Rebecca Hall is a British travel writer who divides her time between the UK and Greece, a country she has called home since 2008 and the main focus of her work. Specializing in Greek culture, history and luxury, she brings the country’s rich traditions and landscapes to life for international audiences. Her features have appeared in publications such as Forbes Travel Guide, Conde Nast Traveler, and Telegraph Travel, as well as airline magazines, including easyJet Traveller, Wizz Air and BA Highlife. She’s also the debut novelist of Girl Gone Greek and writes guidebooks for Lonely Planet and Rough Guides.
How did you get started traveling?
Travel’s been in my blood really. My dad was in the merchant navy and I was raised on tales of the high seas. At the tender age of 19, I took advantage of the Australian Working/Holiday visa and spend a year travelling the country solo. This cemented my enjoyment (and preference for!) independent travel and in the 90s, working at Heathrow airport, I took advantage of the discounted tickets to staff and traveled to any European city on our airline’s network when I could. Wanting to understand more about developing nations, in 2003-2004 I volunteered in Sri Lanka for about 6 months. Then after finding Greece was where I was destined to be, my next major solo trip was in 2013 – a voyage from Athens to Hong Kong as a passenger on a container ship. This really allowed me to open my eyes to my dad’s world. Now I divide my time between my native UK and Greece. I find it allows me to appreciate the benefits of both countries. You have to spend significant amounts of time away from any place in order to appreciate it.
How did you get started writing?
While in Greece from 2008, I initially worked as an English teacher. That specific year saw the start of the Financial Crisis, with Greece bearing much to blame. I didn’t like the headlines I was reading, even in marginally centric newspapers – most labelling Greeks as ‘lazy’, ‘tax dodgers’, etc. I’ve always believed in the motto ‘Don’t judge or cast aspersions on something you have little first hand experience of’, yet despite my International Relations and Sociology degree, I’m not a political or socio economic writer by any means. So I started my website in 2010 to exalt the positives of Greece; the people, gastronomy, the beauty of the mainland and islands. To look beyond the bleating headlines, to look at ‘my’ Greece – through a different lens.
What do you consider your first “break” as a writer?
In 2014, the guidebook company Rough Guides caught wind of my website and, that year, needed someone on their Greece team to help update a couple of chapters of their Greece and Greek Islands guides. They contacted me, interviewed me over Skype (as we had back then!), and the rest is history. My subsequent debut novel Girl Gone Greek, published in 2015, grew out of my love for Greece and drew on my first years experiences living in a remote Greek village teaching English – again, written in a nuanced way to encourage visitors to see the real Greece behind the headlines. Now I also write for several outlets; print and digital media plus airline magazines, mostly about Greece.
As a traveler and fact/story gatherer, what is your biggest challenge on the road
Tiredness and having to be attentive when all I might want to do is simply turn in early. I’ve learned to set boundaries now and look after myself and space work out, maybe even turn down offers of a late dinner but always slotting in time to catch up another time. As a freelancer, I believe strongly that we’re ‘ambassadors’ for the publication we write for, so have a responsibility to represent it appropriately.
What is your biggest challenge from a business standpoint?
Poor rates, sometimes even rates reduced, especially over the last few years. And not always being paid on time, or a laissez faire attitude towards paying freelancers – as if we don’t matter and are lower down in the pecking order. This makes budgeting for the month hard, and makes me look like the ‘bad cop’ when having to send particularly strongly worded chaser emails.
Have you ever done other work to make ends meet?
Yes. Occasionally I get asked to consult on projects in the region, specifically from the standpoint of a foreigner viewing Greece through a lens as opposed to a local lens. It allows me to integrate not only travel writing skills, but communicate with locals and gather information about how the possible ‘them vs us’ from a tourism perspective is viewed. It’s interesting.
What travel authors or books might you recommend and/or have influenced you?
One of my favorite of all times is Foreign to Familiar: A Guide to Understanding Hot and Cold Culture Climates by Sarah A. Lanier. As a child who traveled and live abroad due to her parents’ work from a young age, she understands how climate shapes culture and how we must navigate this in our daily interactions when abroad. In summary, not to expect things to be like ‘back home’ and how to respond with intercultural integrity. She gives fascinating insight into each culture as to how and why they are the way they are; what’s shaped them, etc. Also Tim Marshall’s Prisoners of Geography which delves into similar territory (pardon the pun), except from a geographical perspective as opposed to sociological.
What advice and/or warnings would you give to someone who is considering going into travel writing?
Don’t go into it for the money! Try to find some other revenue form to help support you, even if travel writing is your main form. Find your niche. Many people will swan off on the same press trip to Dubai, Las Vegas or wherever, but why should a publication choose you over everyone else on that same trip to write for them? I’ve chosen to make Greece my niche, as I’ve lived here long enough and am extremely passionate about it. I’m lucky now – I find publications start to approach me so I don’t have to cold pitch so much. And don’t be disheartened when you get rejected many, MANY times. It’s not personal (note to self: I can dish that advice out but often find it hard to take myself). It takes time, usually organically. There’s no rushing this. And the more organically, the better the rewards.
What is the biggest reward of life as a travel writer?
It’s my novel really – Girl Gone Greek. I still get people messaging me to say they felt they could relate, felt they were in the country with me and experiencing the protagonist’s ups and downs. Seeing my novel shared on Insta and I’m tagged brings a big smile to me. It helps me realize I’m reaching a good audience by being positive.