From the Archive: A selection of published articles for magazines and brands.
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Interview for Travel Play Live, Australia's Women's Adventure Magazine
The Longest Walk: Argentina to Alaska
30000 km, 15 countries, 3 years: these are the basic stats that define Lucy Barnard’s journey. At 1500km in, speak to her about the beauty and dangers of walking alone and how to start your own life of adventure
Lucy’s story proves the power of storytelling to motivate others. It was reading “The Longest Walk” by George Meegan on her trek through Patagonia a few years back that sparked the idea to be the first woman to walk the length from the earth, from Argentina to Alaska to be precise. Formerly based in Darwin, where she worked in communications it took Lucy a few years to save up for this adventure before she quite her corporate job to become a full time adventurer. We caught up with Lucy recently as she managed to find patchy Wi-Fi to communicate with us.
Read the full article and interview on Travel Play Live
Screengrab © Jon Shaw for Mercedes-Benz
Tofua’a: Meeting the Humpback Whales of Tonga
When a 36 ton, 16 metre long Humpback whale decides to take a turn and check you out from close up, it feels like someone has pressed the pause button on time. There is no room to think about anything else. Spending time with these gentle giants in the silent, vast blue expanse that is the Pacific Ocean puts everything into perspective and like a child in a playground, you don’t want your newfound friends to ever leave.
Read the full article on my blog (originally published on Mercedes-Benz Lifestyle).
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Interview for Mercedes-Benz
Eating in Confined Spaces
British skipper Alex Thomson on what we can learn from his routine during the extreme adventure that is the Vendée Globe
Throughout history humans have been driven to explore, to go beyond the known to discover the unknown. But what is there left to explore? We have gone to the bottom of the sea, to the highest mountains, the deepest caves, vast deserts and most impenetrable jungles, even outer space.
Only a few people, however, have taken on the adventure of singlehandedly circumnavigating the world in a sailing boat.
Meet British skipper Alex Thomson - if you haven’t already come across him on YouTube where his videos have garnered millions of views for his breath-taking and risky PR stunts (just search for “skywalk”). The extreme sailer has become known for pushing the limits and is currently preparing for the much anticipated Vendée Globe in November - his third. In January 2013, Alex finished the Vendee Globe in third place, being the fastest Britain to sail single handedly, non-stop around the globe, finishing the race in 80 days, 19 hours, 23 minutes. This time, he intends to be the first British sailor to win the race.
COOKING UP A STORM
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Expert piece for Curve by Getty Images
Visual Storytelling- the Path to Brand Engagement
Originally published June 2014 on curve.gettyimages.com
(read the full article here)
Traditional marketing is breathing its last breath. And while it is dying a slow but inevitable death, content is the new context that brands live in. Companies need to learn to tell engaging stories in an authentic and entertaining way that will leave potential customers with a positive association to the brand, particularly in highly competitive markets.
Making an emotional connection with consumers is still a skill underestimated by many marketers. People do not relate to brands, they relate to other people. Stories have been the social glue that binds society for as long as humankind has existed and what better way than to tell stories through visual content...
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Travel writing, Interviews
Riding on Thin Air: Kelly McGarry and Jeremy Lyttle Take On Khardung La
Originally published 17.02.2015 on Mercedes-Benz.com (short film), before Kelly sadly passed away.
Finding something extraordinary to film when you’re working with someone like mountain biker Kelly McGarry is not an easy feat. Best known for his breath-taking downhill footage escalating in a flip over a 72-foot-long canyon gap at Red Bull Rampage 2013 with currently over 22 Million views on YouTube, his sport has taken him around the world for the past 10 years. But he had never been to India. Nor had he ever been that high up or that remote with his bike as to where we were taking him and his friend of eight years and fellow rider, Jeremy Lyttle: Khardung La.
mb! and the FaceHunter in Morocco: Telling a Different Story
Originally published 02.05.2014 on mb! magazine and Mercedes-Benz.com - film production
Driving 1200 km across the Maghreb country with fashion photographer and globe-blogger Yvan Rodic, we discuss how we invent our identity through pieces of the world.
Morocco is a country of contrast. From the white walls and Mediterranean climate of Tangiers, past the famous blue pigment of Chefchaouen in the Rif Mountains, down the Atlantic surf shores and across to the red desert sands surrounding Marrakech. Young creative people making their mark in the international fashion, film and design world whilst teetering on the walls of old values; artisans continuing the centuries-old traditions of their ancestors in quiet back alleys, while companies like Prada and Armani reside in the glamorous Morocco Mall in Casablanca.
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Work Hard and Be Brave - Interview with Casey Neistat
Originally published 28.10.2013 on mb! magazine and Mercedes-Benz.com
Watching Casey Neistat’s videos leaves you wishing that you had come up with the idea yourself. Or that you could at least have been part of the fun. The New York-based filmmaker is bold, original and clever in a hands-on kind of way. Or, as one viewer on the filmmaker’s recent “CLA Project” videos for Mercedes-Benz USA commented: “I admire anyone who brings that much crazy to the table”. Usually the star of his own films (and typically seen either running, skateboarding, jumping or occasionally falling while his assistant quietly snickers in the background), Casey is not afraid to speak his mind. In his now famous video appeal to the City of New York about the injustice of being fined for riding his bike on the traffic lane (with currently nine million views), the super fit runner stoically crashes into any obstacle blocking the bike lane – from trashcans to police cars. In his case, “crazy” always comes with a purpose.
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When I travelled to Syria for the first time over ten years ago, I was sure that I would return soon and often. Now, some of the people I met and the places I admired don’t exist anymore. And so I choose to remember Syria just how I found it: complicated yet beautiful, warm and hospitable.