Travel Writing

Are you interested in becoming a travel writer? Most writers say, “What is there not to like about travel writing?” Here are a few web sites to help you understand the trials, rewards and how-to’s of such a choice.

The first web site is by Laura Duniston who is in her words a perpetual globetrotter and travel writer. She has written for such exclusive travel magazines as “National Geographic Traveler,” “Get Lost,” “Hemisphere,” “Lonely Planet” and “Thomas Cook.” She tells us exactly what the life of a travel writer is like. Duniston says she travels anonymously with her travel photographer husband so as not to influence the treatment she receives in restaurants or hotels. She also says she spends many days in a drab hotel room in some city she does not like, glued to a chair facing her computer and on deadline.

http://cooltravelguide.blogspot.com

The second site gives an article by Phil Philcox on the specifics of writing travel articles. He takes a unique approach for finding buyers for his articles. His slant is to contact off-beat trade magazines like cattle ranching, dry cleaning or printing businesses telling the editors he is going to be visiting (country.) Would the editor be interested in an article about the costs, difficulties and successes of dry cleaning in New Zealand or buying dyes in India or whatever relates to that magazine’s business interest. You will not get rich this way but it would offset some of your travel expenses as long as you do not mind working part of your vacation.

http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/aug98/philcox.htm

The third site I previewed and liked is about how to get freelance jobs as a travel writer. It gives you the bones of the operation, how to get started, where to look for assignments but not much about the negatives of travel writing.

http://jobs.lovetoknow.com/Travel_Writing_Careers