I shouldn't really be a travel photographer. I hate flying, loathe cockroaches and have no sense of direction. I only fell into this career by accident. I'd been doing portrait photography, but sent some snaps I'd taken of lavender fields to a magazine - they assumed I was a travel photographer and sent me to take pictures of vineyards all over Europe. I haven't looked back since.

It might sound like a glamorous job, but there are plenty of challenges, too. For example, on a trip to southern Ireland I was on my way to the airport when I spotted a wonderful view. I stopped the car and tried to climb a fence to get the shot, but it was electric and gave me a shock that sent me flying into a pile of cowpats. I stank the whole plane out on the flight home - it was so embarrassing. I've braved leeches to get the perfect picture and was even bitten by a feisty cormorant minutes before taking the shot of the serene Li River in Guilin, China (picture 1 in the slideshow below). China is a tricky place to take pictures if you're just starting off - vicious cormorants aside, the light tends to be flat and grey. I'd recommend places such as Brazil, Rome and Portugal. And Rio is just paradise - beautiful light, beautiful people and everyone is incredibly friendly. I stayed in a hotel on Copacabana, which is where I took the aerial view of the beach (picture 2) - I love the colours of the umbrellas against the pale gold sand.

Another bit of advice: use digital. You can afford to take loads of shots, I take about 100 for every one I use, and seeing the image immediately encourages you to experiment. And don't bother with a tripod. Travel photography is like hunting: you have to be ready to pounce, so the less gear you have the better.

The fisherman in the shot of the Monument of Discoveries in Lisbon, Portugal (picture 3) provided some scale. He was dwarfed by it. I was travelling with a food writer and the piece was for a wine magazine, so we journeyed along the coast from Porto to Lisbon, tasting champagne and wine - it was one of the more pleasurable trips I've been on.

The lady on the beach (picture 4) was, until recently, the oldest woman to swim the Channel, at 57. This shot is for a book, 50 over 50 (published next month) - myself and writer Tracy Larcombe travelled the globe to find 50 fabulous women over the age of 50, including an AIDS worker in Malawi and a landmine medic in Cambodia. We took 22 flights in 28 days - it was crazy, but it's all for charity.

The picture of the little girl waving flags in Beijing's Tiananmen Square (picture 5) was for another book - this time for children. I went to China, Brazil and Japan to take shots of five-year-olds. It was my first big trip and I did a travel safety course to help me prepare (www.objectivegapyear.com).

While I was in China, I was lucky enough to be the first Western journalist allowed inside the Beijing Opera School. It was one of the most magical places I've ever visited, with all the costumes and high-pitched wailing. The girl's make-up is incredible in the photo of a dress rehearsal (picture 6), but not as surreal as the sight of students in top hats and tails dancing to 'Light My Fire'.

On the other side of the planet, up the Amazon, I met the world's only water buffalo military police (picture 7). They patrol a region that gets very flooded, so buffalo are ideal. Galloping along a beach on one was one of my most frustrating travel moments, as the video recorder ran out of juice. A final tip, then: charge your batteries!

www.debbierowe.com

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