A recent interview about my travel writing caused me to consider my work in a fresh way. I thought you might enjoy the questions and answers:
What one word makes a great travel story?
Edumotion. I needed two words, so I made up that word from “education” and “emotion.” As I travel to learn, I write hoping to inspire others to learn. A good travel article needs to teach and show worthwhile lessons in a destination. A good article also hits the reader emotionally. (For example, “The Iranian woman poked her finger into my chest and said, ‘We just don’t want our children to be raised like Britney Spears.'”) Emotions illustrate how a travel experience is real, matters, and can carbonate your life.What’s the one thing you avoid when sharing a travel story?
Guidebook-type data. A newspaper or magazine article needs to inspire someone to travel. It’s designed to be read by a travel dreamer on a couch at home — not weighed down by data to navigate by. A guidebook, on the other hand, is filled with the nitty-gritty data that gets you efficiently from A to B on the road.What are the similarities between the stories you tell for a living and the travel stories you share with friends and family back home?
I used to talk like Hans Christian Andersen about my travels with friends and family. As my work life dominates so much of what I am, I no longer talk travel with friends and family. If you walked into my living room, there’s no indication that I’ve ever been to Europe.
Now that’s a puzzlement. I’d really like Rick to elaborate on the fact that he has no reminders of his European trips in his living room. How does he resist that little watercolor of the harbor of Dubrovnik or the small wood carving from Oberammergau or the embroidered cloth from Switzerland? I thought part of the joy of travel was bringing home the souvenirs.
Rick may come to regret what he just wrote – that his work life dominated so much of what he is.
Where & when will this interview be published in its entirety?
Education: “After all, Italy is the Cradle of Civilization”….???? Actually, Rome was the Center of European Civilization for many years…from a history teacher with no disrespect…As you wrote…”to teach and show worthwhile lessons in a destination”.
If your life’s work has dominated so much of who you are, how you can you NOT share that with family and friends? Are there two Ricks? You write about travel, religion, politics, the economy, charitable giving, food, music, cultural choices, small glimpses of your family, etc. What do you talk about with friends? Are you the silent man at home? I don’t think so. It is normal to share your work with your friends and family. I am hoping Jackie will be writing a summer blog this year. I love her writing. Be yourself Rick. It is the man we admire!
We didn’t know the ‘real’ Tiger Woods either! :-)
I think Rick is busy trying to sustain his “brand” which is what today’s generation of consultants sell to business people. Without a brand, you are just another grain on the beach of marketing sand, at least according to those who are paid millions to tell you what you already know.
Sorry…a colleague of mine corrected me..you wrote..”Italy cradle of EUROPEAN civilizaton”???, when I travel to Europe, I never felt like Rome was a pilgrimage to the cradle of western civilization, although it is a fascinating destination
We just don’t want our children to be raised like Britney Spears. I see a great irony here…Rick is talking about “edumotion” and wanting to inspire others to learn. He implies with the above quote that the United States needs to learn more about Iran so we can better understand them, but yet he says nothing about this woman’s incorrect (“unedumoted”?) belief that American Youth are all like Britney Spears. Don’t the Iranians have just as big of a responsibility to learn about American Culture as we Americans do of the Iranian Culture? Rick you missed a perfect opportunity to edumote that old woman, and although you don’t say say if you corrected her, I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts you did nothing to correct her. Doesn’t the other half have an obligation to learn too, Rick?
In a recent post elsewhere on this site, I pointed that out, Me, saying that travel as a political act is a two-way street. We cannot simply assume that Europeans or Iranians have a more sophisticated world-view or are more cultured or historically aware than Americans. It is absolutely correct to remind the people outside of the U.S. that they have an obligation to understand if they want to be understood.
Italy cradle of EUROPEAN civilizaton??? – Greece for art and philosophy, Rome for roads and military techniques…
I guess there are a lot worse things out there than doing the best job you can at the career that you choose. There are many people in America right now who wish that they could even do the job they spent time and money being educated for.
I was a bit surprised & saddened to read that Rick doesn’t talk about or display things from Europe at home. There’s nothing wrong with work being a big part of who you are, especially when the work you do is so interesting and unique … I hope Rick finds the right balance for him and his family.
So, I was at a party once and a friend who is a doctor was there. As soon as the one hypochondriac in the group found out, my poor friend was subjected to an endless list of symptoms and self-diagnoses… Rick, I understand why you are trying to separate your work life from your home life.
You shouldn’t have to explain or defend how you live your home life to anyone, Rick. I mean, when you’re home you want to BE home, right? (It’s why I refuse to accept a lappie to work outside the office. They get 40 hours plus a week from me as it is…I’m thankful to be employed, I just place a priority on boundaries) The fact that you travel for a living doesn’t make you some kind of exception to that premise–obviously.