Meet Viscape’s Travel Writer & Editor

Karin Palmquist feeling short for once in
her life in relation to the pyramids!

10 Questions. She has traveled the globe reporting from Europe, Iceland, Asia and the Middle East. Her stories, adventures and advice have appeared in numerous travel publications and newspapers. During her travels she has connected with heads of state, celebrities and local residents. Viscape’s travel writer and editor, Karin Palmquist will now take your questions.

1. You started traveling with your family at a young age. What was your most memorable trip?

My first real travel memory is from when I was five years old. My parents and I drove from our home in northern Sweden to Warsaw, Poland, to visit my aunt and uncle, who were living there because of my uncle’s work. It was the late 70s and Poland was firmly wedged into the Eastern Bloc. The zloty was not a convertible currency, and you couldn’t exchange your money before you got to Poland. We got off the overnight ferry in Gdansk early in the morning, before the banks opened. Instead of waiting around, we started driving toward Warsaw. There was nothing to eat in the car, except for candy, and our stomachs were growling for breakfast. The road winded down the Polish countryside, past grazing cattle and wheat fields. An old woman was walking along the side of the road, carrying a big basket. My dad pulled over and switching between English, German and hand gestures, he asked the woman what was in her basket. Apples. Again with the hand gestures, would she mind selling us some? My dad held up a mix of bills-Swedish kronor, German marks and British pounds. The old woman frowned. Our money was no good to her. She peeked into the car. She was wearing a flower-print headscarf. Her face lit up at the sight of something in between the front seats. She pointed to some ballpoint pens. My dad handed her the pens. “Papyrus, papyrus,” she said. My dad grabbed my coloring book and handed it to the woman, and she in turn handed my dad the apples. Other memories from that trip have faded, but I do remember sitting in the backseat of our old Citroën, eating my apple, wondering if the woman was coloring my book. It looked like a regular apple but tasted very different. It was a foreign apple in a foreign land. Plus my mom had wiped it clean with a perfumed wet nap.

2. What separates a great piece of travel writing from a standard overview of a certain destination?

Great travel writing offers an insight in to the history, culture and political climate of a place and it’s not just a guide on what to do. Take a book like Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux for example, about his travels overland from Cairo to Cape Town. It’s not just a travelogue, but a picture of contemporary Africa and of African history. You may not agree with all of his opinions-I don’t-but it’s still an interesting ride. And although not travel literature per se, the work of Ryszard Kapuściński will always be fascinating-a peak into the life of a brilliant journalist at an interesting time.

3. Do you always have a set piece in mind when you travel on assignment? Or do stories emerge along the way?

You have to have a solid idea before you go. No editor is going to send you off with the hopes that you come up with something brilliant once you’re there. You pitch a story idea, and if your editor likes it, you do as much research as you can and you try to arrange as many meetings as possible before you go. And then when you’re there, you always stumble on more stories and you come back with much more material than you planned on. Sometimes those stories you just stumbled on turn out to be the best ones. Once you get to the level of, say, Bill Bryson, I guess you have the freedom to write what you want without prior approval of an editor and you can let the stories just come to you, but I’m not there yet…

4. Any dangerous moments during your travel writing career?

Not as a travel writer. Other writing assignments have taken me to war zones and other places my parents were less than happy with, but as a travel writer you tend to go to more popular places. There have been times during my travels when I’ve been uncomfortable-I’ve been mugged, I’ve been fondled, I’ve had run-ins with the police-but I’ve never been really scared. And somehow it’s those experiences that turn in to good stories afterwards. The only time I really didn’t think I was going to make it out alive was when I got sick with malaria and giardiasis in Sudan and dropped fifteen pounds in two weeks. I looked like a walking skeleton-six feet tall and 110 pounds is not a good look for anyone.

5. I heard a travel writer recently say she visited the local bars to get the inside scoop on a destination. Any favorite “research” hang-outs for you?

I usually reach out to friends and acquaintances before I go to see if they know anyone in the place where I’m going. More often than not, someone knows someone who lives there. Very few publications have the budget to let you take your time to really get to know a place. I’m always on deadline and I have to hit the ground running, and I have to have at least a basic idea of the place before I go. When I get there I try to talk to everyone I meet-taxi drivers, hotel staff, people on the street. And yes, I hang out a lot in bars as well, all for research purposes of course.

6. You covered the build-up to the Greece Olympics in 2004. Any plans to go to China this summer?

Oh, I wish…

7. How do you overcome language barriers as you travel around the world?

I smile a lot. I wave my arms a lot. And then you pick up a few phrases along the way. I can order a drink in ten languages. You know, all the essentials…

8. What’s the next big must-visit destination in Europe? Asia?

Oh, I don’t know… If there’s one place in Europe that has really exploded as a tourism destination it’s Croatia. As for Asia, maybe Vietnam.

9. What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in the travel and tourism business in the last 5-10 years?

You hear people in the travel industry say that margins are smaller and that numbers are down, but it seems to me that people are traveling more than ever. I think people might be abandoning traditional destinations in favor of more off-beat ones, and the traditional destinations are hurting. It’s getting increasingly hard to find places where you won’t run in to other tourists. Everywhere you go you feel the effects of globalization-even in the most remote places you can find the same brands you buy back home. I won’t go into the pros and cons of globalization, but I think more traveling will lead to a greater understanding of other cultures, and in the end, a safer world.

10. Who do you admire as a writer?

I read a lot of fiction. Some people find their escape in travel literature, but when I’m not working I disappear into the worlds of J.M. Coetzee, Salman Rushdie and Nadine Gordimer.

Man in rickshaw in Indonesia

After reading Karin’s story, are you inspired? Have you ever dreamed of being a travel writer?  Well, now is your chance. Join the travel revolution and enter Viscape’s “Be a Travel Writer” contest.  Entering is easy and fun!