Sumi Somaskanda, reporter, Berlin; reported from Syria-Turkey border, and contributed to stories on Syria from Berlin:

When you're a freelancer based in Berlin, it's not always that easy to get out and, well, report - which is why I got into this business in the first place. There's so much interest in stories coming out of Europe, especially since the eurocrisis started. Still, with the Arab Spring revolutions sweeping through the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, I couldn't help the urge I felt to head to where the news was happening, somehow.

So my colleague Nurhan and I decided to travel to the Turkish-Syrian border in June 2011 to report on the tense situation in refugee camps there. It was a whirlwind week and at times - ok often - we both felt pretty overwhelmed. The overnight flight, numerous taxis and hot, dusty bus ride with little food or water didn't help, of course. But we had some amazing experiences.

On the first day we arrived in Antakya, we somehow managed to make it into one of the Syrian refugee camps - something no other journalist had managed to do. We spent the next few days getting to know Syrian and Turkish families and their stories full of pain, sorrow and violence.

We watched as floods of refugees turned up in rustic, poor villages along the rocky Turkish border searching for shelter and respite with family or friends. We saw just how integrated the Syrian and Turkish cultures and languages were along the border, how mothers called to their children in Arabic and Turkish, and how they shared each other's grief and despair over the violence playing out across Syria.

It was an incredibly rewarding experience to be able to hear and share those experiences with the world, especially because the families we met welcomed us into their homes and businesses as if we were one of them. We were even invited to a wedding in a tiny, mountainous village right along the Syrian border, where a Syrian bride was marrying a Turkish groom - despite the conflict.

Even though the experience was enlightening and enriching for both of us, it was a stark reminder of how difficult it is to simply pick up and land in a new, completely unknown place and find a way to understand the culture, the people and the issues that move them. Back in Berlin, once the stories were written and the trip was behind us, we (ARA) started mapping out a strategy to cover the Arab Spring the best way possible. That plan often involved tapping freelance reporters or even fixers or stringers working in the countries where revolutions were underway, from Tunisia to Libya and Egypt. They would gather quotes and news on the ground and we would gather analysis and official reaction from our (very cosy) base in Berlin and put together full, well-reported stories. 

It worked. Our reporters and contacts were able to get compelling interviews and interesting color that we could weave into bigger stories, often on a really short deadlines. And that convinced me of something: Even though I love to be out on the road reporting and telling stories, even if that's the reason I got into this business in the first place, working with reporters and fixers on the ground actually produced a better end product when it comes to countries or regions I don't know or haven't lived in. That's because these reporters or stringers are people who have often been there for months or years, or come from the country where they're reporting. That doesn't mean I won't travel to cover stories, or that reporters who drop into a war zone, for example, can't tell compelling, meaty stories. But it does mean that we can find a way to work with freelancers who are already on the ground and have a better knowledge of the story than we might.

Now that I've said all that: I'm still hoping to take a trip to Libya or Bahrain sometime in the very near future. I guess I just can't kick the urge...