✨ Welcome to our series, TravMedia's Travel Writer of the Week! ✨
Each week, we'll be shining a spotlight on one of the incredibly talented, passionate, and inspiring Journalists or Editors from our amazing community.
This week, we'd like to shine the spotlight on freelance travel writer - Lydia Swinscoe.
We hope you enjoy - happy reading !!
Where are you based?
I live in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where I've been based for close to two years. The island is so layered, with so many incredible stories to tell, I'm always inspired by its landscapes, residents, wildlife and sense of community. The location also makes it extremely easy for me to hop around Asia for work, being close to the Maldives, India, and much of Southeast Asia.
What outlets do you write for? Who is your audience? What are your travel specialties?
I've been travelling solo for about 20 years now, and I tend to write a lot about my experiences on the road alone as a female. This might include advice, solo destination guides, or personal stories about the highs and lows of travelling alone. However, I cover all aspects of travel and undertake many personal trips - rather than press trips - to experience places on my own terms. I believe this is where the real stories unfold. Having decades of print experience (I adore the power of strong images and words on paper) as well as top-class SEO knowledge (I used to lead a team of 11 digital writers), I write for both mediums and can turn my hand to hotel reviews and roundups, interviews, in-depth explorations and personal tales. I contribute to a range of titles from newspapers like The Times and The Standard, to beautiful print products like escapism and DestinAsian, and online sites Condé Nast Traveller, Wallpaper* and Service95 etc. I also run my own travel website, Lydia Travels, where I publish hotel reviews and evergreen content that ranks highly on Google search.
Are you in-house or freelance (or both)?
Having worked in-house for 15 years, I finally took the plunge and went fully freelance two years ago. It was the best decision I ever made.
What are your professional pet peeves?
I rarely go on group press trips these days, for two reasons: the first being that I really can't abide rudeness. I've seen people on trips treat hotel and wait staff rudely time and again, and I can't stand it. Having spent years working in bars and kitchens while I was at school, I've witnessed firsthand what it's like to be in the presence of people who think they're above you, and it's not cool. The second reason is that I find it much easier to experience a place independently, so that I can get a real sense of a hotel/destination/area without being distracted. Saying that, I have met some very brilliant people on press trips who have become firm friends.
Where would you like to return to?
I've visited Guatemala twice, once in 2005 and again in 2016, yet it's a country I always can't wait to go back. I'd also love to return to Bolivia, but I'm a bit nervous to see how it might have evolved since my backpacking days in my early 20s, when it was charming, hypnotic, and utterly fascinating, and there was no Instagram (bliss).
What's on your bucket list?
So many places! I'm desperate to go to Socotra, Palau, Mongolia, Tibet, Pakistan, Afghanistan... I could go on and on!
Where do you travel for fun?
Anywhere and everywhere! Fun can be found all over, if you know where to look.
Your funniest (or most harrowing) travel story is …
Most of my funniest travel stories took place during a year-long backpacking trip with my ex, where we travelled overland through South America, India and Southeast Asia on a shoestring. As much as I adore luxury boutique hotels these days, that year of roughing it was undoubtedly one of the best of my life and it was all the more memorable since it was pre smart phones and social media - absolutely everything was new and exciting. Luckily, I've been safe for the most-part during my solo travels, but there were a few hairy situations in India during a two-month-long solo trip in 2015. I adore India, it's one of my favourite countries in the world, but it can be super stressful as a woman travelling alone.
How best should people contact you?
Email is always best.
