Travel is the greatest job: Why you could be Escape's next roaming reporter

Want to travel the world, create dynamic content, and get paid to do it? Enter our competition to win the "world's greatest job" and join the Escape team.

You could be Escape’s next roaming travel reporter.

There’s never been a competition quite like it. Escape and Inspiring Vacations have teamed up to provide one talented reader with a six-month paid position as Escape’s roaming travel reporter. Read on to find out what you need to do to enter, and to be inspired by the Escape team and our globe-trotting contributors sharing the “pinch-me” moments that make travel the greatest job.

Competition closes on August 31. Eligibility limits & T&Cs apply. To learn more and enter, click here.  

The prize

With a half a dozen trips as part of the prize, you will document your travels around the world by creating videos that showcase your talents and the destinations you visit over a six-month period.

The job

We’re looking to harness the next generation of content creators with travel smarts and video savvy (something that really lights up the job) to produce shareable content and algorithm-breaking videos.

You will need to be as dynamic in front of the camera as you are behind it, as you cover both the most spectacular and intimate human stories in the six destinations that you visit. With the ultimate goal of making Escape’s audience say, “Wow, I want to go there now.”

Win the greatest travel job and become Escape’s new roving reporter.

How to enter

You will need to create an impactful 60-90 second vertical 9:16 video that showcases your skills and dynamic storytelling in line with the Escape brand. (Note that Escape has the right to publish all submitted footage as long as the creator is credited). Share your video on TikTok or Instagram and tag @escape.com.au with the designated hashtag #GreatestTravelJob.

Our judges

A team of travel experts will select the winning entry, including Escape Head of Travel Kerrie McCallum, Inspiring Vacations Managing Director and co-founder Paul Ryan, Escape Social Media Editor Edwina Hart, Travel photographer and filmmaker Tyson Mayr. 

Why travel is the greatest job

To whet your appetite, we asked some of the Escape team and our favourite contributors why travel is the best job in the world:

Escape contributor Tyson Mayr. Picture: Supplied.

Tyson Mayr

Escape contributor

I love that travel constantly rewires your perspective. You’re not just seeing the world, you’re stepping into other people’s stories, learning how they live, eat, celebrate and survive. Every journey becomes a lesson in empathy and curiosity, and as a travel storyteller, you get to bottle that feeling and pass it on to others.

I’ve been fortunate that my job has taken me around the globe. This year alone, I’ve set foot on all seven continents, from snorkelling in Antarctica to working on rhino conservation projects in South Africa, to filming a food series in the Philippines.

But the biggest pinch-me moment of my travel career, was finding out I’d won a travel competition just like this one. I was about to be paid to do what I love most: sharing stories while exploring the world. That moment changed everything. I’ll never forget hearing the words “you’ve won” and knowing, right then and there, that my life was about to change.

Escape’s Doc Holiday and contributor Dilvin Yasa. Picture: Supplied.

Dilvin Yasa

Escape’s Doc Holiday and contributor

Why do humans do what they do and how do we differ across the globe? What makes one destination superior to another and what are we doing to take better care of it? Is a $20,000 a night villa really any better than a $500 a night villa (and what kind of industry do I need to get into to think nothing of shelling out for the former)?

Not only does my job enable me to keep exploring, experiencing and answering these all-important questions, I’m thrilled that I have an opportunity to then share my “findings” with readers who might then feel inspired to break out of their own comfort zones and give something new a try.

At the top of my pinch me bucket-list travel moments since I joined the Escape team? Hiking with my best friend in Antarctica, shearing sheep (with garden scissors, no less) with nomads in the Mongolian steppe, and learning to waltz, clad in an over-the-top rental gown, at a Viennese ball.

Escape contributor Jeremy Drake. Picture: Supplied.

Jeremy Drake

Escape contributor

What I love most about working as a travel creator and writer is the way it forces me to be fully present. You can’t drift off when you’re caught in a snowstorm, snowboarding a vertical drop off Lone Peak in Big Sky, Montana. Or when you’re tracing centuries of stories through the ancient city of Bukhara in Uzbekistan. Travel writing asks me to slow down and observe, while moving quickly to capture fleeting moments before they disappear.

The biggest pinch-me moment? Swimming alongside a whale shark off the coast of Exmouth in Western Australia, only to be blindsided from below by a humpback whale and its calf. Nothing prepares you for that kind of awe.

This job is not just about seeing the world; it’s about crafting stories that make people feel something. If a reader sees a destination differently because of something I’ve written, that’s everything. But most of all, the people I meet anchor my experiences. I love to be immersed in conversation with strangers and shaping the stories I craft by meeting the people who occupy a place. Next stop: Nepal.

Escape Content Director Jana Frawley.

Jana Frawley

Escape Content Director

My favourite tools of the trade are the globe of the world that sits on my desk and the 2m-wide map on my wall at home. Every day I study one or other to locate where the Escape team is travelling or to familiarise myself with the next destination we’re going to visit or write about.

Last year, ahead of a springtime sailing around the Med to review the luxury cruise ship Regent Seven Seas Grandeur, I pinpointed Ephesus in Izmir, Turkey. My visit was a fascinating lesson on religion and civilisation and I marvelled – as I always do – that I was learning about history in such a meaningful way and as part of my job.

I’ve worked at Escape for more than a decade and still every day feels like an adventure. We’re now on the lookout for new talent to add a Roaming Travel Reporter to the team. If you have amazing video skills – or if you have a child, grandchild, family member or friends whose skills meet the job description – apply now!

Edwina Hart, Escape's Social Media Editor.

Edwina Hart

Escape Social Media Editor

If I had a dollar for every time someone said, “You have the best job in the world”, I’d be splurging on avocado toast more often. And they’re absolutely right.

Experiences I never imagined possible in a lifetime have become my actual job description: plunging into the icy waters of Antarctica, dancing the night away at Rio Carnival, skiing the slopes of glitzy St Moritz, galloping alongside Argentinian gauchos, glamping in the Sahara Desert, playing games with geishas in Kyoto, riding the rails to Machu Picchu, bathing rescued elephants in northern Thailand, spotting leopards on a South African safari, driving vintage cars through the streets of Havana, and staying in the world’s best hotel on the shores of Lake Como.

The best bit? It’s the locals you get to meet along the way – the hoteliers, chefs, architects, artists, winemakers, producers, tour guides and taxi drivers who want to share the place they love with the world.

Getting paid to creatively capture these experiences in words, photos and videos feels like winning life’s lotto.

Originally published as Travel is the greatest job: Why you could be Escape's next roaming reporter