Erin Gifford
Erin Gifford is a travel and outdoor writer based in Ashburn, Virginia. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Economics and Communications. Her first job out of college was on Capitol Hill, answering every piece of constituent mail for a U.S. Congressman from California. She has been writing about travel for more than 10 years and her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Northern Virginia Magazine, AFAR.com, USA Today's GoEscape, and Parents.
During the pandemic, Erin got into hiking and created a website to review hiking trails called GoHikeVirginia.com. She also wrote three hiking guidebooks for Falcon Guides, including Hiking with Kids Virginia, Hiking Coastal Trails of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, and Virginia Summits. She has checked off more than 300 hikes across Virginia. She has also completed an Ironman 70.3 and is working toward a goal of running a half marathon in every state. So far, she's run half marathons in 33 states, including Alaska, Utah, and Maine.