Congratulations to all the travel journalists and photographers who captured prizes last month in the North American Travel Journalists Association’s 34th annual awards. I’m thrilled to announce that I took home more individual awards than anyone else in the industry, including the top photo prize, Photographer of the Year — for the second year in a row. Thank you, NATJA, for these incredible honors. And thank you, Internova Travel Group, for trusting me to create and lead OLTRE. I can’t wait to celebrate w/ the team at HQ soon.
2026 NATJA Awards:
- Special Recognition – Photographer of the Year
- Gold Award – Illustrated Story: How to Eat Fried Worms, OLTRE
- Gold Award – Best Travel Blog: Brad A. Johnson, Food & Travel
- Silver Award – Photography, Portrait: Herve with Chickens, OLTRE
- Silver Award – Photography, Cultural: Guacamole with Maguey, OLTRE
- Silver Award – Photo Essay: Closer Look: Four Seasons Tamarindo
- Bronze Award – Luxury/Resort Travel: South America’s Next Great Restaurant, OLTRE
- Bronze Award – Photography, Architecture/Cityscape: San Miguel de Allende
- Honorable Mention – Best Travel Magazine: OLTRE
Guacamole with maguey worms at Nacho taqueria at Four Seasons Tamarindo, Mexico (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Herve with chickens at Rancho Lola at Four Seasons Tamarindo, Mexico (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Paratrike aerial view of Four Seasons Tamarindo, Mexico (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Mushroom tacos at Nacho taqueria at Four Seasons Tamarindo, Mexico (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Coyul restaurant at Four Seasons Tamarindo, Mexico (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Galapagos rock (snapper, actually) at Evolution restaurant at Pikaia Lodge, Galapagos (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands in the Pacific ocean (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Giant tortoises in the wild near Pikaia Lodge in the Galapagos, Ecuador (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Villa terrace at Four Seasons Tamarindo, Mexico (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Scorpion fish at Evolution restaurant at Pikaia Lodge, Galapagos (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Click any image above to open a slideshow.
Huge congrats to the full roster of journalists, photographers, magazines, websites and more who collected prizes in this year’s contest, including a few contributors with whom I had the pleasure of working this year at OLTRE and who never cease to inspire me.
For more travel inspiration, photos and random commentary, I invite you to follow me and join the conversation on Instagram, Facebook and Threads. (I’m no longer active on Twitter/X.)
