The Six-Figure Travel Writer

“Four Ways” details four ways to experience a city as a different type of person, for example a foodie, a music lover, an active traveler, and a history fan. For each section, the subheadings of “Where to Stay,” “What to Do,” and “What to Eat” are found with one recommendation for each. It’s written in second person and is about 1,000 words long with each recommendation giving a short description of the place. The 20-word sidebar of “Getting There” is also found which highlights flight details from Canada with WestJet. This section can sometimes appear as “Two Ways” giving two ways to experience a city. Examples include Ottawa, covering active travelers, culture lovers, foodies, and politics fans; Chicago as a food lover, wellness seeker, baseball fan, and travelers looking for style; and Nashville, with recommendations for foodies, music fans, hipsters, and history fans.

“Curators” is a collection of three opinion pieces, written by three different writers, where an expert shares their thoughts on their topic and trends in their industry. The expert is often working in Singapore. It’s written in a first-person as-told-to style and each piece runs to about 400 words long. Recent articles in this section include: a food writer on why plant-based eating is more than just a fad, the co-founder of Singaporean fashion label on how fashion brands are turning to real-life stores over ecommerce, and the managing partner of a hospitality company on the rise of private member’s clubs.

“Cities” is made up of two articles which focus on the city the issue is based on. In 800 to 1,000 words, the articles can focus on a specific attraction, cultural site, or neighborhood. The piece describes this in third person covering the history and meaning to the city and uses quotes from several sources such as locals who live there or people or work in an attraction being covered. Recent articles found in “Cites” from the Ankara issue include “Kavaklıdere,” which describes the neighborhood with quotes from locals who living there, and “Ankara State Opera and Ballet,” which covers the history of the performance venue with quotes from those who work there.

“Smart Cities” highlights a city undergoing an interesting cultural shift often with a focus on new initiatives to protect the environment. There is a 150-word introduction covering why and how the city is changing. This is followed by the subheadings “Eat,” “Play,” “Stay,” and “Shop.” There are three options highlighted for each covering restaurants, attractions, hotels, and shops respectively with a third-person description. A quote from a local can sometimes be found in the introduction. Cities covered in this section include Aarhus, Denmark; Newcastle, Australia; and Kigalia, Rwanda.

“The Globetrotter” is a celebrity profile written in a Q&A style. The piece runs from 750 to 1,000 words and focuses on the celebrity’s travels. There are about 15 questions which change with each issue but some are frequently seen including: “where you have just come back from?” “where in the world have you felt happiest?” and “name a place that lived up to the hype.” Actresses Chloë Sevigny and Rosamund Pike were recently profiled for this section.

“The Outsider” takes the form of a profile covering an adventurer, athlete, or someone related to the outdoors, wildlife, or the environment in some way. The piece runs from 800 to 1,200 words long and covers who the person is, their work, what their upcoming projects are, and any interesting or humorous anecdotes about their career and life. Articles are written in third person and include quotes throughout the piece. Sometimes, these are written in the style of a third-person introduction followed by a collection of quotes from the person being profiled and sometimes the quotes are interwoven throughout the article. Examples include “Why the World Needs Barry Lopez,”  profiling the author and his new book Horizon, “The Warrior Mentality,” about special forces veteran David Goggins and his new memoir, and “The Human Experiment,” a profile of author and personal trainer, Ben Greenfield, on the extreme things he does in the name of fitness.

“Navigator” is made up of about 10 articles written by different contributors which cover art, culture, food, people, and travel topics in United destinations worldwide. Articles range from 200 to 500 words and are written in third person. Quotes are sometimes used from relevant people, such as business owners or locals. Articles often describe a newly opened hotel, attraction or show or give travel recommendations to the reader. The articles change with each issue, although “The Meal,” “The Stay,” “The Drink,” “The Vintage,” “The Detail,” and “The ‘Hood” are seen frequently. “The Meal” describes what goes into a different dish in a new restaurant. “The Stay” describes a newly opened hotel covering the décor, amenities and food. “The Drink” covers new drinks and cocktails and “The Vintage” describes a particular bottle of wine. “The ‘Hood” rounds up about six recommendations from local business owners for things to do in a different city each issue. There are usually about three further articles which change with each issue. These could cover, newly opened bars, museums, a quirky attraction or a trend, for example. Recent examples from “Navigator” include “Solitary Contentment,” describing the Àni Dominican Republic resort, “Old Dog, New Tricks,” covering Deep Dog, a new gastrobar in Seattle, and how they make their signature hot dog, and “Swim With an Olympian,” covering the latest offering from the Palace Hotel Tokyo where guests can book a swimming lesson with an Olympic swimmer.