A travel story, or four, about a knife

Chapter 4 gives the travel journalist tips and cautions drawn from many sources, which should help him cover travel and tourism in his market. A major tip the text encourages is for the travel journalist to “travel for one story; come back with four.” Take for example Matador Network’s Andrew Welsh’s story about his one-of-a-kind, “good enough for you” Sashimi knife. Welsh’s trip to Japan on the outset was focused on taking cooking lessons to become a Japanese cuisine chef.

After becoming accustomed to the customs of the Japanese culture, Welsh developed ambitions to acquire a traditional Sashimi knife from a legendary swordsmith. This experience of acquiring the knife adds another dimension or rather adds another story to his experience. Andrew Welsh does an excellent job of painting the scenery and mood for his audience balancing history of the legendary swordsmith with the eerie feeling of the antique shop.

This article provides a prime example of how to find the other local stories in a given location. The piece and experience begins with aspirations of becoming a decent Japanese chef. As those aspirations begin to take fruition Welsh’s goals evolve and another story is added to his experience — the journey to acquire an original Japanese forged knife. As the experience to acquire the knife unfolds Welsh gives the audience another story containing the history and significance of owning one of these blades and the shop itself. The history is cut short by the shop keeper and swordsmith who adds another unique story of his own. Take a look at Welsh’s piece here.