The Journey That Changed Me: Shafik Meghji

The Journey That Changed Me: Shafik Meghji

From the biggest myth in travel literature to the dream destination he hasn't seen yet, author Shafik Meghji tells us about the trips that changed him

As a teenager, Shafik Meghji decided he wouldn't make it as a professional soccer player. As such, he opted for the next best thing: a job as a roving sports reporter. He won a coveted Scott Trust Scholarship from the Guardian, which funded his diploma in newspaper journalism and led to a role at the Evening Standard.

Author Shafik Meghji

Tired of the back-to-back 5 a.m. shifts, Shafik quit his job to go on a world trip with his girlfriend. They spent a year backpacking in India and South America, visiting places like the Thar Desert, the Western Ghats, Patagonia and the Amazon. The trip sparked a new ambition that is probably as ambitious as professional sports: to earn a living as a travel writer.

15 years later, Shafik has authored over 40 travel guides, won awards for writing and photography, and most recently published Crossed Off the Map, a critically acclaimed book that combines travel writing, history and reportage to tell the story of Bolivia and its unexpected influence across the world.

Here he tells us why he chose Bolivia (spoiler: Bolivia chose him), why travel writing isn't as glamorous as others think, and why he remains hopeful about the future of travel guides.

You have co-authored more than 40 travel guides. Tell us: What is the biggest myth in travel journalism?

It's often assumed that research trips for travel writers are simply glorified vacations, which unfortunately isn't the case (at least not for the vast majority of the time). Working on a travel guide, in particular, can be a hectic activity. No matter how much research you do, there's always someone to talk to, another story to dig up, an additional place to visit. While it may have a glamorous image, an awful lot of time is spent waiting at airports, train and bus stations, or boarding one mode of transport or another.

You have a dream job. Can you remember a single stroke of luck or was it more slow and steady?

Got the assignment to work on my first travel guide. After university I started as a news and sports journalist at the Evening Standard, but gradually the wanderlust set in. My girlfriend at the time was keen on traveling and after I finally got tired of the back-to-back 5am shifts, I quit and we went on a backpacking trip through India and South America. It was the best decision I've ever made.

Sean Pavone/ShutterstockA trip to Estonia gave Shafik his breakthrough into travel writing

When I returned to London, I was determined to become a travel writer and spent a year contacting every travel publisher I could think of. I sent countless emails, wrote tons of sample articles and chapters, and made countless phone calls.

Aside from a polite rejection from Lonely Planet, I received no response. Months passed. Then out of the blue I got an email from Rough Guides. A new editor had come across a letter I had sent eight months ago and invited me in for a conversation. Two months later they needed someone to go to Estonia on short notice to work on The Rough Guide to the Baltic States. I dropped everything and flew to Tallinn. That got my foot in the door.

Tell us about the journey that changed you. Which region or journey influenced you the most?

South America in general and Bolivia in particular. I've also always been a die-hard reader and childhood books about places like the Amazon and Patagonia and ancient cultures like the Incas captured my imagination and never really let go. When I finally visited the continent, backpacking from Brazil to Argentina via Bolivia, Peru and Chile, it had a seismic impact and inspired me to change my career and become a travel writer (specializing in South America), moving to Buenos Aires a few years later and eventually writing my first book, Crossed off the Map: Travels in Bolivia.

RPBaiao/ShutterstockThe Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is the largest salt desert in the world

Before that first trip, I didn't know much about Bolivia, but after traveling through Bolivia and visiting the highest city in the world, the largest salt pan, the richest silver mine, and the most biodiverse national park, I was hooked. Subsequent research trips for The Rough Guide to Bolivia allowed me to explore this overlooked country in much greater depth than would otherwise have been possible at a time of great political, social and cultural change. I also learned about its profound and unexpected influence on the world over the last 500 years - fragments of history largely forgotten outside its borders.

Bolivia is rarely covered by travel journalists or the international media, so I saw a place for a book that examines both its fascinating history and how it addresses a variety of contemporary challenges: climate crisis, populism, migration, indigenous rights, urbanization and the “war on drugs.”

What is the most interesting fact about Bolivia that you learned during your research?

One of my favorite facts concerns the Parque Nacional Madidi: it's located in the Bolivian Amazon and is about the size of Wales. It is the most species-rich protected area on earth. In addition to more than a thousand species of birds - almost 10% of the global total - the park is home to a number of jaguars, anacondas, stingrays, spectacled bears and pink river dolphins known as bufeos.

Emiliano Barbieri/ShutterstockThe Parque Nacional Madidi is one of the most biodiverse places on earth

They were on all seven continents. Do you still have a dream destination that you haven't seen yet?

The great thing about traveling is that there is no end. No matter how many places you visit, there is always something new to discover. I would like to travel to Central Asia and West Africa, two regions I have barely scratched the surface of in the past.

Hotel or hostel (or camping)?

I've had some wonderfully sociable experiences in hostels and spent nights in some incredible hotels, but hands down my favorite place is Shergarh, a camp of luxury safari tents in a forest clearing on the edge of Kanha National Park, a tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh, India. Aside from the wildlife and scenery, it is an incredibly tranquil, welcoming and atmospheric place.

Trevor Scouts/ShutterstockA curious male tiger in Kanha National Park

As a travel guide author, what do you think of the “travel guides are dead” headlines that pop up every few years?

For as long as I've been writing guides - almost 15 years - there have been big announcements about their impending demise. While they obviously have to adapt and evolve to changing tastes, needs and circumstances - some publishers have proven more adept at meeting these challenges than others - the genre itself is remarkably resilient. Travel guides have been around in one form or another for centuries, and while the format, content and focus may change, I don't think they're going away any time soon.

What was your most important travel experience?

My answer to this question is constantly changing: currently it's a toss-up between setting foot in Antarctica for the first time or sailing around the Galápagos.

Shafik MeghjiShafik Meghji in Antarctica

After all, why travel?

In general, I find travel an incredibly rewarding, challenging and invigorating experience. My work constantly brings me into contact with new people, places, ideas and experiences while I indulge my curiosity and restlessness.

Beyond pure enjoyment, travel writing can – at its best – offer readers insight into other cultures, beliefs and ways of life, providing context, subverting prejudices and promoting understanding – something that feels particularly urgent right now. And for me it's also about dealing unwaveringly with global issues such as the climate catastrophe and its effects on people and communities.

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Combining travel writing, history and reportage, Crossed off the Map: Travels in Bolivia travels from the Andes to the Amazon to explore Bolivia's profound and unexpected impact on the world over the last 500 years - fragments of history largely forgotten outside its borders.

Cover image: Mezzotint/Shutterstock

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