Michelle M. Winner

Hawaii-born and raised in the Hawaiian culture, Michelle has always been inspired by travel. At two she boarded Matson's steamship Lurline in Hawaii for a family trip. She gladly gave up her high school graduation ceremony to travel in Europe and subsequently worked in the family travel agency in Hawaii. A year as a "stewardess" with World Airways landed her in Baltimore where she became addicted to boating. She folded up her wings to fund her obsession and became a partner in a successful "Rent-a-Wreck" franchise at BWI. Fast forward and she was back in Hawaii working at an interior design firm specializing in hotel room design and competing in Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe racing. Her love affair with sharing her travel discoveries as a writer began twenty years ago at a small newspaper in Oregon, where she now resides, but Hawaii always calls her home. Follow Michelle on Twitter and Instagram @culinarytravel.