From the Editor

WHEN PEOPLE discover what I do for a living, the same questions tend to come up. Here are the answers...

Do you fly for free?

Sadly, no.

Can you get me an upgrade?

I’m afraid I don’t have that power.

Where have you just been?

Tasmania, with my family. The highlights included staying at an Airbnb in The Fisheries, an enclave in Freycinet National Park, with the Wineglass Bay track behind us and a private beach down the road. I also found the house of my dreams in Quamby Home, a luxury homestead in Hagley, just half an hour’s drive from Launceston. And I loved revisiting Cradle Mountain.

Where are you going next?

I’ll be heading to Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Hong Kong for business. Then I hope to go to Sal Salis at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. I’ve long dreamt of swimming with whale sharks.

So basically you get paid to go on holidays?

For me, a holiday is a holiday from writing (and editing). Travel writing is both an incredible privilege and a fraught business. Not only are you scribbling notes 24/7, the writing itself is a challenge. So easy to dip into clichés; so tricky to write an evocative, entertaining account that will inspire travel.

Are you ever in the office?

Actually, we usually send other people on incredible trips. I only take one assignment a year and I’ve very reluctantly just turned down an opportunity to go to Africa.

Where’s the best place you’ve ever been?

Africa (which explains my intense regret) – specifically Tanzania. It was at once serene and stupendous.

Where do you most want to go?

Egypt. And Antarctica. Call me extreme.

I’ve always wanted to be a travel writer... and I’m going to Fiji. Can I write a story for you?

We get about 200 pitches a week from experienced writers all over the world. If you think you’ve got what it takes, by all means, pitch away. But make it amazing.

Can I have your job?

Not a chance.