Berit's Pony: A Web site that works

Berit Thorkelson (’95) has ridden her TrustyPony all the way to a cool gig with Budget Living magazine. The pony is Berit’s Web site—trustypony.com, with the tag line “cool stuff for travelers.” It’s a fun and savvy concept—Berit finds travel goods that appeal to her, tries them out, and features those that pass the test on her site. She gives the goods on lots of goods, but my favorite remains this tiny Airstream trailer.
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The genius of Berit’s site—and where Budget Travel comes in—is in the “For Editors” section. Here, editors can see samples of Berit’s travel-goods columns and order their own package of art and editorial. Berit’s already done the work; the editor just gets to shop.

Budget Travel found TrustyPony and contacted Berit about writing gear-related columns for them. Her first appears in May.

This is a nice example of how to use a Web site to have fun with your own interests and get cool writing assignments to boot. Berit developed the idea based on her travel writing experience for publications like Midwest Living, the Minneappolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, and the Chicago Tribune, She’s the author of “You Know You’re In Minnesota When…: 101 Quintessential Places, People, Events, Customs, Lingo, and Eats of the North Star State.”