What I've Learned As A Travel Writer At BorneoTalk
It's been an emotional week...
Today is my last day as a writer for BorneoTalk, a local magazine focused on travel, arts, culture, and to an extent, lifestyle in Borneo (predominantly Sarawak).
So I've been reflecting on what I've learned over my 2 years-ish period of being a part of the editorial. Hence, today's letter is rather different.
But before we dive into that, let's backtrack a little while, so you'll understand where I was coming from.
4 events that influenced me in some form or another, or rather gave signs that I was meant to write and... wander.
Airplane trips I've taken since I was little, and all I did was gloss over the bylines of in-flight magazines.
Mom also prompted me several times, "why don't you write something like this?" In my heart, nah, this is a job for American, British, Caucasian people who are native English speakers. But I wanted it, at the same time.
High school English classes. On days where we learned about words and building sentences from newspapers. At some point, I wanted to write for the grey papers.
My former boss when I was in Public Relations (pre-BorneoTalk days) was a journalist. She told me all sorts of stories during her journalism days. Those storytelling sessions may have fed some dreams in me.
When I got this job.
Please also understand when I first entered BorneoTalk, it was 2019. The travel influencer thingy in the local scene wasn't that booming as it is.. today.
Hence my sunk costs largely came from my years-old dream of wanting to see my byline in print.
Now, onto today’s agenda, the things I've learned while growing as a writer at BorneoTalk:
Travel is my strength
...besides personal development ✌🏼
I never knew not many people had travel in their blood. I thought anyone would just dare to do so.
All these years, outside of work, I've followed in the footsteps of both my adventurous parents and inherited their love for travel.
Mom was always "Let's go to this place this holiday". I learned a lot from her on how to navigate a foreign place without internet assistance because it wasn’t as accessible as it is like now.
One of my earliest, travel achievements outside work that I was proud of was my second trip to Singapore. I think I was 18/19. I did all the research on where to go for a less-than-24-hour trip with no data and no roaming.
I planned the train routes all by myself—I was just a kid from a place where the main transportation is cars so understanding train routes (especially Singapore level) wasn’t easy ok. Instead of me following mom like usual, she followed me and let me lead the way that time.
Wait a minute, how do these personal experiences relate to BorneoTalk?
Well, I didn’t know most people needed A-Z guides from established authorities like BorneoTalk and local experts until I was actually writing for the industry. Because in my family, we did our own deep research prior to whenever we wanted to travel.
BorneoTalk largely focuses on travel, arts, and culture. If I were to number these arenas according to my strength:
Travel
Culture
Arts (I like arts. But I figured sometime between working I'm not that keen into arts, unless it is poetry, dramas or something to do with my ethnicities).
Speed is currency / everything / non-negotiable
Especially the times we live in today...
I remember my first month covering an event. It was tough. I’d write till past midnight cause I couldn’t connect the words, needed extra time to absorb what in the world just took place and regurgitate it in sentences.
And I was shocked to see journalist peers typing with their phones when some minister or organizer were delivering their speeches. I envied them.
I couldn’t do that at first.
I had to listen and record, focus on taking photos.
Only when I got home, read the release once more, then I get ideas on how and what to write. That's why it took me till past midnight to finish up.
Now, I go to an event, ask for the press release, skim through, listen to some authority speaking while typing the key points in my phone's notes, and possibly arrange paragraphs. At home, I fill in the gaps.
Gotta admit news reporting isn’t really my cup of tea. But it is necessary to help train my writing speed and is a form of media monitoring as well. I had to be in the loop of what’s happening to produce relevant content. & I have to thank this process for flattening my learning curve of writing, photography and videography.
My fastest turnaround for event coverage as of to date: 30 minutes, from the moment I type on a docx.
Honing the skills you want to be better at is a daily practice
I've done all kinds of things at BorneoTalk. Write (features, news, social media copy, advertorial, book, scriptwriting), take photographs, and a little bit of videography.
So if I could list my strengths in order:
Writing
Photography
Videography — I have a love-and-hate relationship with this since my Film undergraduate days.
The ability to get to hone the skills I value so much, on a daily basis at work, is something I'm grateful for. Plus, only through daily practice (aka atomic habits), you can expedite your growth so much.
Keep this in mind 🧠: Sometimes, you may be given an assignment you're not interested in, but regardless of it, if what you've gained through the daily practice of doing that assignment results in a skillset growth, that's already a WIN.
To articulate better, and relate to the current times, you need in-depth specialized knowledge
To write about something foreign, was not easy when I started out.
When I was a rookie, I clearly remember this top travel journalist in South East Asia telling the story of how he saw a long-tailed macaque, and then another journalist chimed in to talk about the dolphins they saw at a river of a similar kind in a different country. It was a conversation where I felt… so estranged.
Ever since that trip I knew I had to know what the heck exactly was a long-tailed macaque 👇🏼.
Today, I know what’s a white langur, clouded leopard, rhinoceros hornbill vs wreathed hornbill, Irrawaddy dolphins (aka Empesut according to the local people).
But out of all animals, the long-tailed macaque will forever be etched in my memory because that’s the first time I told myself I need to know these animals so my writing would be more enriching; and I can join in wildlife conversation the next time should the same scenario take place.
Consistency is key
In January 2022, BorneoTalk will be publishing its 63rd issue, the 10th issue I participated in. That's a lot. How did the publisher manage to do that? Consistency.
But besides that, I want to talk about consistency via the platform I was largely in charge of—Instagram 🥶.
A journalist friend from a local newspaper once said "I am multipurpose. I write and take photos too"
And do Instagram.. Yup guys, I am multi-purpose LOL
When I first came in around July 2019, the followers were over 3000. I don't remember the exact numbers, but it was somewhere around there.
My first IG post 👇🏼
As of November 29, 2021, it has 8923 followers with high engagement rates (you’ll know if you keep up with the stories).
Instagram is a team effort, one I also have to give credit to Ashley, Steven, Lester, Bernardo, and Nur for coming up with great ideas now and then.
So what was I in charge of?
To be the anchor. Make sure the account is managed and has something posted all the time.
But if there was one rule that was so so sacred in social media: it is consistency.
Consistency is what gets the magazine published till today, despite the pandemic.
Consistency is what gets people to engage with BorneoTalk's social media.
One to remember 💬: There are days where the content wouldn't resonate with the audience. But there will be days it resonates, and when it does, it goes boom. You just have to try, measure the social and local climate, and keep on experimenting with posting!
Everything is a stepping stone
So if I had the best job in the world, why was I leaving?
Contributing to 10 issues is a lot. A major achievement for me. If you understood where I was coming from, the byline was it. I had that, on top of other various exciting things I've learned and done together with the cool folks at BorneoTalk.
It's time to move on, and step onto another stone.
The other day I watched this video and realized how everything is a stepping stone in life. Like how my years of #CutiCutiMalaysia travel experiences taught me specialized “local expert” knowledge I could later leverage in-depth at BorneoTalk.
And how my daily practice of writing, taking photos, and posting stuff on the day at BorneoTalk are stepping stones towards polishing my mastery, needed for the next chapter.
What I want to remember
A hashtag that’s very localized, very Sarawakian. Concocted by the collective brains at BorneoTalk to reboot travel in the middle of the pandemic for Vol 57 issue!
📣 And you are very much welcome to use this hashtag on all social media for your travel excursion in Sarawak 🥶
Some cool people I've met through conferences, FAM trips (Miri, Tanjung Datu, Sabah, Senah Rayang, Batang Ai) and events, etc. One of them:
Being a travel writer in the middle of a pandemic.. when travel was at a halt! What a story to tell.
My advice for budding travel writers or journalists?
Hop on the industry when you are young, when you have little-to-no commitments, and when your energy level is high.
Sincere thanks to my wonderful colleagues for guiding me, teaching me, and supporting me these past 2 years-ish. 🙏🏼
Current Obsession
Plastic Love music video. So this song was released 40 years ago? Are you kidding me!
Serious Things
“Is there some ultimate remedy to snapping out of it? Nope. Just the realization that you’re as young as you’ll ever be and the oldest you’ve ever been.” — Ayodeji Awosika
“Without it, we could go years thinking we’re on track, only to realize we spend all that time moving in the wrong direction” —Matt Hogan on Self-Awareness
Elsewhere
💬 Your say on “Real Self-Love is when you are tough on your nonsensical behaviors”
Behind-the-scenes of last week’s letter.
….will be back with the usual programming next week ✌🏼