I have always had fun with the written word. Short stories, long stories, press releases – you name it, I have done it. When we need copy for our B&B website, I am the gal to knuckle down and delight the great god Google with some original copy. When we travel, I am the one that jumps enthusiastically onto TripAdvisor to do the reviews. I just love pointing out the good, the great and the totally do-not-touch-with-a-barge-pole places to fellow travellers.
So when my husband pointed out the ad for The Ultimate Travel Journalism Course, it was really a no-brainer to sign up. I can’t say I relished every single minute of it- some of it was jolly tough. I was right out of my comfort zone studying again, doing assignments again, and dare I say, learning again.
My tutor, Dan Scott, was a wonderful mixture of being a pal and being encouraging, but at the same time, didn’t allow me to rest on my writing laurels. My darling husband could tell me it was great but when Dan told me the same piece was good, I was over the moon. I learnt about style, tricks and using all my five senses to convey an experience. In short, the course taught me to be a more in-touch traveller.
I used to think I was a cracking photographer -I was actually pretty rubbish. After the tutorial on travel photography, I look at the quality of my old holiday snaps and shudder. I invested in a new camera before our big South American holiday last year with stunning results.
The idea of a blog had been suggested to me before, but I hadn’t been ready until I completed this course. When I read back through my course notes on blogging and followed the links, the idea of what sort of travel blog became obvious. I wanted to write a blog I would want to read, one relevant to the sort of travel I love. I am not a 20-year-old American backpacker doing the world on $50 a day, I am a 50-year-old independent adventure traveller. And so, my blog, A Couple of Grey Hairs, was born. The title sums us up – we are a travelling couple and my husband has a couple of grey hairs, I, thanks to the skill of my hairdresser, do not.
*Suzannah has completed The Ultimate Travel Journalism Course with our sister College The Morris Journalism Academy in Australia.
