Myths and Tips

It seems like every travel writing website has a section dedicated to tips and advice from experts. The only way to learn to become a great travel writer is to get advice from people who are doing just that. I want to share some more information straight from the industry experts. Of course I won't be able to find all of the advice out there, but hopefully I will be able to share a few good tips!

Here is a great article I found that can help debunk some of the myths of travel writing. Once you know what travel writing isn't, it is much easier to know what it is!

Tim Leffel, who is a travel writer who has written many books and won many awards, wrote an article highlighting seven myths about travel writing for his webzine Perceptive Travel .

To me, the most eye opening part of his article was this myth:

"Myth #3: A destination is a story

Many aspiring travel writers feel that telling an editor they are heading off to some certain spot on the other side of the globe will result in an enthusiastic invitation to write about it. But here’s some news: editors are not short on people who are willing to head off to this place or that to write about it. Don’t assume just going somewhere is a reason to write an article. Even remote corners of the globe are visited by more writers than we need. (I’ve seen enough articles on Iceland and Antarctica to last a lifetime.) Unless you’re going to be the first person landing on Mars, you’d better find a good story angle.

This doesn’t mean you can’t write about the Inca Trail, the Grand Canyon, or the Taj Mahal, but you’d better be able to find a truly unique slant that has never been tried before. Is there some attraction right off the Inca Trail that nobody ever visits—but should? Could you spend a couple of days with people who actually live inside the Grand Canyon? Is there a stonemason doing repairs on the Taj Mahal who is descended from one of the original masons? Wherever you are going, you need to think like a journalist and dig for something an editor will find refreshing."

This really made me think about what kind of angles I could come up with for some of the places that I would love to visit. I love the Pacific Northwest and cities there, like Seattle. Lately that area has been getting a lot of attention in the media because the Twilight series of books and movies were based out of Washington state. So thinking about angles, maybe an article about why that area was chosen by the author as the place that vampires live, could be an interesting way to explore the area in a new way.

Of course I would have to get right on it, because it seems like people are already taking advantage of this vampire phenomenon!

I googled "pacific northwest,vampires" and found this interesting article on BootsnAll.


So now lets jump right into a few tips on how to be a great travel writer!

Matt Hartshorne is the editor of GoNOMAD.com, and he suggests that travel writers:

"Take photos of the specific places, people and scenes you describe. Shots of buildings and winding streets are just not that interesting. But the blue house on top of the hill where the little old man lives is what I want to see."





These are pictures that I took on top of the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington. Pictures like this can really set the stage for the article or story you want to tell.

Next, writer Jennifer Stewart shares some important Do's and Don'ts on travel writing via her website Write101.com

She advises that travel writers should:

"Focus on what's interesting and different about the spot. Find details that are significant in some way - they might be unusual, colourful or humorous - just look for something that makes the place special. Usually this will be a combination of the place and the people. Look around for someone or something that catches your eye and use this as the focus for your piece. Maybe there's an unusual colour scheme in shop windows or buildings; a pedestrian that causes you to stop and look, or an absence of something that you'd expect to find in the area."

That is a great tip! It is always good to find a new and interesting perspective on a destination.


Another bit of advice that I found useful was from Lori Beattie, a contributor to the website Journeywoman.com which is a great resource just for women travel writers.

Some of Beattie's advice is that:

"Writing what you know makes you the expert. Your own backyard is interesting to someone, somewhere. And who better to write about Banff National Park than someone who lives and works there. Ditto, if you are are, for example, a weaver. Imagine the interesting article you could write about the wonderful woven goods in the markets of Guatemala."

So we should write what we know, but in a new and interesting way. Maybe using details, or an angle that is unique to us. Good advice! It is always important to find was to stand out.

So we have heard some good advice, and we have gotten to the bottom of some travel myths. Now we should take all of that advice and start writing. One great way to get started is to attend a workshop or a conference. This can lead to making contacts, practicing your craft, and learning from the best.

Here is a travel writing workshop that takes place in the summer in beautiful upstate New York.

I hope that all of these tips will help to get you started on the road to becoming a travel writer. I know that I sure learned a lot so I hope that you did too!




Beattie, L. (1997-2010). 10 terrific travel writing tips. Journeywoman.com, Retrieved from http://www.journeywoman.com/traveltales/topten.html


Frick-Wright, P. (n.d.). Vampire travel: where the bloodsuckers are. BootsnAll, Retrieved from http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/08-10/vampire-travel-where-bloodsuckers-are.html

Hartshorne, M. (2010). Travel writing tips from three pros. GoNOMAD, Retrieved from http://www.gonomad.com/traveldesk/0901/travel-writing-tips.html


Leffel, T., & Matthews, J. (2010). Perceptive travel. Retrieved from http://www.perceptivetravel.com/


Leffel, T., The Seven myths of being a travel writer. Perceptive Travel, Retrieved from http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/travel/travel_writing/seven_myths_of_being_a_travel_writer.shtml

ShawGuides,. Shawguides: travel writing workshop. Retrieved from http://writing.shawguides.com/TravelWritingWorkshop

Stewart, J. (2009). Travel writing. Write101.com, Retrieved from http://www.write101.com/trav.htm

Contests

A good way to break into the travel writing industry could be to have a few contest wins under your belt. You can get your name out there, and let people see what your writing style is like. It also doesn't hurt to win money; or even better, a paid vacation! This travel writing contest from 52perfectdays.com offers first place winners a four day trip for two to Oahu! The contest requires you to write up to 1,000 words on what your idea of a perfect day in a National Park, National Monument, Historic place etc. would be like. These places could be in the United States, or Canada. Maybe I should think back on my trip across the United States where I visited places like the Grand Canyon, and Mount Rushmore. Here are a couple of my own personal pictures from that trip.





The deadline for 52perfectdays.com contest is not until October, so there is plenty of time for some road trip writing!!

Maybe you aren't quite ready to enter a contest just yet, because you aren't sure what they are looking for. Reading the essays written by past winners is a great idea to figure out where your writing belongs.

Here is a contest specifically for women, from Wanderlust and Lipstick. The contest is over, but the winners are all listed with links to their winning travel writing. Reading these essays is a great way to find out if this contest is right for you.

Transitions Abroad also has a contest that is already closed, but the winners and their writing is listed for you to read. The site lists winners from past years as well, so there is plenty to read and no excuse not to be familiar with what the judges are looking for.

This last contest could be right up my alley as a blogger. Grantourismo is the blog of Lara Dunston and Terence Carter, a travel writering couple who decided to explore the globe and blog about it. They are staying in homes rather than hotel rooms, and their blog is a really interesting read. The contest is open to any blogger who can share 500 words and a photograph about a destination. The rules and specifics are all located on their blog. Maybe I will have to look into turning my school project into a way to start winning some travel writing contests!


52perfectdays.com., (2010). 2010 travel writing contest. Retrieved from http://www.52perfectdays.com/2010-travel-writing-contest

Dunston, L., & Carter, T. (2010, March 10). Grantourismo travel blogging competition:march. Retrieved from http://grantourismotravels.com/2010/03/10/grantourismo-travel-blogging-competition-march/

Transitions abroad., (2010). Narrative travel writing contest. Retrieved from http://www.transitionsabroad.com/information/writers/travel_writing_contest.shtml

Wanderlust and lipstick., (2010, January 15). Travel writing contest. Retrieved from http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/about-us/contests/wanderwomen-write-contest/

Is video killing the writing star???

I have noticed in my research of travel writing online, that video seems to be taking over. Video blogs, otherwise known as vlogs, and videos posted to travel writing blogs are becoming more and more common. Of course it is a lot of fun to watch a video about a destination, so it is no wonder these are becoming popular. It is a great way to see exactly what the place is like, and to imagine yourself there.

I wonder if videos will soon take over and writing won't be as popular. Watching videos is faster, and shows you the real picture of the place, rather than creating one in your head while reading someone else's words.

GoBackpacking.com has posted links to many videos, including this one on Cuba created a cinematographer named Van Royko.

This video doesn't have any narration at all. Nothing is written except the song that plays along with the video, yet we get a real sense of what life is like in Cuba. Pictures can be wonderful as well, but maybe movies are the next step in really seeing a destination.


Many people are taking their home videos, and turning them into travel vlogs. Travelistic.com has an amazing collection of travel videos from around the world. You can check out a video that someone has posted from a destination that you love, or you can join the fun and upload your own video!

Anyone can post a video, and anyone can comment on them.
Here is a great one posted by nobananas003 all about the Doheny Tide Pools in Dana Point, California.



I just learned about a place I had never even heard of, right here in the U.S. I love traveling the United States, and it is videos like these that show me that I don't have to travel to another country to find interesting places to write about, or to vlog about!

Of course if I do ever travel to other countries, these next videos I found move France to the top of my list.

This site has a very a catchy title: Lost in Francelation . This site seems dedicated to showing France through videos that are created to look more like a TV show than a home video. These videos are narrated, so at least here perhaps something is still being written down!


I hope that videos don't take over the travel writing industry altogether, but I do really enjoy watching them.

To conclude today's post I will leave you with my favorite travel video so far. I found this one on Tripfilms.com. Last year during Spring Break I traveled to Phoenix, Arizona to visit a friend. I wish I would have known about this place, because it seems like a hilarious way to spend an afternoon in Arizona!!

Watch more Picacho videos at tripfilms.com

ealfredo. (2009, December 2). Rooster cogburn ostrich ranch. Retrieved from http://www.tripfilms.com/Travel_Video-v71394-Picacho-Rooster_Cogburn_Ostrich_Ranch-Video.html


France Guide. (2002-2006). Lost in francelation. Retrieved from http://us.franceguide.com/Edito.html?NodeID=152&EditoID=68925

nobananas003. (2007, December 8). Travelistic. Retrieved from http://www.travelistic.com/video/show/7892/Doheny-Tide-Pools

Royko, V. (2010, March 13). Gobackpacking. Retrieved from http://www.gobackpacking.com/Blog/2010/03/13/cuba-video-habana-vieja/

How to get into the business?

So how does one begin to be a travel writer? Besides putting up a blog, there are lots of other options for people who want to become travel writers. Travel Junkie Julie has some great ideas on her blog. Julia is an expert at travel writing, and even hosts a travel show for the National Geographic! Television could be another area for travel writers to look into if they are not afraid of a little fame and fortune. TV shows need writers too, not just hosts. So perhaps writing for a travel TV show would be a fun thing to look into for my next blog!

Julia gives some great tips such as, "write vividly" and "read other travel writers." These are great ideas and I will start to look into finding some more travel writers that I really like to read.

The "Best American" series of books offers a compilation of the year's best American travel writing, which would be a great place to start. 2009's version is available here on Amazon.com.

Travel writing can usually be done from anywhere in the world as long as you have a computer, however some jobs do require relocation. If you love to travel you should be excited and willing to relocate for a job. I decided to look around for companies that are in areas of the world that I would like to work, for example Portland, Oregon.

In Portland I found BootsnAll. They are a company that encourages independent travel. They have opportunities for writers to work for their company in Oregon, or to work online from anywhere in the world.

I loved the humor and conversational tone of the blogs on BootsnAll, such as this article on types of travelers. It showed that travel writing does not have to be serious to still be vivid, engaging, and memorable. Sometimes a little laughter goes a long way!

Julia Dimon also suggests that to be a travel writer we need to "write as much as as often as you can." So for now, maybe just writing about the place you currently live will help to gain experience and practice for a travel writing job. Having something already written is a great idea if you want to start submitting, or applying to places like BootsnAll in the future!


Bootsnall travel network. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.bootsnall.com


Dimon, J. (2010, February 19). Travel junkie julia. Retrieved from http://www.traveljunkiejulia.com/travel-writing-101-how-to-break-into-the-biz/

Winchester, S., & Wilson, J. (2009). The best American travel writing 2009 (Amazon link), Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Best-American-Travel-Writing-2009/dp/0618858660/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268438954&sr=1-4

What makes travel writing good?

So what makes people want to read travel writing? Is it because we wish we were on the trips ourselves? Maybe we don't have the time or the money to go to Africa on Safari, so going along with a writer is the next best thing? Or maybe we like to read about places we are going to visit soon, to get an idea of what to expect? Or we want to remember all of the great things about a trip that we took in the past, so we find a writer who can share those stories with us?

The reason that I love travel writing combines all of these ideas and more. I love to read fiction stories because of their vivid detail and descriptions. I can't get these vivid descriptions about travel without the travel writing genre. Yet some writing that seems to be travel writing, is more like an advertisement than a real piece of writing.

The kind of writing that is usually found in booklets or brouchures about trips is not very vivid at all. For example, this is a website dedicated to trip advice, and information on various destinations. The description of Finger Lakes found on the home page is rather bland.

"Finger Lakes, NY: The Finger Lakes region of New York is a land of stunning scenery including beautiful lakes, rolling hills, spectacular vineyards, and over 1,000 waterfalls. From the award winning wineries - to the relaxing spas - to the world-class museums, the variety of experiences visitors can enjoy throughout the region is impressive."

Ok, so Finger Lakes has a lot to offer, but I still can't see it. I would rather read a paragraph about someone taking an afternoon trip to one of those 1,000 waterfalls, to see what they are like through their eyes.

I looked around online for an example of what I think is "good" travel writing, and I found Chuck Thompson.

Check out the excerpt from his book "Smile When You're Lying". He shows how travel writing can be great, and he also goes on to explain what is wrong with a lot of travel writing today. He gives an example of some writing from Outside magazine, and calls it "chirpy discourse" which is an accurate description in comparison to his dark and humorous writing. He has a sense of humor about his travels, and he really gives the writing a personal voice.

Here Thompson talks about what he thinks is wrong with some travel writing:

"The biggest reason travel writing is dull, as Queenan correctly pointed out, is that most of it is devoid of anything approaching an authentic point of view. On those rare occasions when travel writers are allowed to express an actual opinion, it must be a completely harmless one that's also shared by the travel industry at large. These are usually offered as hard-hitting commentaries describing how “quaint” a hotel room is, how “mind-blowing” a nature park is, or how “mouthwatering” a chef's specialty is. Everything is superlative. Like being a sports fan, one of the best things about being a traveler is complaining about the parts you don't like—hating the Dallas Cowboys not only doesn't make me any less a football fan, it probably makes me a more avid one. This is a concept the travel industry has never embraced."

I agree completely with his assesment. I love travel writers who embrace what they don't like about a destination, or who simply describe the place in a way that shows us what is scary, or unappealing about it. Someone who seems like he is never afraid to say what is on his mind, and describe it in detail is Anthony Bourdain who is a cook, author, and television star.

Here is an example of the way that he describes a trip to Portugal in his book A Cook's Tour on travelling the world to sample the foods from different cultures.

“So it was with a mixture of excitement, curiosity and dread that I woke up on a cold, misty morning in Portugal and looked out the window of my room at orderly rows of leafless grapevines, the fires from distant hearths issuing smoke into a gray sky over the valley. Where I was staying was a bed-and-breakfast, a seventeenth-century quinta (a private home turned country inn) about half a mile from the Meirelles farm. It was set back from a twisting country road, past an arbor, surrounded by fields and orange groves and mountains, looking in every way as it must have four hundred years ago.”

This sounds like the opening lines of a novel. So I think I have figured it out:
It is description, detail, and use of a personal voice that makes a good piece of travel writing worth reading.


Bourdain, A. (2001). A Cooks tour: in search of the perfect meal [pp 19]. (Amazon look inside), Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com


Thompson, C. (2007). Chuck thompson: author of to hellholes and back and smile when you're lying. Retrieved from http://www.chuckthompson.com/excerpt-smile.html


Trip advisor. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.tripadvisor.com/

The journey begins.....

I love to travel. I love adventure and the excitement of the unknown. I need a road trip at least every six months or I start to shake and search my calender for an open weekend like an addict fiending for a fix. I also love to write. I am a senior at Rowan University majoring in Writing Arts. As a senior I am thinking a lot about the future, and where I will be next year. I love to travel so much that I am searching for jobs on the west coast just so that I can ensure a nice long trip across the country. Since traveling and writing are two of my greatest passions in life, I started to wonder if maybe I could combine them into a career.

Through this blog I hope to get an idea of what the travel writing industry is like, and if it might be a path that I could go down in the future.

The first thing I found when I searched around online for travel writing information was this great blog on GoBackpacking.com

This blog seems to be more about promoting travel than travel writing. There is a link to some information on how to make money with a travel blog. This link leads to a newly formed site called Travel Blog Success The site was created by David Lee, the founder of Go Backpacking. I love reading his blogs on the site, and hearing all about his travels. Travel Blog Success is providing a service that claims to help make your travel blog successful and have a bigger readership. This success comes at a price, a total of 87 dollars to be exact. I'm not sure that I would spend that money in this stage of the game to get my blog off the ground. But it is good to know that this service is available. We all think that we can be bloggers with just a keyboard and our imaginations, but to be successful we may need a little help, so it is nice to know that it is out there.
I checked out the contributors to the Go Backpacking site and found this blog, which looks like it would be a lot of fun to read. It seems like today a lot of travel writing is done through blogs and websites, so I wonder if there really is any money in travel writing? Maybe the money comes from the advertising that is found on the blogs?

Well, my search continues. I hope to keep researching and find some tips on how to make travel writing my career!


Alvarez, D.E. (2010, January). Around the world in 340 days. Retrieved from http://www.danielleabroad.com/

Go backpacking. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.gobackpacking.com/Blog/

Lee, David. (2009). Travel blog success. Retrieved from http://travelblogsuccess.com/about/