JimBenning.Net

Travel Writing in the Digital Age – 2010 Workshops

Jim Benning — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:27:11 +0000

We’ve posted half a dozen 2010 weekend dates for our Travel Writing in the Digital Age classes, which cover travel writing, travel blogging, audio slideshow production and using social media. They all take place at Travel Channel headquarters in Washington, D.C. Find more details, registration information and student testimonials here.

Travel Writing in the Digital Age

Jim Benning — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:39:12 +0000

I’m excited to announce the creation of new two-day workshops on Travel Writing in the Digital Age, presented by World Hum and Travel Channel Academy. Few classes these days thoroughly address how travel writing has changed and evolved with the internet. That’s why Michael Yessis and I created this course: to bring much of what we’ve learned in editing and producing World Hum over the years to aspiring travel writers, as well as writers seeking a serious primer on travel writing and the internet.

We cover how to turn travel tales into compelling stories and essays suitable for publication; how to create and write an evocative travel blog (and keep it going after a trip); and how to produce a dynamic audio slideshow that combines photography and voice-over audio storytelling. We also address how to use social media to help establish oneself as a travel writer and find a voice in the vibrant digital travel writing community.

Enrollment is open now for classes in November and December at Travel Channel headquarters in Washington, D.C. Michael and I have both taught travel writing at UCLA Extension (and I’ve taught it in several other locales), and we’ll be leading the courses. We’ll be adding more dates and locations in 2010. Registration and additional information can be found here.

Starbucks vs. the Traveler

Jim Benning — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:57:52 +0000

Photos by Jim Benning, except: Shanghai Starbucks photo by c a m i l o via Flickr, (Creative Commons); Starbucks Seoul, Korea by jared via Flickr, (Creative Commons); Starbucks Italy by miss karen via Flickr, (Creative Commons); Starbucks Beijing by granth via Flickr, (Creative Commons); Starbucks London by marktollerman via Flickr, (Creative Commons); Starbucks overflowing mug by MyLifeStory via Flickr, (Creative Commons); Starbucks Dubai by Marc van der Chijs via Flickr, (Creative Commons); Mexico highway by Erick Muñiz via Flickr, (Creative Commons); Forbidden City Starbucks by d’n'c via Flickr, (Creative Commons); Tokyo Starbucks by nimbu via Flickr, (Creative Commons); Kyoto Starbucks by MShades via Flickr, (Creative Commons; Frankfurt Starbucks by re-ality via Flickr, (Creative Commons); Tijuana crumbling building by eschipul via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

Window or Aisle Seat?

Jim Benning — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:59:25 +0000

Robert Reid put the question to a few of us on the travel blogging panel at Blog World Expo in Las Vegas:

Make Guacamole, Not War

Jim Benning — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:16:50 +0000

Does travel make us wiser but less happy, as Thomas Jefferson famously suggested in a letter to a friend?

I consider the question in a short piece on the escalating drug war in Michoacán and my own memories of traveling through the Mexican state, which also happens to be home to the largest avocado-producing region in the world.

The piece appears on World Hum and was also recently published on the Huffington Post.

TV Interview: Shrinking Planet Wonders

Jim Benning — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:18:10 +0000

Live interview with Canada’s CBC News from 2007 about World Hum’s Seven Wonders of the Shrinking Planet.

Jim Benning: Seven Wonders of the Shrinking Planet from Jim Benning on Vimeo.

Travel Channel: ‘25 Mind-Blowing Escapes’

Jim Benning — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:15:26 +0000

Featured with other travel writers on Travel Channel’s “25 Mind-Blowing Escapes”:

Travel Channel’s 25 Mind-Blowing Escapes from Jim Benning on Vimeo.

Talking Travel Writing This Summer

Jim Benning — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:52:51 +0000

I’ll be teaching a couple of travel writing classes in the coming months, beginning with a three-hour workshop called Writing the Personal Travel Essay Saturday, June 20 at San Diego Writers Ink. I’ve taught a few classes there at their downtown loft and it’s always a lot of fun, with a good turnout of ambitious and thoughtful writers.

In August, I’ll be returning to the annual Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference in Corte Madera, just north of San Francisco, to teach a three-day class on travel writing and the internet. Organized by Don George of Lonely Planet and Salon fame, the conference draws a great mix of students from around the country, and the faculty is the best you’ll find anywhere. Feel free to drop me an email with questions about either of these.

Photo of Sausalito marina by wili_hybrid via Flickr, (Creative Commons).