One common mistake that new travel writers often make when they are just getting started in this business is that they go on a trip and when they come home they write an article about it.
What’s wrong with that?
Notice that I said “AN” article. A lot of new travel writers write “an” article, work very hard to get it published, and then struggle to find things to write about in between trips.
An experienced travel writer knows that from one trip comes many articles.
A really good travel writer can/should/ does write for weeks – sometimes months – from one trip. They know that there are many different angles to every story — many perspectives from which to view their trip.
The key is to expand your travel writing opportunities by expounding on any given facet – a food & wine writer, for example, might write several articles — about the cuisine of the region they visited, reviews of each of the restaurants they ate in, interviews with several of the chefs at those restaurants, reviews of the wines they enjoyed, an article on wine growing in the region, or the history of a particular famous local dish or style of cooking.
A travel writer might choose to focus on a particular event they attended or attraction they visited, an in-depth review of a Spa they enjoyed, a funny story about a specific encounter, or the warmth and hospitality of the people they met. There are literally dozens of travel articles that can come from a short 3 or 4 day trip!
This is where keeping really good notes in a journal comes in handy — not to mention loads of digital photos to capture every memory — and I strongly encourage you to include both a small video camera (like the FLIP Ultra HD) AND a voice recorder (there are many tiny pocket-sized ones that hold a couple of hours of voice-recorded notes) for those times when you don’t want to forget a thought but don’t have your notepad or journal handy. These are the tools of the trade for an experienced travel writer.
When you return home from a trip (or even on the flight home), start jotting down your article ideas – just the topics and titles – and maybe flesh out a few concepts and an outline for each. That way as you focus on one article, you won’t forget all those great ideas you had for other articles. And often as you’re writing one article, it inspires an idea for another! Write down that idea while it’s fresh in your mind.
Some of your articles may be more review (service) oriented, and some may be more narrative. Different publications want different types of articles – spend time reading some of the travel articles that the newspaper, magazine, or website typically publishes so you’ll know what type of article to submit to them.
By taking something small — some single part of your trip — and writing an article just about that, you’ll soon be a prolific travel writer, greatly increasing your chances of getting your articles published in a number of different publications.
About Trisha Miller
Trisha Miller is the Founder and President of Travel Writers Exchange. She is a member of The International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association and TravelWriters.com, and focuses on teaching travel writers and bloggers how to excel in online media markets. In her spare time Trisha writes about travel and technology.
About Travel Writers Exchange
Travel Writers Exchange is a Community for aspiring and experienced Travel Writers, Bloggers, and Journalists. We offer education, inspiration, and motivation, along with resources, advice, tips & tricks, and a Forum for members to communicate and help each other. Our Mission is to help you succeed as a travel writer!