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
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