This was published 4 years ago
My travel life: Hamish Macdonald, journalist and TV host on The Project, ABC Conversations and Foreign Correspondent
By Sue Williams
Hamish Macdonald.
THE TRAVELLER
Hamish Macdonald, journalist, host The Project, ABC Conversations, RN Breakfast, and a reporter for Foreign Correspondent
NUMBER OF COUNTRIES VISITED: at last count, somewhere around 78, give or take a few disputed territories.
ANY PASSPORT MISHAPS/MISADVENTURES? There is another Australian foreign correspondent called Hamish McDonald (small difference in spelling), he was the long-time foreign editor of the SMH. I was in Afghanistan covering a Presidential election for Al Jazeera, while the other (far more experienced and knowledgable) Hamish was in Australia writing a scathing opinion piece about President Karzai and the notorious warlord Rashid Dostum. Of course, the Afghan authorities were furious and came looking for me. I was told to flee the country, but my passport was actually in London having an Indian work visa put in it. It led to me being hidden in a basement for a very long (and nervous) weekend while they retrieved my passport.
I GOT MY FIRST PASSPORT WHEN I WAS a few months old in 1981.
MY PASSPORT PHOTO IS fine. I have a few different passports, so I rarely even notice the picture. I'm mostly just checking to make sure I have the right passport number, and none of the tricky visas in it!
I CAN'T STOP GOING BACK TO Afghanistan. I covered the conflict extensively for Al Jazeera, based in Kabul. I was travelling around much of the country with a fantastic team of young Afghan producers and cameramen. It was a really formative experience and I got to see a side of the war I think most Westerners rarely see. For all the horrors of war and the physical danger, Afghanistan is an intoxicating place and I made a lot of beautiful Afghan friends.
MY LAST TRAVEL DESTINATION WAS Mexico, for The Project, following a group of young guys from Guatemala and Honduras as they walked with the Migrant Caravan towards the US border.
MY NEXT TRAVEL DESTINATION IS who knows? I never get much notice before my trips. But I'm hoping to squeeze in a few shoots for ABC's Foreign Correspondent this year. We're currently plotting stories and destinations.
I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO everything.
I LOVE TO TRAVEL BECAUSE it satisfies my curiosity. No matter how much I read about a place, or study beforehand, nothing compares to actually going to a new place and soaking it up.
MY TRAVEL PHILOSOPHY IS don't go where the crowds are. Maybe it's the journalist training, but when everyone is heading in one direction, I tend to go the other way. Instinctively I feel that this is where the better story will be. It has always served me well at work and also in personal travel.
THE ONE TRAVEL MISTAKE I ALWAYS MAKE IS over-eating. I'll try anything once, but when it's good, I'll try it over and over and over again.
THE ONE THING I REALLY DO GET RIGHT WHEN I TRAVEL IS pack light. Only ever take carry-on luggage. I take a small duffle bag with the essentials, my Blundstones, a good book, some headphones and not much else.
IF I HAD TO SIT IN THE MIDDLE SEAT THE OTHER PASSENGERS I'D WANT ON EITHER SIDE OF ME WOULD BE the Queen. And Chinese president Xi Jinping. Because I don't think I'd ever get to interview either of them, but am dying to know what they really think.
THE ONE FAMOUS TRAVELLER I REALLY ADMIRE IS David Attenborough. I hope I still have as much energy and enthusiasm for my work and travel as him when I'm 92!
THE ONE FAMOUS PERSON I'D LIKE TO TRAVEL WITH IS I think [British Oscar-winning actor] Olivia Colman would take rather fine holidays. And I find her endlessly funny.
AIRLINE FOOD IS better than its reputation would suggest.
AIRPORT SECURITY IS frustrating but necessary.
HOTELS ARE places where I often feel lonely. I do like my own company, but for some reason being in hotels in distant places always makes me feel a bit lonely.
I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO GO TO Iran. For whatever reason I just haven't been able to get there for work over the years and it is absolutely at the top of my list. I have made so many wonderful Iranian friends over the years and I think there is so much more to the country than what we see from the outside. The curiosity factor is high.
I'VE NEVER WANTED TO GO TO I wouldn't rule anywhere out. There's always something to be discovered in every place!
AISLE OR WINDOW? Window, obviously.
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