For me, one of the greatest opportunities I could be presented with as a journalist is the opportunity to travel on the job. Once, someone asked me what my dream journalism job would be. I cited Anthony Bourdain, whose Travel Channel series “No Reservations,” is one of my favorite shows to sit down and watch. While Bourdain may not be considered a journalist by all standards, his job is to journey around the world and tell the stories of people and countries in words and images. And, as I have said before, that is the essence of a journalist.
Part of being a citizen of our global community is the responsibility to experience as much of it as possible. There is a reason universities stress the importance of study abroad programs and national news sites cover events from around the world, and not just America.
As I prepare to embark on my next global adventure – to Morocco next month – I have been contemplating what kind of blogging I will be doing during and after my time in northern Africa. I revisited my beat for the semester, MSNBC.com, to see what kind of travel coverage was running there.
The travel section, Itineraries, was not huge, but I found some stories there that gave me some good ideas. The story “10 most precious places on Earth,” reminded me to appreciate every moment of travel. Venice could be underwater in my lifetime, and Machu Picchu could be gone in a few months. It scares me to think that two places extremely high on my travel bucket list might not be existent much longer.
I was also reminded of what most of the world thinks of American tourists. In “Confessions of a national park ranger,” I was disappointed, but not surprised, to read that, even in America, we make the worst tourists. I don’t like the word “tourist” to begin with, I’d rather be someone who fully immerses herself in a culture, not someone who simply follows the guidebook. I try to make my travel experiences as un-touristy as possible.
Part of being a citizen of our global community is the responsibility to experience as much of it as possible. There is a reason universities stress the importance of study abroad programs and national news sites cover events from around the world, and not just America.
As I prepare to embark on my next global adventure – to Morocco next month – I have been contemplating what kind of blogging I will be doing during and after my time in northern Africa. I revisited my beat for the semester, MSNBC.com, to see what kind of travel coverage was running there.
The travel section, Itineraries, was not huge, but I found some stories there that gave me some good ideas. The story “10 most precious places on Earth,” reminded me to appreciate every moment of travel. Venice could be underwater in my lifetime, and Machu Picchu could be gone in a few months. It scares me to think that two places extremely high on my travel bucket list might not be existent much longer.
I was also reminded of what most of the world thinks of American tourists. In “Confessions of a national park ranger,” I was disappointed, but not surprised, to read that, even in America, we make the worst tourists. I don’t like the word “tourist” to begin with, I’d rather be someone who fully immerses herself in a culture, not someone who simply follows the guidebook. I try to make my travel experiences as un-touristy as possible.
Avoiding the tourist traps should be easy if I stick my “always be a journalist” philosophy. To do real journalism, it’s crucial to truly get to know the people and nuances of a country, not what they charge “dumb” American tourists to photograph.