Travelwiggle - Interviews with travelers.

                        Marilyn at the Plitvice National Park in Croatia

          Enjoy Marilyn’s work at Intelligent Travel. Follow @Marilyn_Res

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                   “The world is a beautiful place, go out and see it.”

How did your love of travel start? 

I guess in college when I went to live and work in Antwerp one summer, and when my job was over I traveled down the Rhine and through the Black Forest to Switzerland, went hiking in the Alps and then explored along the Loire, staying in hostels.

When I say…travel, what’s the first thought that comes to mind?

Airport. Passport.

You’ve been the Chief Researcher at National Geographic Traveler Magazine for 10 years, what’s one of your favorite travel stories that you’ve covered?

One of my very favorites is “Bus to Antarctica” by Andrew Evans, that was published in our September 2010 issue: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/bus-to-antarctica/trip-essay-traveler/ 

It’s about Andrew’s quest to travel by public buses from National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, DC to the tip of South America, in order to board a boat to Antarctica, tweeting and blogging all the way.

It was fun to work on because I’d been in on it from the beginning, when Andrew first proposed the crazy scheme to our editor Keith Bellows and he (amazingly) agreed.  It was a tremendously exciting project, and I followed Andrew’s tweets through some pretty hair-raising adventures, not all of which made it into the magazine story. 

Thinking back to the person you were 10 years ago, in what ways has travel and being part of National Geographic Traveler changed you?

Working at Traveler has greatly expanded my knowledge about places and has made me insanely hungry to go out and explore more.

Favorite travel book?

I am absolutely floored by Freya Stark’s books, especially “The Valleys of the Assassins”, about traveling in Persia on foot as a single woman in the 1930s. 

We included it in our Ultimate Travel Library, which has many other great travel narratives:
http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/travel-books/intro-text

I also enjoyed “The Orchid Thief” by Susan Orleans, who I think is a terrific travel writer. 

In your experience, what qualities/characteristics make a good travel writer?

Someone who is curious, observant, adventurous, and humble. Who does a lot of background reading before going on a trip. Who has a story idea in mind before going, even if that story idea doesn’t pan out. Who takes the time to talk to people. And who loves telling stories. And as a fact checker, I really appreciate a writer who takes good notes and tells the truth!

You’re a very active twitter user. What do you think about Twitter? Specifically, the impact it has on the news and journalism?

When it comes to breaking news, I usually find out about it on Twitter before I read it in the paper or hear it on the radio. It’s an incredibly fast and handy tool for finding out information on the ground.

If you could tell the whole world one thing - - What would you tell them?

The world is a beautiful place, go out and see it.

                                 The Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia.

             Taken by Andrew Evans for his “Bus to Antarctica” story.