Hello, let me introduce myself, the names Emmanuel (Eman for short).
I joined this space to discuss how to become a travel writer as a complete beginner with little writing experience?
I just want to dip my feet in the water so to say but I don't know where to start, I am passionate about traveling, I've lived in Ohio for most of my life and recently moved to Massachusetts, it was my first time living away from home and it changed my life, right now I just want to do more of that and be able to make a living traveling full time, is this possible or just a dream?
Fellow MA resident, Emmanuel, so welcome! There are so many focuses you can choose from when thinking aobut travel writing. I started by writing a series of newspaper articles in our very local Bellingham Bulletin, (Bellingham, MA) which I placed on my writing website. Traffic to my website because of these very limited number of blogs (eleven) alerted me to the need to help others find local outdoor places. I call my Easy Walks book series Hyper local, since I drill down deeply into each contiguous community that I research. Simply taking pictures, describing what you found, how to get there, and what trail surfaces are like has gotten me a long ways, and developed an appreciative audience. At this point I have over 500 blog posts that mostly focus in MA, Ri and other New England locations, but include travel as far west as Utah and north to Newfoundland. We also found EasyWalks in County Clare, Ireland. We all have gifts and unique perspectives. Good luck discovering your own focus and being helpful to others.
I've started my travel blog 10 years ago and even though I wouldn't call myself a travel writer per se, I've done lots of writing in the area. Here are my tips:
👩💻 Read a lot of travel content. This will help you find what style of writing do you like, which pieces perform best and eventually help you find your own writing style and tour preferred niche.
✍️ Start a blog. Creating your own writing space will help you learn a lot about writing, SEO, formatting, what your audience like, etc.
⭐️ Build a portfolio. Once you feel confident about some of your articles, start pitching your guest posts to other publications (for free in the beginning). Connect with other writers/bloggers and ask them if it's okay to write for their websites. I've spend the first 6 months of my blogging career writing guest posts for other websites. It helped a lot with being discovered by both, readers and brands.
Starting a travel blog is one of the best things I have ever done.
I launched my blog Diary of a Muzungu @DIARYOFAMUZUNGU in 2008 and it has become a recognised platform for promoting travel in Uganda and East Africa. Along the way, I have had some incredible - complementary - experiences: gorilla tracking, dolphin watching, hot balloon safaris and endless interesting invitations. A few years ago, I used my platform to start teaching the tourism industry how to do what I do: create content, and use social media and blogging to promote their companies.
However, it's been a really hard slog: going for a weekend away is not as fun as it used to be (as I'm always thinking about how I can promote their business!) Forget the 9-to-5. I work six or seven days a week and have done for a decade plus.
I agree with Maria's great tips and would add:
1. If you start a blog, be consistent. It is better to have one very good blog per month and promote the hell out of it than commit to writing one blog week (and failing after a few exhausting months). 2. Find a niche. Be very good at one thing. Don't think that you have to blog, create a YouTube channel and 3 other social media channels. Just master one or two things. 3. Network like crazy.
Good luck! Charlotte Beauvoisin Diary of a Muzungu | Uganda and East Africa Travel Blog
"Going for a weekend away is not as fun as it used to be." - I agree fully. That's why I kind of moved away from blogging and focus on other projects nowadays. I couldn't get over the anxiety of "travelling for work". But I admire people who keep blogging and finding the balance. :)
Publisher, editor, writer, blogger, Al Centro Media
I've been a full-time travel writer and blogger since 2006 and am the author of the Travel Writing 2.0 book. There's a decade's worth of free advice on the associated blog, from me and from interviews with others. You'll see a lot of recurring themes that will up your chances of success there. travelwriting2.com
Hi Eman! I'm head of editorial for a wellness travel digi magazine. I agree with the points that Maria and Charlotte both bring up. I would add that it's also about luck. Pitching at the right time—sliding into the inbox with relevant story ideas. Editors get slammed with loads of emails and in my case loads of spam about backlinking. Think about your narrative along the lines of what would you want to read and learn about. Don't mix and match topics. Spy on the publications that you dream of writing for. Download their style guides. Analyze headlines and writing style. You don't necessarily have to be a journalist, but you should be able to string sentences together in a coherent way. That said, some editors have a heavy editing hand and what you read may not actually be what the writer delivered ;-)
Food Writer. Food Marketer. Travel Enthusiast., Mid-Atlantic Food Scene
Thanks for starting this discussion. I am just getting started. I still work a full-time day job so my travels are often limited to regional road trips at the moment. Since I'm not doing a ton of those, I have started sharing content about tourist destinations I haven't been to yet, but would love to visit one day. I just want to get some content on my blog and keep honing my tourism writing. There's plenty of interesting content even if I don't have a first-hand experience, and I'm happy to give tourism bureaus another outlet in which to promote their destinations. phillygrubtrips.wordpress.com
This is great, you should visit Provincetown which is where I'm living at the moment its a popular tourist destination in the summer that you could write about ! but thank you for sharing your Wordpress !
Cape Cod and that whole area have been on my list for a long time. I sure hope to get up there someday. Because the seafood is legendary from what I hear. Thank you!
I'm a freelance travel writer. Most if not all publications have pitching guidelines on their website. The best way is to start up a portfolio even for guest posts or smaller pubs to get started.
Getting into full time travel writing isn't impossible but it's certainly not easy. For many (most?) travel writers it's part time and they're either supported by other work or spouses with "proper" jobs. Most mainstream publishers have been cutting back since covid and I can't see that changing anytime soon.
But it's not impossible. There's a knack to making travel writing add up economically, and it's more about business and administration than writing. You need to nurture good personal relationships with the right contacts (takes years), and a reputation for being able to deliver the goods with minimal fuss. And you need to figure out how to generate multiple commissions from a single trip, otherwise after expenses you'll probably be in the red.
In the meantime the lower hanging fruit is content creation freelancing for businesses and agencies. Most travel companies are switched onto needing online content for their marketing. Rates aren't often great – you'd be lucky to get $100 for an article, but if you get a few regular clients it might give you a baseline income stream as you build your portfolio and contacts.
Register as a contributor with my company Horizon Guides, we're not commissioning much at the moment but will be soon: horizonguides.com/journalists
Hey, Emmanuel. You already have some great tips and advise in this thread but I'd like to elaborate on the networking point. The old adage "It's not what you know but who you know that counts" is as relevant to travel writers as it is to any occupation.
Over the course of three decades, I've found LinkedIn to be an invaluable online networking tool for connecting with travel industry professionals.
Search for DMCs, Travel Agencies, Tourism Bureaus, etc. Follow their corporate pages, subscribe to their newsletters, and send connect requests to their CEOs / marketing people (their names & designations are usually listed).
Researching their product / service / destination helps when pitching a travel story angle that ties-in with their marketing strategy and knowing who to pitch that story to may lead to being commissioned or hosted.
Also, try to attend local, regional, or international travel trade shows & conferences. Then, research the list of exhibitors / delegates. If they're in your 1st level LinkedIn contacts, make an appointment to visit their stand or meet at the conference.
Hope the above helps with your aspirations. Good luck.
How to become a Travel Writer?
was posted by Emmanuel Jackson
in
Discussion,Writing.
Updated on Apr 21, 2022 (2 years ago).
How to become a Travel Writer? is rated 4.8/5 ★
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Comments
Hello, let me introduce myself, the names Emmanuel (Eman for short).
I joined this space to discuss how to become a travel writer as a complete beginner with little writing experience?
I just want to dip my feet in the water so to say but I don't know where to start, I am passionate about traveling, I've lived in Ohio for most of my life and recently moved to Massachusetts, it was my first time living away from home and it changed my life, right now I just want to do more of that and be able to make a living traveling full time, is this possible or just a dream?
Looking forward to your tips.
Let me know!
Hi Eman, congrats on moving to a new city! I too moved away from Ohio 15-years-old and have never regretted it.
I'm in the process of building my writing portfolio, so I'm no expert, but these resources have been helpful to me:
Great podcast: travelmedialab.co
Pitch opportunities: pitchwhiz.com
Happy writing!
It is nice to reach out to a fellow Ohioan on this platform! Thanks for sharing the resources!
Fellow MA resident, Emmanuel, so welcome! There are so many focuses you can choose from when thinking aobut travel writing. I started by writing a series of newspaper articles in our very local Bellingham Bulletin, (Bellingham, MA) which I placed on my writing website. Traffic to my website because of these very limited number of blogs (eleven) alerted me to the need to help others find local outdoor places. I call my Easy Walks book series Hyper local, since I drill down deeply into each contiguous community that I research. Simply taking pictures, describing what you found, how to get there, and what trail surfaces are like has gotten me a long ways, and developed an appreciative audience. At this point I have over 500 blog posts that mostly focus in MA, Ri and other New England locations, but include travel as far west as Utah and north to Newfoundland. We also found EasyWalks in County Clare, Ireland. We all have gifts and unique perspectives. Good luck discovering your own focus and being helpful to others.
Hey, Emmanuel 👋
I've started my travel blog 10 years ago and even though I wouldn't call myself a travel writer per se, I've done lots of writing in the area. Here are my tips:
👩💻 Read a lot of travel content. This will help you find what style of writing do you like, which pieces perform best and eventually help you find your own writing style and tour preferred niche.
✍️ Start a blog. Creating your own writing space will help you learn a lot about writing, SEO, formatting, what your audience like, etc.
⭐️ Build a portfolio. Once you feel confident about some of your articles, start pitching your guest posts to other publications (for free in the beginning). Connect with other writers/bloggers and ask them if it's okay to write for their websites. I've spend the first 6 months of my blogging career writing guest posts for other websites. It helped a lot with being discovered by both, readers and brands.
Here's part of my portfolio that I keep on my blog: travellingbuzz.com/published-guest-posts/
I'm sure there's many travel writers here to give more advice.
Good luck!
Thanks for the response!!! I love all the information you've shared. will definitely look into resources or articles for writing inspiration
Starting a travel blog is one of the best things I have ever done.
I launched my blog Diary of a Muzungu @DIARYOFAMUZUNGU in 2008 and it has become a recognised platform for promoting travel in Uganda and East Africa. Along the way, I have had some incredible - complementary - experiences: gorilla tracking, dolphin watching, hot balloon safaris and endless interesting invitations. A few years ago, I used my platform to start teaching the tourism industry how to do what I do: create content, and use social media and blogging to promote their companies.
However, it's been a really hard slog: going for a weekend away is not as fun as it used to be (as I'm always thinking about how I can promote their business!) Forget the 9-to-5. I work six or seven days a week and have done for a decade plus.
I agree with Maria's great tips and would add:
1. If you start a blog, be consistent. It is better to have one very good blog per month and promote the hell out of it than commit to writing one blog week (and failing after a few exhausting months).
2. Find a niche. Be very good at one thing. Don't think that you have to blog, create a YouTube channel and 3 other social media channels. Just master one or two things.
3. Network like crazy.
Good luck!
Charlotte Beauvoisin
Diary of a Muzungu | Uganda and East Africa Travel Blog
www.muzungubloguganda.com/portfolio/
"Going for a weekend away is not as fun as it used to be." - I agree fully. That's why I kind of moved away from blogging and focus on other projects nowadays. I couldn't get over the anxiety of "travelling for work". But I admire people who keep blogging and finding the balance. :)
Awesome advice! Thank you :)
Hi Charlotte, it would be great if we could collaborate. I would love some of your stories for conservationmag.org I have followed you lets dm
I've been a full-time travel writer and blogger since 2006 and am the author of the Travel Writing 2.0 book. There's a decade's worth of free advice on the associated blog, from me and from interviews with others. You'll see a lot of recurring themes that will up your chances of success there. travelwriting2.com
Thank you so much! I'm just looking for the first step to take so I can begin, thank you! :)
Hi Eman! I'm head of editorial for a wellness travel digi magazine. I agree with the points that Maria and Charlotte both bring up. I would add that it's also about luck. Pitching at the right time—sliding into the inbox with relevant story ideas. Editors get slammed with loads of emails and in my case loads of spam about backlinking. Think about your narrative along the lines of what would you want to read and learn about. Don't mix and match topics. Spy on the publications that you dream of writing for. Download their style guides. Analyze headlines and writing style. You don't necessarily have to be a journalist, but you should be able to string sentences together in a coherent way. That said, some editors have a heavy editing hand and what you read may not actually be what the writer delivered ;-)
Thanks for starting this discussion. I am just getting started. I still work a full-time day job so my travels are often limited to regional road trips at the moment. Since I'm not doing a ton of those, I have started sharing content about tourist destinations I haven't been to yet, but would love to visit one day. I just want to get some content on my blog and keep honing my tourism writing. There's plenty of interesting content even if I don't have a first-hand experience, and I'm happy to give tourism bureaus another outlet in which to promote their destinations. phillygrubtrips.wordpress.com
This is great, you should visit Provincetown which is where I'm living at the moment its a popular tourist destination in the summer that you could write about ! but thank you for sharing your Wordpress !
Cape Cod and that whole area have been on my list for a long time. I sure hope to get up there someday. Because the seafood is legendary from what I hear. Thank you!
I'm a freelance travel writer. Most if not all publications have pitching guidelines on their website. The best way is to start up a portfolio even for guest posts or smaller pubs to get started.
Hi Emmanuel - great question!
Getting into full time travel writing isn't impossible but it's certainly not easy. For many (most?) travel writers it's part time and they're either supported by other work or spouses with "proper" jobs. Most mainstream publishers have been cutting back since covid and I can't see that changing anytime soon.
But it's not impossible. There's a knack to making travel writing add up economically, and it's more about business and administration than writing. You need to nurture good personal relationships with the right contacts (takes years), and a reputation for being able to deliver the goods with minimal fuss. And you need to figure out how to generate multiple commissions from a single trip, otherwise after expenses you'll probably be in the red.
In the meantime the lower hanging fruit is content creation freelancing for businesses and agencies. Most travel companies are switched onto needing online content for their marketing. Rates aren't often great – you'd be lucky to get $100 for an article, but if you get a few regular clients it might give you a baseline income stream as you build your portfolio and contacts.
Register as a contributor with my company Horizon Guides, we're not commissioning much at the moment but will be soon: horizonguides.com/journalists
Another very good resource worth checking out: travelwriting.substack.com
I think Pitchwhizz has turned into this, still worth a look: coveredpress.com
good luck!
Hey, Emmanuel. You already have some great tips and advise in this thread but I'd like to elaborate on the networking point. The old adage "It's not what you know but who you know that counts" is as relevant to travel writers as it is to any occupation.
Over the course of three decades, I've found LinkedIn to be an invaluable online networking tool for connecting with travel industry professionals.
Search for DMCs, Travel Agencies, Tourism Bureaus, etc. Follow their corporate pages, subscribe to their newsletters, and send connect requests to their CEOs / marketing people (their names & designations are usually listed).
Researching their product / service / destination helps when pitching a travel story angle that ties-in with their marketing strategy and knowing who to pitch that story to may lead to being commissioned or hosted.
Also, try to attend local, regional, or international travel trade shows & conferences. Then, research the list of exhibitors / delegates. If they're in your 1st level LinkedIn contacts, make an appointment to visit their stand or meet at the conference.
Hope the above helps with your aspirations. Good luck.
Thank you to everyone that has contributed to this discussion! I've only just found and read this, and it's been helpful :)