Bianca Bujan didn’t grow up travelling. Her family, she says, simply didn’t have the means. Travel wasn’t formative or aspirational—it was something other people did.
Today, the North Vancouver based freelance writer files dispatches from places she once only saw in magazines: trekking alongside rhinos in Samburu, Kenya, embarking on an Arctic safari in search of polar bears and reconnecting with her ancestral roots in Rwanda. Later this year, she’ll head to Botswana for another safari and board a cruise through Portugal, Spain and Morocco, where Christmas markets shimmer along medieval waterfronts.
For Bujan, however, the route to this passport-stamped professional life was anything but linear.
Armed with an English literature degree and the experience from a short stint teaching ESL, she faced a fork in the road after graduation: pursue publishing or take the steadier paycheque in marketing. She chose stability.
Bujan joined Ticketmaster in the mid-2000s, helping major Western Canadian clients fill arenas and stadiums with campaigns designed to move thousands of tickets at a time. The role eventually led her in-house to the Vancouver Canucks, where she spent four years overseeing marketing and partnerships during a period of rapid digital expansion. She worked on sponsorship integrations, in-arena promotions and the team’s early smartphone app.
At the same time, her life outside the arena was shifting. By the early 2010s, the marketing executive was raising two young children while managing a schedule built around game nights and deadlines.
The work was engaging, but it didn’t satisfy her interest in storytelling—and the hours left little room for flexibility. So, Bujan quietly started an anonymous parenting blog. Her platform gained traction quickly, earning recognition as one of Vancouver’s top mom blogs and gradually opening doors to paid editorial work.
Bujan then left the Canucks for a part-time role at Crisp Media, the company behind Vancouver Mom, using it as an anchor while she expanded her portfolio. A weekly parenting column for 24 Hours followed, syndicated across Vancouver and Toronto and later picked up by Glacier Media. She then moved into magazine roles at West Coast Families, first as assistant editor, then editor. Writing—once relegated to evenings—became central to her professional life.
Travel entered almost accidentally.
In 2015, a friend at BC Living asked if she’d cover a press trip to Big White Ski Resort. “I was like, is this an actual thing?” Bujan recalls. “People go on a free trip and then get paid to write about it?” She came back with a story about what to do at Big White if you’re not a skier, along with the realization that the one-off assignment might lead to something greater.
Her hunch, efforts and endless pitches to travel editors paid off.
For National Geographic, Bujan reported on wildlife conservation in northern Kenya, spending days tracking endangered species across sunbaked terrain (“I didn’t realize how big and dangerous they are!”). For BC Living, she chased Bajan flavour around Barbados—pepperpot and rum punches by day, flying fish and conch fritters by the shore come evening. For Food & Wine, she spotlighted Steveston’s waterfront seafood scene, wandering Fisherman’s Wharf and sampling just-off-the-boat catches in the historic Fraser River fishing village.
Bujan’s passport now holds stamps from 24 countries and counting. Yet behind the glossy itineraries lies the reality of freelance work: fluctuating income, uncertain timelines and the constant need to hustle.
To counter that volatility, the writer shifted gears once again—this time diversifying her skillset and client base. Alongside editorial assignments, Bujan built a communications and marketing consultancy serving small businesses and nonprofits. Now, a long-term anchor client—Tire Stewardship BC—provides predictable income while still allowing her time to focus on her passion. “I’ve just always managed to figure out how to pivot,” Bujan reflects.
Her diversification skills proved especially critical during the pandemic, when global travel shut down overnight. Instead of waiting for borders to reopen, Bujan steered her focus toward local assignments, guidebook work and drivable destinations.
Looking back, the freelance travel writer resists the idea that her corporate years were time lost. If anything, they were stepping stones. The strong worth ethic instilled through time-sensitive campaign launches, budget meetings and late-night game schedules taught her how to manage deadlines, negotiate contracts and think several moves ahead—skills she now applies to editors, itineraries and international logistics.
“I think working in those jobs helped me realize that it’s sometimes more important to do something you love than to try and have that flashy title,” she says. “I wouldn’t have fully understood that without experiencing it.”
