AS a syndicated travel columnist, American Shirley Rose Higgins has what many would consider the best job on the planet - unless you happen to be one of those unfortunate souls with an extreme fear of flying.

In Bermuda this past week for the African Diaspora Heritage Trail Conference, she sat down with photographer TONY CORDEIRO and reporter HEATHER WOOD to share some of the fascinating experiences she's had during her many years as a travel writer. Shirley took over writing the Mid-Ocean News travel column from her friend David Allen when he became Tourism Minister in the new Progressive Labour Party Government nearly four years ago.

Q: Were you a traveller first or a writer?

A: I come from a family of travel lunatics. Generation upon generation, it's been the same - the only reason for us to exist is to travel. My great-great-grandfather was chaplain to Richard the Lionheart in the Third Crusades and we've never stopped travelling since.

(As for my immediate family) we've always travelled together. Usually in a family there's someone who has different interests, but we all have the same interests when it comes to travel. Many years ago there was an article in the old Chicago Daily News about Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba. My mother read it and the next week we were there.

It wasn't until I was older that I took lots of aptitude tests and they all said I should be in a field aligned with writing. I always thought that writing should be something that was inborn; that you shouldn't have to study to be able to do it.

And so I consulted with all my father's friends and asked what certain skill they felt that women at that period in time were lacking. They said an understanding of finances and so I studied economics with a minor in philosophy. I left college and got a job with a big steel company where I did the company magazine and its annual reports.

It was a friend of my father's, the publisher of one of the big newspapers in the United States, who suggested that since I loved travelling so much I should join them as a contributor. I wanted to get a job based on my own merits. I didn't want my father's help so I took an assumed name and submitted a piece called Monday Market at St. Martin's about a market which opened one Monday a month.

People would come from all over and it sold wonderful things. They accepted it. But I think I was born (a travel writer). It's all I've really ever done. I was brought up to be a self-reliant person and I like the idea of having erratic work hours where you can work until 2 a.m. and sleep until 10 a.m. if you want

Q: And how did you discover travel writing?

A: I started doing a weekly column in the Chicago Tribune. The Sun Times wanted to hire me as well to write about things going on in the Mid-west. I was tempted. I love the western frontier, the whole cowboy and Indian thing.

My godfather was in charge of the North Western railroad when gold was discovered at the turn of the century. I grew up to listening to all his tales about the West and the West (as he knew it) is still there if you are looking for it. The Tribune said I couldn't do both, I had to decide between the two.

I stayed with the Tribune for 20 years doing general travel. Since then I've done quite a few freelance articles for the New York Times, the L.A. Times and the Toronto Globe and I've written guide books for Fodor's. I now write for a syndicate.

Q: Any columns you were particularly fond of?

A: I did a weekly column called the Movie Fan's Travel Guide. I did it as a joint by-line with my brother Jim. We would go to locations where movies were being shot, interview the stars and find out what they did while on location.

To me, the real exciting thing about a film is where it's filmed. If you think back to certain movies, those with spectacular scenery make you want to visit the place. Film has done tremendous things for tourism as did that column.

Q: How do you decide where to travel, which country to write about?

A: I travel with my brother Jim who takes the photographs. Our plan is that we have no plan. I'm not a normal travel writer. Most travel writers accept trips from airlines, they have their cars and hotels paid for. They're taken somewhere as a guest.

I'm an independent traveller. My first responsibility is to the reader. I buy my own tickets, rent my own cars and pay to stay at hotels. I don't look for a negative but if there is one I take it to the reader.

Q: Have you had any awful experiences while travelling?

A: My whole philosophy is that it's your attitude. I say take a lemon and make lemonade. I was on the QE2 in 1986 and we were hit with 40-foot waves. One of the propellers broke, the stabilisers broke. James Michener was sitting at my table and could just see his head bobbing up and down.

He was saying that as a young man he was a seaman and would pick up oranges in Valencia, Spain and take them to Dundee, Scotland to make marmalade. To me, all these anecdotes I learn through meeting people are what makes travel interesting.

Usually, I never have scheduled trips and I've always found a place to stay but one night going from Berlin to Poland, I had made reservations to stay at a hotel and someone sold our room. The reservation was gone and we had nowhere to stay.

We slept in our Mercedes station wagon. You have to be a survivor. You have to be resourceful. Planes don't always take off when they should, ferries don't always run, but it's your attitude that makes the difference.

Q: Where are your favourite places to visit?

A: There are certain places I go to every year such as a wonderful chateau I found in Alsace. I love Scotland, particularly the Hebrides. There are so many places I love, such as the Middle East, where I won't be able to go back to because of internal disputes or terrorism or what have you.

I love Vancouver Island. Places like Nepal and Tibet I love because wherever I can get mountains and the sea and interesting culture together in one package, I'm happy. But sometimes it's right in your own backyard that you can find the most fascinating places.

I like to just get in a car and go off and discover back roads and as I am writing for everybody (not just a certain type of reader) I must strike a balance. So I think everywhere is interesting. I can find something enjoyable about any place I go - I'll find an interesting museum, talk to people.

But the world is changing. I had an uncle who loved to travel and would go on cruises around the world. I grew up listening to him talking about Singapore. One day I took a cruise out of Singapore myself and the old Singapore was still there but now all that's gone. There are so many places I'd like to see before they change.

Q: You've visited Bermuda often. What do you like about it?

A: There's no air pollution. I come here and it's like cleaning my lungs out. I also love the wonderful friendliness everyone seems to share. I love things that are unique and there's nothing quite like Bermuda architecture. One hopes, though, that it doesn't get too overbuilt.

Q: Do you collect souvenirs while travelling?

A: I collect a lot of things from World War One and whenever I'm in France, I go to flea markets. I was once able to purchase a cast-iron stove in mint condition from the 1800s for $98. I'd seen a similar model (in the United States where each of its eight panels cost more than that).

I believe that your home is supposed to reflect you. And so, in my case, my house is supposed to, when I wake up, make me look around and remind me of all the places I've been. Through my travels and through my shopping while travelling, I've learned there are certain things I should never leave home without - I take lots of bubble wrap, tape, twine and empty suitcases.

Q: What's the best way, in your opinion, to explore a country?

A: One of the keys is to talk your way around the world. I travel to meet and talk with persons from the country. I always go into grocery stores to see what people are paying for food and to gas stations to discover the cost of fuel. It's such a small world.

Talking to people opens up doors. I think people generally have a tendency to stay in hotels with people who are similar to them. They come away and don't learn anything about the country. I talk to taxi drivers, chamber maids, to everyone.

So many travellers just aren't aware that's what you've got to do to understand the country; to understand its economics, its politics, its culture.

Q: As much as you travel have you learned any techniques to keep from being constantly hassled by customs officers?

A: I've learned they stop you if you have too much luggage. They stop you if you don't have enough luggage. They stop you if you're too well dressed. They stop you if you're shabbily dressed. They stop you if you have dark glasses. And the list goes on. What I've learned is that it's a no-win situation.

Q: What's the best thing that you've learned through the experiences you've had as a traveller?

A: What first bothered me as a young writer was I would return home to such an affluent society. Everyone was so well-off and I felt they were not interested in how terrible the world is. I've become very involved in charities, especially those that collect money to fund doctors' trips to countries whose citizens can't afford to pay for much-needed health care.

You can't help as you go around the world, but see the need. Any Third World country that I visit, I carry suitcases of toys, soaps, candies, toothbrushes - every amenity we take for granted and people don't have. I go to orphanages, nursing homes or I meet people and hand them out and money as well.