2025 February Featured Journalist of the Month: Barbara Marrett

Barbara is an award-winning travel journalist and former long-time contributing editor at Cruising World Magazine. She has written for The Seattle Times travel section, been a columnist for Northwest Yachting magazine and a host of other travel and boating magazines. She is co-author of the travel adventure book Mahina Tiare, Pacific Passages, and loves off-the-beaten-track travel. In addition to writing, she has recently become a group leader for Road Scholars, and is a Port Commissioner in her hometown of Friday Harbor, Washington.

1. What got you into travel writing?
As a teenager, I traveled from New York to New Mexico to work at a dude ranch/high-end resort in Santa Fe. I started writing home about my adventures in the “Land of Enchantment.” Everything was vivid and different; the colors of the high desert, clear streams, hot pools, and the scent of Pinon-lined canyons captivated me. My lifelong fascination for  Native cultures was first ignited by visiting the Pueblo cultures here. Folks found my letters home engaging. I was hooked both on writing and traveling to exotic and remote destinations.

2. What’s the most challenging part of being a travel journalist for you?
I find it hard to promote myself to new outlets. As a former contributing editor, I was well-known and spoiled by having my photographs and feature stories published and well-paid with little need for elaborate pitching.

3. What is the most rewarding aspect of travel journalism? 

When I write about a place, it helps indelibly imprint the experience in my memory. I breathe it into my senses, then exhale its essence with words. If I’ve done my job, the gift of my travels is shared by my readers who vicariously experience the soul of a place they may never get to visit.

4. What is something you wish people knew about travel journalism?

Not all journalists are created equal; journalists must have integrity and know how to fact-check.  As a former communications manager for the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau, I was often surprised by the errors I found in stories written about the Islands.

5. What have you enjoyed most about being a NATJA member?

I feel part of a family. NATJA fam-trips have taken me to intriguing places. The staff at NATJA have always been friendly and responsive. I’ve learned to be a better travel journalist from NATJA seminars and fellow members.

6. How have cross-cultural experiences shaped your point of view of the world? 

As a global citizen, I realize the USA can learn compassion from cultures that care better for the poor, elderly, and homeless. Our culture is “young.” Exploring other continents has helped me understand what it means to be an American. And, you don’t need to speak a foreign language to communicate; your heart just needs to be in the right place.

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