Who writes the View From Chelsea?

My name is Ferne Arfin. I write and edit this blog with the occasional help from fellow travel writing friends.

I was born in New York City – Brooklyn to be exact – and grew up in the New York area. From an early age, I was afflicted with a serious case of wanderlust fed by an addiction to the travel magazines that piled up in our house – especially National Geographic, Travel & Leisure and the Sunday New York Times travel sections.

My parents hardly ever planned our holidays and vacations. Instead, we would all pile into the family car; my father would point it toward a road never taken before and we’d be off to see what we could find within a day’s driving. Lake George, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the Green Mountains of Vermont, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., a poultry farm with rooms to let in the Catskills where a gander led a whole flock of geese to surround me, a terrified four year old.

I always knew I could not stay put and after graduating from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Journalism, I moved on to a newspaper career in Boston. While there, I spent my free time exploring all the New England states in the same way that my father explored the Northeast with us kids.

Eventually, I moved on to London to pursue a freelance writing career. Along the way I earned a Master’s in Creative writing, studying with the late Malcolm Bradbury at the University of East Anglia. I also joined British Actors’ Equity and had a (short) career on the London stage. I’ve been working as a travel writer since 2003.

Why the View From Chelsea?

Chelsea, in west London, is my base, the place I’ve lived and worked in for more than a decade. It’s also a jumping-off point. Once I crossed the Atlantic to make my home here, I realized how easy it is to travel all over the place from London. So I see the world from my “Chelsea point of view” – whatever that may mean. In these pages you can share my travel experiences in the UK and Europe, the Caribbean and North America. You’ll find travel advice and opinions as well, enjoy lots of pictures and try out the occasional recipe.

An ethical promise

I sponsor much of my travel costs but, from time to time, I do accept sponsorship in the form of accommodation, transportation and admission to attractions. This is always accepted on a no-strings basis. I will only recommend travel products and services that I have sampled myself and that I believe in. And I will always let you know within my articles and blog posts when some, or all, of the services described have been sponsored or provided on a complimentary basis.

If you enjoy what you find here…

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