How to become a Freelance Travel Writer
There is something glamorous about being a freelance travel writer. After all, what other profession allows you to see the world and write about your adventures? And you, too, can live the dream if you want to. However, becoming a successful freelance travel writer requires a little more than picking up a backpack and setting off to see the world with your laptop in hand.
Do Your Research
Do your homework about freelance travel writing before you jump in head first. Read everything you can about travel. Look to see how other professionals rose to fame and fortune by writing travel articles and learn from their expertise. Contact different writers online and ask them about freelance pay scales and see if they will offer up any tips on breaking into the industry.
Take a Class
You don’t need a journalism degree to write; natural talent works fine. However, it never hurt to get a little bit of education under your belt when it comes to writing, and how to do it properly. Check out different writing courses both online and locally to find something that might interest you, and use this added education to polish your skills.
Find Magazines, Blogs and Venues
Next, you’ll need to look into different magazines, blogs and venues to submit your writing to. Put some writing samples together and start looking for work. Write about different places you’ve been and submit those to different publications. Contact different editors with your samples and query letters and pitch different ideas. Talk about places you’ve been and places you want to go, and see if any of those editors or publications will take a chance on you. Above all, don’t get down if you find yourself getting rejected after the first few tries. Remember, they are rejecting the idea, not necessarily rejecting you. All the same, if rejection becomes your “gig”, it might be time to polish your writing a bit more and then try again.
Plan Your Trips
The cardinal rule of writing is to “write what you know”, and if you want to write about travel, plan a few trips and make sure you pack your laptop so that you can write about your adventures. As you travel, write about your experiences. Jot down different things from your day. Try a few different approaches and then submit those adventures to different editors. For example, you could write an article about frugal traveling, another about traveling on a specific budget or even just heading to a destination spontaneously.
Extra Tips
It never hurts to have a blog, and to have your writing samples available for download on your blogs. Showcase your best work, and send editors to your personal blog to find out more about you, get more familiar with your writing and promote your work that doesn’t get picked up. Monetize your blog with advertisements or endorsements of services or products you use to make your traveling (and writing) just a little bit easier.
Writing about travel for a living takes guts, passion, perseverance and a wild sense of adventure. If you have that, you have it all.
