My friends — many of whom work in offices, cubicles, courthouses, newsrooms, and under-funded non-profits — wonder aloud whether travel writing really is a job or simply an excuse I use to get out of town. I would argue that it is indeed a job — albeit a supremely enjoyable one.

Don’t get me wrong, as a travel writer you will spend some hours with your bum in a chair and your hands on a keyboard. But in my book, of all the kinds of writing you can do — fiction writing, academic writing, marketing writing, technical writing, and so on — travel writing is the most fun… and the most rewarding in terms of the quality of life it helps provide.

Here are a few reasons why…

An Excuse to Travel… and to Justify Your Travel

Perhaps you already took a long vacation this year. You might find it hard to explain to that voice in your head — the one that monitors your bank account — that you’re going to take another. But if you can make enough money selling a story about your trip to cover its cost… or at least defray, say, the cost of the airfare… well, then, that is not such a bad arrangement.

Take my freelancing friend Susan Doub: She and her husband spent a week on a boat in the waters off Belize, diving twice a day, sunning on the deck, eating meals prepared by the boat’s gourmet chef, and enjoying the company of a handful of fellow scuba diving enthusiasts. Before she booked the trip, she approached the company that runs the program and was able — as a travel writer — to arrange a discounted rate for the all- inclusive vacation. And then, when she returned home, she sold an article about it and made a few hundred dollars to help cover her costs.

Once you have some track record as a travel writer — a few published stories to your name — you’ll be able to do the same sort of thing. Plus you may be able to take deductions on your taxes for the “business expenses” associated with your travel and writing.

Hospitality, VIP Treatment and Complimentary Trips (Here’s How the System Works)

Let me take a minute here to discuss why — and how — travel writers are able to take advantage of complimentary trips… meals… accommodation… tickets to shows… invitations to museum openings, and more.

It works, because one of the ways travel-related businesses advertise is by inviting travel writers to experience (for free) what they have to offer — maybe a tour, cruise, special event, or resort package — in hopes that you’ll have positive experiences and write favorable articles in magazines, newspapers, newsletters, or online.

The more articles written about a place, the rationale goes, the more tourists will go there.

And more tourists mean more money.

As you begin to get articles published and your name becomes known in the business, you’ll start to receive offers of hospitality. What’s more, as I mentioned earlier, you’ll be in a strong position to arrange your own, reduced-rate or complimentary stays and tailor what you do and see to an itinerary that suits your article ideas perfectly.

Traveling Becomes a Richer, More Interesting Experience

Travel writing is, after all, about more than just the freebies. It’s also about seeing the world in a new way. Travel writing demands you pay greater attention to where you are than you might if you were just passing through as a tourist. You must train yourself to notice the smells, the sounds, the tastes, the cultural differences… what people are wearing and what they’re talking about.

To me, it’s this meeting people and this uncovering of the universal truths and fundamental differences about destinations the world over that gives life its greatest texture and interest.

An Expressive Outlet for Your Thoughts, Interests and Opinions

You may dream about doing another kind of writing — of penning a novel or of writing a screenplay. Do it… but understand that kind of project requires a long-term investment in time and creative energy.

Travel writing is a way to begin writing, a way to get into the habit of writing.

And it — like fiction-writing and other genres — requires your thoughtful analysis, your opinions, your creativity. And so by writing travel articles you’re helping to make a habit of the same kinds of skills you’ll employ in those other kinds of writing, too.

But travel writing, unlike those other kinds of writing, is more immediately rewarding. You begin a project, you write your article, you sell your article, and there, in your hands, is a published piece of your work with your name on it.

And that, as any published writer will tell you, is greatly satisfying. A friend of mine writes user-manuals for Microsoft. Another writes project proposals for a company that runs lotteries for states and countries. I have many friends who write marketing copy (and I, too, spend many hours a week doing this kind of writing).

But I can tell you that in terms of gaining that feeling of satisfaction, of success, of a job well done… travel writing wins. And, as I’ve said, the perks like free travel, seeing the world in a richer way and working for yourself come with their own set of rewards…

In Fact, You Don’t Actually Have to Travel at All

As a travel writer, you don’t even have to travel. You might argue that this is not a benefit…

but I think it is. Travel writing is something you can do from home… because your home is a destination for other people.

Just as travel writing allows you to discover new places you wouldn’t find as a tourist, it can also allow you to discover your own hometown and places nearby in a way you don’t habitually do as a local. You go out in search of activities travelers would enjoy. You make a point of going to see that visiting exhibit at your local museum.

And just as coming to understand faraway places makes your life that much richer, having that same insider’s understanding of your own home environment makes your everyday life more interesting and more satisfying as well.

By now, you know all about the romantic appeal of travel writing. You understand the benefits it offers — the VIP travel, the opportunity to meet new people, the chance to see the world in a whole new way… and the pleasure in doing all of that and getting paid for it, too.

Perhaps there’s one question nagging at you, though: Do you really have what it takes to make a go of it in this business? If that’s your worry, you’re in good company. It’s what most readers ask at this point.

My answer: I’m willing to bet you do.

You see, over the years, I’ve enjoyed a fair margin of success as a travel writer and editor, and I’ve worked personally with hundreds of writers — lots of them new to the job. I’ve developed a pretty good idea — based on practical experience — about what it takes to “make it” in this field.

Many of the most successful writers I’ve worked with never had any formal training as “writers” per se. They didn’t have degrees in journalism or in English, nor did they write in some other field in their day-to-day lives. They simply enjoyed a passion for travel, had a good eye for detail, and had learned how to deliver a story just the way an editor would want it.

A couple of years back, I surveyed the attendees at one of Great Escape’s live travel writer workshops to find out what the participants did in their “other” lives, when they weren’t learning to be travel writers. Their backgrounds ran the gamut: travel agent… financial consultant… freelance photographer… television executive… stay-at-home mom… architect… accounting professor… retired elementary-school teacher… newspaper columnist… painter… retired surgeon… real estate developer… acupuncturist… even a college president…

The list goes on. But my point is this: Just as they’ve become successful, so can you.

Requirement 1: You Need a Desire to Succeed

This desire — coupled with a willingness to do some work (though it’s hardly back-breaking labor) — is the main ingredient you need if you want to be a successful, moneymaking travel writer.

What else?

Requirement 2: You Need an Interest in Seeing New Places and Meeting New People

To be a successful travel writer, you have to be curious about the world — both near and far — and the people who inhabit it. You have to dream of walking the back streets of Yokohama in search of the world’s best sashimi… or of playing darts with the local champion in some little pub in Limerick… maybe of riding a camel to see, first-hand, the tomb of Tutankhamen…

And certainly now as you’re starting out, you should be curious about what’s around you at home. Strike up a conversation with the local merchants in your town’s farmers’ market… or knock on the door at that new B&B in town and introduce yourself…

You have to enjoy meeting new people — might be dignitaries, might be flower-sellers on the street — and speaking with them about their view of the world, what interests them, what they think of the place where they live. (I should say, by way of caveat: You don’t have to be the most outgoing person on earth to do this. You’d be surprised at how liberating that little reporter’s notebook can be.)

Requirement 3: You Have to Be Opinionated

Now, don’t take this the wrong way. Often “being opinionated” carries a negative connotation. Who wants to be around somebody who always has something to say about this or that?

But in the context of travel writing — or just about any writing, for that matter — being “opinionated” is a strength. You need to make judgment calls about all sorts of things — which hotel is better, how one beach compares to another, why this place would make a good destination for a family of travelers or why it would not. And you can’t do that without opinions.

Your job as a travel writer is, in large part, to persuade people to believe in your point of view. If you visit Madagascar and love it, you want that love to shine through in your writing. You want to persuade your readers that they’d love it as well. If, on the other hand, you visit some tourist trap that’s not worth going to, you want to use the power of your words to get that message across to your readers.

To do that, you simply can’t operate without opinions.

The fact is: When you write a travel article, you’re “selling” your ideas, convincing the reader that your opinions are valid and worth acting on. Now, you may resist this idea that travel writing is about “selling” anything. Perhaps you have no interest in being a “salesperson.” But before you close this text with a scowl, ask yourself a few questions:

• Do you like to convince people that your point of view is right? (Doesn’t everybody?)
• Do you like to have your own way? (Of course you do.)
• Have you ever convinced your spouse (or a friend) to go to a movie you wanted to see? (Surely you have.)
• Have you ever gotten anyone to do you a favor? (Don’t try to deny it.)

If you answered those questions as I suspect you did, then you’re both opinionated enough and enough of a salesperson to serve our purposes here.

Requirement 4: You Must Be Observant

So far, we’ve been talking about traits you almost certainly already have — your interest in meeting new people, seeing new places, traveling well… your desire to succeed and willingness to work for that success… and so on. Now we’re talking about a skill you may have to learn to develop: You need to be observant.

The good news for you is that this skill is easily learned and practiced. It’s really a matter of looking, listening, feeling, tasting, and smelling in a new way. And once you train yourself to be observant, you’ll find yourself doing these things as a matter of course, without even thinking about it. (In fact, in some instances, you’ll have to remind yourself to “turn off” your writer’s “eye”… to stop being so observant to more fully be a part of what’s going on around you.)

Requirement 5: You Need to Be Willing to Read and Do Research

If you want to persuade somebody to do something — even if it’s something as fun as visiting Cancun or going on a ski trip to the Swiss Alps — you need to know what you’re talking about. That’s because there’s nothing that makes you seem better informed or more persuasive than detailed knowledge.

This means that as a travel writer you have to do some research before you leave home, while you’re on the road and possibly, too, when you come home. I’m not talking about painfully hard work — not the kind of research you might have done for a college paper. But beforehand, for instance, you need to be willing to spend some time online or at your local library learning a bit about this place you’re going to visit… even if it’s right there in the city you’ve been living in for years.

Requirement 6: You Must Make a Commitment to Put Words on Paper

The best way to become a writer is to write.

That sounds like a cliché — but it’s true. It’s also true that many would-be travel writers never get out of the starting gate. They go on trips, they do research, and they may even get assignments. But they never actually get around to writing. In fact, a certain percentage of members enrolled in The Ultimate Travel Writer’s Program never bother to do their assignments.

These people never realize their full potential — either because they don’t have the commitment to write as much as they might, or because they don’t have the discipline it takes to write when they need to meet their deadlines.

Writing… it can be challenging, certainly, but it’s hardly arduous labor. Coal mining, logging, doing construction… now that’s hard work. In truth, writing can be a wholly satisfying exercise. So sit down every day — even if only for 20 minutes — turn your computer on, put your hands on the keyboard and write something — anything. The blank page becomes less intimidating the more times you stare it down.

I suggest you begin by writing about someplace near you. When you write about things and places you know in your hometown — attractions, events, galleries, parks, hotels, restaurants, travel-related services — you can be sure that you’re picking places worth writing about. (Sometimes it can be hard to tell when you’re visiting a place for the first time.)

That makes your hometown a smart place to start when you’re gearing up to sell travel articles, because you don’t have to second-guess yourself. After all, you’re going to know your own backyard better than a visitor who merely spent a few hours poking around.

Writing about what’s around you can give you an edge when you’re approaching publications because it allows you to position yourself as an expert of sorts. Editors appreciate that. And they like to print stories from locals who are “in the know.”

It can have its perks locally, too…

Make sure you’ve introduced yourself to the public relations folks at your local tourist board, chamber of commerce, zoo, museum, and so on. And be sure your name is on their press-release lists (just ask to be added — they’ll do so gladly). Establish yourself as a writer in town, and these folks will keep you in mind when they’re getting ready to promote something new. You may even get invited to the opening. Nice perk.

But beyond that, when you’re a local writer, these folks will think of you as a resource. Editors at magazines regularly call tourist boards to ask, “Do you know a good local writer?” And you just might be the one whose name gets passed along. You can’t underestimate the power of a recommendation like that.

It happened to me recently. An airline that hasn’t flown here before is starting service to and from my local airport. The editor of that airline’s inflight magazine called my local tourist board to ask if anyone there knew a local writer. They did. Me. And I got the assignment. No work required.

The same thing happens when you write for local publications. Editors call editors. Say you wrote a piece for your hometown paper. Not long after, an editor at a publication one state over decides he wants to cover your town. He doesn’t have a staff writer to do it, so he gets on the phone with the editor who bought your story and says, “Hey, do you know a reliable freelancer who writes well?” That person could be you.

Don’t assume you have to get on a plane to write a travel piece. Your best subject matter might be sitting five minutes from your front door.

Now, how to begin? It’s easy. You begin exactly the same way you’d begin any writing project.

1. Find a subject. The best ideas are unique, specific, and targeted to a particular audience (more on this later). So don’t set out today to write the definitive article about your hometown. Instead, think smaller. Is there a museum you might focus on? Or a nature center? Or a B&B? Or a festival?

2. Plan to write a short piece. By that, I mean a manageable article of 100-500 words.

3. Keep a particular audience in mind as you research and write. Keep asking yourself, “Who would be interested in this? And what would she want and need to know?” Let the answers to those questions decide what you put in — and what you leave out of — your story.

4. Plan to write more than one story about your visit. Gather lots of information. Find out if anything special is taking place during your visit or at another time. Any good fairs or festivals? You might not use the information for the piece you’re working on, but it may be useful for another article about it.

5. Do some research ahead of time about where to go and what to see. Of course, you don’t have to stick rigidly to your plan, but nothing beats good preparation.

6. Look beyond the obvious. Are there interesting snippets of history associated with your topic? Does a member of the staff have an unusual story to share? Looking beyond the “surface” will often make for the most interesting stories.

Here are a couple stories from our members making this work for them...