Travelling & working: feeling the pressure
I’m looking out to a kaleidoscope of green hills, with bold colourful birds zooming past, and the sound of the flowing river as my backdrop. All should be perfect, shouldn’t it? Except in the past week I felt overwhelmed juggling everything (I know, get that violin out for me when there's global catastrophes going on). Managing full-time work while travelling - getting from A to B, squeezing in some sightseeing (woe is me), long bus journeys (two buses broke down on my 10-hour journey to the coffee region on Friday), travel admin/researching where to stay/how to get there (I find this can wrack up so much time as there’s often an abundance of platforms and more choice available), researching future places and stories, and conducting interviews which can only be at limited times due to the time difference, all all the rest...
I know it’s my choice and I wouldn’t have it any other way (well, bar journalism being woefully underpaid so that you're having to take on more work to make a sustainable income) but last week I found myself so stressed from having to juggle everything. I’m working on stories from the tech scene in Colombia, mass graves in Medellin, innovation in the nappies sector, a piece on Reddit, climate adaption in Medellin, all of which involve numerous meetings, emails and interviews, and some in-person organisation, and edits - which can take significant time - for a travel piece and a sustainability article, celebrity interviews, and then researching and pitching stories on sustainable palm oil, Medelllin, the coffee region, and more, plus my media consultancy work.
In the past week a celebrity didn’t turn up to the interview, not once but twice – and I’d organised both days around it. I also turned up to Bogota for an interview only for the interview to be cancelled on the day (when I'd double checked with the PR that it would definitely go ahead as I was catching a four-hour bus days early to do the interview). Luckily three celebrity interviews were postponed this week due to a change in date of the actor’s TV show – jeez, was I happy when I saw that email?! But I have another interview with a celeb this week. An interview with a uni professor for an in-person story I’m working on in Medellin in Friday where I’ll be interviewing locals who have built climate resilience in informal settlements. I also have an interview with a brand innovating in the nappies sector. Soon after I will be working on a piece about mass graves. It’s Sunday and I’ve spent the weekend working on edits for a travel piece, researching questions for nappies brand and the professor, writing this newsletter, answering some emails, following up on pitches and writing news ones, organising new workshops, and researching places to stay in Medellin. I’m quite happy that it’s raining so I can make my way through the ever-increasing list of things and I don’t feel the need to explore (because everything is also copy – I’m hoping to write about some of these destinations). I have a backlog of emails that I need to respond to. But a lot of my time is planning ahead and finding stories to cover and pitching and that times time and energy. Never mind chasing editors.
I’m know I'm certainly far from the only one feeling stressed right now and of course, this is nothing compared to what many people are experiencing right now across the world. Though I am very grateful, I wanted to show that working and travelling abroad isn’t all glorious sunsets. I’m sure the overwhelming feeling will calm down. I have decided to stay a bit longer in my next location, Medellin, and put down the bags for three to four weeks; although I don’t have a commission I am hoping to write about Medellin so some of the time will also involve trying to arrange tours and plan hotels, etc. But my plan of action is to focus more on stories over here, still continue with some celeb interviews as they’re 100% more straightforward (when the celeb turns up) than a regular feature, and try to enjoy it all more. I mean, I am lapping it up still (I've lost countless of the number of waterfalls I've seen) but I think staying in one place and not spending my time checking in/out, on long bus journeys, and signing up to a gym rather than having to research one in every place I go to, will hopefully relieve some of the tension.
Want to know some ways you can help out a stressed journalist (not just me)?
Don’t continually chase and chase emails. It just adds to the crazy inbox.
Listen. Do they want high-res landscape picture? Don’t be wasting time sending over portrait images. Or do us a favour and try cropping them for us.
If we say we’re not looking for pitches on X Y Z, listen. I find I receive so many emails that say, “I know this isn’t what you were looking for but.." It's never been helpful.
Send everything over (if possible) in one email/or fewer rather than in dribs and drabs.
Go the extra mile. I might focus my next newsletter on a recent example of a PR who knocked it out of the park when it came to working together for the first time.
Do the research. I’m finding people are contacting me about celeb interviews when their client has already featured in the slot. Do the homework before you contact us.
There's more advice on how to build stronger relationships with journalists and knock out more pitches that us hacks say yes to coming up in my next workshops.