Saigon at sunset
I recently unearthed this picture of myself in the bowels of my Dropbox. It was taken in 2015 in Vietnam. I was 25—tanned, sweaty, and painfully full of street food. I’m pictured with my kind Airbnb host and her friend, a translation student, who I had recruited to be my paid interpreter for a story I was reporting about the economics of Ho Chi Minh City’s street food industry. Looking at this picture, it struck me how much my experience of “being a journalist” has changed in just a few short years.
Lots of people want to be journalists. There is no set way to get there, though getting an entry level job with no experience and working your way up is one option that seems all but dead. I know some people get there by getting the right fellowships and jobs straight out of the right university. Others spend a lot of money to go to journalism school and presumably meet the right people there. A lucky few write something at the right time and the weird, unpredictable internet machine leapfrogs them to recognition. I’d be dishonest if I didn’t say that I think a lot of the remaining paths require a fair amount of privilege or luck.
That said, I was never was the type of person who got awards, or grants, or paid fellowships, or scholarships (and trust me, I applied). Nor have I ever once gotten anything other than a rejection from a journalism job I applied for cold online. I had internships, sure, and though they led to bylines and great connections, they did not lead to a career in and of itself.
My significant degree of privilege certainly helped (schooling, being white, having great parents and two powerful passports, generous help from family/relatives here and there) but that aside, I got to where I am mostly by being scrappy. By having a bunch of jobs and living in small rooms with cheap rent while I freelanced on the side. It’s important to point out that all the economic anxiety of my twenties was a function of my own choices. In other words: I was broke, not poor—and I know there’s a big difference between those two things. But that still didn’t mean it was a breeze.
However, all of it was motivated by this desire to do the very thing I am doing in that picture above. To tell stories about the things I was curious about. To have a valid reason to do something like jet around Saigon on a motorbike to find out about other people’s lives. To be tenacious and tireless and to get it right. Back in 2015, to do that even part time, as a sliver of an otherwise pretty precarious life, felt like a huge privilege.
Since late 2017, when I got my first staff job, my reporting has become less Saigon at sunset and more calling large companies to ask for comment from my desk. (Though there was that time last year I went on a reporting trip on a cruise ship and got norovirus-like illness, which was pretty exciting by any standard). That said, even sitting at a desk, I still get a kick out of the enormous privilege of doing what I do every day. Of having a platform to write from, of asking people questions and them actually giving me answers, of wanting to know things and getting paid a salary to find them out.
It just so happens that as of next week, I’ll be doing that job at a new place. I’m joining the team at Skift to be their global tourism reporter, to focus on a beat that will encompass all sorts: the mind-boggling cruise industry, the ever-expanding juggernaut that is Airbnb, mass tourism/gentrification, the political nature of tourism marketing, the thorny concept of responsible travel etc. I’ve long admired how Skift covers the travel industry—with verve, and fearlessness, and an expansive view of why it matters—and I’m excited to be a part of that.
I’m so grateful for my year and a half at Quartz. I learned an enormous amount there and got to work with some of the smartest humans I’ve ever met. I also learned that, perhaps even more than writing, I really love the nitty gritty of reporting, even the unglamorous desk stuff. I’m excited for the opportunity to work on a defined beat at Skift and improve those skills by getting stuck into the kind of granular reporting that I didn’t always have the opportunity to do as a freelancer and on a more general lifestyle beat. When I find the time, I’ll also be working on some personal creative stuff, which may or may not see the light of day down the line. (I can’t remember what it’s like to write things just for fun, so I’m going to try and find out.)
That said, transitions are always kind of scary, aren’t they? I guess the picture above caught my eye because it’s a reminder to not take it all for granted: That every day there’s a story, and it’s my literal job to tell it. Twenty five year old me would be thrilled. And you know what? I think it’s pretty damn great too.
It’s been an unusual month, so I don’t have links of my own writing to share. (The ones that I do are behind a paywall). Extra links below to make up for it! Back to regular programming next time.
A robust grab-bag of links below to kick off your summer lounging
Most writing advice online is rubbish. This, on the other hand, is great. [NYTimes]
“I’ve said it before, but me just existing is revolutionary,” I am several months late to this party, but I just adore Lizzo and her music. This profile of her is joyous, as is her interview with Terry Gross. [The Cut]
What do healthy organisations/companies have in common? They “institutionalize the behaviour of speaking up.” [Harvard Business Review]
"Someone said to me, 'Are you still writing?' And I wanted to say, 'I guess you don't read The New York Times.’" May we all be as steadfast and productive as Danielle Steele, who has written 179 books. [Glamour]
“Most climate change threatens the poor first and most directly. But ... in Los Angeles, the wealthier you are, the likelier it is that you live in the hills — which is to say, in the line of fire.” A never-ending wild fire season is at once unimaginable and totally inevitable. [NY Mag]
I’m living for this evisceration of a rather famous author who couldn’t bother to get basic facts correct in his new book. (But don’t worry, Bill Gates endorsed it anyway. Sigh.) [NY Times]
Wow if you haven’t read BuzzFeed’s excellent investigation into Tony Robbins, do. Even more interesting is Robbin’s multi-pronged attempt to discount the reporting, which indicates to me that he doesn’t really understand how journalism works. [BuzzFeed]
Is there anything more taboo than a woman giving up her four year old daughter to focus on her art? This piece will stay with you. [Topic]
I’m so fascinated by the No Flying movement. I suspect this is going to become more prominent, and quite quickly. I’m looking forward to covering this more on my new beat. [The Guardian]
Lena Dunham in conversation with Russell Brand on fame, fallibility, creativity, and mental health is deeply enjoyable. (Yes, I know, many people hate both of them. Most of those people, I find, have a pretty superficial understanding of their work.) [Under the Skin]
In case you need it: AOC’s self pep talk from the Netflix doc about her campaign is everything you need.
Lifestyle endorsement
Donate to Planned Parenthood or a similar organization. The restriction of abortion rights happening in the US is, I believe, a form of violence against women. I think often about how lucky I am to live in a country where reproductive rights are not politicized/imperiled (yet), which is why I donate monthly. If you’re able to, I really encourage you to do the same.
Word Soup
“Walking is in and of itself a practice in empathy, which is the only thing I seek to produce in my work. You spend time walking the streets, and you cannot ignore what you see in them. The pain, the joy, the hope are all there in front of you. You see who is riding the bus, and who is walking past those people with blinders, rendering them invisible. It is a practice of self-awareness and a ward against isolation, a routine of belonging.” —Judnick Maynard
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