Another one of the perks of the Pulse editing job is surfing through the Matador network and meeting really interesting travelers who aren’t simply taking cool trips, but are also realizing amazing projects along the way.

In this week’s Spotlight, we’re introducing Matador members who aren’t just frequent contributors to the community, but who’ve also got it going on online.

Lola Akinmade: www.lolaakinmade.com

You probably already know Lola for her fantastic photography articles on The Travelers Notebook and her beautiful photos (that’s hers above!).

Check out her website, though, and you’ll learn a little bit more about her other writing and travel interests. My favorite recent post is a thoughtful, funny, and informative piece about her sister’s wedding in Nigeria.

Christine Gilbert: www.almostfearless.com

In just 11 days, Christine and her husband will be pulling up their Boston roots and setting off on a who-knows-how-long-journey: first stop: Spain. She’s left a cushy job to commit herself to following her bliss, but each weekday she serves up funny and useful posts that are both intimate and totally relevant to the reader. Be sure to check out “Escapism: The Dirty Word That Keeps Us Doing What We Loathe.”

Eva Holland:

In addition to co-editing Pulse, writing for Vagablogging and World Hum, and contributing frequently to the Matador community with articles and blogs, Eva’s film and music blogs are evidence of how wide-ranging her interests are and how well she writes about all of them.

Matt Kepnes: www.nomadicmatt.com

Matt is also a frequent contributor of articles to the MatadorNetwork, but he also manages to post fresh content daily on his own website, which is full of useful tips and lively conversations about every travel-related topic you could imagine. His “Things I’d Tell a New Traveler” is a mandatory read for people new to the open road. Pass it on to someone you know.

Ian MacKenzie: www.ianmack.com

Ian is the founder of Brave New Traveler, one of the nine blogs in the MatadorNetwork, but on his personal website he reflects on film, pop culture and current events, and multimedia.

Richard McColl: http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/ricardo_emp

I’m headed down to Richard’s Casa Amarilla in Colombia in a week or so, and I can’t wait to meet this London expat who has called South America home for the past five years. In addition to contributing some great blog entries to Matador, Richard also writes insightful, important journalistic pieces from Latin America. If you don’t know who Ingrid Betancourt is, read Richard’s recent article, “Ingrid Betancourt: FARC Hostage 6 Years and Counting….”

Misty Tosh: www.bigsweettooth.com

Misty’s also a frequent contributor of articles to Matador and is the resident expert on living the solar life from a travel trailer or sailboat, but you have to check out her personal website to begin to get the full scope of what she’s got going on. Reading her blogs each morning gets me stoked for the whole day, but chatting with her just blows me away and reminds me why this one wild and precious life, as the poet Mary Oliver said, is so damn amazing.

Community Connection: Introduce yourself! Who are you? What are you doing? Where can we find you online and on the road? Share your story in the comments below.

Photo: Lola Akinmade