What's your earliest memory of travel?
As a young child I would fall asleep in bed at night listening to the World Service. In the morning, I’d look up all the exotic-sounding places in my well-thumbed copy of the Children’s Encyclopedia. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I’d get to see these countries first-hand. I suffered from chronic travel sickness on a debilitating scale in childhood - even on the shortest bus or car journey. Then, in my late-teens, I discovered magnetic therapy – which totally changed my life. Once the sick-bags and green-gilled lethargy were no more, I could embrace proper journeying. That I’ve been able to make travel my career, after all that vomiting, is still a source of wonderment to my family and friends.

What's your most bizarre memory of travel?
As a passenger in a tiny 6-seater plane in Panama in 2003, I watched the pilot bang the aircraft’s navigation system at altitude in an attempt to get it working. He couldn’t, and as thick fog engulfed the plane, the pilot crossed himself half a dozen times before pulling out a scrap of paper from his pocket. On it, I spotted a hand-drawn diagram in pencil and realized it was his only aid to navigating a successful landing. We made it, despite the awful conditions and zero visibility – and I couldn’t help but notice that, at some point, the piece of paper had obviously been through a washing machine’s boil wash.

Where wouldn’t you visit again?
I’ve an aversion to petty signage so on that basis I’d probably give Tioman Island in Malaysia a miss. Twenty signs around the pool warned against the likelihood of fatality in the water while dozens more flagged up the dangers of walking on the grass; the risk of death by the buffet table; and all sorts of horrors that could befall you by an ornamental pond.

Where do you want to visit?
I’ve always wanted to explore the slopes of Guatemala’s Ague volcano on horseback – the leafy trails that wind through farming villages and valleys are supposed to a truly beautiful riot of colour. They’re also still relatively unexplored.

What's the best travel advice you've ever been given?
To take time to understand the differences and appreciate the similarities in the places you visit - and to leave all English sensibilities at home. Oh, and always pack a safety pin.

How did you get involved in travel writing?
I inter-railed across Europe as a student and sold a few articles along the way, but then it was time to get a proper job. On a local newspaper, I was the youngest employee and the only female – so I didn’t stand a chance when the press trips were doled out. My big break came when I was offered a job in Australia in the early 1990’s. I started to freelance for the Sydney Morning Herald and sold pieces to magazines in the UK and America. I also started to contribute to Aussie travel guides and even did a stint on backpacker radio. However, my writing really took off after my visa expired. I took the long way home – via Asia, the Middle East and the Eastern Europe – and never looked back! Today my work is varied, no two projects are the same: from documentaries on the Panama Canal and films about the indigenous Colombian Wayu’u people to travel guide books, on-line content, editorial consultancy and magazine pieces. I’m out of the UK for anything up to 200 days a year and constantly look for ways to step outside of my comfort zone – rather perversely, I enjoy that element of fear.

How has the Guild been most helpful?
By the time I joined the Guild, I’d spent several years travelling and working almost entirely alone. I enjoy solitude, but even I was beginning to tire of my own company. Being a part of the Guild has given me some much-needed interaction with a wide range of talented individuals – many of whom, like me, enjoy a public airing and some camaraderie every now and then.

Everyone gets it wrong sometimes, so what's the biggest travel blunder you've ever made?
After two days of gruelling travel, I jumped into the back of a car parked in the midst of a mass of taxis outside Marcos A. Gelabert Airport in Panama, but hadn’t actually checked it out first. Not only was the vehicle unlicensed and unregistered but it also had all of the interior handles and locks removed and sealed windows – something I didn’t notice until I slammed the door shut. I suffered an agonising 30-minute journey in a vehicle that I had no hope of getting out of should things have turned nasty. Not only that, but my luggage and all my notes for a 300-page book were in the boot – even if I’d been able to jump.

Three Desert Island discs for your iPod?
Rebel Yell: Billy Idol
Please Don’t Touch: Girls School & Motorhead
Ruby: Kaiser Chiefs

And a favourite book to pass the journey?
Depending on my mood, something by Hanif Kureishi or Alexander McCall Smith would be good. And I hear the Bradt Guide to Colombia is a cracking read.

Sarah Woods won the 2006 Guild ‘Travel Guide of the Year’ Award for her guide to Panama and in 2007 was awarded the Kenneth Wescott Jones Memorial Prize. She has just completed a documentary for Telemundo about Colombia. Her guide to Colombia was published in June this year. Tel: 01767-600179, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , web: www.sarahwoods.co.uk

July 2008