what is good travel writing salient examples

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Posted on Jun 21, 2017

12 Types of Travel Writing Every Writer Should Know

So, you want to be a travel writer?

There are plenty of reality doses out there already, so we’re going to focus on the positives, and what you can do to maximize your chances of travel writing professionally. One of the first steps: you should absolutely know your markets, and what types of travel writing are popular in them. In today’s competitive market, this knowledge can both help you structure your article  and target the right audience.

In this post, we break down modern travel writing into three distinct categories: freelance journalism , blogging, and book-writing. Then we identify the prevalent types of travel writing each category is known for, to give you an initial sort of compass in the industry.

Freelance Travel Journalism

The truth is this: the travel sections in major publications (New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal) are slimmer now, so competition will be tall. But there are other outlets. Local newspapers are sometimes open to travel pitches from freelancers. Certain websites pay for travel articles, while magazines can be great for targeting niche audiences.

So what are the common types of freelance travel journalism?

Destination articles

Here, the game’s in the name: destination articles tell readers about a place to which they might want to travel one day. One of the most standard type of travel stories, these pieces act as the armchair reader’s bird-eye view of a place. Useful or interesting facts pepper the writing. History, points of interest, natural scenery, trendy spots: a destination article can touch upon them all within the framework of a broad narrative.

Where the average article gives readers a sense of the destination, the best of the best convinces readers that this is a destination they want, nay, need to visit. As such, though some destination articles are written in first person, the focus is rarely on the writer. Instead, the destination is the star of the show.

For examples of destination articles, check out:

• Besalú, the most interesting Spanish village you probably don’t know (LA Times)
• In Indonesia (Washington Post)
• 36 Hours In The Finger Lakes Region of New York (New York Times)

Special-interest articles

Special-interest articles are offshoots of destination articles. Instead of taking the reader on a tour of an entire country or city, these pieces cover one particular aspect of the destination. This kind of writing can cover anything from art in Colombia, ghost towns in the U.S., trekking in Patagonia, alpaca farms in Australia, motorbiking in Brazil, railroads in France, volunteering in Tanzania — you get the gist.

Since special-interest articles are narrower in topic, many writers tailor them for niche magazines or websites. Before you start pitching, we recommend flipping through the Writer’s Handbook , one of the most useful guides to the freelance publishing market, to see which publications fit your target audience.

For a taste of some special-interest articles, see:

• Exploring Portugal — From Pork To Port (epicurious.com)
• This Unsung Corner of Spain is Home to Fabulous Food (Washington Post)
• Karsts of China's Getu River region attract rock climbers, other travelers (CNN Travel)

Holiday and special events

Holiday and special events travel articles ask writers to write about a destination before the event takes place. The biggest global events are magnets for this type of travel writing, such as the World Cup, the Olympics, the World Expo, fashion weeks, and film festivals. Depending on the publication, regional events work just as well.

Want to see what special events pieces look like? Have a read through these:

• This summer’s solar eclipse is southern Illinois’ chance to shine (Chicago Tribune)
• How To Plan A Trip To The 2016 Rio Olympics (Travel & Leisure)

You’ll recognize a round-up article when you see one, as it’ll go, “40 best beaches in West Europe,” or, perhaps, “20 of the greatest walks in the world!” It’s a classic tool in any magazine or newspaper writer’s toolbox, taking a bunch of destinations and grouping them all under one common thread.

Ultimately, a clear motif makes this type of article a breeze to read, as they’re a play on the ubiquitous List Format. But, OK, before you jump at this excuse to sacrifice your belly at 99 food trucks in New York City, remember that your premise should be original, not to mention practical. What’s tough is coming up with X ways to do Y in the first place, as that demands you put in the travel and research to produce a thorough write-up.

Want even more examples of round-up articles? Here you go:

• 12 new art exhibits to see this summer (Smithsonian)
• 21 ways to see America for cheap (Huffington Post)
• 41 places to go in 2011 (New York Times)

Personal essays

Publishers are experiencing something of a personal essay fatigue , so the market for more might be scarce these days. However, quality trumps all, and a good personal travel essay is just plain good writing in disguise: something that possesses a strong voice while showing insight, growth, and backstory.

Just don’t make it a diary entry. In an interview with The Atlantic , travel writer Paul Theroux said: “The main shortcut is to leave out boring things. People write about getting sick, they write about tummy trouble. They write about waiting. They write three pages about how long it took them to get a visa. I’m not interested in the boring parts. Everyone has tummy trouble. Everyone waits in line. I don’t want to hear about it.”

Here’s a jumping-off point for personal travel essays:

• Taking the Great American Roadtrip (Smithsonian)

Have a burning opinion to share? Sometimes publications end up giving op-eds to staff, but there are always open calls for opinion pieces.

Travel op-eds are much rarer than political opinion pieces, but there’s a pattern to the ones that make the cut: good persuasive writing. If you can come at a topic from a unique angle (and argue your case clearly) then you may be able to publish your opinion.

If you’re in the mood for travel op-ed articles, see:

• The West Coast Is The Best Coast For Food In America (Food & Wine)
• Why Climate Change Is Actually Relevant To Travel (Conde Nast)

Travel Blogging

When typing “travel blog” into Google returns 295 million results, we can guess it’s a fairly competitive market.

Here’s the plus side: bloggers get to write what they want and go where they please. When it comes to blog posts, there are no editors, no gatekeepers. Only you and the “PUBLISH” button.

We won’t go revisit the types of travel writing we covered earlier (such as the roundup format). Instead, we’ll explore some of the other formats bloggers use to tell their travel stories. Since the rules of travel blogging are next to non-existent, our tally below is by no means definitive. And, again, our best advice is to note what your favorite bloggers do on their blogs.

Already running a successful travel blog? You might consider turning that blog into a book !

How-To articles are already fairly popular in magazines, but they’re positively omnipresent in the travel blogging world. Blogs provide a direct communication platform, allowing trust to build up quicker with the readers. As a result, for the search query, “How to travel Europe on a budget,” six out of the top ten results are posts from trusted independent blogs.

A How-To article is the most standard form of advice column a travel blogger can produce. It’s intrinsically useful, promising that it’ll teach something by article’s end. A blogger’s challenge is delivering fully on that promise.

How to read more How-To articles? We got you covered:

• How To Start A Travel Blog (Nomadic Matt)
• How To Travel Solo To A Party Destination (Adventurous Kate)
• How to Visit Penang’s Kek Lok Si Temple (Migrationology)

Itineraries

Itineraries reveal the schedule that the writer took at a given destination, city-by-city or sight-by-sight. They’re meant for the traveler who’s embarking on a similar trip and needs a template. Typically, you’ll find that an itinerary post is an easy place for you to slip in recommendations, anything from the accommodation you used or the restaurants you tried.

You can use itinerary posts to reinforce your blog’s brand. For instance, an itinerary posted on a blog focused around budget travel will probably maximize cost-saving chances.

For more itineraries, see:

• My Trip To Japan (A Complete Japan Itinerary)
• Backpacking Vietnam on a budget: 2-3 Weeks Itinerary + Tips

Longform posts

Longform travel blogging tells a travel story through extended narrative content, as it takes a week’s worth of adventure and shapes it into a story. Longform blog posts about travel often end up being creative nonfiction : a way to present nonfiction — factually accurate prose about real people and events — in a compelling, vivid, dramatic manner.

Photography can add another dimension to the form, as Emmanuel Nataf (our co-founder!) shows on his travel blog . And Reedsy's very own Arielle provides a glimpse into why she prefers longform travel writing on her blog, Steps, a Travel Journal :

My favourite kinds of stories are the ones that give you a real sense of place. That’s why I enjoy longform travel blogging: I get to describe the character of a place through the experiences I encountered there.

If you want to dip your toe into the sea of longform posts, you can also read:

• The Cow Head Taco Philosopher King of Oaxaca (Legal Nomads)
• The Best Worst Museum In The World

When it comes to writing a book, you can take all the challenges about travel writing from above and magnify it times 2,000. If you’re asking readers to commit to you for more than 100 pages, you’d best make sure that your book is worth their while.

As far as examples go, travel writing’s boomed in the mainstream book market recently. But there’s much more to it than Eat, Pray, Love and its descendants.

Travelogues

In travelogues, authors record their adventures in a way that illustrates or sheds insight upon the place itself. Travelogues possess a storied past, from Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s Turkish Embassy Letters in 1763 to Mark Twain’s 1867 The Innocents Abroad , which paved the way for the sort of comic travelogues that Bill Bryson’s perfected today.

Up for some travelogues? Check out:

• Notes From A Small Island , by Bill Bryson
• In Patagonia , by Bruce Chatwin
• Travels with Charley In Search of America , by John Steinbeck

Travel memoirs

Nowadays, travel memoirs are practically synonymous with Elizabeth Gilbert’s wildly popular Eat, Pray, Love and Cheryl Strayed’s bestselling Wild , which were both recently adapted into Hollywood blockbusters.

That said, be aware that you’ll need a pretty exceptional personal story for your memoir to compete in today’s market . If you’re still set on writing or self-publishing a travel memoir, it’s tricky to balance personal backstory and travel for 400 pages, so think about taking on a professional for a second pair of eyes.

Did you know? You can find Nicki Richesin , a top Bloomsbury editor who’s edited for Cheryl Strayed, on our marketplace.

In addition to Eat, Pray, Love and Wild , you can read:

• Under the Tuscan Sun , by Frances Mayes
• Coasting , by Jonathan Raban
• Wind, Sand, and Stars , by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

As Oscar Wilde said, “I never travel without my diary. One should always keep something sensational to read in the train.” But these days, people are replacing diaries with travel guides — the ubiquitous Lonely Planet becoming one of the more common sights on transit.

Travel writing in guidebooks is straightforward, informative, and fact-filled. In addition, there’s a certain amount of responsibility that comes with the job. Lonely Planet alone is read by millions of travelers worldwide.

General Tips and Guidelines

As we mentioned before, the trick to producing great travel writing is ultimately simply writing well . To that extent, you should make sure to follow all the guidelines of good writing — not least, spell-checking your article before submitting or publishing it anywhere. You don’t want an editor or reader to see it while it stilll reads lik edis.

Also, keep in mind the tone, style, and vibe of the publication and platform (and by extension, your audience). A story about a moon-rock could go into a kid's magazine or it could go into Scientific America .

Finally, some category-specific tips:

• If you’re freelance writing, always check submission guidelines. Publications may accept only pitches or they may welcome articles “on spec” (pre-written articles). Some sources only take travel articles that were written within 6 months of the trip.
• If you’re blogging, brand your website (same advice if you’re an author who’s building an author website ).
• If you’re writing a book, get a professional editor! An unedited book is an unwieldy thing, and professional eyes provide direction, continuity, and assonance. ( Layout designers can be important if you’re publishing a travel photography book, in the meanwhile.)

Travel writing isn't a cinch. In fact, it's a long and often hard grind. But by figuring out what type of travel writing you want to try your hand at, you're taking the crucial first step.

Have you tried travel writing before? Want to show us the cool travel blog that you're keeping? We're always in the mood for great travel writing + pretty pictures. Leave us a note in the comments and we'll be sure to check it out! 

7 responses

Amanda Turner says:

20/03/2018 – 16:20

Thank you, this was very helpful. Here's one of mine: http://vagabondingwithkids.com/every-mothers-guide-to-piranha-fishing-in-the-amazon/

Travalerie says:

24/05/2018 – 18:42

I landed on this page Googling for one thing and coming up with another. Haha! But what I found instead was helpful as I'm devouring as much as I can on travel writing. A few months ago, I started a new travel business, revamped my website including a new blog, and am in the process of writing, writing, writing. I took 2 trips this year so far and wrote what seemed like a mini-novella. Burning out in the process. I know I can do better. But I had no idea what I was writing could be re-worked to fit a certain category of travel writing -- which is what I found helpful in this post above. Thanks https://www.travalerie.com/blog

Surya Thakur says:

04/03/2019 – 12:39

Very good information. Lucky me I discovered your blog by chance (stumbleupon). I’ve saved as a favorite for later! KuLLuHuLLs

David Bishop says:

08/05/2019 – 12:28

Thanks for this good article. I'm in my third year on the road and recently started my senior solo adventure travel website. I think my site has some pretty good stuff, of course. Take a look and tell me what you think. www.davidhunterbishop.com

Iris C. Permuy says:

23/05/2019 – 18:03

Thank you very much for all of these useful pieces of advice. I will make sure to implement them all on my travel blog, which is a combination of travel and gastronomy and uses the memoir and itinerary types, apart from recipes. Come check it out if you feel like it! I am more than open, eager for some professional feedback :)

Serissa says:

26/10/2019 – 14:53

This post is the perfect diving board for aspiring travel writers. I plan to link to this page from my travel blog if that is alright! ?? The link on my website will appear as "[title of this post] by Reedsy Blog". I assume this is alright, but if not, please email me directly to let me know! Thanks so much!

↪️ Martin Cavannagh replied:

29/10/2019 – 10:11

We'd be absolutely delighted if you shared this article on your blog :)

Comments are currently closed.

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6 examples of gorgeous travel writing

Inspiration to help your next travel blog, guidebook, or article stand out from the crowd.

We live on a wondrous, ever-changing planet— from alpine lakes and cloud forests to ancient cobblestoned cities.

The best travel writers can transport readers to these far-flung destinations, and to introduce them to new cultures and experiences. When done well, travel writing can be an insightful, thought-provoking and even life-changing genre of writing.

And with interactive content platforms, it’s possible for travel writers to create truly immersive reading experiences online. In this guide, we introduce six ideas — and examples of travel writing — to help you create beautiful, interactive travel stories.

Whether you're a beginner travel writer, a publisher, destination marketer, or freelance travel blogger, we've got plenty of inspiration to get you started.

What do the BBC, Tripadvisor, and Penguin have in common? They craft stunning, interactive web content with Shorthand. And so can you! Publish your first story for free — no code or web design skills required. Sign up now.

The features of great travel writing

The best travel writing is unique, but there are still some general guidelines you’ll want to follow to make your travel writing stand out from the pack. Here are some travel writing tips to help you compete with the best examples of the genre.

• Have a point of view. Great travel writers — from the travel books of Bill Bryson and John Steinbeck to the documentaries of Paul Theroux — all have very specific points of view that are difficult to copy. Find your voice, and your travel articles will truly sing.
• Take great photos. The best travel writing is visually immersive, using high resolution images and video to engage the reader’s senses. Even if you’re not creating a photo essay , modern travel writing relies of great visual assets.
• Use multimedia content where you can. If you can, create audio and video assets, too, and consider building out your story with a digital storytelling platform to use interactive features. Embed podcasts and clips to keep the reader engaged.
• Learn from the best. Keep track of longform feature stories in the New York Times and the Washington Post, and steal their techniques. (Good travel writers borrow, great travel writers steal, to butcher TS Eliot.)
• Create a beautiful web presence. We love the print Lonely Planet travel guides, but these days you need to produce stunningly engaging content on the web. Standards are high, but you’d be amazed what you can do with modern interactive content platforms.
• Provide a sense of adventure — even if you’re not strictly doing ‘adventure travel’. Whether you’re writing a first person travel memoir or writing about your backpacker’s trip through the Amazon, you want to keep your reader engaged with your travel experiences.
• Make it educational. Teach the reader something new about the world they’re exploring.
• Edit your work. The best travel writers kill their darlings and pay attention to details — hello, commas — knowing that this is how the best work is created.

Want to improve the efficiency of your writing process? Check out our list of the best writing tools .

Inspire readers and move them to action by exploring a location's unique history and culture. By focusing on just one place, your readers get the chance to experience it deeply through your words and imagery.

Intrepid Travel's Shorthand story 'Welcome to Olkola Country' is simple, yet effective. The highlight of the story is its elegant writing — a blend of reporting and personal narrative that explores the history, culture, and ecology of an ancestral land of the Olkola people in Australia. The story is elevated with thoughtful photos and videos, and ends with a call to action for the newly-inspired reader.

Looking for more inspiration? Check out our roundup of ten stunning photo essay examples .

The right images can make a story feel polished and inspired.

2 . Time travel

Taking readers back through historical moments is a great way to achieve more depth in your stories.

In the story The Museum of Atari, Mario and Electronic Childhood Dreams , Channel News Asia uses Shorthand to create a stunning visual story about a little-known museum of retro video games in Singapore. The highlight of the story is an interactive scrollytelling timeline about the history of video games, which is created using the Shorthand Reveal feature and animates a pixel character as the reader scrolls.

Our Reveal section allows animations like this to be controlled by the reader's scrolling.

3 . Immerse your reader

When words and photos simply aren't enough to convey the complexity of a travel story, add another layer of reader engagement using various forms of media.

The Sydney Opera House story  A Guide to Dance Rites uses multimedia to bring indigenous culture to life. With elements like animation, slideshows, and embedded audio clips, readers can feel fully immersed in one of Australia's most traditional dance competitions.

Embed your own code to add further customisation to your story.

With Shorthand, remember that you always have the option to add custom HTML to add further customisations to your stories. See a list of our recommended third party tools in this support document .

4 . Just the highlights

Not every trip allows for the luxury of time. In order to get the point across, sometimes a quick and to-the-point listicle is all that's necessary to deliver a clear and time-efficient message.

Mansion Global's story 6 Cities, 6 Continents takes a quick jaunt around the world to some of the best cities to buy a dream vacation home. The destinations are all tied together by an interactive map that tracks a route between the cities — a creative use of the Shorthand Reveal section .

Interactive maps can help connect different locations in your story.

5 . Keep it practical

Travel stories don't always need to inspire wanderlust or transport readers to far-flung destinations. Some of the most effective and important travel stories simply provide practical advice — whether that's how to exchange currency, say "thank you" in a foreign language, or avoid danger.

Travel Weekly's story Traveling While Female explores how female travellers can stay safe, and uses data to stress the importance of improving women's safety abroad. By displaying the data as interactive graphics, Travel Weekly draws extra emphasis to key statistics.

Make your data memorable by giving it special emphasis.

6. Zoom out

When you've written a couple of beautiful travel stories, what's next?

Tie together your creative vision by consolidating your stories into a single landing page. You can use Shorthand to create a home for all of your stories, whether that's by using our Collection section or by including links in other section types.

For example, Luxury Travel nests all of their feature content within a Shorthand story. The page takes advantage of our media-rich sections to create a scrolling archive of their beautiful travel stories.

Consolidate your features in a single Shorthand story.

There are myriad ways to turn a Shorthand story into a landing page. Here's another example from Perth Now, which takes a simple, colourful approach.

There are many ways to customise a Shorthand story to serve as a landing page.

Creating a unique online travel story can seem like a daunting task, but Shorthand's many easy-to-use features exist to help make your stories exceptional. There are thousands of destinations waiting to be written about, and we can't wait to see where your stories take us next.

Publish your first story free with Shorthand

Craft sumptuous content at speed. No code required.

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

What makes a winning travel piece? Guardian writers share their tips

A n important part of travel writing is coming up with an introduction that creates a compelling bridge to the place you're writing about. If a reader isn't gripped by your introduction and keen to know more, you stand a real chance of them not reading any further. Your best writing could come in the middle of the piece, but it might go unread.

A good technique is to drop the reader into the middle of the action. Think about a stand-out encounter in your journey, something exhilarating, frightening, funny, or just plain odd. This could perhaps be a revealing conversation, where you're told some interesting information. Don't worry about establishing where you are until paragraph two or three. That can wait until the reader is gripped. And don't worry about the chronology of your trip. Your intro can have happened anytime during your journey. You can pick up chronologically later on, as long as you explain at some point how the intro fits in. Mike Carter

Keep the story bouncing along in the right direction. No diversions for irrelevancies. No boring sentences allowed. Someone once said about self-editing: "Slaughter your darlings." There are always lines in a story that you love too much. If they don't carry the narrative forward, get rid of them. Kevin Rushby

The best travel writing focuses on something specific – a detail, an observation, or a meeting – that can then be used to make a wider point about the location. There has to be a narrative structure that carries the reader along in an entertaining way, and that isn't necessarily chronological, as that's a predictable and clunky device. The perspective of the piece should shift – from close up to wider context, and back again – in order to vary the pace. Detail is everything, and again it should be varied to include dialogue, landscape and observations. And language is key – keep it simple and go easy on the adjectives. Andy Pietrasik

The piece should be broader than just a personal account of your holiday, saying something about the destination or some travel trend or new experience. It's great if your story has an angle or is telling the reader about a holiday idea, something that has changed in a destination, a new trip or attraction or new aspect of travel that they won't have heard about before. Avoid irrelevant – and boring – personal details such as your taxi journey from the airport or the stomach bug you picked up. Try to stick to entertaining anecdotes and things that would be relevant to a reader who is thinking of making a similar trip. Gemma Bowes

Take notes about everything – shapes, colours, light, sound, smells, tastes – so that when you come to write your piece, you don't have to rely on words such as "stunning", "gorgeous", or "tasty", but can describe the place or experience in detail, adding richness to your story. Don't try to cover every single thing you did in your trip; you are not writing a list. Instead, edit your experience so that you are using one or two good, strong examples to illustrate your point. And avoid cliches: all those bustling markets, hearty meals, lovingly restored buildings, turquoise seas and anything that nestles are definite no-nos. Isabel Choat

Travel writing doesn't begin the moment your fingers hit the keyboard. Do your research; consider changing your itinerary to visit somewhere that makes a better story; and, most importantly, talk to people. When you ask lots of questions, not only will you get plenty of quotes to lift the piece, you may also find your own ideas are turned on their head: your story – and indeed your trip – could take an entirely new direction. Vicky Baker

• Travel writing competition
• Travel writing competition 2013

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An epic rail trip across Canada: readers' travel writing competition 2012

On holiday with the most important man in Iceland: readers travel writing competition 2012

A cycling holiday around Denmark: readers' travel writing competition

Family glamping in the UK: readers' travel writing competition 2013

Finland's snowy wilderness: readers travel writing competition 2012

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What You Should Know About Travel Writing

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

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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The 7 Qualities of a Successful Travel Writer

Posted July 14th, 2021 by Noreen Kompanik & filed under Travel Writing .

During a discussion with one of my editors this past week, the subject of what makes a good travel writer came up. He was frustrated with writers who had submitted work that either didn’t fit the publication or sounded like a guidebook rather than an exciting travel story.

How do some writers seem to naturally breeze through the pitching, writing, and publishing process, while others find it a struggle?

After almost 650 published pieces, I can guarantee it’s not magic. There are qualities and skills every successful writer should possess and practice. They separate the novice from the professional and the average from the extraordinary.

Penning a good story is a must. But a good writer must possess these qualities as well:

1. Well-read

Reading widely is so important in the travel writing process, and it’s one habit I committed to early on. Reading other’s work is crucial in understanding what makes a good story—the story an editor and readers will love.

It’s also vitally important to read writer’s guidelines. Nothing will make the editor hit the delete button faster than a writer not following directions.

2. Commitment

Many professional jobs require continuing education to update and hone skills. It’s no different in the travel writing world. Though not required, I can’t imagine keeping up with the many changes and moving targets without being “in the know.”

To stay at the top of your game, commit to continuing education—creative writing courses, writing and photography programs, and travel writing retreats.

3. Creativity

A creative edge helps separate you from the pack. Find your own personal travel writing style. I often use quotes in my articles, either from famous writers and artists or from locals, when writing a destination piece.

When choosing a destination to write about, find something unusual. While I love Dubrovnik, Croatia, writing about the nearby town of Cavtat landed me an enthusiastic “Yes!” from an editor. Also, make sure your photos are top notch. Creative images impress editors immensely.

4. Flexibility

We’ve all had a lesson in flexibility over the past year but possessing this quality has always been important for the travel writer.

I recently had an all-inclusive 10-day press trip to Senegal on the books. I jumped through hoops to accept the trip by majorly adjusting my travel schedule. Unfortunately, the trip has been rescheduled. It happens.

This also goes for an editor changing the date of a published piece or asking a writer to pivot on the topic. Go with the flow. Your editors and tourism reps will love you for it!

5. Time management

The freedom that comes with taking charge of your own life and career is amazing, but it also means you’re in charge of managing your time.

This means strict adherence to publication deadlines while juggling your travel schedule. One of the secrets that keeps me on course is to turn off distractions—phone calls, texts, social media feeds, and emails—when I’m working against a deadline.

Focus on the task at hand. Juggling too much at one time can be stressful, frustrating, and distracting and will take away the joy of the travel writing life.

6. Research

Good writers get the facts and weed out hearsay. They thoroughly research topics and don’t cut corners. They ensure information is current and correct by going directly to the source. They ask questions and make certain they understand the subject they’re writing about.

Nothing will kill your relationship with an editor or a tourism board rep faster than reporting incorrect or outdated facts. Believe me, I know writers this has happened to, and it seriously damages credibility.

7. Persistence

One of my favorite quotes is “A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.”

The travel writer’s life is amazing, but it isn’t always easy. Pitching a story can yield no response or a few nos. Good writers just move on. They pivot or pitch to other publications until they get a yes.

The same goes with working with an editor for the first time and having a story sent back for revisions. Rather than being discouraged, use this as a learning experience. It’s happened to all of us.

All of this hard work pays off with the reward of seeing your name in print and unlimited travel opportunities.

Master these qualities, and I promise you’ll be a travel writer that’s in demand.

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4 examples of great travel writing .

Really good travel writing inspires us to get up, go out and see the world. It can be just as persuasive as an awe-inspiring photograph or an enthusiastic word-of-mouth endorsement from a close friend.

Here are four very different examples of travel writing, all of which are great for different reasons.

Nomadic Matt (blog)

Run by budget-travel expert Matt Kepnes, nomadicmatt.com is an energetic and lively blog – his passion is obvious from the get-go and it prevails throughout his site. He’s written a best-selling book called How to Travel the World on $50 a Day , and he constantly updates his website with new content.

He’s put together useful profiles on many cities and regions all over the world, but his most insightful articles are the ones that offer practical booking advice and money-saving tips – such as “How to Find a Cheap Flight” . Being so well-travelled, he’s found numerous ways around the heavy costs of travel and is committed to sharing them – which is great news for the average holiday- goer who likes to save a bob or two (which is most of us).

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Fodor’s (guidebook series and website)

In addition to producing the world’s most popular series of travel guidebooks, Fodor’s has embraced the modern age: in addition to printing their books, they also have a user-friendly website that’s packed with info and is accessible on all devices – desktop, tablet and mobile.

The content on the website is certainly less detailed than the guidebooks that established the company’s reputation, but brevity is not always a bad thing. The site’s main function, after all, is to provide thick-and-fast info, and it does so. Look at the site’s main Florence page to see exactly what I mean – it gives a succinct introduction to the place and then outlines the top reasons to go, with a load of links to specific articles with reviews and tips.

From a less literary perspective, the Fodor’s site is mobile-friendly too – so it’s really easy to navigate on the go, unlike some of its competitors.

John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley (non-fiction book)

As his novel-writing career was coming to an end and he was entering his twilight years, John Steinbeck (author of The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men ) went on a road trip across the USA with his dog Charley, and then he wrote a book about the experience.

Unlike the other examples in this post, Travels with Charley doesn’t really contain any information you can use practically when travelling America – it’s more a snapshot of the country in 1960.

Steinbeck set out from his house on Long Island, New York, and basically went around the country in an anti-clockwise loop. The trip was said to be about 10,000 miles all in all.

In Travels with Charley , Steinbeck vividly captures American culture – just as he does in most of his fictional work. You can get a copy for peanuts in a second-hand bookshop or from various places online like Amazon and eBay.

Adventurous Kate (blog)

Kate McCulley is one of the best-known solo female travel bloggers. Her aptly-titled website, Adventurous Kate, resembles a journal more than anything else – the writing is very conversational and is suitably written in the first person.

Kate uses images very well throughout her blog posts – it’s not uncommon to see a dozen in one single article, and they’re all photos she has taken herself with her own camera. Crucially, Kate’s images are well-placed and they complement her writing – a prime example of this in action is her post about her trip to a Cotswolds gin distillery .

A while ago we wrote about how important images are in blogs – have a read and you’ll see some pretty telling stats about user engagement.

Any Other Suggestions?

Is there any other travel writing you think is worth a mention? It could be a website, a blog, an individual article, or a good old-fashioned book. Let us know what and why over on Twitter .

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Just What Makes Great Travel Writing Work? Analysing Writers’ Techniques

Before one can be a great travel writer, one must learn to be a great travel reader. To read voraciously and linger over the words; relish, absorb and reflect on what it is that makes great travel writing work. Found a travel article that you love? Analyse its effect – a strong feeling, a vivid image – and then pinpoint how the writer achieved it.

By examining the techniques employed in the best travel prose, aspiring travel writers can acquire new skills and help attune their own ear to the rhythms and melodies of good writing. To illustrate the many benefits of studying others’ work, we have deconstructed a selection of praiseworthy travel writing passages. Scroll down to read on.

First up is David Farley’s beautifully written account of Varanasi, India , as published in AFAR. Avid travel readers will find much to delight in in this article, not least this absorbing opening: “You people come to Varanasi from the West because you’re so unprepared for death,” said the 85-year-old who opened the door.

Right from the opening sentence, the reader is jolted into the thick of the action, with a startling quote in a direct, accusatory tone. This is immediately followed by “‘But what you’re all missing is this: You need to be a see -er’ ; a sentence full of intrigue provoking curiosity and causing the reader to question. How should I prepare for death?”

In the following paragraph, Farley himself enters the fold, gently orienting the reader by introducing himself and providing some context to the trip. “I wasn’t sure I did. I had come to Varanasi — a city of some 1.5 million people in northeastern India, on a mission: to engage with death (a strange quest I’ll explain shortly).” He then continues to weave in the self-revelatory and autobiographical moments with narrative, descriptive and historical writing.

Read on through Farley’s gripping narrative and you’ll be able to spot other effective stylistic devices, including parallel sentence structures (such as “The living come… the dead arrive…” and “There it was in a magazine; there it was on TV; there it was on someone’s Facebook profile” ) and specific, detailed descriptions that kindle all five senses, sparking the readers’ imaginations (see “The smell of exhaust fumes, chai, and curry, plus the occasional waft of incense, intermingle…” and “…like a subcontinental version of Marlon Brando’s Godfather character” ).

Another great travel read to study is Nathaniel Rich’s How to Spend 47 Hours on a Train and Not Go Crazy  from the New York Times. In this engrossing longform piece, Rich brings the reader aboard the Sunset Limited, a long-distance rail route that links New Orleans to Los Angeles, taking – as the title indicates – just shy of two full days.

In structure, the article mirrors the journey itself. It begins with one group of passengers early in the journey – “Vickie, Alice, Lisa, Debbie, Barbara, Chris, Clair and Cootz boarded the Los Angeles-bound Sunset Limited in Schriever, La., and immediately took residence in the glass-sheathed Sightseer Lounge car…” – but as time goes on we are introduced to a range of other characters, who step aboard and disembark at various stages en route.

The ending is a lesson in balance, as the writer envisions the unseen end of the journey for a pair of German Baptist sisters, who are keen to see as much as they can of the country during the return journey to their tight-knit rural community. “And there they would remain… until it was time to get back on the Big Blue Bus, which would take them to the Coast Starlight, which would take them to the Empire Builder, which would take them to the Cardinal, which would take them to Indianapolis, where a boy with a car would be waiting to take them home.”

Throughout the article, Rush frequently alludes to time, reminding readers of the journey’s length ( “he remained for much of the next 46 hours and 35 minutes” , “a 47-hour train” , “today it takes two sunsets, and two sunrises” , “When the sun set in Houston, the train was still in the South; by sunrise it had unmistakably entered the West,” ).

Elsewhere in the text, keenly chosen phrases enliven the writing. For instance, a group of women “took residence in” the carriage rather than plain old ‘sat in’, which reinforces the lengthy duration of the journey to readers, while the phrase “vaporous cloud of wavy brown hair” conjures a much more vivid image than the more commonly used ‘voluminous’ ever could. Note how Rich chooses surprising words and uncommon phrases that convey images, sounds and details to the reader in a very precise and evocative way. ( “quiet, pneumatic exhalation” , “the river’s full double turn, like a lowercase m written in a lazy cursive” , “occasional exclamation of a yucca plant” ).

As you continue to read and scrutinise these examples and others, you’ll find that good travel writing often shares common attributes: the use of innovative turns of phrase in place of stale clichés, the ability to steer the reader’s gaze, an undeniable flow and rhythm (shaped by varying sentence length and structures) and the presentation of specific details that not only produce clear images in the reader’s mind but can also help illustrate a point.

Not only is reading an important step to grasping the art of travel writing, but good writing also acts as inspiration, reminding writers of the delights of good writing and spurring them to get better.

Are there any travel writers you particularly love to read? Share your thoughts with us on  Twitter , where we share examples of our favourite travel writing, or check out our latest projects  for examples of our own work.

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Great site you have got here… It’s hard to find high-quality travel writing and advice like yours these days.

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10 Travel Blog Writing Examples For Inspiration

Planning to be a travel writer? Don't start without looking at these 10 examples of exceptional travel writing! Plus, here's why you need a travel writing portfolio.

Shreya Bose

Written by Shreya Bose , edited by Protim Bhaumik , reviewed by Eric Hauch .

23. Feb 2023 , updated 30. Jun 2023

Nothing opens our minds quite like travel, does it? However, not all of us are lucky enough to travel more than once or twice a year (if that) while juggling a 9-5, school/housework, kids/pets, and everything else in between.

But there are certain people who actually choose to live a life of travel. No, I am not talking about trust fund babies but about the travel blogger.

Giving up the secure desk job to pursue travel stories, writing them, and getting paid is not the life for everybody. But I won't be lying if I say quite a few of us secretly (or not-so-secretly) wish we could live that life.

If you're thinking of embarking on a "job" that takes you around the world, and you think you can write travel blogs that delight and educate every reader, this article is for you. To get started, have a look at these 10 travel blog writing examples. The individuals discussed in this blog post are living the life you want, and exploring their work is a good way to start your travel writing career before building your unique voice and brand.

10 Amazing travel bloggers & their work (to inspire you to write your first blog)

Elizabeth chorney-booth.

Elizabeth Chorney-Booth is a Canadian writer exploring food, drink, travel, medical writing, and general interest topics. She is the weekly restaurant columnist for the Calgary Herald, a regular columnist on CBC Radio, and a weekly contributor to Canada.com 's travel section. Her work has appeared in multiple publications like the Globe and Mail, Culinaire, Bold Travel, Savour, Leap, OnBoard, and more.

Gwendolyn Richards

Gwendolyn Richards is a Calgary-based food and travel writer & photographer who loves patent shoes, bourbon, and burgers. She has also written and published a cookbook named Pucker. If you're looking to have travel adventures (of the stomach especially) in and around Calgary, her portfolio and blog are must-reads.

Jamie Carter

Jamie Carter combines travel blogging with writing about science, and his portfolio and blog showcase the coolest, most eclectic collection of articles and images you'll come across. His work has been published in Forbes, Travel+Leisure, Sky & Telescope, BBC Sky At Night, South China Morning Post, TechRadar, and WhenIsTheNextEclipse?

Jamie's blog: jamieacarter.com

Louise Goldsbury

Louise Goldsbury runs a famous travel blog that has won her the Best Travel Writer award at the National Travel Industry Awards twice. She has also been a 2022 finalist for the same. She writes as a freelance for The Australian, Escape, and Explore. She is also the Editor-at-large at Cruise & Travel magazine (Big Splash Media)

Louise's blog: louisegoldsbury.substack.com

Gina Rich is an award-winning freelance writer exploring topics around parenting, health, travel, and the natural world. She's also quite a coffee enthusiast, as her own travel blog will showcase.

Gina's blog: lovehopeandcoffee.com

Vicki Reeve

Vicki Reeve is a Cornwall/London-based freelance writer & editor who works on Departures International, Centurion, Compendium, and NetJets magazines, Vogue, Art Fund's Art Quarterly magazine, Elephant magazine, and Wylde (among others), and writes about Cornwall for the Mail on Sunday's travel section.

She is also a senior editor at Ultratravel magazine.

Salt in our Hair

Run by Hannah and Nick, two travel bloggers from the Netherlands, this award-winning blog has it all — travel stories, travel photography, travel tips, and even information for solo travelers.

By detailing their own travel adventures, Hannah and Nick provide helpful information and fun-laden itineraries for anyone looking to jet-set around the world.

This is a great travel blog example, encompassing everything from an adventure travel blog to laid-back travel ideas.

Hannah & Nick's blog: saltinourhair.com

The Blonde Abroad

Kiki has been traveling solo for years and collecting her experiences in her travel blog. She has visited over 70 countries and collates information specifically for solo female travelers. Of course, she also covers other categories like adventure travel, budget travel, couple travel, etc. But it's her tips for women traveling alone that really get her blog to stand out.

Kiki's blog: theblondeabroad.com

The Travel Book

Is it possible to travel while being environmentally conscious? The Travel Book says Yes!

It doesn't matter what your travel destination is, this blog will tell you how to have amazing trips without leaving too much of a negative impact on the ecology. This is a great resource if you're looking to travel internationally since those long plane rides are just the start of expanding our carbon footprint. Tips from Karoline and Rasmus (who run the blog) help you counteract that, without missing out on the most beautiful places on this planet.

Karoline and Rasmus' blog: thetravelbook.world

Be My Travel Muse

Much like Kiki, Kristin has also been traveling solo for over 9 years. Her tips about saving money and traveling safely without missing out on any adventures have led her blog to be one of the most popular ones in its niche. She attracts about five million readers per year, and I don't have to tell you how impressive that is.

Kristin's blog: bemytravelmuse.com

Now that you've seen some top-shelf travel blog writing examples, let's move on to a related question.

Are you planning to create a travel writing portfolio?

You've obviously noticed that the first few examples are portfolios rather than blogs. I included them on purpose because these portfolios actually provide a more comprehensive view of the writer's work at one glance than a blog would. In a blog, you'd have to click through different sections or scroll around to find actual articles.

In a portfolio, it's all right there on the front page. Moreover, if you're planning to write about travel for magazines, editorials, and other third-party publications, you need a portfolio. Clients usually don't have the patience to scan through your blog to find relevant articles. Additionally, if you're a professional writer of any kind, you're expected to have an updated portfolio that can be sent out in a second. Failure to meet this expectation immediately demotes you from their list of potential candidates.

Moreover, clients may not end up actually reading/viewing your best work if they are left to scroll by themselves. On the other hand, you can curate your portfolio so that your best work shows up first, and you get to your best professional foot forward.

Ok, so... how do I create a travel writing portfolio?

There are an overwhelming number of portfolio builders available today. You've probably already heard of some — Squarespace, WordPress, Clippings, etc. They're all excellent options, depending on your profession, requirement, and professional seniority.

Before creating my own writer portfolio, I went through quite a few of these tools before choosing Authory. I'm not saying you should choose it too (but you should if you're a writer), but just telling you why it stood out to me over the other, more established, name-brand portfolio makers .

• Automatic importing of ALL your bylined content from ANY digital source you enter. You enter the source website, and Authory finds all your bylined pieces and imports them into its database. You can import from an unlimited number of sources. Moreover, Authory won't just import all existing content from each source, but all pieces published in the future as well. You never have to copy-paste/manually upload any of your bylined pieces to your portfolio ever again. You can, of course, manually upload, non-bylined content if you want.
• All imported content is permanently backed up, in the ORIGINAL format (text/media) rather than screenshots.
• All imported content is downloadable as high-res PDFs or exportable as HTML files. No lock-in period.
• Multiple, low-effort customization options to make your portfolio visually appealing and easily navigable.
• Email notifications every time a new article is imported by Authory.
• In-built search engine optimization and responsive design so your portfolio looks good on mobile screens and shows up on search engine results.
• In-built analytics that provides real numbers on content performance (engagement, readership) across the web and popular social media sites every 30 days.
• Allows creation of newsletters with a couple of clicks. Post setup, Authory will automatically send your newly published content to subscribers.
• Widgets to display your portfolio on other sites, such as your personal website (if you have one).

If you're someone who reads reviews before making a purchase, I've got you covered. Check out these testimonials from Authory users:

today i've looked at 100+ applications for freelance writing projects. tons say something like, "I'm qualified but can't share my ghostwritten samples." just use @Authory to do this. hiring managers need to see your best samples! not an ad, just trying to make my life easier 😆 — Jimmy Daly (@jimmy_daly) February 15, 2023

Epic tool I recently discovered 👇 With @Authory , podcasters, influencers, journalists, businesses and personal brands can create a professional portfolio that highlights their best articles, stories, episodes and other written content including PR. https://t.co/LWXZFauvgR — Adel (@AdeldMeyer) February 15, 2023

I just started using @Authory , it looks great, let's you organize your content super easily and can automatically import all your pieces from the web. It also keeps a backup of everything in case one of your articles is ever taken down. ~8-10 bucks a month 🙌 — Historian turned techie👩‍🎓👩‍💻 (@christina_haaa) February 9, 2023

Emma Wilkinson

I do still love Authory - I do nothing just sit back and let it collate all my work (and tell me interesting things about stats etc) and I now have 1.4k articles on there 👍If you want a bit of a longer free trial to have a go yourself try this link https://t.co/IbHfEk3FDO https://t.co/RDYq2D8dKP — Emmajourno (@Emmajourno) February 7, 2023

Is it any wonder that Authory is chosen by 6X Emmy winner David Pogue , Steven Levy, Editor at Large, WIRED , Brian Fung, a Technology Reporter at CNN , and other industry stalwarts to create their portfolio?

Get started with Authory for free today!

Seasoned writer & editor working with B2B & B2C content since 2017. Writes about music on weekends. Trying to overcome caffeine addiction.

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