#37 exotic assignments

While the life of a journalist can be described as glamorous (mostly by other journalists) the natural habitat of journalists unfortunately cannot be described as such. Day in and day out, journalists go from press conferences with beige walls to meetings at city halls with beige walls and then back to the newsroom with beige walls. It's all too easy for journalists to fall into a beige rut. 

But every so often, a journalist catches a break. After months of pitching to editors, he might finally gain approval for that much sought-after exotic assignment, another thing journalists like. 

A blissful combination of a furlough, a junket and a lucrative short-term job, an exotic assignment is every journalist's dream. “Why yes, Cathay Airlines in-flight magazine, it would be no trouble at all to travel to Ko Phi Phi and write a 4,000-word article on the experience. What's that you say? You pay $2 a word, plus expenses? All right, that seems fair enough.”

Travel journalists own the shortest path to an exotic assignment. Freelance journalists or writers with other specialties often need to be more creative. If an editor won't bankroll a trip to Hawaii, sell her on a thoughtful essay detailing the proud history of the luau. No room in the budget for a trip to Spain? A Sunday feature on the rise and fall of bullfighting could rope in readers.

Earlier this year, Australia's Queensland state offered the ultimate exotic assignment: Six months on the Great Barrier Reef's Hamilton Island, promoting the island on a blog. Compensation before taxes: $111,000. Journalists were none too pleased to discover that the winner of the gig wasn't a journalist at all--he was a lowly charity worker, proving how elusive these exotic trips can be for journalists.

So if you're planning a once-in-a-lifetime trip and know a journalist, invite him along. You'll be doing your journalist friend a solid. Plus your Vegas bachelor party will be 20 times more entertaining if it's chronicled in Penthouse. 

Jonah Keri is a freelance writer for the Wall Street Journal, Investor's Business Daily and a bunch of other publications. Read all about the devious ways he lands exotic assignments at JonahKeri.com.