How to Become a Travel Writer

Traveling: it’s the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear the word vacation. And there are many reasons as to why that is; maybe it’s because the prospect of going to beautiful places and staying in classy hotels or on a resort you either have been planning to go to or haven’t been in on a while, or perhaps you relish chances to meet people and appreciate the country’s culture and beauty, or maybe you just enjoy the experience of travel itself as much as the things you’ll do on your destination. Saying yes to one or two of the reasons mentioned above makes you a regular tourist, saying yes to all three shows that you’ve got the basics of how to become a Travel Writer.

Being a travel writer can be a very good thing. You get the benefit of going to beautiful places, staying in classy hotels and sampling the tastes of the country while being paid for it. Interested? But it comes with a dying publication market and other career challenges.

What does a Travel Writer do?

A Travel Writer is a variation of a journalist whose articles focus on Tourism and Travel, hence their namesake. Your classic travel journalist, researches and writes about the best places to go for a vacation; the best activities to do while on that country, the great stuff you’ll find there, the relaxing atmosphere of the place, the easy and relaxing way of transport there and other exhilarating experiences you’ll have when you go there on your next vacation. Their works can either be of a few hundred words which give short descriptions to thousands and thousands, such as a traditional or online travel guide.

Some writers actually are more like travel critics, writing and reviewing specific hotels, experiences, and attractions. There are is also the distinction of “narrative” travel writing, in which the the writer weaves more of a story around the feelings and senses of the experience – like how they felt , and less about specifics – like what scent the hotel shampoo was.

Another distinction in the world of travel writing is employed versus freelance. The majority of travel writers these days are freelance, due to a lack of employers who have budgets and opportunity to employer writer full time. Many travel writers do good business with a full stable of writing clients, and the more successful writers do indeed target a variety of publications, both online and off, to ensure the best opportunity to get their features published. Independent travel writers are often authors of their own travel guides, travel websites, and travel mobile applications for devices like the iPhone.

Employed travel writing positions are hotly sought after positions at prestigious publications like newspapers and traditional magazines. Many of these jobs are called “editors,” and yes, that is a big part of the job, but you’ll also do a lot of writing yourself.

The path on how to become a Travel Writer is not easy, though it may sound simple in concept. First, you have to establish yourself as a Travel Writer by getting a portfolio of published pieces – which at a minimum requires you to setup your own website, but also you may consider writing at outlets for free in order for the exposure and credibility.

Your level of success will depend on 1) how well known your skills are to editors and hiring publications, and 2) how well you learn to craft and submit story pitches to publications. While being a well known journalist helps, you must have the skill of getting a busy editor’s attention with your story idea and securing it.

In a nutshell, no matter whether you’re freelance, employed, a critic, or a narrative travel writer, the basics are the same – the traveling writing part and the selling part. These are just a few of the skills you’ll learn in the award-winning travel writing school; we recommend from Matador, if for nothing else, their great resources.

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How much money does a travel writer make?

A travel writer’s salary largely varies depending on the popularity of the newspaper or the magazine he is affiliated with, how skilled he/she is, and how desirable the piece is – for example, finding a story angle that just isn’t well known (difficult to do), with high resolution photos, can definitely fetch top dollar.

Unknown/unaccomplished travel writers don’t get much. Most publications fall somewhere in the range of $25 to $300 for each article, typically on the lower end of the sale. This is why most travel writers rely on a diversification of income – and a smart writer learns how to craft pitches to basically sell a similar-yet-different story to different outlets, ensuring the maximum income from each of their trips.

For more information on salaries and market information, visit Matador’s travel writing school.

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Why become a Travel Writer?

Travel Writing may not pay much in the beginning and the roads on how to become a travel writer may not be easy, but its perks more than make up for it.

The best of which is that you get to travel to beautiful places and see wondrous sights for absolutely free, all you have to do is write about it and ensure the appropriate coverage; the different tastes of dining and qualities of hotels, the different pleasures of each tourist spots and the different people you get to meet. Another thing is that aside from Travel Writing, you may get inspired to write about other things from your travels, such as a novel for example.

Travel writers often also get VIP and special access to events and attractions, and trips designed to highlight a destination or event to journalists, often called a “press trip” or a “familiarization trip” (or “fam trip” for short).

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Pros and Cons of being a Travel Writer

Travel Writers have many good things going for them, things that most of us would envy them for it. Here is a short list of the pros of being a Travel Writer:

Pros

• Free Travel to beautiful Tourist spots
• The chance to experience dining from hotels and restaurants you might not otherwise afford.
• The chance to experience other cultures of each country
• The change to see your work in prestigious publications

Despite the list above, there are also things that may get you discouraged from being a part of this profession. Here is a short list of the cons of being a Travel Writer

Cons

• It is very hard to establish yourself as a Travel Writer, since editors are often looking at only those with experience.
• The job requires you to be extremely productive, both in terms of your writing but also how you sell it.
• Your salary is extremely low at first, if not non existent. While

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Travel Writer Quotes

Are you ready to become a Travel Writer yet? Here are a list of quotes to ponder for the road:

“In travelling: a man must carry knowledge with him, if he would bring home knowledge.”

—James Boswell

“There are countless ways to approach writing the story of your personal travels to another city or country, and the style you choose will greatly depend on your audience and your intended effect. Before you start retelling the stories of your incredible foreign journeys, consider some of the most common styles of travel narrative, and the effects they have on the reader.” -Andrea Beca

“Travel writing can be a lot of fun. I never would have learned as much as I have about the places I’ve been and the people I have written about if I hadn’t had a reason to really dive in. Travel writing has taken me to places I probably never would have gone: a remote spot in the Sinai, a sadhu’s den in the Himalayas, a mystical mountain sculpture garden in Korea, and every bourbon distillery in Kentucky—to name just a few. The check and the byline may have been the goal, but I always took the trips with the attitude that the money and glory were just the gravy.” -Tim Leffel

Words are the way we complicate the simple. The deepest aspects of life are about wordlessness. Something you can’t articulate. -       Pico Iyer

Pico Iyer on the purpose of travel: Travel is not about collecting passport stamps, but keeping your eyes open.

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Want to learn more?

If you want to learn more about the skills and tricks for becoming a successful travel writer, visit Matador’s travel writing school – it’s online, award winning, and even comes with a great community to get you started.