travel writer meaning

What does a travel writer do?

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What is a Travel Writer?

A travel writer is a writer who specializes in documenting their travel experiences, providing insights into the places they visit, and sharing recommendations for other travelers. Their job is to create compelling narratives and stories about their travels, including descriptions of the people, culture, and geography of the places they visit. Travel writers often work for newspapers, magazines, and travel websites, and they may also write books or blogs about their experiences. They may travel to destinations across the world, from major cities to remote locations, and may have expertise in specific areas or types of travel, such as adventure travel or luxury travel.

To be a successful travel writer, one needs to have excellent writing skills, the ability to capture the essence of a place, and a passion for travel. They must be able to convey their experiences and observations in a way that engages and inspires readers, and they should have a keen eye for detail, as well as the ability to research and fact-check information. Travel writers may also need to have photography or videography skills to capture the visual aspects of their travels.

What does a Travel Writer do?

Travel writers play a vital role in shaping our understanding of the world and its diverse cultures. Through their writings, they offer a window into the unique experiences and perspectives of different people and places, helping us to broaden our horizons and expand our knowledge. They not only provide practical information about destinations but also capture the essence of a place, its people, history, and culture, making us feel as if we have been there ourselves.

Duties and Responsibilities The duties and responsibilities of travel writers can vary depending on the specific role and employer. However, some common duties and responsibilities of travel writers include:

• Researching and exploring destinations: Travel writers need to conduct extensive research before visiting a destination. They need to know the history, culture, and attractions of the place they're writing about, as well as practical information like transportation options, accommodation, and safety considerations. Once they arrive, travel writers may visit museums, galleries, historical sites, and other tourist attractions. They may also attend local events, try local foods, and interact with locals to get a better sense of the destination.
• Writing engaging and informative content: Travel writers need to write engaging and informative content that captures the attention of their audience. They need to be able to convey the sights, sounds, and feelings of a destination, and make readers feel like they're actually there. Travel writers need to be skilled in storytelling, using vivid descriptions, and painting a picture with words.
• Developing story ideas: Travel writers need to come up with fresh and interesting story ideas that will appeal to their audience. They may draw inspiration from their own experiences, or from trends in the travel industry. They need to be able to identify unique angles and highlight lesser-known attractions or hidden gems.
• Taking photographs and videos: Travel writers may be required to take photographs and videos to accompany their written content. They need to have a good eye for composition, lighting, and framing. They may also need to edit their photos and videos using software like Adobe Photoshop or Final Cut Pro.
• Editing and proofreading: Travel writers need to be skilled in editing and proofreading their own work. They need to check for accuracy, clarity, and consistency, as well as correct any spelling or grammatical errors.
• Meeting deadlines: Travel writers need to be able to work to tight deadlines, as they may be working on multiple projects at once. They need to be organized and able to manage their time effectively to ensure they deliver high-quality content on time.
• Networking and building relationships: Travel writers need to network and build relationships with other writers, editors, and industry professionals. This can help them stay up to date with trends and opportunities, as well as get their work published in reputable publications.
• Adhering to ethical standards: Travel writers need to adhere to ethical standards when writing about destinations. This includes being honest and truthful in their writing, respecting local customs and traditions, and avoiding any conflicts of interest or biased reporting.

Types of Travel Writers There are various types of travel writers, each with their own specific focus and area of expertise. Here are some common types of travel writers:

• Destination-Focused Writers: These writers specialize in writing about specific destinations, such as countries, cities, or regions. They may provide practical information like transportation options and accommodation, as well as highlight attractions, events, and local culture.
• Adventure and Outdoor Writers: These writers focus on outdoor activities like hiking, camping, and skiing. They may write about their own experiences or provide advice and tips for readers interested in outdoor adventure.
• Food and Drink Travel Writers: These writers specialize in writing about food and drink in various parts of the world, highlighting local cuisine and beverages. They may recommend restaurants, cafes, and bars, as well as provide recipes and cooking tips.
• Luxury Travel Writers: These writers focus on high-end travel experiences like five-star hotels, luxury cruises, and private tours. They may provide recommendations for luxury travel destinations and experiences, as well as tips for travelers looking to splurge on their next vacation.
• Budget Travel Writers: These writers focus on budget-friendly travel options, providing advice on how to travel on a budget and still have an enjoyable experience. They may recommend budget-friendly destinations and accommodations, as well as provide tips on how to save money on transportation, food, and attractions.
• Family Travel Writers: These writers focus on family-friendly travel experiences, providing advice and recommendations for families traveling with children. They may highlight family-friendly destinations, accommodations, and attractions, as well as provide tips on traveling with children.
• Cultural and Historical Writers: These writers focus on cultural and historical attractions, highlighting museums, historical sites, and cultural events. They may provide insights into local customs and traditions, as well as provide recommendations for cultural and historical destinations.

What is the workplace of a Travel Writer like?

The workplace of a travel writer can vary greatly depending on the specific writer's job requirements. Travel writers may work remotely, traveling to various destinations to conduct research and write about their experiences. This can involve working from coffee shops, airports, hotels, and other public spaces as they gather information and write their stories.

Many travel writers also work for media outlets, such as magazines, newspapers, or websites, and may have a more traditional office setting. They may work in a newsroom or at home, researching and writing stories that meet the requirements of their employer's editorial style.

Some travel writers are self-employed and work as freelancers. They may have a home office or co-working space, where they can work on multiple projects for different clients. Freelance travel writers need to be able to manage their time effectively, as they may have multiple deadlines to meet.

Regardless of their work setting, travel writers need to have access to a computer, reliable internet connection, and other tools necessary to conduct research and write their stories. They may also need equipment like cameras or video cameras to capture images and footage of their travel experiences.

Travel writers may also attend industry events and conferences, such as travel trade shows and tourism boards' events, to network with other professionals and learn about new travel trends and opportunities. These events can take place all over the world, and travel writers may need to travel to attend them.

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Travel Writers are also known as: Travel Journalist

What You Should Know About Travel Writing

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• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
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Travel writing is a form of creative nonfiction in which the narrator's encounters with foreign places serve as the dominant subject. Also called  travel literature .

"All travel writing—because it is writing—is made in the sense of being constructed, says Peter Hulme, "but travel writing cannot be made up without losing its designation" (quoted by Tim Youngs in  The Cambridge Introduction to Travel Writing , 2013).

Notable contemporary travel writers in English include Paul Theroux, Susan Orlean, Bill Bryson , Pico Iyer, Rory MacLean, Mary Morris, Dennison Berwick, Jan Morris, Tony Horwitz, Jeffrey Tayler, and Tom Miller, among countless others.

Examples of Travel Writing

• "By the Railway Side" by Alice Meynell
• Lists and Anaphora in Bill Bryson's "Neither Here Nor There"
• Lists in William Least Heat-Moon's Place Description
• "London From a Distance" by Ford Madox Ford
• "Niagara Falls" by Rupert Brooke
• "Nights in London" by Thomas Burke
• "Of Trave," by Francis Bacon
• "Of Travel" by Owen Felltham
• "Rochester" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Observations About Travel Writing

Authors, journalists, and others have attempted to describe travel writing, which is more difficult to do than you might think. However, these excerpts explain that travel writing—at a minimum—requires a sense of curiosity, awareness, and fun.

Thomas Swick

• "The best writers in the field [of travel writing] bring to it an indefatigable curiosity, a fierce intelligence that enables them to interpret, and a generous heart that allows them to connect. Without resorting to invention , they make ample use of their imaginations. . . . "The travel book itself has a similar grab bag quality. It incorporates the characters and plot line of a novel, the descriptive power of poetry, the substance of a history lesson, the discursiveness of an essay , and the—often inadvertent—self-revelation of a memoir . It revels in the particular while occasionally illuminating the universal. It colors and shapes and fills in gaps. Because it results from displacement, it is frequently funny. It takes readers for a spin (and shows them, usually, how lucky they are). It humanizes the alien. More often than not it celebrates the unsung. It uncovers truths that are stranger than fiction. It gives eyewitness proof of life’s infinite possibilities." ("Not a Tourist." The Wilson Quarterly , Winter 2010)

Casey Blanton

• "There exists at the center of travel books like [Graham] Greene's Journey Without Maps or [V.S.] Naipaul's An Area of Darkness a mediating consciousness that monitors the journey, judges, thinks, confesses, changes, and even grows. This narrator , so central to what we have come to expect in modern travel writing , is a relatively new ingredient in travel literature, but it is one that irrevocably changed the genre . . . . "Freed from strictly chronological , fact-driven narratives , nearly all contemporary travel writers include their own dreams and memories of childhood as well as chunks of historical data and synopses of other travel books. Self reflexivity and instability, both as theme and style , offer the writer a way to show the effects of his or her own presence in a foreign country and to expose the arbitrariness of truth and the absence of norms." ( Travel Writing: The Self and the World . Routledge, 2002)

Frances Mayes

• "Some travel writers can become serious to the point of lapsing into good ol' American puritanism. . . . What nonsense! I have traveled much in Concord. Good travel writing can be as much about having a good time as about eating grubs and chasing drug lords. . . . [T]ravel is for learning, for fun, for escape, for personal quests, for challenge, for exploration, for opening the imagination to other lives and languages." (Introduction to The Best American Travel Writing 2002 . Houghton, 2002)

Travel Writers on Travel Writing

In the past, travel writing was considered to be nothing more than the detailing of specific routes to various destinations. Today, however, travel writing has become much more. Read on to find out what famous travel writers such as V.S. Naipaul and Paul Theroux say about the profession.

V.S. Naipaul

• "My books have to be called ' travel writing ,' but that can be misleading because in the old days travel writing was essentially done by men describing the routes they were taking. . . . What I do is quite different. I travel on a theme . I travel to make an inquiry. I am not a journalist. I am taking with me the gifts of sympathy, observation, and curiosity that I developed as an imaginative writer. The books I write now, these inquiries, are really constructed narratives." (Interview with Ahmed Rashid, "Death of the Novel." The Observer , Feb. 25, 1996)

Paul Theroux

• - "Most travel narratives—perhaps all of them, the classics anyway—describe the miseries and splendors of going from one remote place to another. The quest, the getting there, the difficulty of the road is the story; the journey, not the arrival, matters, and most of the time the traveler—the traveler’s mood, especially—is the subject of the whole business. I have made a career out of this sort of slogging and self-portraiture, travel writing as diffused autobiography ; and so have many others in the old, laborious look-at-me way that informs travel writing ." (Paul Theroux, "The Soul of the South." Smithsonian Magazine , July-August 2014) - "Most visitors to coastal Maine know it in the summer. In the nature of visitation, people show up in the season. The snow and ice are a bleak memory now on the long warm days of early summer, but it seems to me that to understand a place best, the visitor needs to see figures in a landscape in all seasons. Maine is a joy in the summer. But the soul of Maine is more apparent in the winter. You see that the population is actually quite small, the roads are empty, some of the restaurants are closed, the houses of the summer people are dark, their driveways unplowed. But Maine out of season is unmistakably a great destination: hospitable, good-humored, plenty of elbow room, short days, dark nights of crackling ice crystals. "Winter is a season of recovery and preparation. Boats are repaired, traps fixed, nets mended. “I need the winter to rest my body,” my friend the lobsterman told me, speaking of how he suspended his lobstering in December and did not resume until April. . . ." ("The Wicked Coast." The Atlantic , June 2011)

Susan Orlean

• - "To be honest, I view all stories as journeys. Journeys are the essential text of the human experience—the journey from birth to death, from innocence to wisdom, from ignorance to knowledge, from where we start to where we end. There is almost no piece of important writing—the Bible, the Odyssey , Chaucer, Ulysses —that isn't explicitly or implicitly the story of a journey. Even when I don't actually go anywhere for a particular story, the way I report is to immerse myself in something I usually know very little about, and what I experience is the journey toward a grasp of what I've seen." (Susan Orlean, Introduction to My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who's Been Everywhere . Random House, 2004) - "When I went to Scotland for a friend's wedding last summer, I didn't plan on firing a gun. Getting into a fistfight, maybe; hurling insults about badly dressed bridesmaids, of course; but I didn't expect to shoot or get shot at. The wedding was taking place in a medieval castle in a speck of a village called Biggar. There was not a lot to do in Biggar, but the caretaker of the castle had skeet-shooting gear, and the male guests announced that before the rehearsal dinner they were going to give it a go. The women were advised to knit or shop or something. I don't know if any of us women actually wanted to join them, but we didn't want to be left out, so we insisted on coming along. . . ." (Opening paragraph of "Shooting Party." The New Yorker , September 29, 1999)

Jonathan Raban

• - "As a literary form, travel writing is a notoriously raffish open house where different genres are likely to end up in the bed. It accommodates the private diary , the essay , the short story, the prose poem, the rough note and polished table talk with indiscriminate hospitality. It freely mixes narrative and discursive writing." ( For Love & Money: Writing - Reading - Travelling 1968-1987 . Picador, 1988)
• - "Travel in its purest form requires no certain destination, no fixed itinerary, no advance reservation and no return ticket, for you are trying to launch yourself onto the haphazard drift of things, and put yourself in the way of whatever changes the journey may throw up. It's when you miss the one flight of the week, when the expected friend fails to show, when the pre-booked hotel reveals itself as a collection of steel joists stuck into a ravaged hillside, when a stranger asks you to share the cost of a hired car to a town whose name you've never heard, that you begin to travel in earnest." ("Why Travel?" Driving Home: An American Journey . Pantheon, 2011)
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What is Travel Writing?

For thousands of years, travellers have written about their experiences exploring the furthest reaches of the world, both to record their journeys for personal reasons and as a guide for those who might follow.

Before the internet age, even as far back as Ancient Greece, stories of distant lands were popular because many people would never have had an opportunity to visit themselves.

But what is travel writing like today? With the internet, sharing experiences of our travels has never before been so easy, and arguably travel writing in one form or another is more popular ever.

Definition of travel writing

Travel writing is a genre that describes a writer’s experiences, observations, and feelings while travelling to different places. 

It often includes descriptions of the landscape, culture, people, and events that the writer encounters, as well as their personal thoughts and reflections on these experiences. 

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• How to Become a Travel Writer: Complete guide for travelogue writing
• Self Publishing Guide

The world is a treasure trove of experiences waiting to be explored and shared, and becoming a travel writer is your passport to capturing and narrating these adventures. If you’ve ever felt the wanderlust in your veins and a passion for storytelling in your heart, then embarking on the path of a travel writer might just be your calling. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through the intricate art of travelogue writing, offering insights, tips, and a roadmap to help you embark on this exciting journey of words.

Understanding the Role of a Travel Writer

Travel writers embark on journeys that transcend physical landscapes; they immerse themselves in cultures, traditions, and stories that shape the world. Their role is to bring these experiences to life through words, painting vivid pictures for readers who long to discover new horizons. Beyond merely documenting destinations, travel writers craft narratives that transport readers, evoking emotions and sparking a sense of wanderlust. They uncover the hidden stories that breathe life into places, connecting readers to the heart and soul of a locale. Travel writers are not just chroniclers of journeys; they are ambassadors of exploration, inviting others to embark on their own adventures armed with insights and inspiration.

Developing Your Writing Style

In the realm of travel writing, a writer’s style becomes their distinct fingerprint, an expression of their literary personality. This style is the lens through which readers perceive the world you describe. It’s crucial to cultivate a voice that resonates authentically with your experiences and perceptions. Experimentation is key; try on different stylistic garments, from lush, poetic prose to succinct, informative language. Reading a diverse range of travel literature can broaden your horizons and help you pinpoint your comfort zone. Whether you’re crafting a blog post, an article, a book, or a social media update, your style should reflect your genuine self. The more you explore and experiment, the more refined and unique your writing style will become, captivating readers and making your travel tales truly unforgettable.

Mastering the Art of Observation

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Choosing Your Niche

In the vast realm of travel writing, finding your niche is like discovering your compass in a labyrinth of possibilities. Your niche isn’t just a subject; it’s your lens for exploring the world. It’s a culinary journey that takes you from street food stalls to Michelin-starred restaurants, or an adventure seeker’s quest for adrenaline in the great outdoors. Your niche sets you apart and lends your writing a distinct perspective. It allows you to delve deep, becoming an expert in your chosen field. Whether it’s sustainable travel, solo backpacking, cultural immersion, or any other passion, your niche shapes your identity as a travel writer and connects you with an audience that shares your interests.

Research: The Backbone of Travel Writing

Behind the enchanting stories of travel writing lies the backbone of thorough research. This groundwork is essential to creating narratives that are not only immersive but also accurate and informative. As you plan your journey, delve into the history and cultural nuances of your destination. Understand the significance of local landmarks, festivals, and traditions. Connect with locals to gather insights that may elude tourists’ eyes. A well-researched travel piece goes beyond surface-level description; it weaves historical context and cultural richness into the narrative tapestry. Research transforms your writing from subjective musings to well-rounded, engaging tales that educate and inspire readers. Just as an architect relies on blueprints, a travel writer relies on research to construct narratives that stand strong, with credibility and authenticity as their pillars.

Crafting Compelling Stories

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Honing Your Photography Skills

In the digital age, visuals serve as windows into the worlds you describe. Basic photography skills can be a powerful asset for a travel writer. A well-captured image encapsulates a place’s essence, and a picture truly can speak a thousand words. Learning to frame captivating shots enhances your storytelling. High-quality photos complement your prose, offering readers a visual portal to your adventures. Skillful photography brings authenticity and relatability to your narratives, reinforcing the authenticity of your experiences. Whether it’s a sweeping landscape, a bustling market, or a candid portrait, your photos harmonise with your words to craft a multidimensional story that lingers in readers’ minds.

Building an Online Presence

In the digital landscape, an online presence is the bridge between your words and a global audience. Launching a travel blog or website serves as a portfolio where your stories reside. Here, you showcase your adventures, insights, and expertise. Leverage social media platforms as portals into your journeys—a place to share real-time snippets, behind-the-scenes moments, and reflections. Engage with your readers through conversations, fostering a community that rallies around your explorations. By cultivating this virtual tribe, you forge connections that amplify your impact. An online presence not only helps you reach a wider audience but also becomes a platform for sharing your passion and inspiring others to embark on their own journeys.

Pitching and Networking

Pitching your travel stories is akin to casting a net into the vast sea of publications, aiming to capture the attention of editors and readers. Thorough research is paramount; identify magazines, newspapers, and websites that resonate with your writing style and niche. Tailor your pitches to align with their editorial focus. Craft a succinct yet enticing pitch that highlights the uniqueness of your story and why it’s a perfect fit for their audience. Networking serves as a bridge to these opportunities. Engage with editors, connect with fellow writers, and attend industry events. Building relationships within the travel writing community not only opens doors but also fosters a supportive network where insights, advice, and collaborations flourish, propelling your journey as a travel writer.

Continual Growth and Learning

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To embark on writing a travelogue, start by selecting a destination that has left a significant impact on you. Reflect on your experiences, emotions, and observations during the journey. Organise your thoughts and create an outline to structure your narrative. Begin with a captivating introduction that hooks readers and sets the tone for your story. Incorporate vivid descriptions, sensory details, and personal anecdotes to transport readers to the destination. Share cultural insights, interactions with locals, and unique experiences to make your travelogue engaging. Blend your personal perspective with informative content, and wrap up with a reflective conclusion. Remember, authenticity and passion are key to crafting a compelling travelogue that resonates with readers.

Becoming a full-time travel writer requires dedication, skill-building, and strategic steps. Start by honing your writing skills through practise and feedback. Create a professional online portfolio showcasing your travel writing. Pitch your work to travel magazines, blogs, and websites to gain exposure and build a portfolio. Establish a strong online presence through social media platforms and a personal blog. Network with fellow writers, editors, and industry professionals. As your reputation grows, consider reaching out to tourism boards, travel companies, and publishers for collaborations. Diversify your income by offering workshops, speaking engagements, or freelance writing. Consistency, perseverance, and a passion for exploration will pave the way to becoming a successful full-time travel writer.

To excel as a travel writer, you need a combination of skills and qualities. Strong writing skills, including descriptive language, storytelling, and attention to detail, are essential. Curiosity and a love for travel are paramount, as you’ll be exploring new destinations and cultures. Flexibility and adaptability are key to thriving in different environments. Research skills enable you to provide accurate information and historical context. Photography skills can enhance your content and make it more visually appealing. Networking abilities help you connect with editors, fellow writers, and potential collaborators. Finally, resilience and the ability to handle rejection are crucial in the competitive travel writing industry.

Travel writing, also known as a travelogue, is a genre of literature that captures the essence of travel experiences. It involves narrating personal journeys, adventures, and observations from various destinations. Travel writers aim to transport readers to new places, cultures, and landscapes through vivid descriptions, anecdotes, and insights. A well-crafted travelogue not only informs but also inspires readers to explore the world themselves. It can take various forms, including articles, essays, books, and online content, and often combines elements of storytelling, journalism, and creative writing.

Yes, travel writers can make money through various avenues. Freelance travel writers often get paid for articles, blog posts, and content commissioned by magazines, websites, and travel companies. Some travel writers secure book deals, earning royalties from published works. Collaborations with tourism boards, hotels, and brands can also be financially rewarding. Additionally, offering workshops, speaking engagements, and consulting services can generate income. However, income can vary widely based on experience, niche, and the demand for your work. Successful travel writers often have multiple income streams and diversify their offerings to sustain their careers.

You can write a travelogue for various platforms and outlets. Start by creating a blog or personal website where you can share your travel experiences. Submit articles and essays to travel magazines, both print and online. Many websites accept guest posts from travel writers. Consider pitching to travel-focused blogs and online publications. You can also contribute to the travel sections of newspapers and literary journals. Social media platforms, especially Instagram and YouTube, offer opportunities to share micro-travelogues through captions, stories, and videos. Additionally, consider self-publishing travel books or e-books through platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

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How to Become a Travel Writer in 5 Steps: A Guide for Travel Bugs

For most people, trekking through the mountains or sampling French cuisine is a rare treat. For travel writers, it might just be another day on the job. As their job title suggests, travel writers create content about anything and everything related to exploring the world. 

Whether they’re writing to help readers plan a trip or to transport them — through words — to places they may never visit, no two travel writers share the same journey through their careers. But if you intend to walk down this road and become a travel writer, here are five steps to help you on your professional adventure.

Learn to be a descriptive writer and a thorough researcher

If there’s a single skill-set that almost all great travel writers share, it would be in research and descriptive writing. While people in this profession often have degrees in English or journalism, this is not a strict requirement. People come to travel writing from all walks of life, and publications tend to be concerned with your ability to deliver a great piece over any advanced degree. 

Although there isn’t any specific travel writing degree, if you want to learn all you can in one centralized place, there are many travel writing courses that train everyone from experienced journalists to new writers. 

Immerse readers with your descriptive writing

Readers want you to take them on a journey with you. If you can’t pay for them to join you on a sea voyage to the Azores, you’ll have to settle for evoking the five senses and other descriptive writing techniques. 

Take for example, Paul Theroux. A prolific travel writer with a career spanning five decades, he’s treasured for his ability to pull readers into his adventures with simple yet evocative language, as he does in his essay, “ Taking the Great American Roadtrip ”: 

What made Barstow's billboards a peculiar blight was the contrast with everything that lay around them—the landscape that was so stark and dramatic as a brooding expanse of withered shrubs and fat cactuses, the stony roads that seemed to lead nowhere, the bleak and beautiful backdrop that seemed as though no one had laid a hand on it, with lively colorations at a distance and up close so dry, like a valley of bones looking as though they could not support life. I had seen deserts in Patagonia and Turkmenistan, northern Kenya and Xinjiang in western China; but I had never seen anything like this. The revelation of the Mojave Desert was (peering past the billboards) not just its illusion of emptiness but its assertive power of exclusion, the low bald hills and far-off mountains looking toasted and forbidding under the darkening sky.

Theroux invites the reader on the road with him and describes the desert landscape in crisp detail. The use of simile (“like a valley of bones”) and strong language (“stark, dramatic”) brings the piece to life and gives us a view from Theroux’s window so it feels like we’re traveling along with him. 

How do you remember and keep track of all these details while you’re on the go? Keeping a journal while you’re traveling — even if it’s just to another part of the town you live in — is a great method to have all the information you need to write your story when you finally get to sit down and reflect on your journey. 

Cherry-pick the details that will tell the best story

Though you may have recorded many interesting details, you can’t include everything. Travel writing may feature a lot of exposition to set the scene, but it isn’t the same thing as keeping a journal. To make a stronger piece, you need to focus on the right stories and details, which means knowing what to add and what you can leave out.

At the same time, being concise is important. Unless you’re running your own blog or website, most digital or physical publications will have word limits to adhere to. Identifying what’s most important and most interesting to your audience as you write makes for more compelling writing. 

Preparation is key

For travel writers, research skills go hand-in-hand with writing skills. You might be asked to write about a topic you aren’t familiar with or you might need to learn more about a place’s history or background to give your piece greater context. Research will allow you to create an accurate and well-informed story and help fill in the gaps in your own knowledge. And who knows, you might stumble on something that will inspire your next trip or story. 

Before you begin planning your next trip to the most popular destination of the year, you need to research where everyone has already gone. If you find a lot of articles about solo travel in Brazil, that might mean you need to find a new angle or pick a different place entirely, and down another research rabbit hole you’ll go. 

Learning as much as you can about the culture and history of the place you’re visiting will undoubtedly deepen your understanding and experience of it. A monument or a park might be pretty and fun to hang out in, but knowing that New York City’s Washington Square Park was built over the graves of 20,000 people makes for both an interesting angle and a more emotionally impactful piece.

Even if you want to write from the perspective of someone going into an experience blind, you still need to do research to travel anywhere — or you’ll end up writing a travelog where you barely find your way out of the airport parking lot. 

While these are the main two skills you should focus on, there are a few more that can give you and your writing a boost. 

Interviewing

A subset of research, learning how to interview effectively will broaden the scope of your knowledge and your writing. Sometimes, you need a perspective other than your own, and who better to tell you about all the hidden secrets of Barcelona than a local? It’s an invaluable skill — especially for a travel writer — to be able to go into a place and speak to people, to get their stories and perspectives so you can go beyond just being a tourist. It’s a way to pull back the curtain and really connect yourself and your reader with the wider world. 

Travel writers do this quite often, and a great example can be seen in Anthony Bourdain’s TV show, Parts Unknown . On the surface, this food travel show showcases the cuisines of the world. But Bourdain’s interests, and thus the show’s, were much more focused on the lives of the people he’d meet along the way. 

If you also want to write in a way that exceeds the usual ‘visit-here-and-eat-that’ humdrum of most so-called travel writing and really start to understand the people you’ll encounter, you’ll need to become a passable interviewer.

Finding people to interview, asking the right questions, and making your interviewee comfortable are the main things that go into conducting a successful interview. Before you go out into the wider world, you can practice with friends, but really, the best way to learn is by doing. Record your interviews or take notes to ensure you don’t forget anything and have quotes to use for when you write your story. And, of course, ask permission before you conduct the interview or use the material.

With your notes and quotes in order, you then need to do the hard part: figure out what’s relevant. You may have dozens of poignant quotes and conversations, but it’s inevitable that you’ll have more raw material than you’ll be able to use. There’s no one right way to make this judgment. It takes time, experimentation, and experience to figure which ones are the best and order them together into one coherent whole. 

Stay up to date with the travel industry

While not necessarily a skill, part of being a good travel writer is being in the know about what’s happening in the travel industry. After all, the larger trends of people’s travel habits, popular destinations, and the state of major airlines and hotels influences the kind of information people are looking for. And it can always serve as inspiration for your next story. There are dozens of industry newsletters you can subscribe to that will keep you apprised of any new developments (including job openings and calls for pitches) in the world of travel, such as Lottie Gross’s Talking Travel Writing . Use them wisely. 

Staying up to date is also knowing where the opportunities to monetize your writing lie. The travel industry is full of affiliate programs and content partnerships, where you can get paid for your work without having to sell it to a publisher or outlet. Your chances of landing these types of deals significantly increase if you have your own blog or social media accounts with a good amount of subscribers, but there may be other opportunities out there as well if you’re savvy.

Even travel writers who don’t consider themselves “influencers” can learn a lot from people creating video content relating to travel topics, especially when it comes to how to make a profit off their content.  If you’re interested in running and making money off your own blog, knowing about programs like these and where to find them is incredibly important. 

Whether you’re looking to get a brand partnership, pitch an online publication, or a guest post on a travel blog, learning the basics of search engine optimization (SEO) and applying it to your writing will help you as you search for opportunities. Essentially, SEO is about optimizing a web page — in this case, your article — to be read by a search engine and draw users to it. It’s no surprise, then, that many publications value writers who have SEO skills and can optimize their articles to bring more traffic to their website.

Learn to take good photos

Besides being a competent and compelling writer, there's another skill that you should look to hone: photography. As much as people enjoy reading about places they’ve never been to, descriptive writing and imagination can only go so far. When it comes to travel, a picture can truly speak more than a thousand words. And a video might be even better. Visual media adds extra color and context to your piece while complementing your writing. 

Depending on whether you’re freelancing or working full-time for a publication, you won’t always have a photographer following you on your journey. Learning the basics of photography can be helpful in those instances and make you a more well-rounded travel writer. In some cases, it might even be attractive to publications if you can provide your own photos. Consider posting what you capture on your personal blog, Instagram, or TikTok as well. Any way of building a following is great.

This doesn’t mean you must invest in a quality DSLR camera (though you certainly can). These days, many smartphones have top-of-the-line cameras that can take the kinds of stunning pictures of white sand beaches and ancient castles that readers are looking for. A beginner’s photography course can help you learn all the basics about lighting, color, and composition and have you snapping great shots in no time. 

📸 Taking plenty of photos can also help you ace your descriptive writing, for those moments when you’re struggling to recall specific details about a place you visited. 

Build a portfolio of work

Once you have a solid foundation of skills, you can begin creating your portfolio. While you might dream of being a staff writer at a travel publication, or make a living as a freelance travel writer, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to jump straight into that role. 

Find a niche you love

Unsurprisingly, travel writing is a popular choice for aspiring writers. Who doesn’t want to galavant around the world and make a living writing about your adventures? But, of course, that also means it’s a very competitive field, and standing out can be difficult. Finding a way to differentiate yourself will give you a leg up and provide a focus for your articles. 

The great thing about travel writing is that there is a nearly never-ending number of niches you could devote yourself to. You can write exclusively about a certain country or area of the world or gear your work towards a specific audience, such as budget travelers, people traveling with family, or digital nomads. If you have a unique perspective, it’s likely that people will want to read about it. 

That isn’t to say you can’t write outside your chosen subfield. Plenty of writers find success publishing in their niche and then expanding their reach to become a sort of jack of all trades. Having a focus will simply allow you to stand out from the crowd. 

Collect some quality clips

First, you need to build up a reputation and a solid amount of quality clips — a journalistic term for published articles. They will serve as your resume, showing off your writing and research skills, as well as the topics you’re familiar with and your general style. As you start looking for ways to build your portfolio, internships, freelance opportunities, and blogging can all be great ways to start out. 

💡If you’re curious about the many kinds of work travel writers can do, check out this post about the different types of travel writing . 

📕And if you already have a travel writing blog, you might want to turn your blog into a book that you can pitch to publishers or self-publish.

Look for internships

Internships are a common way writers gain experience and clips. Magazines and online publications may allow aspiring travel writers to flex their skills and learn about what goes into professional travel writing. However, while there are paid internships in this field, many are likely unpaid. Whether you want to pursue an unpaid internship remains up to you, but we recommend valuing your time and pursuing paid internships when you can. 

Consider freelance writing

Another option to consider is freelance writing . Pitching articles to travel publications will not only be a way to gain jobs and clippings but allows you to practice ideation and build up a personal brand, as you are entirely in charge of the topics you’re writing about. It also expands your network of contacts in the industry, which will help you as you continue to pitch magazines and might lead to a job somewhere down the road. 

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Make sure your magazine and contest submissions are prepped to impress.

And if you want to take complete control of your career, a subset of freelancing is blogging. Dozens of freelance travel writers supplement (or make a career out of) running their own personal blog. Having one will give you a ready-made portfolio of clips showing off your skills. This is where having a niche can be especially helpful, as it’s a way to set you apart from all the other travel blogs on the Internet. 

Search for jobs and writing opportunities

With a solid portfolio of clips, it’s time to go out into the world and fully devote yourself to a career in travel writing. There are two main tracks you could take: finding a staff writer position at a magazine or becoming a freelance travel writer. 

Finding full-time travel writer jobs

For many writers, the dream is to work full-time as a travel writer for a publication. It offers stability while letting you travel to different destinations to write and explore. 

Although there are many travel-focused magazines like Conde Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure that might have staff writer positions, don’t discount other publications. Some magazines and newspapers with completely different focuses have travel sections that need staff writers to keep them running. 

For positions like this, a portfolio is especially important. Magazines want to see that writers have a background in journalism and are reliable writers who can deliver good-quality pieces on time. Previously being published is often proof of that. But part of building a portfolio is also building connections with people in the industry. Knowing someone at a magazine who is familiar with your work and can vouch for you can help you get your foot in the door and be hired as a staff writer. 

Freelancing

Another option is to continue down the freelance path, pitching and writing your own stories. This route gives you a lot more freedom. You can decide which places to visit and which activities you want to do, and you’re always in charge of your own itinerary. Overall, you’re much less likely to work on a story you’re not interested in because an editor told you you must. 

This is where picking a niche and having a blog can be especially helpful. Establishing yourself as an authority on a subject will draw people to your articles and give you credibility as you pitch publications. A website dedicated to your niche, with all your expertise located in one place, elevates your credibility and provides a useful resource for your readers — especially if you get a handle on SEO. Eventually, you can even turn your blog into a book and create another revenue stream. 

The Full-Time Freelancer's Checklist

Get our guide to financial and logistical planning. Then, claim your independence.

Travel writing allows you to indulge in and subsidize your wanderlust and make a living off of it. More than that though, travel writing is a way to connect people across cultures and great distances, and build an appreciation for the uniqueness and diversity around us.

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• INTELLIGENT TRAVEL

The New World of Travel Writing

As a writer, editor, and teacher, I care about   travel writing that matters. My own journey of learning about and reflecting on the ever-evolving world of travel writing and publishing is a continual one, propelled each year by the Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference , held each summer   in the Bay Area, where I live. Even more recently, I was thrilled to attend the Melbourne Writers Festival and TBEX travel bloggers gathering   as a guest speaker—where   the conversation gained momentum.

One of my prime lessons this year has been the fact that today, what might be called “mainstream travel writing” encompasses a broader spectrum than ever before. This stretches all the way from the traditional independent journalism that newspapers and magazines have been publishing since well before I enterered this field three decades ago, to a kind of cutting-edge destination marketing that includes blog posts and other writing as part of a larger package negotiated with a destination marketing organization or other travel-related company.

One importance of this for the budding travel writer   is the fact that there are more ways than ever to make money writing about travel. Bearing in mind that for the vast majority of writers, the money to be made in this way is still “icing on the top” rather than the career cake itself, it can still be inspiring and encouraging to realize the full range of options out there, from writing for third-party outlets (publications, websites) to working with travel-related companies such as luggage and clothing manufacturers, hotels, airlines, and tourism boards.

The issue this ever-broadening spectrum has raised for me is a thorny one that has been around for a long time in one guise or another, but that seems even more central now. Namely: Who controls the content?

In the traditional publishing world in which I grew up professionally, publications paid for their content by running advertisements. There was a generally well-respected division between “church” and “state”—editorial and advertising.

When I was travel editor at the San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle , the most we blurred this division was when we published “special sections,” usually themed by geography—Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, and so on. The closest we came to merging editorial and advertising (there’s even a name for it   now, “advertorial”) was when we did sections on Mexico and Hawaii. At one point, the newspaper’s ad salespeople approached me saying, “Such-and-such resort will buy a full-page ad if we can guarantee to include a story about them. Can you do that?” And my answer would always be, “No. All I can guarantee is that the main articles will be about some aspect of Hawaii.”

I leapt from print into cyberspace in 1995. In the two decades since then, at most, if not all print publications, these church-state divisons have become increasingly blurred—but at many, the notion of editorial independence from advertising is still a cherished principle (though the degree to which it is followed is often scaled to how financially robust the media outlet happens to be).

On some of the new content islands that have risen via the plate tectonics of online publishing, however, these distinctions are irrelevant. Some self-publishing content creators now approach a destination or a travel provider and say, “We want to work with you. We can offer you a full menu that includes blog posts, tweets and Twitter chats, Facebook shares, Instagrams, and   Pinterest pins, plus appearances at conferences and conventions. We’ll work with you to help you get your message across. And it will cost you this much.”

Clearly, this isn’t travel journalism, nor does it pretend or claim to be; this is essentially marketing. And while in the Old School part of my brain, this kind of content   is immediately editorially suspect, I’ve learned that doing marketing of this kind doesn’t have to mean sacrificing standards. High-quality storytelling can be incorporated into these efforts. In the same way that three decades ago nonfiction appropriated the stylistic elements of fiction to create the New Journalism , we might say that today, the best cutting-edge marketing is appropriating the traditional storytelling elements of travel writing to create the New Marketing.

What this relationship does ultimately entail, though, is a sacrifice of independence. The message is finally dictated by the destination or company that is paying for it. Does this mean that the New Marketing creators blindly produce whatever their payers ask them to? No. The best ones work with the payer to try to ensure that the quality of its offering is as high and appealing as it can be, so that they can promote it with passion and conscience intact. In this sense, they actually provide a further service.

But what worries me about this model is that, taken to its ultimate extension, it would mean that travel coverage would depend directly on budget. Destinations and companies that have little or no budgets for promotion would fall off the metaphorical map.

A big part of what I loved about being travel editor at the Examiner & Chronicle was that I got to shape and share a little world each week. Every Sunday I’d have one story about Asia, one about Europe, one about North America. I’d cover South America every other week, and the Middle East and Africa at least once a month. I’d combine articles every Sunday to create a picture-puzzle mix of travel styles and budgets, tips and tales.

This world was a reflection of me, of course, and of my thinking about my readership—but my desire to engage, inform, and inspire that readership was what fueled my editorial decisions each day. That same desire also fueled my own decisions about where to travel on the newspaper’s dime, and what subjects to write about. Where the funding was coming from to publish the section was almost never a factor in my decisions.

So, a related question this new world of travel content raises for me is this: Where is the consumer in this new equation? The consumer, the reader, was truly paramount for me. In the new world of travel content creation, there is a danger that the reader is being reduced to an afterthought, useful chiefly as a statistic—an accumulation of fans, likes, unique visitors—that can be used to convince a travel company to employ one’s services.

These twin reductions—in the range of destinations covered and in the attention given to readers’ interests and needs—diminish both the world of travel storytelling   and the actual world which is the subject of that content.

These are the thoughts my own wanderings in the past few months have inspired, and they’ve raised further questions: Going forward, who decides editorial focus? Who vets editorial content? If the funding for independent third-party travel outlets such as newspapers, magazines, and websites dries up, who will dictate the content? If there’s no budget   to pay independent travel writers, how can they maintain their independence? Who will pay for the mind-expanding narratives that explore the wide world outside and the soul-stretching essays that explore the wide world inside? Whither travel publishing?

I’ve also become convinced that more than ever, individual travel writers are becoming the gatekeepers—the stewards—of the planet that readers see, regardless of medium. In this regard, the following guidelines seem urgently critical to me:

1. Transparency is key. It’s important to be clear about—and to state clearly—who funded your travel and your content. Readers won’t necessarily think less of you or trust your descriptions and assertions less if you reveal that you were the guest of a destination. But they may well think less of you—and question your content more keenly—if you don’t share this information up front and they discover it some other way instead.

• Nat Geo Expeditions

2. Integrity is essential. No matter who is paying for you, you have to maintain your own quality guidelines and principles. Integrity is the bedrock of readers’ trust in you. Don’t promote something you don’t believe in. Don’t tell us something is wonderful if you don’t really think it is.

3. Quality in creation is still paramount. Do the best you can to make your writing accurate, detailed, and lively. All the tips I wrote earlier this year about creating quality—attention to passion points, sensual details, music, meaning—are critically important in this emerging new world.

4. Honor yourself, honor your subject, honor your reader. Know your subject and your audience thoroughly, tailor your content to serve that audience, and create the most passionate, evocative, engaging, and connected work that you can.

5. Cultivate your sense of respect, gratitude, and wonder. Those of us who get to travel the world on someone else’s dime, whether on assignment or on a press trip, are incalculably lucky. It’s essential that we bear this in mind and keep our experiences in perspective—and that we continue to connect with the core of wonder that inspired us to travel this path in the first place. Honoring our shared craft in this way will enhance and enrich us all.

Don George   is an editor at large at   Traveler   a nd the author of   Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Writing .   He   has also edited   several award-winning travel-writing anthologies, including   Better Than Fiction .   Follow Don on Twitter   @don_george .

> Related:

• Travel Writing Tips From Don George  
• More Travel Writing Tips From Don George  
• The Quality Quotient: Travel Writing That Matters

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Beginners Guide to Travel Writing

So you want to be a travel writer? Good. You can! This beginners guide to travel writing intends to answer your most basic questions and get you pointed in the right direction.

Thousands of people from various backgrounds – many with no previous media or journalism experience – share stories of their trips and adventures on countless websites, blogs, magazines, newspapers, newsletters and social media platforms. No degree or certification is required and doing so doesn’t require a lot of money – no additional money, in fact, if you already own a computer with internet access and a smart phone.

At its best, travel writing offers deep personal enrichment, unforgettable experiences and a little side income to boot. Understand this, however, pursuing travel writing typically works best for those using it as a side hustle, primarily for experiences and perks, or in retirement, separate of a primary income. While there are thousands of travel writers, there are very few full-time, on-staff with a media outlet, professional, this-is-how-I-support-myself travel writers. There are more professional athletes than there are travel writers making their living exclusively this way.

As you read our guide to travel writing for beginners , no attempt will be made to sugarcoat the realities, to oversell the benefits or discount the obstacles. This guide is informed directly by the personal experiences of TRAVEL WRITERS UNIVERSITY and the TRAVEL WRITERS CAFÉ staff and the hundreds of successful and failed beginning travel writers we have worked with.

The best news is, if you’re serious about starting travel writing, there is a proven, repeatable, simple – but not easy – step-by-step process to follow which will get you there and a supportive network of likeminded people going through a similar journey. The process and teachings are cataloged in detail at TRAVEL WRITERS UNIVERSITY and the support network exists in our TRAVEL WRITER’S CAFÉ Facebook group.

TWU is a premium on-line resource where members receive access to hundreds of informational articles related to advancing in the field from tips on improving your writing and photography, to editor contact information and pitching strategy. The CAFÉ is our Facebook members community where we share member’s published stories, hot leads from editors looking for pitches, and general support along with regular instructional video webinars and chats. One monthly membership of only $49 dollars provides access to both services.

TWU and CAFÉ founder Noreen Kompanik started her travel writing career exactly where you are today . She was a registered nurse who loved traveling with no writing experience. She was intrigued about the possibilities of travel writing. Through some relatively expensive in-person and online courses, a lot of trial and error, and dogged determination, she has worked her way to the top of the travel writing profession with over 600 “bylines” – published stories – in major print and digital outlets. She takes roughly 20 “press trips” – all expenses paid, invitation only trips to write about a destination or accommodation – every year to Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean and across the United States. She earns tens of thousands of dollars annually for the privilege of doing so.

This lifestyle can be the upside of travel writing.

TWU and the CAFÉ share what she’s learned, along with the expertise of her travel writer business partners, streamlining the process from beginner to intermediate , providing a clear blueprint to follow in her footsteps.

TRAVEL WRITERS UNIVERSITY / TRAVEL WRITERS CAFÉ ADVANTAGE

“I love being a part of the community where I can learn from the best what I need to succeed as a travel writer. The monthly Roadmaps and Bonus Articles include actionable information that has upped my writer’s game. Opening the Travel Write’s Cafe Facebook group is the first thing I do each morning. The support and encouragement from fellow members helps me to stay motivated. Kristi and Noreen have given me the tools and confidence I need to continue to reach for higher goals. In the past year, I have landed press trips I never dreamed would happen.” – TRAVEL WRITERS CAFÉ member Sharon Kurtz.

Freelancing

As mentioned, full-time travel writing jobs are exceptionally scarce. Filling them, most times, are writers, reporters and journalists with degrees in those fields and years of experience which have allowed them to slowly work up the ranks in that field.

Don’t let that discourage you. The VAST majority of travel writing is not done by these people, it’s done by a global community of freelancers. Freelancers are non-staff writers, independent contractors typically writing for a variety of different publications – online and in print.

Publications would love to have large teams of exclusively staff writers producing stories, but doing so is far too expensive. Even two or three staff writers earning a livable salary with benefits and travel stipends to report their stories would require a vastly greater investment from the publication than using even hundreds of freelancers each year and paying them a couple hundred dollars per article.

Freelancing is a hustle, no doubt, but if you want to start travel writing without starting your own blog or website – and we’ll get to that later – freelancing is how you’re going to do it.

Almost all travel publications, even the big ones like National Geographic and BBC, rely heavily on freelancers for content (stories). Freelancing involves “pitching” editors story ideas you’d like to write. This means sending the editor(s) at the publication you’d like to see your article appear in an email detailing the story you’d like to write and why it would be a good fit for that outlet.

Who to pitch? Where to pitch? How to pitch?

These are the first obstacles encountered by beginning travel writers. At TWU and in the CAFÉ, we take the mystery out of this process leading writers by the hand through it. With our travel media industry contacts, we have hundreds of editor email addresses and are constantly updating our members about new writing opportunities.

Travel publications NEED content. They NEED freelancers. They’re constantly on the lookout for new writers. We go where they go to look for writers and pass their “calls for submission” – want ads for stories – on to our members.

To have stories published as a freelancer, you first pitch publications and if they’re interested, an editor will tell you exactly what story angle to take, word length, etc.

Pitching editors can be a time consuming, exhausting, frustrating effort. For beginners and experienced travel writers alike, many pitches go unanswered. Pitching also happens to be essential for beginning and advancing your travel writing journey.

At TWU and the CAFÉ, we make this process as painless as possible by continually providing members hot leads to editors looking for stories – editors with smaller publications and at the biggest media companies. Editors across the globe looking for an endless variety of stories from all seven continents and subjects ranging from dining and drinking, to resorts, museums, family travel, budget travel, sports, theme parks, art and culture, nature, history, outdoors, all-inclusive, you name it.

Our expert staff personally review member pitches when necessary, making sure every word is just right to maximize its potential for being accepted.

TWU co-founder Kristi Dosh ran her own successful public relations company, Guide My Brand , for several years. She successfully pitched her clients to media outlets across the world. She is an expert on pitching and works with TWU and CAFÉ members on crafting their pitches.

TWU also provides members with instructional ROADMAPS to improve their pitching success . ROADMAPS are detailed explainers written by seasoned travel writers providing insight into a specific travel writing related subject. ROADMAPS are one of the most important resources offered by TWU for beginning and intermediate travel writers alike

ROADMAPS focused on pitching include:

“Perfecting your pitch strategy”

“Improve your pitching success with timing”

“Pitches that work”

“Overcoming your fear of pitching”

“Successful pitches – word for word!”

TWU and CAFÉ members also have the opportunity to receive individual help with their pitching and specific pitches. Our pitch review service puts your pitches in the hands of our experts for a word-by-word analysis to ensure your pitch has the greatest opportunity at success.

TRAVEL WRITERS UNIVERSITY / TRAVEL WRITER’S CAFÉ ADVANTAGE

Not only do we aide writers with their pitch strategy and individual pitches, we connect our writers directly to editors. This may be the most valuable service offered at TWU and in the CAFÉ.

TWU has an entire section of FEATURED PUBLICATIONS profiling dozens of travel-related outlets in-depth, what kind of stories they’re looking for, and contact information for editors.

TWU also features ROUNDUPS , bite-sized entries offering hundreds of suggested travel publications to write for and how to contact them.

Check out this FREE article specifically for beginners providing a list of 13 travel websites which accept pitches and stories from FIRST-TIME, unpublished writers.

Another obstacle beginning writers face is how to achieve their first few “clips” – examples of their published writing. Most editors require would-be writers send them links to a few of their previous clips to demonstrate their writing ability. Anyone new to travel writing, naturally, won’t have any examples of their previous work so this often presents a roadblock to advancement.

We remove that roadblock for beginners and, best of all, the TWU and CAFÉ travel writing ecosystem also includes our own travel websites! We own and operate Rovology.com , a general North American focused travel website, TravelbyVacationRental.com , a global review service for travel by vacation rental properties, and BookCottages.com , a European focused general travel and vacation rental review site.

Writing for these publications is open EXCLUSIVELY to TWU and CAFÉ members, guaranteeing our members respected bylines and advancing them through the difficult beginning stages of travel writing. Countless TWU and CAFÉ members have used story assignments and/or promised coverage on one of our owned and operated websites to secure free rental stays and travel perks.

Lastly, every Friday in the CAFÉ, we post FREELANCER FRIDAY compiling the best travel-related calls for submissions we’ve discovered after scouring our contacts and industry sites for travel editors in need of fresh stories.

Here’s an example of a FREELANCER FRIDAY from December of 2022:

No travel writing instructional service does more to put its writers directly in contact with editors than TWU and the CAFÉ. Period.

TWU and the CAFÉ go beyond the empty promises and lofty aspirations where other beginning travel writing educators stop. Our program offers serious tools for beginners committed to travel writing and access to resources clearly laying out the steps to follow to advance your career. Actionable, specific, detailed advice with direct, individual support available at every stage of your development.

Starting your own travel blog or website

Many beginning travel writers chose to start their own blog or website as opposed to, or in addition to, freelancing. Doing so prevents them from having to pitch ideas to editors and allows them to write about whatever they want, whenever they want, however they want. Until said blog or website begins receiving enough traffic to start generating revenue, this will be done without monetary reward, but the freedom and flexibility are attractive.

Starting your own travel blog or website does require additional knowledge of basic coding, content management systems, graphic design – or your willingness to pay someone for helping you. While not terribly expensive, the web hosting and support does require an additional monetary investment on your end.

Understanding search engine optimization best practices and social media marketing will prove invaluable in any effort to launch your own travel blog or website.

If you have these skills, if you’ve created websites previously, this may be the right path for you. Hundreds of travel bloggers writing for sites of their own creation you’ve never heard of make great money and travel widely producing content exclusively for their own sites. A hundred times more tried unsuccessfully and quit.

TWU co-founder Kristi Dosh also specializes in the economics and realities of launching personal websites. A blogger, website creator, writer, reporter and journalist since the early 2000s, Dosh has built a brand and career around her sports website – businessofcollegesports.com – and has also developed the TWU and CAFÉ owned and operated sites.

From SEO strategies and social sharing, to advertising networks, sponsored content, direct sales, affiliate sales, WordPress, web hosting, backlinks and more, Dosh understands the nitty-gritty, back-end work required of successful websites living in that world daily. She shares what she has learned and continues to learn through her ongoing education in these always-evolving field.

Dosh works regularly with TWU and CAFÉ members, counseling them on if starting a personal blog or website is a good idea for achieving their goals, and if so, how best to pursue doing so.

TWU has published a “travel blogging toolkit” to assist your efforts.

What to write about

Paris, London, Rome, African safari, India, Mexico City, Yellowstone National Park – all of these can make for wonderful travel stories. All of them have made for countless wonderful travel stories. Compelling travel writing, however, doesn’t require a popular destination, fabulous resort or luxury experience.

Chances are you live in, adjacent to or within 50 miles of a city, town, park, attraction, beach, river, lake, hotel, hiking trail, museum or historical site that people visit which, in the right hands, could make for a fantastic travel story. Does your city, or one nearby, host an annual festival, concert, sporting event? These can make for great stories.

Your beginning travel writing journey should start local, with what you know best. As much as travel publications are looking for once-in-a-lifetime “travel porn” stories from Tierra Del Fuego, they also want the quirky festival story from a small town. Under the radar, off the beaten path, undiscovered, out of the way locations and attractions which haven’t already been written about endlessly make for great pitches and stories.

Bottom line is, you needn’t spend a lot of money traveling to become a travel writer. Start in your own back yard.

We have an entire ROADMAP detailing how to start your travel writing career by focusing on stories local to you.

When thinking about what to write, and how to distinguish yourself in the crowded field of freelance travel writers, think about niches. What aspect of travel are you most passionate about? What aspect of travel are you most knowledgeable about?

TWU and CAFÉ expert and travel writer Chadd Scott has developed his personal niche of arts writing within the travel sector to a contributor position at Forbes.com and freelance bylines for Fodors.com, SouthernLiving.com and Afar.com, along with various print publications. Doing so has landed him so many press trip invitations, he’s had to TURN DOWN invitations to Venice, Vienna, Toronto, Miami and other destinations because he’s simply too busy.

Scott helps members define their niches, like he has. He’s found that by identifying a niche, writers are better able to focus their efforts and stand out to editors. Instead of writing about an ecotourism experience in Utah one week and air travel trends the next, writers committing to a niche they’re passionate and knowledgeable about write with greater authority and attract the attention of editors and industry professionals in those areas more quickly, accelerating their rate of advancement.

Effective niches are often related to geographies – specific cities, states/provinces, regions or countries. Madison, WI, British Columbia, England’s Lake District, Kenya. Scott has further established a niche around Florida, where he lives, hosting a weekly podcast and writing regularly about the state.

Effective niches can also be related to activity. Birdwatching, camping, backpacking, sailing, music, golf, genealogy.

Effective niches can target specific travelers: luxury travel, LGBTQ+ travel, travel for women, travel with kids, Black History travel, travel targeting specific religious affiliations.

Food and wine are popular travel niches. Too popular, in fact, to be effective for most. Drill down. Instead of defining your niche as “food” writing, how about pizza, barbecue, tacos, food trucks or sushi? Instead of writing about “wine,” focus on a specific varietal or region of production. Food and wine are such popular niches, you’ll need to drill down on them.

Anywhere people travel and anything they do while traveling or travel for, could represent a travel niche for you to explore and advance your career.

Here’s another FREE article from TRAVEL WRITERS UNIVERSITY offering advice to help start your creative juices flowing!

How good of a writer do I have to be?

Are you a good enough writer to be a travel writer? Answer these questions honestly:

• Do you like reading?
• Do you write clear, effective emails at work? Do you write professional proposals or summaries or reviews at your current job?
• Did you get good grades in grammar and writing classes?
• Could you write a good book review? Did you work for your student newspaper or yearbook?
• Do you enjoy writing? Do you journal?
• Do you have something to say? Are you funny? Are you observant? Are you empathetic?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, chances are, you are a good enough writer to begin travel writing. And you’ll improve the more you write.

Most travel writing isn’t brilliant prose. You don’t need to have Maya Angelou or Earnest Hemmingway talent to become a travel writer. It takes no particular storytelling genius to write “7 best pubs in Chicago” and similar list-based stories popular with many travel publications.

Writing is a talent, sure. We each have an innate ability to communicate through the written word we’re born with. It is also a skill that can be improved with instruction and practice.

Like most things in life, you don’t have to be great to start, but you’ve got to start to be great… and candidly, 99% of travel writers never achieve “great.”

TWU has published many ROADMAPS related to improving your writing including:

“5 structural elements of an article”

“Writing strong ledes” (a “lede” is an opening to a story)

“Creating a sense of place”

“Creating a compelling title”

“5 ways to become a better writer”

Our staff also offers one-on-one coaching to assist anyone who feels they need extra attention to improve their writing skills.

Expectations

When will that first press trip invitation to the Four Seasons in Fiji land in your inbox? Are you a celebrity with millions of social media followers and direct access to editors at major media outlets? If so, pretty soon. If not, it could take a while.

In all seriousness, beginning travel writing takes time. It takes time before you’re receiving invitations to free stays at hotels and free meals at chic restaurants. It takes time before you’re being paid for your writing. It takes time before your bylines appear in outlets your friends and family read.

How much time depends on your willingness to put in the work, to send the pitches, to be consistent with your efforts. Countless beginning travel writers who are all fired up about the potential of this pursuit lose interest after a few weeks and a few unreturned pitches. They lose interest when the reality of the grind and the work and the writing – which, make no mistake, is hard – push the fantasies of jetting off to Tokyo on a press trip out of their head.

They lose interest when life gets in the way. When kids and jobs and spouses and families evaporate their available free time to pitch and write and network and learn. When those same things fail to support the pursuit. When available nights and weekends to pursue beginning travel writing necessitate being filled with movies and music and downtime to give your body and mind a break.

Travel is supposed to be fun, and there’s nothing wrong with simply being a traveler, not a travel writer.

How do you know if you have what it takes?

Can you commit three hours a week to your beginning travel writing? To reading Roadmaps, to reading travel writing, to pitching, to writing? If so, if you adhere to the TWU program and participate in the CAFÉ, we can almost guarantee you’ll be a published travel writer after four months. Published in “Travel + Leisure?” No. Published somewhere, yes.

Will you get paid for that work? Maybe, maybe not. If you are paid, it might only be $20 USD. Even the biggest travel publications, the one’s you’ve heard of, only pay freelancers a few hundred dollars for articles of 1,000 words or more.

We can’t state this more directly, do NOT pursue beginning travel writing if your primary motivation for doing so is monetary.

When will that first press trip invitation come? Again, how fiercely are you willing to pursue this? To pitch? To write? To pitch progressively bigger and bigger outlets? Maybe a year? Probably longer, but here’s another benefit to membership with TWU and the CAFÉ: Noreen, Kristi, Chadd and our staff receive so many press trip invitations we can’t take them all and regularly share leads and contacts for them with members.

TWU and CAFÉ membership has been kept purposefully limited. We’re not spending thousands of dollars a month on Facebook ads targeting dreamers and the easily deceived into joining our programs with little hope of success. We take our greatest satisfaction in our members succeeding. In their bylines and press trips.

We are distinguished by the individual attention we provide our members. We don’t have thousands of members, we don’t have hundreds of members, but the members we do have, we care about, we support, and we are invested in seeing succeed.

We hope you’ll become one of those few and experience the rewards of travel writing we have.

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Travel Writing

Introduction, introductory works.

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Travel Writing by Alasdair Pettinger LAST REVIEWED: 31 July 2019 LAST MODIFIED: 31 July 2019 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199846719-0119

A minimal definition of travel writing might be any account of a journey or description of a place that is based on firsthand experience. As such, it may be found in many different kinds of text: diaries, letters, postcards, newspaper and magazine articles, blogs, essays, official reports, promotional brochures, and ethnographies, as well as travel books. Travel writing is often distinguished from guidebooks on the one hand and imaginative fiction, drama, and poetry on the other, but the term may sometimes include them, especially when discussing writings from before the 19th century, when such distinctions would have carried less weight with authors and readers. While it has long served as a vital source material by historians and biographers, travel writing rarely, even in those cultural histories documenting the “images” of or “attitudes” toward “other” races or nationalities that proliferated in the 1960s and 1970s, attracted the kind of close critical attention commonly given to literary fiction until the 1980s, coinciding with several related developments. First, there was an increasingly politicized self-questioning within literary studies and anthropology, combined with an interdisciplinary theoretical sophistication. Second, beyond the academy, there was a surge in popularity of literary travel writing, associated with authors such as Bruce Chatwin, Jonathan Raban, Paul Theroux, Colin Thubron, and others, promoted especially in the English-speaking world by Granta magazine. Within two decades, travel-writing studies could claim to be an academic discipline in its own right, with dedicated journals, textbooks, research centers, and conferences. If most of the influential early studies were dominated by anglophone critics studying anglophone texts, the field has since broadened significantly. Nevertheless, many studies of travel writing, without announcing it in their titles, continue to be largely concerned with English-speaking authors, often British. The reasons for restricting their scope in this way are rarely explicitly addressed; it is as if this is a default position for the scholars concerned rather than because “British and Irish travel writing” is a coherent object of study as such. As in many other fields, “British” is often used when “English” would be more accurate, and “English” sometimes silently includes texts that might be better described as Scottish, Welsh, or Irish.

The growth of travel-writing studies as an academic discipline has generated a number of general introductions to the subject aimed at students, typically offering a combination of historical overviews and discussions of key topics such as genre, techniques of representation, narrative organization, the relationship with the reader, and the treatment of race, nation, and gender. Blanton 1997 , Gannier 2001 , and Thompson 2011 provide the most-approachable introductions, while Hulme and Youngs 2002 , Youngs 2013 , Thompson 2015 , and Das and Youngs 2019 survey the field in more depth and reflect its shifting preoccupations. Most of these works acknowledge the difficulty in defining “travel writing.” Borm 2004 makes a case for a broad definition that includes fictional as well as nonfictional writing, but the decision made in Youngs 2013 to restrict it to “predominantly factual, first-person prose accounts that have been undertaken by the author-narrator” (p. 3) is more typical.

Blanton, Casey. Travel Writing: The Self and the World . Studies in Literary Themes and Genres 15. New York: Twayne, 1997.

Short historical overview, focusing on “the modern travel book,” with close readings of texts by James Boswell, Mary Kingsley, Graham Greene, Peter Matthiessen, V. S. Naipaul, Bruce Chatwin, Paul Theroux, and Roland Barthes. Includes useful list of recommended titles and a survey of critical scholarship.

Borm, Jan. “Defining Travel: On the Travel Book, Travel Writing and Terminology.” In Perspectives on Travel Writing . Edited by Glenn Hooper and Tim Youngs, 13–26. Studies in European Cultural Transition 19. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2004.

Argues for a broad definition of “travel writing” (or “travel literature”) to include “texts both predominantly fictional and non-fictional whose main theme is travel” (p. 13), while restricting the terms “travel book” or “travelogue” to predominantly nonfictional narratives.

Das, Nandini, and Tim Youngs, eds. The Cambridge History of Travel Writing . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2019.

The thirty-six essays here collectively showcase the latest scholarship on the genre, exhibiting historical depth and a truly global reach, extending well beyond North American and Western European authors. Includes sections that examine writings about different kinds of places, analyze a wide range of literary forms, and profile a selection of critical approaches.

Gannier, Odile. La littérature de voyage . Thèmes & Études. Paris: Ellipses, 2001.

Short introduction, drawing on mainly francophone examples but tackling general issues such as the definition of travel writing, the relationship between author and reader, representation, language, and tourism.

Hulme, Peter, and Tim Youngs, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing . Cambridge Companions to Literature. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Fifteen essays by leading scholars in the field, arranged in three sections dealing with particular historical periods, key geographical regions, and general topics (gender, ethnography, and theory). Includes useful chronology and extensive guide to further reading.

Thompson, Carl. Travel Writing . New Critical Idiom. New York: Routledge, 2011.

DOI: 10.4324/9780203816240

A concise introduction that offers a broad historical overview and discussions of major topics such as the definition of the genre, authority and veracity, representation of the self and the other, and gender. Close readings of a small group of texts by representative authors from William Dampier to Bill Bryson.

Thompson, Carl, ed. The Routledge Companion to Travel Writing . Routledge Literature Companions. London: Routledge, 2015.

Forty-two essays that approach the subject from a wide range of historical, geographical, theoretical, thematic, and stylistic perspectives. Especially important for its coverage of themes (ethics, corporeality) and subgenres (guidebooks, blogs, dark tourism) that are relatively new areas of interest to travel-writing scholars.

Youngs, Tim. The Cambridge Introduction to Travel Writing . Cambridge Introductions to Literature. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

An impressive condensation of a wide range of scholarship, illustrated by insightful readings of representative primary texts from the Middle Ages to the early 21st century. Reflects more-recent trends with its attention to travel writers of non-European descent and closes by identifying some emerging developments that are likely to be important in the coming decades.

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Example sentences travel writer

Definition of 'writer' writer.

Definition of 'travel' travel

Cobuild collocations travel writer, browse alphabetically travel writer.

• travel website
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• travel widely
• travel writer
• travel writing
• travel-sick
• travel-sickness pill
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travel writer noun

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What does the noun travel writer mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun travel writer . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

How common is the noun travel writer ?

Where does the noun travel writer come from.

Earliest known use

early 1700s

The earliest known use of the noun travel writer is in the early 1700s.

OED's earliest evidence for travel writer is from 1711.

travel writer is formed within English, by compounding.

Etymons: travel n. , writer n.

Nearby entries

• travelogue, n. 1898–
• travel sick, adj. 1833–
• travel sickness, n. 1894–
• travel-size, adj. 1918–
• travel-sized, adj. 1942–
• travel system, n. 1993–
• travel time, n. 1851–
• travel-to-work area, n. 1955–
• travel trailer, n. 1936–
• travelway, n. 1815–
• travel writer, n. 1711–
• travel writing, n. 1776–
• travers, n. 1842–
• traversa, n. 1595–
• traversable, adj. a1500–
• traversal, n. 1841–
• traversant, adj. a1500
• traversary, adj. 1839–93
• traverse, n. a1393–
• traverse, adj. a1450–
• traverse, v. a1325–

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Meaning & use

Entry history for travel writer, n..

Originally published as part of the entry for travel, n.

travel, n. was revised in March 2020.

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

• further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
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Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1914)

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Citation details

Factsheet for travel writer, n., browse entry.

Inside the Literary Travel Boom

Book butlers! Curated libraries! Custom cruises! Literary-themed vacations are the hot new trend in tourism.

In January, when packing my bags for a “reading retreat” in the Dominican Republic, I agonized about which books to bring. A few days later, bellied up to the beachside bar at the all-inclusive Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana resort (where, in place of barstools, swings are suspended from the thatched ceiling), I sipped a mojito, cracked open James Salter’s Light Years, a novel I reread annually, and knew that I’d chosen well.

But if I’d had any regrets, summoning a new paperback would’ve been as easy as ringing for a book butler. I was down in the DR to experience Pages in Paradise, a collaboration between the publisher Penguin Random House, Belletrist Book Club (the brainchild of actress Emma Roberts), and Apple Vacations (no relation to the iPhone maker). For readers who like to beach, the retreat left no page unturned. The programming kicked off even before check-in: Ahead of arrival, guests could log in to the resort’s app to reserve beach reads from an on-site library curated by Belletrist. Housed in the airy hotel lobby, the collection included buzzy contemporary fiction by the likes of Zadie Smith and Curtis Sittenfeld. Guests could also order books via room service (or personal butler) anytime or select one from the chic library carts located at the adults-only pool. The property’s various bars featured the “Pages Pour,” a specialty cocktail themed to the program’s inaugural book-of-the-month selection, Jenny Xie’s debut novel, Holding Pattern . They called the drink a gin-fashioned—a fruit-forward riff on the old-fashioned, zippy with pineapple-cinnamon syrup.

Exotic as this tropical gathering of book lovers might have been, it’s just one example of a fast-growing business trend: literary-themed travel. We have the pandemic to thank. Reading surged in the early days of Covid, and the habit stuck as lockdowns eased: The biggest two years on record for print book sales in the U.S. were 2021 and 2022. Hotels and tourism companies, eager to lure back travelers, seized on the surge and began featuring books in their marketing. What began as a travel perk has become a full-blown movement to cater to readers with an explosion of new programming, from big-ticket experiences promising author access to solitary retreats. I know, I know—planning a trip around your reading list may never replace your annual golf weekend, but when else will you get the time to actually enjoy that stack on your nightstand? And if it all sounds like giving yourself homework, don’t worry—there definitely won’t be a quiz, and did I mention the drinks?

As a professional book recommender, the question I’m asked most often is “What book should I bring on my vacation?” ​But now there’s a new question to consider: What kind of literary vacation should I plan?

Not every reader is content to lie by the pool and read for days on end. Some are looking for a more kinetic experience—one that lets them interact with fellow readers, and even their favorite writers. Enter the “ Gone Girl cruise.” In fall 2022, author Gillian Flynn set sail down the Danube with some of her biggest (and most well-heeled) fans as part of Avalon Waterways’ Storyteller Series, cruises that offer literary travelers a chance to voyage in close quarters with authors and other storytellers. When Flynn tweeted about the cruise, it quickly became a viral sensation. On-board accounts detailed a true-crime extravaganza, with guests returning to their rooms each night to discover blood-spattered notes, themed to Flynn’s novels, on their pillows. Sure, it’s a little dorky—but we’re all fans of something, and if crime novels are your thing, what could be better?

For readers who can’t splash out for getaways abroad, there are literary destinations closer to home, too. In the artsy hamlet of New Hope, Pennsylvania, the historic luxury hotel River House at Odette’s offers Riverside Reading (in partnership with Bedside Reading), a program that pairs complimentary access to a curated library (via digital app or hard copies throughout the hotel) with intimate author experiences. With bookshelves stationed on each floor and authors rolling through seasonally, guests can dip in and out of the programming as they please.

When I visited River House deep in the grips of a harsh Pennsylvania winter, I discovered a reader’s paradise: My room boasted a fireplace, a private balcony, and serene views of the rushing Delaware River. After turndown service, I found a keepsake leather bookmark on my pillow. That evening, a few dozen guests gathered for a talkback with the novelist Jean Hanff Korelitz. In a ballroom festooned with red carnations (a nod to the cover of her latest book, The Latecomers ), Korelitz fielded rapid-fire questions about her inspiration, her writing process, and her hit novel The Plot . After the formal conversation concluded, starstruck guests crowded around her at the bar. “When people come up to you and say, ‘I loved your book,’ that really means something to writers,” Korelitz told me. As the owner of BookTheWriter, a service connecting authors and readers through pop-up book clubs hosted in New York City apartments, Korelitz knows a thing or two about making connections. In the recent boom of literary travel experiences, she sees a broader post-pandemic trend of readers craving the chance to get up close and personal with their favorite writers. “The ways of access to authors have multiplied exponentially,” she said. “I find it to be very inspiring.”

For an early-career author like Xie, who was at Pages in Paradise, seeing her novel highlighted was both exciting and transformative. That’s the thing about literary travel—it allows us to transcend our ordinary lives in more ways than one. “There’s a certain sense that we don’t have the space to read unless we’re traveling or living outside of our day-to-day,” said Xie. “A book takes you outside of your physical environment and your lived experience. Travel does that, too, so they join together in this really beautiful way to truly transport you.” That’s a journey worth taking.

HOW TO PLAN YOUR OWN LITERARY VACATION

Ready to take off on a bookish getaway? Literary travel isn’t “one size fits all,” so whatever type of reader you are, we’ve got a prescription for it. Choose your own adventure below.

For the fan

The Gone Girl cruise is over, but Avalon Waterways isn’t slowing down anytime soon: Its upcoming slate of Storyteller Cruises includes actor Graham McTavish (sailing down the Rhine River) and Outlander phenom Diana Gabaldon (voyaging down the Danube).

For the R&R chaser

Looking for a more relaxed experience? At the Reeds at Shelter Haven, an upscale resort on the Jersey shore, guests can participate in Reeds’ Reads, a seasonal book club featuring guided discussions, with authors sometimes joining via Zoom for Q&A sessions.

For the aspiring writer

Chances are, your favorite author is side-hustling by leading retreats in pastoral Europe. To get in on the action, pay close attention to their social-media feeds, or search for guided trips through an experiential-tourism outlet like TrovaTrip.

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