Irjaliina Paavonpera
Digital Producer

Last trip? I recently spent three weeks as an artist in residence with Farm Studio in rural Rajasthan, India, where I was offered countless cups of fresh buffalo-milk chai, invited into homes to sit with women while we pretended to understand each other, meandered down side streets of villages and dirt farm roads leading nowhere and everywhere. It was one of those deeply transformative, core memory experiences that you can’t quite explain to others no matter how hard you try.

Next trip? My next planned excursion is to go meet my partner, Chris, in Agnes Water in Queensland, Australia. We’ll call that home for the next few months.

Checked bag or just a carry-on? I desperately wish I could be a carry-on-only girl, but my camera bag weighs more than a small child.

Comfort item you always bring on a flight? My immunity-boosting witches’ brew of propolis, 1000mg of vitamin C in a dissolvable tablet, and 100mg of zinc. Thank me later!

Your favorite hotel on earth? I recently had the most wonderful stay at Parilio in Páros, Greece. Like, never-wanted-to-leave wonderful. I’ve spent most of my adult travels booking Airbnbs. While I do love having an entire home or apartment to myself, I only recently realized I’ve been doing household chores for strangers while instead, at a hotel, someone will literally come to my room while I’m at dinner, turn down my bed, and leave me a sweet treat on the pillow. Why did no one tell me this sooner?

Any particular person whose travel style you strive to emulate? I grew up listening to stories of my dad’s travels at my age — camping for a week on the coast of northern New Zealand eating nothing but mussels; hitchhiking from Belgium to Croatia; exploring India for months on end. His fearlessness and constant desire to experience the world is something that is now deeply ingrained in me. Even now, five years after a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed, he can be found off-roading in his wheelchair in Iceland or rolling around the alleys of the Greek islands. He’s always up for an adventure.

Was there a trip you took when you were young that shook up your worldview in some lasting way? Tasmania in 2017 changed the trajectory of my life and the way I would travel. I was 20 at the time and it was my first time camping. Three friends and I rented a janky minivan camper for a four-day trip. The first night we slept in the parking lot of Cradle Mountain visitor center (I was so scared I kept a knife under my pillow) and woke up in a puddle of water in the roof tent. Our sunrise hike was cut short by severe wind and hail. We washed our feet in the visitor center’s bathroom sinks, didn’t shower the entire trip, and only ate peanut-butter sandwiches. It was so terrible and so spectacular at the same time.

What was the last place you visited that took your proverbial breath away? Earlier this year, a friend and I spent four days doing the Hà Giang motorbike loop in northern Vietnam. I was hanging off the back of the bike taking photos of the villages and mountains we passed through, feeling pure freedom and exhilaration.

In what city or town do you feel most inspired? I’ve felt profoundly inspired by and connected to each place I’ve visited in South America. The vibrancy and distinctiveness of the cultures across different countries and even town by town is beyond beautiful.

Dream travel companion, real or fictional? David Attenborough, if only to lull me to sleep at night with that glorious storytelling voice.