My name's Robert Reid and I've been a travel writer/videographer for 20 years. I've covered a lot of places: Siberia, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Burma, Colombia, the Oklahoma Panhandle. One time I tried out at Mountie boot camp in Saskatchewan. That was interesting.
A lot of people think of a travel writer as a dream job. And it is. But it's not exactly "going on holiday" either. When I covered the Yucatan for a Lonely Planet guidebook, for instance, I spent 15 minutes in the sea over two trips. This isn't a complaint!
I think more people should travel like a travel writer does. Basically we're on the road on some sort of quest -- to find the answers to something for an article, video or book. That means not going to India to see the Taj Mahal necessarily, but to learn how to use an abacus -- or something.
Once I used a Monopoly board as a guide to Atlantic City. The point wasn't seeing the boardwalk or casinos, but just seeing the namesake locations for that game. Locals will always help someone trying to accomplish something, I find.
Doing so gets you far deeper into a place than you can be from the top of a double-decker bus tour.
I have written and made videos for Lonely Planet, the New York Times, CNN, ESPN, BBC and others. These days I work mostly with National Geographic Traveler. This year I hosted five videos for Nat Geo/Star Alliance. Did another video that included having beer in a field with a couple Manitobans (above), and wrote articles on Baja California and Chiapas in my favorite destination, Mexico.
My most recent trip for Nat Geo was to the United Arab Emirates. The desert landscape and sci-fi skyscrapers were fun to see, but it's the people met I'll remember most. Surprisingly, about 88% of the locals are from somewhere else. I met camel traders from Sudan, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Ate food at a Yemeni place, met Lebanese and Indians.
Honestly, I'm not sure what I'll do with STEEM yet. Likely I'll post some travel photos, video and tips as I go, along with videos and ramblings about music. This year I started a series of videos I called, on a whim, ROBERT'S RECORD CORNER. Basically I listen to a record or two and talk about it.
Maybe a Mini Freddie Mercury from Russia knows...
Hope to see you around STEEMland!
Hi Robert, and welcome to Steemit - I'm sure you're going to love it here.
It sounds really interesting that you're a travel writer and that's quite a talent to have.
The Lonely Planet Guide was indispensable to me when I travelled around India in the late 80's, which I'm sure it was for many people. Funnily enough, I was only thinking about it today and how much I regret recently throwing out my old tattered copy because re-reading about the places I had stayed at would have brought back some good memories.
Anyway, good luck with your Steemit journey. :-)
P.S. These following sites will help you a lot on Steemit. I use them myself and so I can definitely recommend them. They’ll make it a lot easier for you to keep track of everything.
https://steem.makerwannabe.com/ (You can monitor those who follow and unfollow you)
https://steemstats.com/#!/ (This one is great for monitoring your account and statistics)
https://www.steemnow.com/ (This one allows you to monitor your voting power)
Let me know if you need any help with anything.
Giles @tam-lin
Thank you Giles. Very helpful!
Welcome here @steemit . have fun @reidontravel.
Lets upvote and follow me at @jonnahmatias1016.
Merry christmas.
Hello Robert and welcome to Steemit. Glad to have you on board. looking forward to more of your posts and photos.
Thanks. I'm making this up as I go!
welcome to steemit @reidontravel, best regards..
hopefully you feel at home here. 😊
Thanks!
Welcome to Steemit!! I hope you have many successes @reidontravel Greetings ;)
Wow, what an exciting life of adventure. Of course, I'm sure there are some rough patches. Still, that is a great set of experiences that you couldn't go to school and learn.
Best of Luck!
Spencer Coffman
Welcome to steemit!
Last time I listened to mini Freddie Mercury's advice, I ended up naked in a hot tub with a bunch of senior citizens. :) Good luck on here.
That's awesome! Your living someone else's dream. Cheers mate.
hey Robert! Glad to have you on Steemit! We hope you're going to enjoy it and share some amazing stories with us. Good luck and steem on!