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Travel Writing beckons us to leap into the unknown!
Travel writing tells us to buy that plane ticket, jump on that train, or gas up the car to chase after the dream of earning a living writing about the many incredible places you find when you step outside your front door. But all dreams require a little forethought.
The Annual Kite Festival in Rockaway Beach, OR is an exciting spectacle of high-flying kites, handled by masterful kite operators. -Dena
Here are our top tips for how to hit it out of the park with travel writing and make your journey compelling!
Getting the Story
1. Find the Story
Just like it is with all writing meant to sell, writers must stay abreast of trends to ensure their work is marketable.
Online and print travel magazines are a good place to start. Day trips are always a hot topic, and you can follow local and regional periodicals to stay up to date on what’s new in your area. A general periodical focused on travel will provide you with a wider view of interesting places to explore.
Travel associations and travel and tourism offices are a treasure chest for travel writers! Their representatives work hard to steer you in directions that are timely, interesting, and full of possibilities for a great article. Cultivating these relationships will reward you with insider information, guided press tours, and future writing opportunities.
Remember to reach out to your Circle of Influence, too! Reaching out to your traveling friends and associates to find the places they are most interested in will also give you valuable insight. Where do they want to go? How will they spend their time when they get there? What questions do they have that you can find the answers for? The answers to these questions will be a catalyst for a compelling article that reaches the right readers.
Finally, you’ll want to consider your own interests when looking for your next travel story. Think about what you enjoy when you travel, and contact those groups directly to find out what is new and exciting so you can help promote it for them. If the relationship goes well, they may come to know you as a dependable writer and eventually reach out to you with story ideas!
One of the most delicious burgers in the Pacific Northwest is found at Mock Crest Tavern in North Portland, OR. Juicy and flavorful! – Dena
2. Research
Good research will help you find an interesting angle for your article and lead you to those bits of lesser known information that will elevate your article above the others focusing on the same topic.
Gather the information given to you by the tourism associations and other groups, then do a little research on your own to find interesting details to give your story a unique spin. For example, if you are writing about the best hiking boots to wear on extreme hikes, find out who the designers are and what makes them experts in hiking footwear. By doing this you’ll be telling readers of your articles you are an authority on travel topics they are interested in.
Beautiful glass art fills Robert Adamson’s Island Art Glass Studio on Whidbey Island, WA. I visited while on a press tour for the Whidbey Island Arts Council and found the many colors mesmerizing. And watching his artists work in their glass blowing shop was a special treat! – Dena
3. Get the Inside Scoop
People love hearing from the locals, and locals love telling people about places and events they love near their home.
Adding quotes from people who are involved in events or owners of restaurants, hotels, or activities will provide depth, color, and validity to your article. Convey their enthusiasm for their events/activities and let the reader feel it through compelling writing.
Not only will you be creating a great article with quotes, readers will be given an insider’s view into the experience as they learn the basic information that will enable them to book their next big adventure! Get out your old journalism notes to get the “who, what, why, where, and when” information to fill in your article and up the value of the content, then find one or two quotes that will add interest to your article, and be sure to cite the person if required.
Tillamook, OR’s annual “Pig and Ford” races have been a fan favorite since 1923. Drivers must stop in the middle of the race to catch a pig and take him for a ride. It’s a wild and thrilling event! – Dena
4. A Personal Perspective
It’s time to put yourself into the writing!
What was your experience like? Seek out those special moments that really connected with you and tell them as if you were talking to a friend who is about to visit the same place. Use your five senses to infuse your article with compelling, sentient writing the reader can connect with and feel confident they understand what you’ve experienced. Keep in mind, you want to be honest in your writing, and keep negativity out if you want to be invited back for future writing gigs.
I ran across the street band playing at Portland, OR’s Skidmore Fountain. Their music made me think of Appalachian music from the past. – Dena
Travel writing is an exciting adventure, both on the road and on the page! Starting off right with these tips in mind will help you get the story, write an interesting article, and get noticed by the people who need good writers to get the word out to support their local tourism. Whether you travel across the world or down the block, you’ll find endless amounts of inspiration for your travel writing adventure.
Interested in travel writing? Here are just a few great authors writing about their adventures!
Explore Europe on Foot
By Cassandra Overby
In Cassandra Overby’s encyclopedic guide Explore Europe On Foot, readers are taken through a step-by-step process of dreaming, planning, and hopefully soon experiencing memorable, slow travel ventures of a lifetime. Whether it’s choosing a route and destination, deciding what to pack, finding appropriate accommodations and food options, or dealing with inevitable challenges, Overby supplies a world of information in this colossal foot travelers’ bible.
Square Up: 50,000 Miles in Search of a Way Home
By Lisa Dailey
Although she and her husband had planned to take their family on a ’round-the-world adventure, she didn’t expect their plans to come together on the heels of grief, after losing seven family members in five years. Square Up shows us that travel not only helps us understand and appreciate other cultures, but invites us to find compassion and wisdom, heal from our losses, and discover our capacity for forgiveness, as well as joy.
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