A few weeks ago, someone I was traveling with lost her luggage… …well, briefly so. We arrived at our baggage carousel at Heathrow, and within five minutes, two out of three of us had our bags. We waited and watched the conveyor belt empty out and as it ground to a halt, it became very [...]
I am a traveler, and like many people on this site, I write about it. That is to say, I don’t blog about my trips, but instead have written a book, Time Zones, Containers and Three Square Meals a Day, about a few particular journeys I made while working on a container ship. Now that [...]
Looking to get more mileage out of your travel writing? You’re probably aware of the concept of taking your travel experience and writing about it in different formats. You can describe the scenery, the sites, the language and the people. You can write about the best hotels and restaurants. You can explore the how-to’s, the [...]
For most travel writers, finding the time to write while on the road is a challenge. Everything is a distraction – the excitement of going to a new place, meeting new friends, experiencing a culture different from your own. If you’re on one of those media tours where the publicist drags you to every must-see [...]
With the U.S. State Department issuing an alert on Sunday “urging Americans traveling to Europe to be vigilant about possible terrorist attacks,” I am wondering how many of the editors I know are canceling assignments, “holding stories” and in general, choosing NOT to write about Britain, France and Germany until this storm passes. When is [...]
Years ago, I was on a press trip in Africa. As we were bumping along through the savannah, one of my fellow journalists was flipping through a stack of magazines he had brought along for what I guess he considered dull moments. He could have been on a plane, he could have been in his [...]
One of the very first things I had to accept about the kind of travel writing I do is that it’s a service. While I was inspired by the likes of Lawrence Durrell, Paul Theroux and Jan Morris, I was writing for a Condé Nast magazine. Articles had to be short and to the point, [...]
Years ago, I thought of writing a book called, “I left Paradise a Day Early” on the many hardships travel writers have to endure while on the road. I “shelved” the idea back then because a colleague/friend said to me, “Susan, normal people won’t get this.” Of course, how can staying in a pristine villa [...]
As writers we are all very aware of what goes on in the publishing industry. So no doubt you’ve seen or heard of the large and ubiquitous national ad campaign, announced in April by a joint venture between five giants of the publishing industry (Condé Nast, Hearst Magazines, Meredith Corporation, Time Inc., and Wenner Media) [...]
Where do you find the time to write? That is a question most writers ask themselves at one time or another, or all of the time. I’ve taken more time management classes than I can count and always pick up a hint or two that I can incorporate. However, I discovered most people taking these [...]
It’s been a while since I’ve indulged myself with a good rant. But this one has been building steam. It seems like lately I’ve been seeing certain mistakes being made by travel writers and bloggers that are clearly negatively impacting them, but they don’t realize it. Some make me want to reach through my monitor [...]
Here’s a secret that most traditional travel writers know, but only a few travel bloggers seem to. Almost every city or town has a CVB (Convention and Visitor’s Bureau). A CVB’s mission is to promote their locale as a tourist destination, and they typically LOVE to work with travel writers and travel bloggers who have [...]
It can happen to us all, eventually. Dare I admit it in public though? That travel writers and traveling can jade the adventurous spirit, that you can be in a dream location and suddenly have nothing to write about. That you don’t want to write about coconut trees swaying in the tropical and scented breeze [...]
In today’s world the economics of writing have changed. As a small publisher, (and YES every blogger is a publisher), you have access to many writers that will write for free or almost free. Some write for the thrill of writing and others are motivated more by the “perks”. While “perks” vary from niche to [...]
Hosted Press Trips – Are you in favor or not? This topic has been tossed around for years with stands pro and con. Discussions generally run to extremes and can get quite heated. In the past, most salaried journalists were not allowed to participate in hosted trips. The publishers felt it clouded their reporting. Instead, [...]
