EMMA WRIGHT
 I trace my love of travel and writing to the brilliant stories my father told about his grandfather’s extraordinary
three-month-long solo journeys into the bush.
My sisters and I would sit wide-eyed, hearing about close encounters with enraged elephant bulls and man-eating leopards. We never tired of the stories and I’ve been looking for my own ever since.
Top of the list so far? Eating roast duck in a Balinese home (not part of an itinerary but a spontaneous invitation), buying ribbon at the bazaar in Jaipur, picking wild herbs in Greece to complete a fresh bread and olive oil lunch, the Eiffel Tower in the morning mist, flying over the Ngorongoro Crater, my husband having a head massage in an Indian Palace and coming out looking very confused as to why he had to do it naked ...
I’ve written about these and other things for Elle Decoration, Elle, Visi, Design Indaba, House and Leisure, Cape Etc, Wedding Album and others. I lived in London for a few years and was a contributing editor for art and fashion title Exit.
Authentic expression and context are critical for me, so I spent a bit of time as project director and curator of the first Design Indaba Expo – which aims to champion South African creativity. This led to a project on Cape Town, editing the magazine Cape Etc, which represents the city as a creative, deep and beautiful place.
I am also the editor of Wedding Album, which means going on honeymoon a few times a year. An enduring interest in the unseen led to the study of energetics and frequency and I now spend a few days a week giving energy healing. I plan to take my first trip to Cambodia to work on the lay lines of the earth in a similar way next year.
I live on one of the original Cape estates, which means orchards, century-old trees and chickens in the middle of the city. Coming home is an important part of travelling for me. It’s the anchor, a place to look from and defines what sort of travel experiences I'm after.
Being at home for me means connecting what’s within you with what’s around you and expressing that. It’s no use arriving somewhere and plonking a set of assumptions on it, you have to have an attitude of enquiry and a willingness to listen for the truth.
The aboriginal people believe that the land has wisdom and should be visited, like a relative or loved one, and listened to. Places I’ve loved being in have listened, they relate to what’s around them and the connection is palpable, you feel the heart of the place. They can be beautiful and opulent – Samode Palace in India is a favourite – or basic, back to nature shacks without hot water right on a lagoon. As long as there’s a story.
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The Editorial Team
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