David Prior: Destinations that are boring to me are the manufactured cities
Konstantin Vulkov: You are a storyteller. That’s what is written in your own homepage. How you define which stories are good and which are not? Instinct? Or this comes only after a lot of experience?
David Prior: The best stories come from instinct and it isn't so much about whether the story is good, there are a million incredible stories and its pretty endless, I think the knack comes more with figuring out when is the right time for a story to be told. My stories are usually about food but really they are saying something about a bigger idea in the culture, in that way its like very traditional story telling I guess.
Konstantin: Apart from a lust for travel and curious mind, what else a person like you should have in order to succeed?
David: Agility and the fewer responsibilities 'at home', the better. It sounds like a dream job until start to think about the reality of being on the road for the majority of the year. It is not fun thinking you are leaving for a week and then that turn into four months and in the meantime you have forgotten to pay your phone bill.
Konstantin: By the way, when asked what you do, how you are describing it in few words?
David: I usually say simply that I am a writer but if I am pushed I say I write about the culture of food. I am also as interested in smart words as strong images. My favorite thing is to work with a photographer actually and failing that to shoot the story myself.
Konstantin: You were traveling the world renetlessly. Are there any spots that you get your inspirations from and others that are really boring to you?
David: You can find inspiration almost anywhere I think. If I start to think of one single place I suppose I am always inspired at home in New York. I tend to like the thrill of big cities. But other places at certain times of year, Sydney between Christmas and New Years Eve is pretty extraordinary, Tokyo in Spring. Places with huge strong, surviving culture like Seville and before the war, Damascus. To be honest Italy has it all really and I love mid-sized cities there. It is where I can see myself ending up. I guess you can tell I get excited by the possibilities of different places?
Destinations that are boring to me are the manufactured cities, ones that have grown too quickly or are without a soul. For me that is somewhere like Dubai. I'm also not interested in places overrun with huge tourist resorts that swallow up and then spit a city out. I worry about a place like Marrakesh for example, I think it is in danger of being destroyed. No one is ready to admit it but its true.
Konstantin: What is the recipe for a good travel stories - yours, for example, go really depp and literary take you into that place, but what’s the secret?
David: Well thank you but I don't think there is a definitive recipe to be honest. I think everyone has a different style but I think you have to have curiosity and a point of view. You also have to really think that the world and the people in it are on the whole pretty amazing. Who wants a misanthrope travel writer? No one.
Konstantin: In an interview you said you loved the quote “tell me what you eat and I’ll tell you who you are.” Tell us what you eat and how this relates to what kind of person you are?
David: Haha good question! Well when I am in a new place I try to find food that is authentic, made with real ingredients and cooked by good people. I'll eat almost everything but try not to eat too much. I'll always support the little guy, over the chain or big name.
Konstantin: You are a writer, but what other writers do you read regularly? I mean what is your daily media menu?
David: No other writers religiously but I always check out what my friends and colleagues are writing about and I always read the magazines or newspapers I write for. My news staples are the New York Times, the Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald and La Repubblica. I try and get through the New Yorker but am always behind. Vanity Fair is a fun indulgence. And I often pick up the Economist at the airport and I think the writing in American Vogue can be really underrated so I grab that sometimes too.
Konstantin: Finally, choose a song that you love to listen to now?
David: It is not so much that I have bad taste in music, it is that I have no taste. However I know I must answer so, like everyone it seems, I am having a renewed love affair with Stevie Nicks and maybe fittingly I am listening to Fleetwood Mac's Seven Wonders.
--- David Prior is a storyteller. He is an internationally published writer, a creative director and stylist. His editorial work has appeared in Australia, Europe, the United States and Asia. Read more here.