Telum Media interviews Marie Barbieri (as published on www.telummedia.com):
Telum Talks To...
Marie Barbieri, Freelance Travel Writer and Photographer
How did you get into freelancing, in particular travel writing?
This calls for a rather convoluted answer, but in a nutshell, I was halfway through a teacher-training degree when I became ill. I didn’t return to complete this, as I instead trained as a complementary therapist, and began a mobile therapy business as a result. I published a couple of therapy-related articles in a trade journal, but was very happy working as a therapist in private homes, schools, clinics and hospitals.
However, during a particularly harsh winter (I lived in the UK then), I bought a travel publication called GREECE Magazine from my local newsagent. Travelling through the sunlit, wave-lashed pages I came upon an advert for a travel writing competition. I had never entered a competition in my life, let alone won anything (unless a bottle of champagne for winning a Lambada competition in a nightclub counts!).
And so, I typed up a personal journey about one of my (then) favourite Greek Islands: Mykonos. Lo and behold, to my great surprise and thrill, I won first prize. And so began my freelance writing career as the editor of the publication continued to commission me to write for almost every issue.
Can you tell us a bit about your freelance work?
Despite my early beginnings as a travel writer with GREECE Magazine, for several years I wrote mainly in the field of health, springboarding from my work as a holistic therapist, practising massage, reflexology, nutrition and the like. However after I migrated to Australia, with my favourite country on the planet at my feet, I reverted back to travel. And that is how I spend much of my year now, writing about destinations and outdoor activities on home soil. I also have a passion for Canada and the South Pacific Islands. And I still like to write about health as my other passion in life, alongside travel, is holistic wellbeing and yoga. Luckily, travel and health and wellbeing often work synergistically.
Fortunately, I have been gifted with great editors, with whom I maintain fantastic relationships. I have written for a healthy, diverse mix of publications, such as: Holidays for Couples; Slow Living and Our Planet Travel; various health, wellbeing and yoga titles; in-flight magazines; and newspapers and websites such as The Dallas Morning News and World Travel Guide.
I enjoy writing health columns, and about outdoor activities, health retreats, hiking, cycling and most of all, photographing it all.
What does a week in the life of Marie Barbieri look like?
As every professional travel writer will probably tell you, no two weeks are the same in this game. One week you might be on commission to complete a multi-day hike, and the following week, you’re writing about chocolate cafés (ideally, in the reverse order). The next week you’re being pumped with traditional medicines in a Sri Lankan Ayurvedic resort, then upon landing at home you are typing up your tax return and completely undoing all the de-stressing goodness you experienced at the retreat! Unfortunately, you sometimes get commissioning lulls, but before long, you suddenly find yourself riding a camel at sunset in the outback. This is the beauty of being a freelancer. You never know what assignment, gourmet delicacy, or humped creature is around the corner.
Where do you source ideas for stories?
Quite scarily, I have files upon files of story ideas that I plan to pitch in the future. I have every intention of matching them to a target market, however another trip inevitably pops up, and the ideas again get shelved. It is impossible to run out of story ideas, and I am yet to experience this alien concept of “writer’s block”. Every time I head off on assignment to cover something in particular, I discover 10 other ideas I feel I could pitch as a story to the editors with whom I work. And often I do just this. So I guess, in answer to your question, I mainly source my ideas while on the road.
I also find some unique ideas and inspiration from some very talented, and on-the-ball PR executives out there. They, like us travel writers, know what the reader is looking for, so we often have symbiotic relationships when it comes to inspiration for destinations, experiences or products that perhaps I would not have encountered independently.
Also, this may sound a little strange, but I only recently signed up to Instagram. Due to my year-round workload, I arrived very late to this form of social media. But encouraged into joining by an inspirational talk from Lauren Bath last year during our annual ASTW convention in Fiji, I haven’t looked back. I find the app an absolute inspiration by enjoying other people’s perspectives on our mesmerising planet through their lenses. So my cuttings file is bulging further with ideas inspired from Instagram’s users (especially the awesome photographs posted by national tourism offices).
What is the biggest misconception about freelance travel writing?
One thing that often frustrates me, and I know it frustrates my fellow colleagues, is that people who don’t work in our field (no direct disrespect to them, for how could they know?) think that we travel writers go “on holiday” for a living. Somehow, it is perceived that we fly to exotic destinations just in time for a massage before happy hour, prior to being seated for a three-course meal followed by further cocktails, with days to follow lying around the infinity pool on George Clooney’s mega-yacht in the Maldives (okay, so I’m still waiting for that commission!).
While we do indeed get to experience exquisite accommodation, see astoundingly beautiful parts of our world, discover delectable restaurants, and if we’re lucky, get bought a cocktail along the way (with an umbrella), usually this couldn’t be any further from the truth. Travel writing is a physically, emotionally, and mentally challenging and draining gig. I can say with absolute honesty that when I’m on assignments, my working days are almost always between 14 and 16 hours long. Days begin early, and I am often racing from pillar to post, taking in as much about the destination as I can, whether that be the landscape itself, cultural institutions such as museums and galleries, completing physical outdoor activities, interviewing locals, seeking out restaurants, cafes and bars to profile in a publication (which is usually at the personal expense of the writer, as are our flights and car-hire costs). Only three times in my writing career has a company covered the cost of my flights - for which I have utmost gratitude. So when people say to us: “So, do you get to travel for free then?”... my polite smile is more like a lid on a scream.
Having said this, I wouldn’t swap my job for anything (possibly aside from a mega-yacht). I live and breathe to travel the world and photograph it while I do. I cannot walk 10 feet without my camera in my hand. And I, like most travel writers, am not in this career for the money. Freelancing is a personal choice, and it comes with the difficulties listed above. But I always say to people: “My income is poor, but my lifestyle is rich.” So I am immensely grateful to wake up to this job every day.
How do you prefer to be contacted?
It is probably easiest to email me, as I am often on the road and out of mobile phone range. And unless I’m out of range for prolonged periods, such as driving across the Kimberley or out at sea, I always respond to my emails promptly.
Top travel tip?
Never pack for a trip without a pedantic packing list. I travel so often that I rely on my sacred list to ensure that I never turn up at a cultural performance in a wetsuit or at a sheep farm wearing stilettos (don’t ask!).
Favourite travel destination?
I have been to some remarkable corners of the world, such as: Lake Eyre in flood; sinking into an outdoor thermal lake in The Azores; and even photographing public toilets in Kawakawa (perhaps we’ll save this for another time!).
But I was born in the UK, and the most exotic destination on earth, for me, will always be Australia. For Australia is a country of countries. So diverse is its landscape that you can travel for weeks with feet stained from the red pindan sands of the outback. You can then bask in its tropics, finning your way beneath the waterline gawping through rose-tinted goggles at the Great Barrier Reef or stupendously beautiful Ningaloo Reef. Then there are the skiing destinations, and if you are a city-head, then we have plenty of those here too, and each totally different to the other. And when people say Australia has no history or culture, well, how about 50,000 years of it? Oh, and have I mentioned our wineries? Our gourmet coffee houses? Our chocolate cafes? And our sensational climate? Okay, so I live in South Australia - we are pretty spoiled here.
If you had to choose: coffee, lunch or drinks?
Lunch. Always lunch. I live in a food bowl in Adelaide, and this has trained my palate to appreciate fine flavours. Australia today truly does showcase the very best of international cuisines. So I am always more than happy to head out for lunch, preferably with a coffee afterwards, and maybe drinks (am I asking for too much?).
If you could have a super power what would it be?
The first draft of every article of mine is always over the required word length. Mark Twain famously said: “Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.”
Could my super power request be for Mark Twain to visit me just once a week? Please let me know if my application is approved...
Marie Barbieri, Freelance Travel Writer and Photographer
How did you get into freelancing, in particular travel writing?
This calls for a rather convoluted answer, but in a nutshell, I was halfway through a teacher-training degree when I became ill. I didn’t return to complete this, as I instead trained as a complementary therapist, and began a mobile therapy business as a result. I published a couple of therapy-related articles in a trade journal, but was very happy working as a therapist in private homes, schools, clinics and hospitals.
However, during a particularly harsh winter (I lived in the UK then), I bought a travel publication called GREECE Magazine from my local newsagent. Travelling through the sunlit, wave-lashed pages I came upon an advert for a travel writing competition. I had never entered a competition in my life, let alone won anything (unless a bottle of champagne for winning a Lambada competition in a nightclub counts!).
And so, I typed up a personal journey about one of my (then) favourite Greek Islands: Mykonos. Lo and behold, to my great surprise and thrill, I won first prize. And so began my freelance writing career as the editor of the publication continued to commission me to write for almost every issue.
Can you tell us a bit about your freelance work?
Despite my early beginnings as a travel writer with GREECE Magazine, for several years I wrote mainly in the field of health, springboarding from my work as a holistic therapist, practising massage, reflexology, nutrition and the like. However after I migrated to Australia, with my favourite country on the planet at my feet, I reverted back to travel. And that is how I spend much of my year now, writing about destinations and outdoor activities on home soil. I also have a passion for Canada and the South Pacific Islands. And I still like to write about health as my other passion in life, alongside travel, is holistic wellbeing and yoga. Luckily, travel and health and wellbeing often work synergistically.
Fortunately, I have been gifted with great editors, with whom I maintain fantastic relationships. I have written for a healthy, diverse mix of publications, such as: Holidays for Couples; Slow Living and Our Planet Travel; various health, wellbeing and yoga titles; in-flight magazines; and newspapers and websites such as The Dallas Morning News and World Travel Guide.
I enjoy writing health columns, and about outdoor activities, health retreats, hiking, cycling and most of all, photographing it all.
What does a week in the life of Marie Barbieri look like?
As every professional travel writer will probably tell you, no two weeks are the same in this game. One week you might be on commission to complete a multi-day hike, and the following week, you’re writing about chocolate cafés (ideally, in the reverse order). The next week you’re being pumped with traditional medicines in a Sri Lankan Ayurvedic resort, then upon landing at home you are typing up your tax return and completely undoing all the de-stressing goodness you experienced at the retreat! Unfortunately, you sometimes get commissioning lulls, but before long, you suddenly find yourself riding a camel at sunset in the outback. This is the beauty of being a freelancer. You never know what assignment, gourmet delicacy, or humped creature is around the corner.
Where do you source ideas for stories?
Quite scarily, I have files upon files of story ideas that I plan to pitch in the future. I have every intention of matching them to a target market, however another trip inevitably pops up, and the ideas again get shelved. It is impossible to run out of story ideas, and I am yet to experience this alien concept of “writer’s block”. Every time I head off on assignment to cover something in particular, I discover 10 other ideas I feel I could pitch as a story to the editors with whom I work. And often I do just this. So I guess, in answer to your question, I mainly source my ideas while on the road.
I also find some unique ideas and inspiration from some very talented, and on-the-ball PR executives out there. They, like us travel writers, know what the reader is looking for, so we often have symbiotic relationships when it comes to inspiration for destinations, experiences or products that perhaps I would not have encountered independently.
Also, this may sound a little strange, but I only recently signed up to Instagram. Due to my year-round workload, I arrived very late to this form of social media. But encouraged into joining by an inspirational talk from Lauren Bath last year during our annual ASTW convention in Fiji, I haven’t looked back. I find the app an absolute inspiration by enjoying other people’s perspectives on our mesmerising planet through their lenses. So my cuttings file is bulging further with ideas inspired from Instagram’s users (especially the awesome photographs posted by national tourism offices).
What is the biggest misconception about freelance travel writing?
One thing that often frustrates me, and I know it frustrates my fellow colleagues, is that people who don’t work in our field (no direct disrespect to them, for how could they know?) think that we travel writers go “on holiday” for a living. Somehow, it is perceived that we fly to exotic destinations just in time for a massage before happy hour, prior to being seated for a three-course meal followed by further cocktails, with days to follow lying around the infinity pool on George Clooney’s mega-yacht in the Maldives (okay, so I’m still waiting for that commission!).
While we do indeed get to experience exquisite accommodation, see astoundingly beautiful parts of our world, discover delectable restaurants, and if we’re lucky, get bought a cocktail along the way (with an umbrella), usually this couldn’t be any further from the truth. Travel writing is a physically, emotionally, and mentally challenging and draining gig. I can say with absolute honesty that when I’m on assignments, my working days are almost always between 14 and 16 hours long. Days begin early, and I am often racing from pillar to post, taking in as much about the destination as I can, whether that be the landscape itself, cultural institutions such as museums and galleries, completing physical outdoor activities, interviewing locals, seeking out restaurants, cafes and bars to profile in a publication (which is usually at the personal expense of the writer, as are our flights and car-hire costs). Only three times in my writing career has a company covered the cost of my flights - for which I have utmost gratitude. So when people say to us: “So, do you get to travel for free then?”... my polite smile is more like a lid on a scream.
Having said this, I wouldn’t swap my job for anything (possibly aside from a mega-yacht). I live and breathe to travel the world and photograph it while I do. I cannot walk 10 feet without my camera in my hand. And I, like most travel writers, am not in this career for the money. Freelancing is a personal choice, and it comes with the difficulties listed above. But I always say to people: “My income is poor, but my lifestyle is rich.” So I am immensely grateful to wake up to this job every day.
How do you prefer to be contacted?
It is probably easiest to email me, as I am often on the road and out of mobile phone range. And unless I’m out of range for prolonged periods, such as driving across the Kimberley or out at sea, I always respond to my emails promptly.
Top travel tip?
Never pack for a trip without a pedantic packing list. I travel so often that I rely on my sacred list to ensure that I never turn up at a cultural performance in a wetsuit or at a sheep farm wearing stilettos (don’t ask!).
Favourite travel destination?
I have been to some remarkable corners of the world, such as: Lake Eyre in flood; sinking into an outdoor thermal lake in The Azores; and even photographing public toilets in Kawakawa (perhaps we’ll save this for another time!).
But I was born in the UK, and the most exotic destination on earth, for me, will always be Australia. For Australia is a country of countries. So diverse is its landscape that you can travel for weeks with feet stained from the red pindan sands of the outback. You can then bask in its tropics, finning your way beneath the waterline gawping through rose-tinted goggles at the Great Barrier Reef or stupendously beautiful Ningaloo Reef. Then there are the skiing destinations, and if you are a city-head, then we have plenty of those here too, and each totally different to the other. And when people say Australia has no history or culture, well, how about 50,000 years of it? Oh, and have I mentioned our wineries? Our gourmet coffee houses? Our chocolate cafes? And our sensational climate? Okay, so I live in South Australia - we are pretty spoiled here.
If you had to choose: coffee, lunch or drinks?
Lunch. Always lunch. I live in a food bowl in Adelaide, and this has trained my palate to appreciate fine flavours. Australia today truly does showcase the very best of international cuisines. So I am always more than happy to head out for lunch, preferably with a coffee afterwards, and maybe drinks (am I asking for too much?).
If you could have a super power what would it be?
The first draft of every article of mine is always over the required word length. Mark Twain famously said: “Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.”
Could my super power request be for Mark Twain to visit me just once a week? Please let me know if my application is approved...