Writer Fiona Caulfield: From India, with Love INDAGARE GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS | 1.04 Melissa Biggs-Bradley Hi, and welcome to Indagare’s Global Conversations, a podcast about how traveling the world shapes our lives and perspectives. I’m Melissa Biggs Bradley of Indagare, a company I founded on the belief that how you travel matters. I’m sitting down with some of the most inspiring and innovative people I’ve met while on the road. They’re activists and conservationists, designers and filmmakers, writers, chefs, and entrepreneurs. They will share stories about their travels and how they lead lives of passion and purpose. They inspire me, as I hope they will you. Welcome to the Conversation! When we first found ourselves under lockdown during the COVID-19 crisis, what I immediately missed the most was connecting with people while traveling because so often it’s meeting people that helps you understand a place and leaves the greatest impact. So I reached out to people who I consider true global citizens, people who've spent their lives seeking and exploring, because even while isolated, I thought we could continue to discover and share and learn from each other through conversation. Today, I'm really excited to be speaking with Fiona Caulfield, who describes herself as a citizen of the world. We met more than 10 years ago. Soon after, she had quit her job as a consultant in New York. And I had started Indagare. We were introduced and I can't even remember who introduced us, but we immediately bonded over our love of travel and not just travel, getting on an airplane, but a certain kind of travel. And I would say it's the kind of travel that is authentic and soulful and eye opening and mind expanding. And it's the kind that always involves people because people are the portal of getting into the heart of a destination. And that's something we agree on. We also bonded over the fact of what I consider one of our elements of Australian-ness. My mother's Australian and Fiona is from Australia. And there's something called the Nomad Gene, which was discovered a number of years ago, and it's in 25 percent of the world's population, but it's particularly prevalent in migratory populations. And I think that part of my Australian heritage is that Nomad gene, which is when...is triggered when your endorphins are particularly high, because you're discovering a new place where you're traveling or you're learning new things. So I think both Fiona and I get restless when we're trapped someplace for too long and we really feel our best when we're moving and we're exploring. So, you know, let's start with where you are in lockdown and what it looks like, who you're sheltering with and how your daily routines have changed. Fiona Caulfield Lovely to be here. Thank you so much for inviting me. It's nice to connect. It almost feels in person, though you're on wine time and I’m on coffee time. I'm in my hometown. I'm in a town in Adelaide, in Australia called Adelaide, and I lived here in 1986 and this is the longest amount of time I've ever spent since then. So, you know, I went to school and university here. So it's a challenging time for me. You know, I have a home in India and I also have a home in New South Wales, North Sydney - a little cottage on the beach. So it feels quite strange to not be in my home places. I'm lucky I'm with my partner Paul and we're both working from home. We're adjusting to all of that together. And I'm also just 15 minutes from my mother. So that was an important decision from a virus perspective, Australia, our isolation has been great. We have a pretty limited number of cases. Here in South Australia we’re under 500 cases, but sadly, four deaths. We've got one of the highest testing rates in the world. So it's kind of a light experience in terms of fear, like it feels quite a safe place. But we were only, you know, were asked not to leave the house. You are allowed to go out and exercise. So I have been walking in my neighborhood and walking the river every day. And I think it's interesting, you know, there was that wonderful book about traveling in your own room and I sort of feel I’m doing that. I’m looking at my home in a whole new way and falling in love with it, actually. MBB Yeah. I was going to ask you about how you're feeling about being stuck at home, so to speak. And if there are certain routines you’ve actually found yourself surprisingly grateful for? FC Yeah. The ability to have fresh air! A girlfriend of mine flew back to Australia from London, and she was quarantined in a hotel in Sydney. There was a five star hotel. And, you know, there's a lot of...the government's paying for it. There's a lot of controversy over, you know, “Wow, such luxury for all these quarantined people.” But actually, she posted everyday videos and she couldn't open the window and there was no balcony. So imagine two weeks with no air and a girlfriend of hers sent her a jar of air. And I thought “God, we’ve actually got to that stage.” So, you know, for me, having a home and feeling safe is such a privilege because clearly, you know, my world for the last 15 years has been living in India and in India, when the lockdown says “stay home,” for many people there is no home and there is no water to wash hands with. So, you know, I feel in a great position of privilege, of how I'm getting through a very vulnerable time. You know, my whole world is being traveled. And Melissa, I'm sure it's a similar feeling like everything that you do has kind of changed. Pretty suddenly. MBB Yeah, it certainly has. And are you hearing regular reports from folks in India? Have you heard a lot about what it looks like for them? FC Yeah. You know, I have daily contact with...I mean, India lives in my heart, my head. I have very close friends. I also have my little tiny, tiny publishing business. So we are also dealing with the lockdown, just like lots of the people I write about. You know, we have supply issues. The Postal Service is shut. I had a commitment that I'm going to pay all of our readers and our paper makers. And so it's...so we're in contact a lot. And India is an incredibly resilient country. You know, there’s a great sense of optimism. People are loving seeing blue skies. There’s quite a conversation around quiet. You know, if you ever in a million years, you'd never think that India could ever be described as quiet. And for some people, they’re loving it. And for others, they feel like India has gone to sleep on them. Yeah. So it's certainly strange times. By and large, India is catching up with looking after its people. You know, I think the suddenness of the lockdown and the crisis with the daily wage workers was real. But there are lots of people who have galvanized to help. And, you know, it sounds actually, it sounds frightening but calm. MBB Now, I know you've lived in lots of different places. The UK, Canada, Australia. Can you talk about when you first left Australia and what led you to leave home and to start your wanderings? FC Yes, I agree with you. I think as Australians, we have part of our DNA. I've never known the Nomad gene but I believe it. My parents are English. And my father was in the Navy. My mother was in fashion. So I think, you know, I grew up with my father traveling the world and sending postcards every week from wherever he was. So travel was part of my world. And as an Australian, I did what most Australians do. The rite of passage is going to live in England after university. And I have a theory - when people move countries, there's always a love story. You're either running to a love or running away from a loved one. There's always a story with that. So in my case, I narrowly avoided getting married and dashed off to London. And that was quite life changing. I worked in marketing and I met this headhunter and I was talking about normal kinds of jobs. And she said “There’s a very good looking man running an advertising agency; you should meet him.” And so that started a career in advertising for me. And it was a wonderful experience. This is London, the late 80s. Our first client was Remy Martin, the cognac house. They also had Krug champagne and Piper-Heidsieck. So with Piper we sponsored John Galliano’s show in Paris. And it was an exciting time. But when I went to London, I dreamt to travel and what was happening is I was working. And so, yes, I would go to Paris for a meeting and I do what we can in Venice or something like that occasionally.