For anybody who loves to travel, an occupation that allows them to experience the world and earn a living while doing so may sound like a dream come true. Melanie Drury catches up with Victor Paul Borg during a rare visit to his Gozo home to discover the truth about working on the move.

The ferry nodded up and down. With Cirkewwa slowly fading into the distance I admired the Comino islands and the different shades of blue Mediterranean sea. Hypnotised by the gushing sound of the waves and the white swirling foam they created, I thought of how beautiful the world is and how exciting it was that in a few minutes, Victor Paul Borg would meet me at Mgarr Harbour.

Travel writer by profession, Victor Paul Borg was about to share with me the ins and outs of the second best profession in the world – according to an American television show ranking – right up there on the list behind “rock star”.

I was surprised to find Victor rather shy for somebody who travels the world alone, in his own words, “tagging along, asking probing questions and never taking no for an answer.” From what I had read of his writing, I had almost imagined him a little arrogant! On the contrary, he met me with a modest smile through the driver’s window of his father’s car, eyes barely visible beneath his baseball cap, and dedicated the whole afternoon to showing me around his birth-land, Gozo.

We shared a Gozitan ftira made-to-order at a bakery hidden in a narrow village street for lunch, and later, he took me to his favourite spot on the island – a high cliff overlooking the Fungus Rock and the Azure Window. It was here that we sat and spoke at length, about all facets of travel-writing – and about how it was not all that glamorous – right until the sun dipped over the horizon, highlighting the orange hue of the cliffs’ layers and reflecting indigo colours in the sea below in the process.

“As a visitor destination, Malta has loads to offer... in history and architecture and some aspects of culture, especially Catholic feasts and events. With a correct tourist policy, Malta can become a vibrant and dynamic place for a flow of independent visitors. Otherwise tourism authorities and operators could be doing the country irreversible harm.” Victor’s opposition about the way Malta is portrayed to the rest of the world is no secret, as he has written about the subject.

Victor’s career began 16 years ago, writing op-ed articles about the environment for The Malta Independent, which eventually drifted into lifestyle reportage. Eight years ago, he moved to London and, while writing a guidebook and taking pictures for another, his attention was refocused into travel publishing. Victor is the author of the Rough Guide to Malta and Gozo, which he updates every few years. These days, it is only work and an occasional visit to his family that bring him back to the Maltese islands.

Eventually he had to leave London as he couldn’t afford being away for long spells while paying a London rent, which ultimately got him hopping around, using only occasional bases. Now home could be anywhere he needs to be, although he has visited many places that he likes and considers suitable for settling in, eventually... when the restlessness subsides.

“I feel as restless as ever, and I feel it more when in Gozo than anywhere else. I find Gozo (and Malta) alien these days, and I feel a bit of a stranger: I have virtually nothing in common with most people that I meet! So it’s like abandoning home... however I can experience living in different places. After here I am moving to China this time – to the wild west mountains of western China; the China of fantasy and badlands and bandits and religious wanderers!”

Among his most remarkable experiences, he mentioned odd episodes such as the group of seven policemen in a small village in the mountains of China with whom he got drunk while playing card games, a trek with a local farmer in Ladakh (a region in the Himalayas), sleeping in a damp cold cave with the cave-people in the Philippines, a Hindu-Chinese wedding in Malaysia – the funniest wedding he ever saw, in the Borneo mountains in the long-houses – a remote bliss surrounded by hundreds of kilometres of mostly old-growth jungle... or simply being on top of a mountain – always an overwhelming experience. “It’s in those moments that seem so unimaginable that I think: how did I get here?” he grinned.

But travel-writing is not simply like going on holiday and writing home about it.

“I work harder when travelling than when at home – about 14 hours a day! I wake up at the crack of dawn for the best light for pictures, and then it’s full-blast research. There is lots of information to collect, starting from the central thesis of my writing and all the way down to the names of plants and trees and animals, the history of the statues and monuments in the park... there’s experts to talk to, a market to check out, a hill to climb, the best restaurants and hotels to discover. Knowing the taste of a dish is not enough, I need to know the recipe so I can separate its components!”

It had all seemed so exotic, simply typing away at a laptop on a golden sandy beach fringed with palm trees while sipping a Pina Colada! “There is nothing more boring than lying on the beach – and I hate researching hotels and especially dinners with hotel managers at upscale hotels!” Victor retorts. He does not like accepting subsidised travel or free services, preferring to rough it and pay his own way.

“It’s all hard work – Paul Theroux expressed it eloquently when he said it’s 90% hardship and 10% fun! No family, no home, unstable risky life – these are thoughts that weigh me down sometimes. But most of the times I am too busy to experience loneliness – there is always outside stimulation. “

He added, “Furthermore, like most people I hate sitting in the office all day. Half of my work-time is gobbled up by marketing and office administration matters so most of my work, in reality, is still office work. I only travel for about 5 or 6 months of the year. The rest – even though in a larger way I would be somewhere different – is being at a base: waking up, working all day in the same room where I sleep, and maybe catching a quick dinner out before sleeping!”

So forget about all those postcards written home from trips abroad ever making it to an editor’s desk by some kind of magic spell... any kind of work, in the end, is work. I wondered what the rock star would have to say about that though!

Victor expressed that ultimately, enthusiasm was essential to create a strong background milieu, while people are particularly interested in people. Therefore he likes to write about the local people with a strong background presence. “I also try to dig out some interesting statistics or intrigue that visitors wouldn’t discover for themselves during their holiday.”

Victor has made a name for himself in the international publishing market, so he is having to keep a dream on hold for the time being, “I want to start writing books, and have many ideas, but articles are never-ending, while editors are always asking for stuff. So it’s hard to swap the immediate money with writing a book, which means investing in a long route and earning nothing while writing the book!”

Despite the hardships of being constantly alone and on the move, anxious about possible misadventure – illness, theft and a general sense of insecurity – Victor finally confesses that he gets high from travel: the unpredictability of it all, the different landscapes and the people... “If you’ve got a curiosity about the world around you, as well as the stamina and courage to weather the risk inherent in travel, then it becomes intoxicating; an unstoppable lifelong quest.”