Welcome to our new regular series spotlighting (pun intended) the journalists who travel on Spotlight’s luxury travel press trips — revealing the creative minds, stories and alchemy that shape how a journey is told.
Heidi, Mark and Debbie recently travelled with Spotlight to Indonesia to tell the story of the Dunia Baru yacht. American journalist Heidi Mitchell writes for Travel and Leisure, Fast Company and AFAR while Mark Ellwood is editor-at-large at Robb Report, columnist for Bloomberg Luxury and co-host of Travel Genius. Debbie Pappyn contributes to Telegraph Luxury, Monocle, Condé Nast Traveller, Harper’s Bazaar and National Geographic Traveller.
What’s the first line of your notebook from the trip?
Heidi: “Still looking for Orion — who knows where the story will go.”
Mark: “‘Boogie man’ is a Sulawesi expression.” The term “boogie man” is popularly believed to originate from the Bugis (or Buginese) people of Southern Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Debbie: “Flying Fish.”
What drew you to this story?
Heidi: “For me, it was the craftsmanship first, destination second. The Ulin ironwood and traditional craftsmanship of this vessel are extraordinary, and then came the Coral Triangle and Raja Ampat elements.”
Mark: “Whenever I look for a story for Robb Report, I always have to look at it through the lens of either very wealthy people being the target market or the owner/driving force for it. That’s the angle that makes a travel story a Robb Report story rather than a luxury travel magazine story. A wealthy person always has to be front and centre. I’m always interested in wealthy people doing interesting things, and the fact that a very wealthy man spent millions and millions of dollars building this vessel and then another very wealthy family bought it and continued to operate it makes it fascinating. I also didn’t quite believe that the vessel would be entirely all wood, I wanted to see for myself that they truly delivered on what they promised and they have.”
Debbie: “It started with my baby, Remote Sailing — my new book looking at the remote places you can only get to by ship or boat, and, of course, in style. And this vessel fits that exactly: remote, at sea and in style.”
If you had to describe the destination in three words?
Heidi: “Turquoise, teal, cerulean.”
Mark: “Indonesian Jurassic Park.”
Debbie: “Sticky. It sticks to you because you’ll never forget it — and it’s also sticky humid. And calm, because a boat calms you down straight away, whereas sometimes at a hotel it takes days to adjust. But on this boat, you sail off and you immediately forget. So I’d say instant calmness and sticky.”
Was there a moment that made you put down your phone?
Heidi: “Definitely not — I’ve been taking hundreds of photos. It’s so beautiful.”
Debbie: “Stars always make me put my phone down, and just being on a boat automatically makes me use my phone as little as possible. It makes you want to just slow down.”
Or a moment when you stepped outside yourself?
Mark: “When we were there in the rain and the vividness of the colour that the damp gave on the rocks against the green was extraordinary.”
What headline is already forming in your head?
Heidi: “Something about a heritage vessel, ancient maritime something… It’s just a word salad at the moment, but that’s my main focus.”
Mark: “It will have to be about the wooden boat building. The fact that we are on an all wooden superyacht sounds like a contradiction or oxymoron. To me the headline is: yes, you can have a wooden superyacht.”
What’s your key takeaway for your readers?
Debbie: “I’ve always known this region to be a niche area for divers, but products like the Dunia Baru can take anyone of any age (who has the budget, of course) through this destination comfortably — and they don’t even have to get in the water to fully enjoy it. It is for everybody, not just diving experts. The fact that you can sit in the morning at the kitchen counter and watch the chefs cook is so special — almost like a private culinary experience with a spectacular backdrop.”
What do you never travel without?
Heidi: “I have a long-term Dopp kit and a short-term Dopp kit — a travel toiletry bag made from leather or cloth — and I never travel without one of them. I take the small one for a weekend away, then the bigger one for longer trips, and they both fit in my carry-on. As soon as I get home, I refill them so they’re always ready to go. They have my charger, pens, hair ties and so on.”
Mark: “There are three pouches I never travel without, which I keep in the side pockets of my backpack. In those side pockets are 12 zip lock bags, 2 AA batteries, a foldable umbrella, a bonus toothbrush, multiple eye masks, a portable speaker, a portable wifi dongle, a stand for my phone, a bonus power bank and a lot of labelled containers with all the pills I might need such as ibuprofen and sleeping pills.”
What’s your best travel advice?
Heidi: “Always put an Air Tag in your checked bag.”
Mark: “Take a sleeping tablet for every time difference.”
