for covering cruises and travel in Europe.

I make my home in Asheville, North Carolina and live part of the year in Helsingborg, Sweden.

When in Asheville, I enjoy mountain biking, hiking, lingering in coffee shops and frequent trips to the gorgeous Biltmore Estate.

When in Scandinavia, I enjoy biking, lingering in coffee shops and trying to learn Scandinavian words.

To get home in Scandinavia (from Copenhagen’s International Airport to Helsingborg, Sweden), I go to Hamlet’s Castle and hang a right. No kidding!

My work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and numerous consumer magazines. I am the author of four books, including Remembering Charles Kuralt,’ a biography that Publisher’s Weekly called ‘a sweet and lovely homage, a welcome commemoration.’

But enough about wonderful me. My goal is to provide you with content that engages you and compels you to return often. Thanks for stopping by . . .

Bon Voyage, Ralph Grizzle

About My Company, Avid Travel Media Inc.

• This past spring, Kenilworth Media Inc. became Avid Travel Media Inc. The new name reflects the expanded role of the company to offer travel-related (primarily cruise) content.
• Avid Travel Media recently contracted with Signature Travel Network to produce content on an ongoing basis for the network’s website and print publications, including The Travel Magazine, with a print run approaching 1 million copies. Signature Travel Network is a co-operative of the travel industry’s leading retail travel agencies with more than 320 office locations (and more than 6,000 travel professionals) who serve clients worldwide. The network, established more than 50 years ago, generates sales in excess of US$3.5 billion.
• Avid Travel Media also contracts with Seattle-based Cruise
  Specialists to produce The Cruise Report each week. Cruise Specialists is one of North America’s largest sellers, if not THE largest, of world cruises and extended cruises.

Other Publications

• Now in its 12th year, Avid Cruiser Newsletter is a four-page, tabloid printed and distributed to more than 100,000 consumers each quarter. The newsletter previously was named Cruise Observer.

• C Magazine, distributed in Belgium and in the Netherlands (published in Dutch and in French), is our European brand of Avid Cruiser, with a print run of 5,000 copies every quarter. C Magazine represents our initial expansion into Europe. Stay tuned! More to come!