skills needed to publish in respected outlets. Travel eventually became one of the most important elements of his adult creative identity.
McCarthy wrote for publications including National Geographic Traveler, The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Travel+Leisure. He became an editor-at-large for National Geographic Traveler and received professional recognition for his travel journalism. These achievements gave McCarthy credibility in a profession very different from acting. They demonstrated that travel writing had become a serious vocation rather than simply a celebrity hobby. By that stage of his life, he had
