Moving to Tampa: The Un-Tourist Guide
A writer and publicist, her journalism career spans more than 30 years. A former Tampa Tribune reporter, she covered Florida’s tourism and agricultural industries as well as issues related directly to the Tampa Bay area.  It was chance that first brought Mary Lou Janson to the Tampa Bay area - Tampa specifically - but choice that has made it her home far longer than anywhere else she has lived. A family vacation that combined visiting relatives with an escape from the frigid February weather in Canton, OH, her former hometown, first introduced Mary Lou to the natural beauty and better weather this Central Florida city boasts. It was a traumatic move for a then 10-year-old to be uprooted from friends and relatives and transplanted to the Tampa Hyde Park neighborhood that became her new home. She remained in Tampa and other areas of Florida until making the cross-country leap to Berkeley, CA to live on the other West Coast in the 90s. It was a wonderful five-year stay but by then the “boomerang effect” took hold. That is the nickname she has for the Tampa phenomenon defined by longtime residents leaving but eventually returning to reclaim their Tampa roots. When named the public relations manager of the primary destination marketing organization for Tampa/Hillsborough County, she worked with journalists from around the world to introduce them to what makes Tampa a popular travel destination. During that time, she received a national award for the comprehensive press kit she researched, wrote and developed to promote and publicize what Tampa offers travelers who come here for fun, to visit friends and family or for business purposes. Most of her life has been spent in the Tampa Bay area, where she currently lives, works and enjoys the natural beauty, signature sunsets and warm weather on almost a daily basis. She continues to share her favorite things about Tampa with others via her blog on VisitSouth.com, the app she created for Sutro Media, the Insider’s Guide to Tampa Bay, and through articles in local magazines like Tampa Bay Metro, DuPont Registry and Edible Tampa Bay. Tampa is an area that continues to evolve and expand and and endless source of delightful discoveries. Mary Lou hopes to help others will feel at home here as much as she does.