Resources and Links
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I become a full-time travel writer?
Most travel stories are written by freelance writers — most of whom, if they don’t have day jobs, write a variety of kinds of stories to make a living. Freelancing full-time is hard, and not just from a financial standpoint. Not only do you have to be a strong writer to compete with all the other strong writers out there, but you need a lot of patience, and you’ve got to cope well with rejection, because it’s a big part of the business, particularly starting out.
How about part-time or occasional travel writing?
That’s probably a better way to go — you’ll have more fun if you’re not worrying about making a living at it.
What’s more important in travel writing, the traveling or the writing?
The writing is key. It’s been said that a bad writer can make a great travel experience dull on the page, but a great writer can render even a dull travel experience fascinating. There’s some truth to that.
Do you recommend studying travel writing?
Sure, it can help. There are conventions of the genre to be aware of – even if you ultimately break from them. Studying the structure of travel stories and essays can take at least a little of the trial and error aspect out of learning to write travel stories — though there will still be plenty of trial and error and rewriting. Or at least there should be.
Do you teach travel writing?
I do. In concert with Travel Channel Academy, World Hum has launched two-day workshops on Travel Writing in the Digital Age. The classes offer a serious primer on internet travel writing. Beyond that, I’m on the faculty at the annual Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference in Corte Madera, California — it’s one of the best travel-writing conferences around. In the past, I’ve taught nine-week courses at UCLA and UC San Diego Extension.
Can you recommend any websites with tips or thoughts on travel writing?
Sure. Transitions Abroad’s Travel Writing Portal, Rolf Potts’ interviews with travel writers, World Hum’s Eight Great Stories on the Travel Writing Life, to name a few.
How about books on travel writing?
I particularly like Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Writing, written by Don George, and Michael Shapiro’s A Sense of Place: Great Travel Writers Talk About Their Craft, Lives and Inspiration.
Any general tips on becoming a travel writer?
Write, write, write. Read everything. And keep in mind that very few people make a serious living from travel writing. Don’t set out with that goal in mind. Do it because you enjoy it.
Is it as romantic as it sounds?
Travel writing is great, but like anything else, it has its upsides and downsides, its headaches and challenges. It’s a lot more work than many people imagine.
You’ve traveled a lot. What’s your favorite place?
Tough question. I loved exploring China, and I love Mexico – particularly the interior. Americans take Mexico for granted. It’s a fascinating, wonderful place – and often as confounding to the American mind as the most far-flung corners of Asia.
How do I pitch a story to World Hum?
Study the site, then check out the submissions page, which has instructions.
Do you have a favorite travel quotation? Is it that Mark Twain quote about travel being fatal to prejudice and bigotry and all that?
That’s a great one, but if I had to choose just one, it’d be this one from G.K. Chesterton:
“The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.”
Any travel reading suggestions?
Anything by Pico Iyer, but particularly The Lady and the Monk: Four Seasons in Kyoto; anything by Paul Theroux, including his latest, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star. Peter Hessler, Bill Bryson, Tim Cahill, Ian Buruma, Jeffrey Tayler, Rolf Potts, Catherine Watson, Tom Swick. Non-fiction beyond travel: Anything by Joan Didion and Richard Rodriguez. On Media: Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Gabler’s Life: The Movie.
Interviews, Media Mentions, Etc.
– CNN: Travel mishaps with a silver lining (Sept. 16, 2009)
– Voice of America radio (May 15, 2009)
– The Titanic Awards (May 15, 2009)
– Chicago Tribune on World Hum (April 2008)
– The Globe and Mail (2008)
– Planeta (June 2007)
– Gadling podcast (January 2005)
Photo by Matthew Clark Photography and Design via Flickr, (Creative Commons).