Most travel stories are also charming, thanks to the characters they talk about. In other words, when you travel, you meet many interesting people whose opinions can (and should) be incorporated into the final text in one form or another. Of these, some are real characters, perhaps even personalities, with whom you would like to do an interview. But how do you take an interview for a travel article?
Preparing for a travel article interview is not very different from preparing for any type of interview. Basically, there are a few steps you need to follow, depending on the person you will approach and the length of the interview. You can have short discussions that last a few minutes or long interviews that last several hours.
Who you might interview during a trip or for a travel article
The examples are countless, but here are a few types of people you might be interested in interviewing. Let’s say you’re going to do an article on the destination of Chiang Mai:
– People on the street, locals. You ask them what it’s like to live in Chiang Mai. What are the pros and cons of living in this province in northern Thailand? What does a day in their life look like? How do they have fun? Where do they work? Etc
– Local guides. Ask them which are the most popular tourist attractions in Chiang Mai. Where do tourists like to go most in the region, and which places are they most excited about? Which countries do most tourists come from? Etc.
– Local historians. What is the history of Chiang Mai? How has the city evolved? What were the moments that marked the history of the place, that are still commemorated today? Etc.
– Environmentalists. How do they fight for the protection and care of elephants in the Chiang Mai region? What are the city’s greening directions? Etc
– Personalities. If you meet a local celebrity – the whole gamut of lifestyle questions: what does Chiang Mai look like through the eyes of a star? What would be the first places they would mention if they were to promote the city they live in? Etc.
You can “stuff” your article with statements from these interviews, but you can also do separate sections with longer sequences. Most of the time, you’ll have to leave out large portions of the interviews, the most common reason being the lack of space. That’s why you need to get used to cutting out the interview text. Focus on the most exciting and to-the-point answers, and don’t include on-topic rambling, and irrelevant answers.
Steps to conducting an interview for a travel writer
If you want to be thorough when conducting an interview, then you need to have a minimum of preparation and follow the steps below. These apply, of course, to situations where you are going to conduct a more complex interview that will take a slightly more extended period:
1 Contacting the interviewee
Once you decide that you want to interview person X, contact them to see if they agree to give you an interview and to establish the interview arrangements and details of the content of the interview.
Call or email. Introduce yourself, say for what newspaper/magazine/website/ you would like to do an interview, and mention what kind of interview you would like to do. What approach will you take, and broadly what topics would you like to discuss? If they accept, set the time and place of the interview, showing flexibility and molding to that person’s schedule.
Due to time constraints, there may be the possibility of conducting the interview online or by email, although, in the latter, you will lose much of the answers’ flavor. Basically, you’re going to email your questions, and the person will reply in writing, but you won’t be able to link to their answers in real-time, and going back to them might seem inappropriate.
2 Documentation
Documentation is the first phase in writing a travel article anyway. Still, if you’re going to interview a particular person – a personality in the field – you need to research them.
For example, if that person is a writer, find out what books they have written and what they are about, read up on their approach, and familiarise yourself with their most recent work.
If the person is an official, find out about their organization, see their job description, read about the areas that fall under their jurisdiction, etc.
If you are going to talk to a celebrity, find out their background, see their travel connection, study their social media a bit and find out where they have traveled, etc.
3 Establishing a list of questions
Write down the questions. If the interview is expected to be long, structure the questions with some logic or chronology. Refrain from carrying the interviewee haphazardly from one area to another, only to return to where you left off. Structure your questions, so the discussion flows as smoothly as possible.
Some officials or celebrities may ask you a list of questions before the interview via the P.R. person. This is a common practice and usually annoys the journalist. It is up to you whether you accept or not, but a rejection is likely followed by a refusal from the P.R. person.
4 Interview attitude
Try to maintain a friendly atmosphere, highlight the positive aspects, and don’t pointlessly challenge the person in front of you. In general, travel interviews do not have to create tension except in cases where you’re doing journalistic inquiries or investigations – things that are the subject of a separate topic.
Bring a tape recorder or record on your phone, double-checking that the conversation is being recorded so you don’t get any nasty surprises later. There’s also the option of filming the interview – perhaps to use later as a multimedia version on YouTube or elsewhere.
Print out the question sheet and keep it in front of you because you won’t remember the order and content if you have a list of dozens of questions. However, memorize the main thrust of the interview so as not to create awkward moments of silence. Don’t simply read the questions on the sheet, but take a look and ask them naturally, not robotic.
As long as you’re not recording for a podcast or radio show, don’t worry about possible minor errors in expression.
Set the length of the interview from the start. Ask the interviewee how much time they are willing to allocate for the discussion, and only go over this limit if you are towards the end of the interview and you get agreement to a possible extension. If you notice impatience or boredom on the interviewee’s face, try to cut it short.
Remain relaxed during the interview and try to do your best to make the person relaxed. Use humor to get in (or out) certain areas and thank them at the end for their time. Don’t get annoyed.
If the person expresses this wish, send them the interview before it is published.
5 Transcribing the interview
Transcribing the interview is relatively dull, but it’s important: it helps you get a clear picture of how you want the final version to look.
The rough transcription of the questions and answers will be followed by writing, editing, and polishing the interview. You’ll cut out the parts you consider unnecessary and put the sentences in as readable and fluent a format as possible.
In fact, the editing of the interview can be done in several forms, depending on where it is to be published. You can post it as part of an article on your travel blog (or on its own), in which case you decide how to edit it, or it can appear in a publication, in which case the editor of that publication will give you the editing details.
An interview can also be edited in the classic question-and-answer form or narrative form, with large passages of quotes from the person(s) you interviewed inserted into the text. Although less common, there is also a mixed version of the interview.
Before publishing or sending it for publication, proofread the interview and read it at least twice. Check the names of the people and places referred to, the accuracy of the information (by possibly documenting further where there is doubt), pay attention to the order of questions and answers so that the flow is perfect, and in general, brush up everything that can be brushed up so that you are 100% satisfied with the interview.
Conclusion on how to take an interview as a travel writer
The interview is a journalistic genre, but every travel writer needs to master its techniques. As a travel writer, you will often be put in the position of taking interviews, shorter or longer, to publish as such or to use as part of articles and travel stories. Learn how to take an interview and try to do as many as possible to gain experience and naturally “juggle” the genre.
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