Ep 97: Travel Storytelling in South East Asia & China, with Simon Ostheimer

The international travel media continues to change as blogs, vlogs and social media dominate content consumption. On this week’s show, Gary chats with Phnom Penh-based travel writer and editor Simon Ostheimer.

Having grown up in Hong Kong, Simon has lived and worked across South East Asia and Greater China over the past two decades. Along the way, he has managed city magazines in Shanghai, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, plus a newspaper in Phuket.

He’s written travel stories from across the region for heavyweight titles like Conde Nast Traveller, CNN Travel and DestinAsian, and now publishes his own weekly newsletter, Tales of the Orient.

In a broad-ranging chat, Simon discusses his childhood in Hong Kong, studying Chinese in Suzhou and watching the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He shares his observations about how travel and lifestyle content changed during the 2010s, a period of dramatic expansion in travel and tourism across South East Asia.

Simon also talks about pandemic life in Cambodia, and how his perspective on travel has shifted over the past 18 months.

[Click the link to read Simon’s weekly newsletter, Tales of the Orient]