All Posts Tagged: travel writers
How to Rain the Right Things on Your Business, Elizabeth Gilbert and Hamilton-Style
I remember watching Elizabeth Gilbert take the stage and address two very different–but incredibly impactful–topics: the loss of the love of her life, and the conversation that set her on track to be the creator she is today.
While some of us come to the writing profession later in life, she knew her commitment young, and created a sort of priestly vow-like ceremony for herself as a child to pledge her formal commitment to the craft.
But in her twenties, when she was in New York working three jobs and living in a crappy apartment wondering when her dream writing life would start, a fabulous artist she followed around like a baby bird that imprinted on a human as its mother gave her a talking-to that changed everything for her.
Why Do We Need Travel Writers? Why Do You Need to Be One?
Don George, editor of Lonely Planet’s annual travel anthologies and author of the seminal travel writing handbook Travel Writing: Expert Advice from the World’s Leading Travel Publisher, sat down with close friend, Jeff Greenwald, author of six books on his travel adventures and founder of EthicalTraveler.org, to talk about what it means to be a travel writer with a flourishing business.
Which of These 3 Types of Travel Writer Are You?
When I start any conversation with someone who wants to be a travel writer, or has been trying to make a career in travel writing for a while and isn’t getting any traction, first and foremost, I ask:
Why are you doing this in the first place?
Redefining (Walter) Mittyesque – Let’s See Your New Resume
The Ben Stiller-directed “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” came out in 2013. Instagram hit the scene in late 2010.
Watching the film today, the cinematography oozes shots that we now think of as Instagram tropes: packing flat-lays, travelers in profile walking in front of brilliantly painted walls, a lone traveler in a long shot on an otherwise empty road. Just cue the overlaid text of the Robert Frost poem.
One Sunday night, however, we knew that “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” was just what we needed.
We had an intensive Saturday of soul-searching and Sunday of planning our first Detox + Reset retreat and Walter Mitty came up as a frequent touchpoint throughout the weekend. On the one hand, for the gorgeous visuals (we didn’t see the Instagram-style until re-watching it now!), but, more importantly for the character and journey of Walter Mitty.
You Only Get One First Impression–How Not to Botch It
Do you struggle with how to tell people what you do or how to introduce yourself at networking events (in a travel writing context that is)?
It is an unfortunate paradox for travel writers. On the one hand, we have a job so “cool” that it often seems like everyone wants to do it. But at the same time, a lot of people—often even the same people that say they would love to be travel writers—act like this profession is not really a job…it’s a hobby.
What Are Travel Magazine Editors Really Doing All Day?
I have the greatest respect for the amount of work on travel magazine editors’ plates (and not just because I used to be an editor).
Why You Don’t Need To Start with $20 Articles and Work Your Way Up
People often ask me how I ended up writing The Six-Figure Travel Writing Road Map, and the answer actually relates to one of my favorite journalists and writing bloggers.
How to Take Notes Like a Pro: In the Words of Three Award-Winning Travel Writers
At last year’s Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference, the group had the pleasure of listening to the Tim Cahill, founding editor of Outside magazine interview, Susan Casey, with whom he had worked for years, on the occasion of the publication of her new book Voices in the Ocean.
Seven Unconventional Ways to *Really* Get the Most Out of TBEX Travel Conferences
Nearly two years ago now, I wrote a post for the TBEX blog on “How to Rock TBEX and Walk Away with New Friends and Business Partners.”
At the time, bloggers on the whole were just getting a handle on presenting themselves at conferences as businesses rather than individual freelancers or simply traveling nomads. Every single attendee wasn’t showing up with professional business cards, approaching their idols asking how they can work together, and bringing beautiful, printed media kits to speed networking detailing how they work with companies.