About Jay Gentile
Jay Gentile is an award-winning travel journalist, editor, and media strategist with more than 20 years of experience across travel, culture, and premium lifestyle media. His work focuses on culture-driven travel, road trips, luxury hospitality, music, food and drink, and outdoor experiences, with a particular emphasis on uncovering the people, places, and subcultures that give destinations their identity.
His reporting and features have appeared in numerous national and international publications, including The Washington Post, CNN Travel, Lonely Planet, The Guardian, Chicago Tribune, Outside Magazine, Frommer’s, Thrillist, VICE, and Rough Guides. He is recognized for immersive, destination-driven storytelling that blends travel, culture, music, nightlife, and local perspective into experience-focused narratives for modern travelers seeking an authentic sense of place.
In addition to his editorial work, Jay develops media and destination partnerships across the luxury travel and lifestyle space. He currently serves as Director of Sales & Partnerships at Cool Material, part of the Interluxe Group premium media portfolio, where he leads integrated partnership strategy across digital, newsletter, print, and experiential platforms.
As founder of Space_Bar Media, his work bridges editorial storytelling and experiential travel, exploring how hospitality, music, nightlife, and local culture shape deeper and more meaningful connections to destinations. Through both his reporting and partnerships work, he regularly collaborates with tourism boards, hotels, and hospitality brands developing more immersive and experience-driven ways to connect with modern affluent travelers.
Jay is also the Founder and Publisher of Chicago INNERVIEW Magazine, an independent music and culture publication he launched in 2003. Over more than 17 years, he oversaw editorial direction, partnerships, and business operations while helping document and support Chicago’s independent music scene.
Previously, Jay served as Account Lead at Consequence of Sound, managing branded content and digital advertising partnerships across national agency and brand accounts, and as Senior Editor at The Rundown, a multi-city daily publication with more than one million subscribers nationwide.
Earlier in his career, Jay worked as News Editor of the Estes Park Trail-Gazette in Colorado, covering tourism, government, and Rocky Mountain National Park. His reporting earned a “Best Feature Story” award from the Colorado Press Association.
Jay has traveled to more than 30 countries across five continents and is based in Chicago.
Selected Author Pages
Lonely Planet
Chicago Tribune
Outside Magazine
Thrillist
Frommer’s
VICE
Rough Guides
Books
Jay contributed to Lonely Planet’s hardcover guidebook The Unique States of America and has provided expert commentary for other published works, including Steve Dolinsky’s Pizza City USA.
Media Appearances
Jay has appeared on WGN Radio and NPR affiliate WBEZ to discuss travel, culture, and destination reporting.
Selected Testimonials
“I’ve had the opportunity to partner with Jay across multiple campaigns over the past few years. Throughout our collaboration, he has consistently brought clarity, professionalism, and a strong sense of alignment to every discussion. He takes the time to understand the broader objective behind a campaign and ensure that partnerships are thoughtfully positioned and genuinely relevant.”
— Felicia Zhang, Fastlane Branding & Digital Marketing
“[Jay] understands sales and the nuances that come with managing relationships. Most importantly, [he] just flat-out hustles…Whether it’s a single insertion or a large schedule, Jay was always that constant drive to continue to find business and drive revenue.”
— Sean Ryan, Rotary Digital
“Jay’s a seasoned pro and rare jack of all trades: reporter, writer, editor, and manager. Not only does he always find the best content — and endlessly fun, innovative ways to package it to our audience — but he’s also adept at mentoring other writers to follow his lead and elevate their game. Jay’s results speak for themselves.”
— Rich Brest, Rundown
“Jay is everything you need in a freelance writer: reliable, creative, responsive and willing to over-deliver. His food, drink, entertainment and lifestyle coverage for Thrillist Chicago has helped elevate the edition exponentially. There’s nobody I trust more to deliver writing that’s both thoughtful in its construction and though-provoking in its execution.”
— Sean Cooley, Thrillist
“Jay has mastered the demanding, fast-moving world of daily online publishing like few others I’ve had the pleasure of working with.”
— Martin Caballero, Boston Globe
Contact
For editorial inquiries, partnership collaborations, or media requests:
jay@spacebarmedia.co