Many people travel to work from time to time.
But for some, travel is at the heart of their work.
CNBC Travel talks to people from four industries about professions where working from home – or the office – is not an option.
One year trip
Name: Sebastian Modak Job: Former 52-Place Traveler of the New York Times
Modak was one of 13,000 people to apply for a role that sent one person to each destination on The New York Times’ 2018 Places to Visit list, the first year the newspaper hired for the position.
He didn’t get the job.
“A year later, I thought, why not try again,” he said. “It worked this time!”
As a “Traveler of 52 Places” for 2019, Modak traveled to a new destination every week – from Bulgaria to Qatar and Uzbekistan to Vietnam – for a year he described as exciting and exhausting.
“I often say it was one of the biggest experiences of my life, but also the hardest,” he said. “I didn’t have a day off all year and the constant pressure of deadlines was hard to handle.”
Modak, who is now editor-in-chief of travel publishing house Lonely Planet, said his advice to ambitious travel writers is to admit that you know nothing. “The first step to finding and telling compelling travel stories is to ask questions and admit that you have so much to learn.”
Source: Sebastian Modak
Modak said the job requires someone who can “do anything”, from writing articles and posting on social media to taking photos and videos, he said.
“It was a lot!” he said. “In addition to storytelling skills, they were looking for someone with endurance to endure all year long.”
He acknowledged mostly his luck in getting the job, but said he believed his upbringing and enthusiasm for traveling had helped him. Modak’s father is from India and his mother is Colombian, he said, so “as a cultural compromise, they essentially decided to move permanently.” As a result, he grew up in places like Hong Kong, Australia, India and Indonesia, he said.
Modak said the job – which has been called a typical “dream job” – has been exhausting, stressful and even scary at times, but still one of constant growth and adventure.
“I wouldn’t give it back to the world,” he said. “It blew my mind wide, introduced me to people from six continents, and strengthened my love for going to the place and looking for history.”
“Humanitarian Hero”
Name: Sandra BlackJob: United Nations Communications Specialist
Black’s work doesn’t take her to typical travel destinations, and her business trips are anything but overnight.
Since 2008, she has lived and worked in Senegal, East Timor, the Central African Republic, Iraq and, more recently, Mozambique, in roles that last from several months to years.
“Everyone [place] it has its cultural accents and warmth, ”she said, noting that living“ where traffic is restricted for security reasons ”is the most challenging part.
Since October 2021, Black has been managing external communications for the Mozambique office of the United Nations Population Fund, a UN agency that focuses on reproductive health and rights and is funded entirely by donations, according to its website.
“Personally, I feel driven to support those most in need,” she said.
Sandra Black (left) with women involved in a carpet project in a resettlement site after Cyclone Idai hit Mozambique in 2019.
Source: IOM / Alfoso Pequeno
Black writes about people who were displaced by Cyclone Idai in 2019 – one of the worst hurricanes to enter Africa while working for the United Nations International Migration Organization. She recalled meeting a woman named Sarah who climbed a tree with her baby after her house collapsed in a flood. The woman said she was rescued seven days later.
Originally from New York, Black spoke French, Spanish, Portuguese and a basic level of Wolof, the national language of Senegal, and Tetum, a language spoken in East Timor. She said her language skills were part of the reason she was urgently sent to cover humanitarian crises.
“I write at night until I can’t keep my eyes open anymore, and then I start again at 6 in the morning the next day,” she said in an interview with the UN’s Humanitarian Hero campaign in 2014.
“The most meaningful part of humanitarian communications is to provide a platform for people affected by conflict and natural disasters to tell their stories,” she said. “Many sincerely want the world to know what happened to them and their communities.
From chef to captain
Name: Tony Stewart. Job: yacht captain
Stewart said he expects to travel for nine months in 2022 at the head of a 130-foot three-deck motor yacht All Inn. He has already moved from the Caribbean to Central America and Mexico. From the west coast of the United States, it will go to the British Columbia Inner Pass and continue to southeastern Alaska, then fly to Florida and end the year in the Bahamas, he said.
That’s a little longer than the “typical year,” he said, in part because of the increase in charter business this year, he said.
Stewart said he started in the yachting industry as a chef in 1998 and “immediately fell in love with lifestyle, work and travel.” After a year and a half of cooking, Stewart made a career change.
Tony Stewart has been the captain of three motor yachts since 2006, he said, including a 130-foot Westport three-deck yacht called the All Inn.
Source: Fraser Yachts
“I decided that I wanted to work to get my license and become a captain, at which point I took a job as [a] deck assistant and I started my journey, “he said.
The job requires strong problem-solving skills, organization and a high tolerance for stress, Stewart said. Captains do “a little of everything,” he said, from trip planning and accounting to “HR duties” for the crew and golf reservations for guests.
As for whether it’s a dream job – “it absolutely is,” Stewart said.
“We endure long days, and sometimes weeks without days off,” he said, but “I couldn’t imagine doing that and not loving him.”
Expert in Italian villas
Name: Amy Ropner Job: Head of Villas at the UK-based Luxury Travel and Villas Company Red Savannah
Of the 300 villas Red Savannah is working on, about 120 are in Italy, Ropner said. She estimates she has visited about 80% to 90% of them.
She is traveling from London to Italy to evaluate the company’s collection of “extremely high-end” villas and to evaluate new homes to add to the company’s list, she said. During a recent trip, she traveled from Milan to Lake Como, down to Tuscany, then further south to the cities of Amalfi and Positano, she said. Her next trip is to Puglia, she said, “because it’s beautiful, rude and really popular right now.”
Amy Ropner of Red Savannah said her work focuses mainly on Italian villas, but also houses for rent in Greece, Spain and the Caribbean. “I’m always ready to go at any moment… we always move.”
Source: Red Savannah
About 90% of the houses are privately owned, Ropner said. She meets with the owners and analyzes everything from the size of the pool decks to the beds (“there is a difference between a British king and an American king”).
Most reservations include children, so she checks to see if the stairs and balconies are safe for all ages; if not, the company notes this on the website, she said.
“We must [know] whether there are cats in the mansion, whether it’s down a dirt road … which obviously takes a little longer to get to … where the sun rises, where the sun sets, “she said.
Ropner often stays in villas for rent for $ 5,000 to $ 200,000 a week, she said. She is also exploring local areas to advise on restaurants, boat rentals and new services such as e-bike trips and ice cream lessons, she said.
“I think people think everything is glamorous [but] it’s a lot of work, “she said, noting that she had once seen 50 villas in one trip.
“It’s glamorous,” she said, “but it can also be tiring.”
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