Aimee Heckel

Aimee Heckel
Aimee Heckel.

  • Aimee is a Colorado native who has earned dozens of state and national awards as a Colorado newspaper journalist for about two decades.

  • She is a travel writer for publications including the Fodor’s Travel Books, USA Today10Best.com, SpaTravelGal.com and more.  

  • She's the editor of TravelBoulder.com, a website that covers Boulder, Colorado. 

Experience

Aimee has nearly 20 years of experience as a professional journalist. She specializes in travel writing and joined TripSavvy’s team in 2015.

She is the head writer and editor for TravelBoulder.com, a writer and editor for SpaTravelGal.com (the world's most influential voice in luxury and spa travel), and a longtime contributor to the Colorado chapters in Fodor's Travel Guides. She has also covered travel for Denver Life Magazine and for ShopAtHome.com. For years, she was a blogger for the Huffington Post Weird News and a travel contributor for USA Today 10Best.com.

Aimee traveled to Haiti and Africa to write award-winning, in-depth, narrative-style articles about the economic and health plights. She also has extensive experience as a features writer—she writes an award-winning fashion column for the Boulder Daily Camera and has written a fitness column for more than a decade. 

For two years, she worked on Media News Group's IdeaLab, an elite team of journalists nationwide who explored how to use new media and technology to improve the field. 

She is an active member of many journalism organizations, such as the Society of Professional Journalists and the Online News Association. She teaches journalism workshops at both Colorado State University and the University of Colorado in Boulder. 

Education

Heckel studied international journalism at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, and she double-majored summa cum laude in journalism and German (in which she is now fluent) at Colorado State University. She completed both schools with a 4.0 GPA. 

Awards and Publications

In addition, Aimee has edited and contributed to about 50 full-length books, including works for Alpha/Penguin publishing and Random House, as well as multiple Amazon best-sellers and award-winners. She has ghostwritten several novels, too.

Aimee has won dozens of awards. Among other honors, the Society of Professional Journalists named Aimee the top journalism graduate in the nation, and she was also named one of the top book editors in Colorado. View the full list here, and here are some highlights.

  • First place for use of social media in breaking news for coverage of the 2013 flood, Colorado Press Association, 2015
  • First place regional Digital First Media DFMie award, December 2013
  • First place regional Digital First Media holiday engagement project for holiday lights package, 2013
  • First place regional Digital First Media digital reporting for coverage of holiday lights, 2012
  • First place best series, Colorado Associated Press Reporters and Editors, 2006​ 
  •  First place for best humorous column writing, Colorado Press Association, 2010
  • First place feature story, Colorado Press Association, 2006
  • Thad Keyes award for series about Educate Africa, "The ripple effect," 2006
  • First place best verbal storytelling, Best of Scripps, 2005
  • First place news story, Colorado Press Association, 2004
  • Society of Professional Journalists Julie Galvan Outstanding Campus Member for top journalism graduate in the nation, 2001
  • Top 10 Book Editors in Colorado, Writing Oasis, 2017 

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