Work-Abroad
Articles
St Tola goat’s cheese and organic leaves with a tomato, basil and vodka jelly…roast hake on a risotto of pearl barley with a truffle salsa. For a story about eating and drinking stops along Ireland’s river Shannon, the Purple Onion gastro-pub in Tarmonbarry is definitely worth including.
People travel to Ireland for many reasons. Some go to unearth their heritage, to experience a glimpse of Irish history, to celebrate the spirit of the Irish people or simply to sample the spirits in the land of Jameson and Guinness. Not me. I went to Ireland to work. I’m a travel writer and my job is to bring the places I visit to life for everyone who reads my articles.
It’s 8.00 a.m. on a Friday morning and I’m in Gouyave, on the west coast of Grenada. The beach is crowded with fishermen at work. Some are fixing their nets and sharing stories. Others are already out in the water in their canoes.
We live in an emerging, international economy…one based on knowledge, information, and skills. One where employers are no longer interested in giving you a nice air-conditioned office, administrative help, free coffee and lavish benefits. Here’s the silver lining: One segment of the workforce has seen an explosion in growth: Freelancing.
While on a working vacation in France, I decided to take a week-long side-trip to Spain. I had some friends from the Catalonian region in the north of the country and they invited me to visit. I’d never been there before, so I jumped at the chance to see a new part of the world.
The West of Ireland, away from the bustle of Dublin, is a stunning part of the world. On my latest trip, I decided to use Killarney as my travel hub—it put me within reach of must-see locations like the Ring of Kerry, Ross Castle and The Gap of Dunlow. Killarney also comes with bags of small-town charm and friendly locals eager to make visitors feel at home.
Straddling the border between Argentina and Brazil, the Iguazú Falls are one of the world’s most dramatic waterfalls. I got to see them up close recently—but I wasn’t there just to admire the sights. These massive waterfalls, combined with the lush subtropical vegetation and varied local fauna, makes this UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site a top-tier photo destination.
The best thing about being a freelance writer is that you can work from anywhere—so I packed up and moved to Costa Rica. It might seem like a brave move, but it was also a sensible one. The cost of living is low here—so paychecks go a long way. Plus, my family gets to experience another culture.
I had to work last Sunday. I was up by 7.30 a.m. But don’t feel bad for me just yet. Once out of bed, I slipped into my swimsuit, cover-up and flip-flops and checked out of my room at a hotel I was staying in at the mouth of the Rio Dulce in Livingston, Guatemala.
When I first moved from New York to Paris, France people told me all the time how lucky I was. I understand why everyone thought that. I worked as a lawyer for a prestigious firm and lived in a beautiful apartment a stone’s throw from the Louvre. I traveled all over Europe for business: I would be in five-star hotels in Milan one night and Frankfurt the next.
Buenos Aires in Argentina gets under your skin…whether you like it or not. I had planned to stay for two weeks – I changed my plane ticket twice and finally left, reluctantly, a year-and-a-half later. It may have been the tango that hooked me; the dark underground dance floors with bodies deftly moving around each other.
I had been staying in the tranquil Nepalese tourist town of Pokhara for a month when a travel writing assignment came in. It involved researching retirement in Nepal—and I needed to find some expats. As I sat drinking my morning chai at a lakefront breakfast joint, I wondered where all the Westerners were hiding. I had seen only a handful since I arrived, and they all seemed to be just passing through.
“What do I wear in bed?” mused Marilyn Monroe. “Why, Chanel No. 5, of course!” Perched in the hills above the Côte d’Azur in France, Grasse has been the world’s perfume capital since the 17th century. The countryside around this Provencal town is where the jasmine and roses that go into the country’s famed luxury fragrances are grown and harvested.
My husband and I had recently returned from our third vacation to Panama. We had a busy trip—we toured the Panama Canal, visited the ruins of Panama La Vieja, taken a Spanish language immersion class, explored the restaurants on Via Argentina…and that was just in the city. We also got out into the countryside, strolled quiet beaches and walked in the mountains.
I love to travel to exotic destinations—like on my last trip to Panama. I trekked in Cerro Azul in the majestic mountains overlooking Panama City and visited Santa Fe—one of the country’s hilly frontiers. The rugged natural beauty of these places begs to have a camera pointed at it. Bring a camera with you, and you can start making money right away.
the best thing about being a copywriter is that it allows me to enjoy the type of lifestyle that I’ve always wanted. Right now, I’m living and working in Southeast Asia—in a sunny, laid-back little beach resort town called Sihanoukville in Cambodia.
When most people think of “writing careers,” they think they have two choices: You can become an author and write books—fiction, non-fiction, biographies, and so on.
Ever since my first extended trip overseas back when I was a student, I dreamed of landing the “perfect” overseas job. I craved new experiences in faraway lands. And I was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen. At first, it didn’t matter what the job was. As long as it gave me a chance to support myself while living in a world-class overseas destination, I was in.
I knew very little about Chile—I had an idea of a long, thin country full of lamas, Spanish colonial architecture and Indians dressed in homespun wool. But, I was about to find out a whole lot more about the South American nation—I had just agreed to accompany a friend on a trip there.
An Irish breakfast is something to behold; and something to photograph. A lovely array of oatmeal, toast, eggs, black pudding, white pudding (not the sweet treat it sounds), Irish bacon (really more like a slab of ham), grilled tomatoes and tea—lots of tea.
It’s always good to have a theme or two in mind before you set off on a photography trip. Take my last visit to Puerto Rico. I had seen a number of articles about the famous lighthouses of Maine and other parts of the East coast in various publications. I was also aware that Puerto Rico happened to have its own string of colonial-era lighthouses along its coastline—but I had never seen anything written about them. Since editors were keen to publish articles and photographs about the Maine lighthouses, I was willing to bet they would go for something similar from Puerto Rico.
Carol Romano owns an online business and a store in Mexico’s San Miguel famed for its eclectic vibe and its unusual, one-of-a-kind merchandise. But the story of how she came to own her own business started a decade earlier…with a trip to Morocco.
Like many photographers, I had a dream that one day someone would pay me to travel around the world and take photos. I never thought this “someone” would be me. I learned about stock photography early in my career. It works like this—when a newspaper, magazine, website or advertising company needs a photo of something they go to stock websites to find it.
My husband Bill and I are avid travelers, a habit formed working for international organizations for many years. When we decided to retire in 2009 and focus on our passion for travel, we looked for a way to stay in touch with friends, make new connections, and—if we could—fund some of our travels by writing about our discoveries. Our blog was born.
Today, my office is a hotel balcony on the Cote d’Azur in southern France. There’s a view of a palm-lined promenade and the glittery Mediterranean—it’s as forget-me-not blue as the sky. Back home in Ireland, my neighbors are enduring unexpected April snow showers.
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