Writer, entrepreneur and world traveler Anietra Hamper brings passion to whatever she pursues. It was passion that propelled her to the heights of becoming a top-rated television news anchor and an Emmy-nominated investigative journalist.
It was also passion that paved her pathway away from the limelight.
On a rare sabbatical from her hectic work schedule while still working in television, Hamper discovered the spark that would ignite the second half of her career—travel.
In a bargain with her station for an extended photography vacation in Vietnam, she agreed to keep up with her audience via blog posts while abroad. This arrangement allowed Hamper to wade into the waters of travel writing—a foreshadowing of what was yet to come.
Upon her return, Hamper felt transformed. Her worldview had been expanded by the things she’d seen and experienced.
The taste of reporting on continuous cycles of tragedy had grown sour. She longed for more experiences that put a new spark in her life and career.
With her signature passion she created a plan, and a lifestyle, that has transferred her hard-fought skills in journalism to a suite of services she has crafted in the years since her departure from her career as a television news anchor.
From award-winning travel writing and destination fishing, to corporate clients and public speaking, Hamper has built an entrepreneurial portfolio for her company, ThreeWordPress, guided by her personal philosophy that, “Someday Starts Now.”
In a recent interview with Kinute, Hamper sat down to discuss the realities of being a travel writer, her career change, and her genuine love for encouraging others to pursue a life filled with the experiences they long for.
Hamper after landing on a remote dirt airstrip in Guyana. Courtesy of Anietra Hamper
Tell us about your relationship to the natural world and how it's evolved throughout your life.
It's been a lifelong thing. Ever since I was a little kid going to my grandparents’ cottage on Saint Marys Lake, in Ohio, everything was about the outdoors. Grandpa taught me, and all the grandkids, how to fish. And with that, we learned to love all the things that come with it—the birds that are up early in the mornings, row boating through lily pads and seeing the frogs jump when you go by, the geese flying overhead, the trees and the flowers and all the things in nature that change with every season. Those are the things that you get to observe when, for me, you're out fishing and you're outdoors. I only wish my grandpa could have known what a gift that was.
Travel and fishing are two of your biggest pursuits. What do you love about each of them?
They're really hand-in-hand. I think we live in this great space right now, where travel is concerned. People are pursuing travels through their passions, whether that's cooking or cycling or architecture, and for me, it's fishing. I think it's great that we can explore new destinations through a passion, and it's a fun way to learn about these places. My drive is to go someplace and find out what's in the water there. I tend to gravitate toward the very unusual, the more remote, the weirder species—because it's fascinating, it makes you ask questions and makes you curious about the world. Then you take it one step further to care about that, care about protecting those natural resources.
Hamper with an Arapaima in a Guyanese lagoon. Courtesy of Anietra Hamper
Can you talk about your transition from your previous career to your entrepreneurial efforts?
I spent almost 20 years working in television news, and half of that tenure was anchoring morning shows where I was getting up at 2 a.m. and going to bed at 7 p.m. I could never take vacation time for four months out of the year—because those were ratings months—and any other time vacation was limited to one week, because the news directors felt like viewers thought you might be fired if you were off for more than a week.
With one of my stations, I was able to take extended time off and go to Vietnam with my mom to do some photography, and that was rare. In exchange for that additional time off, I stayed in touch with the viewers by writing blog posts about the trip. That was my first real international trip, and it opened my world—it just made me want to travel. I remember sitting at my computer one long news day thinking, I wish I was packing my bags.
In 2010, I basically invented a business idea, came up with the name ThreeWordPress, and I took it to a small business administration lady. We sat down, and I started a business when I didn't need one and I kept that in my back pocket for someday when I would need it. When someday arrived, and I decided it was time to shift gears, I already had a plan. What's evolved from that is a career that has shifted primarily into travel. I still do a lot of corporate and production work, but most of my work is travel related—travel writing for publications, fishing and outdoor articles, travel content—and it's wonderful.
This type of work often involves a lot of hustle. How do you balance your work and personal life?
It's all hustle and you never stop—the trade off is that I can work on a Saturday morning, or I can meet up for coffee on a Thursday afternoon. You have to be an incredible self-motivator, and incredibly organized. My workday is structured as a business, and that's how I treat it. I also have those boundaries for clients. The downside of freelance is people think you're always available.
Hamper displays promotional material for her book. Courtesy of Anietra Hamper
Do you allow yourself to take trips just for personal enjoyment without ever writing about them?
It's really hard. I did that this year in England. My mother came over and visited for two weeks, and [it was] this special time with my mom and with my partner. I blocked out that time to cut back on work.
It's refreshing. It's freeing, because the minute you make it into a story, there's a thousand strings attached. I try once a year to do that.
Many people romanticize being a travel writer. What are some of the challenges?
I would say far and above, is that everybody thinks you're on an eternal vacation. The challenge is that, as a travel writer, and even with fishing, the job is to make it look amazing—you want people to go there. So, as you're doing that, naturally people see you presenting it that way, but they don't have any idea, nor should they, the work that goes into it. You’re taking notes, you're interviewing people, you're going to 15 locations—it's a hustle.
Hamper hiking a glacier in Iceland. Courtesy of Anietra Hamper
What are some of the favorite trips that you've taken?
Every place is so special, and I don't feel like people have to travel halfway around the world to have an amazing travel experience. Some of my favorite places are an hour from my home where I can go hiking.
Guyana was new for me last year. We had to take a prop plane into the rainforest. We were flying for an hour over stuff that looks like broccoli—it's so remote—and then you drop into a little place, and then get on a boat and go for another two hours up a river.
Iceland is one of my favorite places. Wales is one of my favorite places. All these places have such incredible natural beauty. The best way I can describe the feelings that I get in some of these places is, [like] when you've seen the ocean for the first time ever and it just takes your breath away. So those are my favorite places—the ones where there's just stunning natural beauty.
I went to a place in the Philippines that's tribal. It took two days to get there on a windy little road that I'd never go on again, ever. I have a photo of these coffins that are suspended off the side of a mountain. It's a very bizarre thing, and I remember standing there thinking, wow, this is something most people will never see.
What do you view as your duty to protect something versus reporting on it, and how writing about it could influence more people wanting to go there?
Wow, that's really a good and valid question. There's a big debate going on right now in travel writing circles about Antarctica, because expeditions are picking up to go to this special place that most people don't go to. The flip side of that is, more people are going, and more writers are going and writing about it—attracting more people interested in going—it's a thin line.
We have a responsibility to also protect these special destinations and have the least impact as possible. For example, I'm going into the Guyana rainforest and I'm fishing. Do we eat the fish? Some of them, yes. But we don't over consume them. We also have other food brought into the camp. It's our responsibility to also be examples for the local people, the poachers, to not overfish. I think destination fishing, for example, has an opportunity to impact that in a good way. Having the opportunity for established fisheries tourism—you are also giving jobs and an income to people who are poaching. So, I have seen that balance also take place.
Hamper on a camel in China. Courtesy of Anietra Hamper
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Above all the hustle, above all the effort, you must be a good writer, and the only way you're going to be a good writer is to write. Write something, write anything, just write. My writing changes all the time, it gets better all the time, because I'm writing all the time.
Why are you passionate about sharing your philosophy of “Someday Starts Now” through public speaking?
People say all the time, “someday I want to learn how to bonsai garden” or “someday I want to learn another language,” “someday I want to learn guitar.” If it starts with someday, you're never going to do it. What are you doing right now to work toward that? Everybody has that someday thing in their head, just like I did when I was sitting at the computer at my job thinking, wow, someday I'd really like to travel. What did I do? I sat down and I figured out, right now, one little thing. I may not have been traveling yet, at that time, but I was taking action toward that in some way. I think we are scared to take that leap. It just will never happen if you don't start doing something toward it, in some way, no matter how big or small, now.
Is there anything else you want to share?
More than anything, every day should be new. That sounds so romantic, but it's not. That's a choice to say, “I'm going to do something new today,” “I’m going to elevate myself today”—and you don't have to travel 3,000 miles away to do it. You can do it at your house, you can do it in your neighborhood.
For more information about Anietra, visit her website at threewordpress.com. You can also follow her travel adventures on Instagram.