This week we conclude our New Faces of Sosauce series with a true Travel Geek and new addition to the Sosauce community, Megan Eaves. Over the past few months we have interviewed notable Sosaucers who uphold the true definition of a Travel Geek, revealing travel secrets, sharing anecdotes, presenting their stories, and reveling in their experiences as they leave their footprints on the world. You can read our previous New Faces of Sosauce interviews here.
Megan Eaves
A believer in “no regrets,” Megan embodies the free spirited traveler – writing, teaching, and documenting everything and everywhere she can. Read our interview with the gypsy author herself below:
How many countries have you left your footprints in?
At last count, I’ve been to 20 countries and lived in 3.
When were you first bitten by the travel bug?
On my website bio, it says I was first taken with wanderlust as a child, when I would frequently ride my horse on long treks out across the countryside where I grew up. I always loved the feeling of exploration, discovering new corners and revisiting places I’d cataloged on previous rides. When I was 22, I’d just gone through a pretty bad breakup and so my best friend and I hopped on a plane to Ireland. That was my first real trip abroad and we had so many adventures on that trip. She brought her video camera and we just went in and out of every pub we could find, meeting random people and getting into trouble. We accidentally stole a train ride from the airport because we didn’t know we were supposed to buy tickets, and we met a random guy from Cork in Burger King who showed us around his city. That was definitely the first seedling of my travel bug.
As a Travel Geek, how do you keep the travel bug going?
I am a huge travel addict, so while other people are splashing out for fancy TVs and sweet rides, I am saving my pretty pennies for the next big trip. I’ve also found ways of allowing myself to live abroad, such as teaching English in China, which I’ve done four times, and going to postgraduate school abroad. I lived in Ireland for a year and a half while getting my Master’s degree there, and consequently met the man that was to become my husband. He is Irish. Luckily, we’re both travel addicts, so for the time being, we’re trying out life in the USA, and it is his first time living here. Meanwhile, I am rediscovering with new eyes my home state, New Mexico. I haven’t lived in the US in about 4 years, so it’s quite an experience for me!
First trip to abroad – Ireland, August 2003
How did you get involved in travel writing? What do you enjoy about the life of a travel writer?
Ever since I can remember, people have told me I was a good writer. I’m not sure whether people told me that because I was a good writer, or whether I became a good writer because people told me I was. Somehow, I suspect a child at the age of 10 can’t really be a good writer, and so I’m thankful to my parents and teachers who obviously saw a spark of potential and encouraged it.
My travel writing developed out of my traveling and it is still a work in progress. Every writer has her muse, and mine tends to be the place that I am at any given moment. I’m most inspired to write in a busy surrounding – a café or an exotic airport – where the locale speaks to me and gives me words of description. I am much better at describing scenes than I am at inventing them, and my favorite writers tend to be those that are scene-heavy, like Cormac McCarthy and Frank McCourt and John Steinbeck. So, I suppose my natural knack for describing scenes combined with my wanderlust and voila! Travel writer.
I started out writing here and there for the web, mostly about China, which was the country and language that I studied in college, and one of the first truly exotic places I ever went. This led to an eventual book idea – a guidebook to China for foreign teachers – which I eventually penned during the lonely evenings in my Chinese apartment during the first year I lived there. I’m now writing full time, and although it barely pays above the poverty line, I adore my job and am so proud to finally feel that I can call myself a professional travel writer.
Where have you made the best travel memories?
For me, the best travel memories are accompanied by the people I either travel with or meet along the way. Chasing Italian guys around the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland with my gal pal, sleeping in Copehagen airport with my best friend because our couchsurfing hosts turned out to be less-than-polite, and drinking sangria all afternoon at a café in Madrid with my husband. Time after time, the travel memories that stand out most to me involve someone interesting that makes the moment memorable. And these people don’t always have to be close mates, although they oftentimes are. I’ve met some amazing, interesting and sometimes completely odd people while traveling solo that have stood out in my travel memories and made into my travel stories. One thing I’ve learned is that a trip 2 hours away from your home with someone great is usually a much more amazing experience than a journey around the world alone.
Exploring Bruges, Belgium with husband Bill Lehane
What traits of a Travel Geek do you see in yourself?
I like the unusual aspects of travel. I’m enticed by going to off-the-beaten-track places and exploring unknowns, and the smallest aspects of a journey, such as finding your way from the guesthouse to the local supermarket, are usually the most exciting for me. I am not terribly interested in the more touristy or famous spots and I usually love the challenge of seeing a place that isn’t so easy to get to. I also tend to enjoy discovering the unique aspects of a place and learning about life as a local, rather than hitting up the major museum or big festival. I’m neither a backpacker nor a luxury traveler, but some combo of the two.
Seems like you have had quite a hectic life as a travel writer. What are your next travel plans?
My husband I have been traveling for nearly a year – we spent 6 months in eastern China with lots of travel before that, visiting various places in Europe. For the short term, we are staying stationary and recouping our sanities and expenses! But on my list of places to see next, I always list South America, Japan and Paris.
Thanks again to Megan for talking with us, along with all the other Sosaucers we interviewed this year. Be sure to follow Megan’s trips on Sosauce, and check out her latest photo collections here.
Want to be interviewed on the Sosauce blog? Email me and tell me what makes you a Travel Geek to be considered for a feature on Sosauce in 2010!
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