Being able to write and travel at the same time is the dream for a lot of people. Being a travel writer is a great career or side hustle option if you are someone who is interested in seeing the world and sharing your experiences with other people.
You would be tasked with telling people what it is like to travel to certain places or review restaurants, tourist experiences, or something else entirely.
No matter the specific topic you are tasked with, you will want to help the reader learn something new about traveling.
If you have wondered what travel articles are, how to write a travel article, see some examples, and ultimately learn how to get yours published, this article will cover that and more.
What Are Travel Articles?
Travel articles are published for a lot of different reasons.
Some are written in the style of being a first-hand experience of an area to give travelers an idea of what to expect when they go, some are reviews of local areas/restaurants/experiences, some could be travel advice, or something else entirely.
All of them fall under the umbrella of traveling and giving the reader information they want to know.
For the most part, travel articles are published in travel magazines, in mainstream newspapers, and on travel blogs.
There are also a lot of companies that are hiring writers to write and create social media posts about travel for them, as well. That could be another option for you to look into as you try to make it as a travel writer.
How to Write A Travel Article
Now that you know what travel articles are, let’s go over how you can put one together. This will not cover every little step for every person and their path, but it will give you a general framework to follow.
#1 – Figure out your angle
Before you even start putting pen to paper, you need to decide why you are going to write a travel article. Do you want it to be informative? Funny? Entertaining? Educational? Some combination of all the above?
Knowing what you want to write and why can help steer you in the direction of what to collect in your notes and what you want to include in your article.
You will need to figure out what makes your article different than other articles out there that are about your same topic. It could be your personal experience, for example, that makes it different.
The most important thing you will want to think about before you start writing your story is why other people would care about your story. If you can answer that, you will be able to give the readers exactly what they want.
#2 – Start writing
Whether you want to carry around a small pocket notebook to start putting your stories together on the go, get an old typewriter like Hemingway, or type away on your iPad, it is important you start putting words on the page.
If you have not written since you were in college, it might take a bit of a learning curve to understand how to write again, but it will get easier with time.
Even if you have been writing for a while, if you have not written travel content before, you will need to learn how to write for that specific audience.
Practice writing as many stories as you can and figure out which of your stories are the most interesting. You could even start out with sharing your stories on your social media accounts to see which ones resonate.
#3 – Learn what hooks readers
You will want to take as much time as possible to study other travel articles and see how they hook readers.
A lot of your success as a travel writer will not always be the information you include in your article, but instead your ability to keep writers hooked and interested in your work.
You might even want to follow popular travel magazines on social media, subscribe to their publications, and read famous travel books so you can get an idea for how to start putting your stories together.
#4 – Edit ruthlessly
Not many magazines or travel blogs will let you go on for a long time, so it will be essential to keep your story short and right to the point.
Practice editing your work just as much as you spend writing. You will need to know how to hack out the unessential parts of your work to get it to the basics.
Examples of Travel Articles
Let’s take a look at some examples of travel articles so you can get an idea of what they look like and require.
Mother Earth Mother Board by Neal Stephenson. This article is the story about the laying of the longest wire on earth.
Death of an Innocent by John Krakauer. The sotry of Christopher McCandless, who you might know from the movie about his life in Into The Wild.
Long Day’s Journey by Elizabeth Gilbert as she walked across Provence.
How to Become A Travel Writer
If you want to become a travel writer, you are going to have to build your experience and portfolio in this niche.
That means, starting to write travel articles based on places you have gone lately or have in the past and learn to to make them interesting for readers.
Get experience
More than anything, you will need experience with travel writing. Whether that means you start writing and pitching your articles or you start your own blog, you will need to start sharing your experiences.
Build a portfolio
As you start writing more and putting your work out there, you will need to keep track of all the pieces you write so you can build your portfolio.
It does not need to be a super fancy portfolio. You just need to start collecting a body of work to show editors of your work and writing style.
You should do this as soon as you start writing travel articles because at some point, someone will ask to see your work and you will have wished you put it together sooner than later.
Network, network, network
You getting your first paid travel writing gigs will be based on how well you can pitch your work and network with editors at publications.
Where to Get Your Travel Articles Published
Now, the biggest question you might have is wondering where you get your articles published so you can grow your brand as a travel writer.
If your portfolio is strong enough, magazines and websites would love to have you contribute to them and give something to their readers.
One of the best tips is to type this into Google: “write for us” travel magazine.
That search will help bring up a wide variety of travel publications that are accepting writers. You will not find a page for like this for some of the biggest publications. Getting your foot in the door or something like Condé Nast will be fully dependent on your ability to network and build your brand.
What To Do Next
Ready to start putting together articles, but need some help on creating the outline?
This article template guide will help you get started on the right path:
