Passions. I have many of them. Two of them actually come together when I’m writing my mystery, suspense novels. Traveling, one passion, has always been a part of my life. Fortunate that Dad wanted my brother and me to see all of the United States and most of Canada by the time we graduated from [...]

Congrats, you’ve put together a full itinerary visiting a number of fabulous hotels. So now it’s time to get to work, reporting on these hotels and experiences through your unique lens in a way that will add value for your readers. As a professional travel blogger, perhaps the most important element of a successful press [...]

In my previous post about pitching tourist boards I shared the one and only thing you must know before you start;… …Tourist boards work for the hotels, tour operators and other stakeholders in the destination.  So don’t start by pitching tourist boards directly, start with the stakeholders. Develop a killer idea with a hotel first, [...]

Between the horrific events of 9/11, a struggling global economy, and the unknown impact of new technologies,… …the early-2000’s were not a good time for the travel industry. This is also right about the time I was hired to run North American marketing for the Kenya Tourist Board. This was my first gig in the [...]

Some travel writers make the mistake of thinking they need to travel to far-flung destinations many time zones away…. … when, in actuality, there are interesting travel-related stories waiting to be written about their own backyards. In fact, one of the best ways to build a travel writing portfolio is to write about the destination [...]

As a travel writer, you want your stories to be as authentic as possible. The best way to create a realistic piece is to discuss the destination with those around you. Incorporating interviews into your travel writing can provide your readers with tremendous insight that you, as an outsider, cannot. As a writer, your work [...]

Learning how to write stories from different angles is essential skill for any travel writer. Most of us have to operate on a shoestring budget, hence the need to make the most of our working trips by writing more than one story and submitting it to various publications. But having this skill has nothing to [...]

Starting out as a freelance writer isn’t easy. The competition is tough, especially for online freelance work. When you start at the bottom, you have little choice but to accept lower rates compared to more accomplished and veteran freelancers. That doesn’t mean you can’t rise up to the top. If you work hard and produce [...]

Have you been reluctant to take lessons in writing, watch online seminars or read books on improving your writing? Perhaps you fear that if you are too heavily influenced by outside sources you will lose the originality and raw talent of your own style. Or, that your writing will become like the boring literature they [...]

One of the biggest challenges I have as a writer these days is just staying on the beam. For example, just now, rather than write that first sentence and move on to the next, I Googled ‘staying on the beam.’ I wanted to check—was it being used in this context by all sorts of writers [...]