Become A Travel Writer

Have you dreamed of a job that will allow you to travel, be flexible in the hours you work, and bring in some extra money?  A job that doesn't require any specific education or experience and can be learned?

If you answered "YES," then you will want to consider the opportunity to become a travel writer.

What does a travel writer do?  They visit different destinations and write articles about them.  Wow - that's a job???  Well, believe it or not, travel publications will pay you to do some traveling, stay in nice hotels, eat great food, and then write about it for their readers.

What are the Requirements to Become a Travel Writer?

First, let's talk about what you do not need.  You don't need a degree in English or Journalism, nor do you need experience writing.  You do not need a lot of money to get started, you mainly need a computer, or even a pad and pen.  You don't even have to travel at first.  You can write about places or events in your own hometown from a fresh perspective.  

You Do Need:

• A desire to succeed - you need to be willing to work to succeed
• An interest in seeing new places and meeting new people
• An opinion - you need to either recommend a place or not, and give your opinion on what are the best hotels and places to see, etc.
• To be observant - this trait can be learned!
• A willingness to read and research
• A commitment to write - after you do the research and visit your destination, you have to write about it (set aside time to do this) and to meet deadlines of the publication you are writing for
• The willingness to set aside some time each day to write - this will sharpen your skills, even if it's a half hour per day

Successful travel writers have a passion for travel, a good eye for detail and have learned how to deliver a story the way an editor will like it.

So, How Do You Become a Travel Writer?

If this all sounds good to you so far, you are probably anxious to know how YOU can become a travel writer.  You will need some training from a trusted source who knows what they're talking about.

Jennifer Stevens, the author of The Ultimate Travel Writer's Program, was a writer and editor of International Living.  She has done a lot of traveling and has written about the best places for retirement, investment, and overseas travel.

She created this program after she became discouraged at the poor writing that she saw out there.   Being an editor, she looked for strong articles that would engage her readers, but she had a difficult time finding them.

AWAI (American Writers & Artists, Inc.) offers The Ultimate Travel Writer's Program to train you to become a successful travel writer.

I was given a copy of this program to review and it is EXCELLENT training for a prospective travel writer.  Let's look at some of the things you will learn using this program.

• The six essential elements of a good piece.

• Choosing good words to use in your writing and how to write better sentences.

• The use of photos in your article - tips given on taking pictures.

• There is a very interesting chapter on choosing the right words to use in your writing - this will help you in travel writing or any other type of writing.

• Writing winning headlines that will get the editor's attention.

• Importance of Research - before you go, during your trip and after you come home.  You are told how and where to research.

• Different types of travel articles you can write.

• Importance of having a theme to your article.

• How and where to get ideas for articles.

• How to do interviews - all kinds of details are covered, such as what kind of questions to ask, etc.

• On page 32, you will two critical steps to take to get your  story accepted by an editor.

• On page 34, learn ways to boost your income.

You are given many exercises to complete throughout the course so that you have the opportunity to put into action what you are learning. You are also given exercises to do to help you hone your observation skills in your own area.

About one fourth of the way through the program, you are encouraged to write an article of about 250-600 words and submit it to a travel publication.  You do not have to travel to do this exercise.

Two-thirds of the way through this course, you will be writing an actual full-length travel piece.  Don't worry - you are given step-by-step guidance.

 But, as you can see, you are moved right along with practical action steps to  take all along the way.  That is the way to learn - education put into ACTION.

Some additional helps that are given (there are MANY more than these) are:

• A six step formula for effective networking

• Ways to get repeat business - eleven ways are given that will help you make editors happy and keep them coming back to you.

• Ways to break into other writing venues after having done travel writing.

• A nice list of terms is given that travel writers should be familiar with.

***A list is included of markets for freelance travel writers.  You are given the name, address, contact information, the article length requested, and how much they pay for an article.

You are also told how you can get travel writer's perks, a definite bonus to this job.  An entire chapter is devoted to this topic.

When you purchase AWAI's Travel Writing Program, you are also given access to a forum where it is suggested you team up with another member and critique each other's work.

I have only begun to highlight some of the great features of AWAI's Travel Writing Program.   Click the link below to find out more about this incredible program and how YOU CAN BECOME A TRAVEL WRITER!

   Become A Travel Writer!