I think only by people who haven't spent much time in transit. Constant travel is exhausting both physically and mentally. The words “dream job” come up whenever I tell people about the 52 Places project.
True, traveling for work can be exhausting. But when your work is literally "experience cool shit all over the world" it balances out a bit. And I bet that with the NY Times budget, she's not exactly roughing it backpacker style. But a year is long, and packing up weekly is exhausting. I bet the hardest thing is the loneliness. Being only surrounded by "new" people week after week and no family and close friends is hard. Sounds like the kind of work that seems awesome at first, you regret getting into 4 months in, you find a nice groove by month 6, can't wait to be back home on month 11 and miss for the rest of your life!