What I’m Learning about Travel Writing
Freelance, Writing Exercises, and Magazine updates
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated - Confucius
If you’re new here, each month I’m choosing a new lifestyle to pursue (trying to make life interesting). This month (March), I’m learning about travel writing! Catch up on week 1 here.
When I picked travel writing for my March experiment, I had no idea how vast of a topic I was choosing. Honestly, I didn’t put much thought into the choice other than “okay cool, I’ll learn about how to write up my travel experiences.” My main point of reference was the travel blogs I’ve read to find trip inspo and restaurant recommendations.
The more I dig, though, the more I’m reminded that the field goes wayyyy beyond travel how-tos and must-dos (it’s not that I didn’t understand that travel writing is more than that, but when blogs are always front & center, it can be hard to visualize other styles).
Outside of top-10s and hidden gems (lol I know, I know, stop with the low hanging rhymes), we’ve got spiritual awakenings, journals from cycling/walking/hiking/sailing across the globe, in-depth travel journalism (complete with interviews and investigations), history lessons, geography lessons, and travel-inspired fiction writing. The niches know no bounds.
Furthermore, the day-to-day of travel writers appears to be very different from person to person. Some people only write for themselves, whether that’s a blog, a book, other socials, etc. Maybe they live the ex-pat life and write about life in their new city or maybe they just travel frequently enough to have things to say. Other travel writers work freelance and write for magazines. These stories, based on what I’ve read, can stem from press trips (more on this below, I have THOUGHTS), magazine-specific requests, or from personal trips and they cold-pitched the story to a publication. Some people are also full-time employees for a newspaper/magazine.
In my hypothetical world of being a travel writer, I’m more interested in writing for myself; however, I am very curious about the world of freelance and what some of this stuff even means.
(This “stuff?” Oh, I see. You think this has nothing to do with you…in fact you’re vacationing in a city that was selected for you by the people in this room [pause] from a pile of “stuff.”)
What exactly is freelance writing?
I read this incredibly detailed, informative article by Natalie Compton (Continental Breakfast) that explained her journey of freelance writing.
I also read this blog post (Lindy Alexander, The Freelancer’s Year) about some of the unspoken truths of travel writing.
My key takeaways from research and the aforementioned articles:
You can still choose what you write, but make sure people care. You don’t necessarily have to get a topic from a publication, you can find a cool story angle on your own, the key is to write something that other people want to read and publications would be willing to pay for
This doesn’t appear all that different from blog writing. Ideally, people want to read your blog. HOWEVER, I think the main difference is the personal connection. If you build a community around your blog, people begin to care about you as much as the stories, so you might be able to post something on your blog that your readers will love, but people who don’t know you wouldn’t really want to read in some random travel magazine
You have to put in the reps. Write and write some more and send pitches to multiple outlets - especially smaller ones in the beginning! It seems the more bylines you get, the more likely you are to get recognized for bigger and bigger projects.
Which seems logical. Honestly though, I think it would be really cute to see something I write in a local publication. Obviously, a large publication would be an earth-shattering achievement, but idk something about seeing my name in a small magazine is equally as thrilling???
It’s exhausting, but you do see a lot of places. The trade off to seeing the world for work seems to be forfeiting the right to savor experiences. In order to make a trip profitable, freelancers are often cramming as much into a day as they can so they can report on multiple angles.
I’m all for efficiency and, as an activity person, I don’t mind a full schedule; however, sometimes I just want to wander or spend 2 hours at a meal. I don’t know that I would enjoy the time constraints and pressure. Plus, if I don’t get to enjoy where I am, is there still a point in being there?
The income is super variable and uncertain. Sometimes writers get recurring gigs and sometimes they don’t. It seems that rates vary across publishers as well. That’s not to say that it can’t be lucrative, it’s just a more risky position.
I’m not sure my nervous system could handle the uncertainty, but I also realize that nothing in this life truly is a guarantee or a “safe” job.
You might be on the road A LOT. When income is largely based on the number of stories you write, that typically means you need to be on trips frequently to keep your portfolio stacked.
I waffle on how appealing this is to me. On the one hand, I love to explore. On the other, I do love a home base. I like going to my gym and hanging out with friends and being present for big life events. I’m guessing being on the road for a majority of the year would start to take a toll. I used to travel for work quite a bit (corporate setting, not travel industry) and that was exhausting and rather lonely. Even if I’m somewhere beautiful and doing what I enjoy, I imagine those same feelings would eventually creep in.
Press trips are an option to help cover travel expenses. These aren’t always allowed and can be difficult to get.
In my opinionnnn, press trips seem a tad sus. I’m giving them a whole subheading.
What is a Press Trip?
According to various travel blogs, a press trip is an event organized by a tourism board/brand/business/government/etc. that allows journalists/writers/content creators/etc. to visit a particular location (expenses paid) with the expectation the journalists/writers/content creators/etc. will generate content about the location. I found this article that explains a bit more about the types of press trips and how invites work.
As a worker bee, I can absolutely see the appeal of an all-expenses paid trip to an exciting destination, and I’m not judging anyone for wanting to get an invite. The networking, the hopeful paycheck, the ability to see a location that might otherwise be inaccessible to someone who is just starting out, all of these are very legitimate reasons to go on a press trip. (Plus it just sounds so ✨fancy✨)
A big ~however,~ I don’t love the idea of writing a story that is the product of a sponsored trip. Obviously, ethical writers will find a way to remain objective, but I still have a lot of questions. Is the trip organized in a way that lends itself to a particular opinion? How much time do you get to explore your particular area of interest vs time spent on a specific itinerary? If it’s a group trip, how does the group mindset or chemistry impact the result of the trip? Are the planned activities realistic for the average person or do they require special access? Is there any type of contract that stipulates what/how much content you have to produce? On top of that, not all publications will accept articles that come from press trips. So could you give a week of your time to this trip only to have unsellable stories?
Again, I’m just learning about press trips and I’ve never been on one, so I can’t say if they are good or bad. I’m just a little suspicious of the true cost of a free trip. Is it worth it?
Okay, so you did a lot of Research. What about the writing part of this travel writing experiment?
What a journey writing has been this past week, thank you for asking. I’ll admit, I used several forms of procrastination, including the research, but I’m slowly making progress toward my end goal of publishing a lil magazine at the end of the month!
What has that looked like?
A solo dinner date to practice writing about food (a key part of travel)
A second restaurant, this time with a friend, to help gain perspective on what’s interesting/valuable to write about (thinking of actually writing up a “serious” article about this restaurant as practice!!)
I drew a magazine storyboard and picked my topics! I plan to have 3 stories, plus a “letter from the editor” to really dive into why travel means the world to me.
As it turns out, most of what I learned from my month of being a novelist is really helping out with my stories for my magazine. Mostly, I have to write some rough, rough drafts before I can get to anything of substance.
So far, the hardest part of writing for my travel magazine is telling the story in a way that’s meaningful to me but also interesting to the readers. If anyone has any stellar articles they’ve read that would be a good source of inspiration, please drop those links in the comments!
That’s all for this week - more to come from Silver-Studded Blue on Friday from the Flutter Report 🦋
If you’re considering trying something new, let this be your sign! You don’t have to wait for an external opportunity to present itself, you can create your own opportunity. We have the power to explore what makes us happy!