Meet Michael C. Higgins, PhD | Author, Photojournalist & Publisher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michael C. Higgins, PhD and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael C., we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I do what I love, and I love what I do. I have never had a job, and always started my own businesses. When you look at my book publishing business, Exploring Wine Regions book series, I love travel, food, wine, people, and cultures. This is exactly how I get to live my life. Traveling the world to wine regions and hanging out with winemakers and chefs is a beautiful way to live life. And then I get to write about it invite other people to experience the most amazing things traveling to wine regions. And I love photography, some photography is a focal point today is beautiful books.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I publish beautiful books and magazines. Spectacular Photography is my forte. My topics are experiential travel, wine & wine regions, culinary, travel lifestyle. I am a photojournalist, award-winning author, and valiant adventurer… in pursuit of creating spectacular images and discovering interesting stories. I am both artist and businessman, deliberately choosing pursuits that engage my analytical and creative expertise.

I bring together two decades of experience in travel publishing, wine and wine region travel… creating the book series Exploring Wine Regions, a unique book that incorporates the beauty of a quality coffee table piece, an elaborate travel guide, an inspiring wine education, spectacular photography, and captivating adventures into the depths of travel, food and wine connoisseurship.

I create behind-the-scenes educational adventures to wine regions. Months on the ground in wine regions, I develop special friendships with the people who are at the forefront of winemaking, culinary, hospitality, and entertainment excellence. From this, I produce international explorations of Author-Lead Journeys for travel lovers and Study-Abroad programs for University students.

I continue as Founder/Chairman of Flying Adventures Media, an interactive media company which connects companies with highly successful individuals and businesses who own and travel on private airplanes, and who are the most frequent of frequent travelers. Over the past 20 years, I have developed relationships with these highly influential people creating a highly sought after database, an interactive website (FlyingAdventures.com) and a lifestyle travel publication (Flying Adventures Magazine), creating a following of over a million people in the United States.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am spontaneous. And I would figure out what my friend wanted to do. Creativity in the moment is where the best things happen.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
No one in specific inspired me to pursue my career. My career has always been changing and developing as time goes on. I love running businesses with creativity and art involved. Currently, I publish books because I love travel, food, wine, people, and cultures.
I have more than twenty years of experience participating in some of the most extraordinary experiences: from pruning vines, picking grapes, working alongside winemakers, to participating in blind tastings, food and wine pairings, judging Cru Bourgeois wines, and sharing many meals with world-renowned winemakers, over countless hours, discussing everything wine. My time in wine regions adds up to thousands of days and counting.

After years of publishing a travel magazine with food and wine articles in every issue, it was a natural step for me to write and publish books that focus on wine regions and all of their travel, food and wine experiences.

Website: ExploringWineRegions.com

Instagram: Instagram.com/ExploringWineRegions

Linkedin: LinkedIn.com/in/pilotmichael

Twitter: X.com/pilotmichael

Facebook: facebook.com/ExploringWineRegions

Youtube: youtube.com/@exploringwineregions

Image Credits
Michael C. Higgins, PhD