Travel writing sounds like a phenomenal career for an English major, so why not start off this exploration in Mongolia. Well I'm not there, but that is where I found Bill Donahue, a freelance writer who has written for magazines such as The Atlantic, Backpacker, and Runners World, newspapers like the Washington Post and The Oregonian, and news website Salon.com. While waiting for his second email, I speculated what he was doing on the other side of the world: trekking in the Sayan Mountains, traveling across the country’s 1900 miles on horseback or covering the Horse procession documenting Ghengis Khan’s 850th anniversary? Actually he had “scared” up a smaller story to write about, cycling from Ulanabatoor, Mongolia’s capital city, 35 miles to the world's largest statue of Khan, before traveling to Bejing for an article on American ultra-marathoner, Diane Van Deren.
Jealous yet?
If the answer is yes, then it's time to delve further into what the job entails. Travel writing is more than just reviews and is primarily about the writing rather than the travel. An important distinction to make. Whether a piece is written about a pilgrimage to Djibouti to discover what chewing Khat leaves is all about, or covering a destination or event near your home, what matters is the quality of the writing. Frank Bures, a freelancer from Minnesota, has focused on building his career by improving as a writer, instead of trying to get published in high-profile publications. This has had led to pieces in Outside, Bicycling and he is currently working on a story for Harpers.
Still interested?
If you're still reading, I imagine that you want to know how to begin. Start small is sage advice for multiple reasons. It doesn't matter what you are writing when you begin, so focus on getting published clips writing about anything that you can. Where you get published doesn't matter either. Whether this is in a local newsletter, neighborhood paper or anywhere that will publish you early in your career, getting clips is what's important. At the same time start writing about the travel you are already doing or have done in the past. This is not only good practice, but there might be stories that can be published.
Another refrain of advice given repeatedly to me is: LEARN TO WRITE SHORT. It is likely that your break in pieces will be 500 words or less, even as few as a 100 for many front of book pieces. Writing these shorter articles not only provides clips for your portfolio and cash for your pocket, but develops relationships with editors. I have often been told by freelance writers that, as editors they have worked with have moved up to better positions, they have gotten calls from those editors and have elevated their own careers as well. Working for free, i.e. interning at a publication in the early stages of a career is a great way to build both connections and writing clips.
Bill’s route was writing for his high school and college papers, then writing for local papers. Later, he began freelancing for People, which led to small pieces for other national magazines. Now he writes primarily feature length articles for high-profile magazines. He recommends novices closely study the work of writers they admire. While Frank's advice is, "Read a lot. Write a lot. Shoot for quality first."
Speaking of writing, there are many skills needed to be a successful travel writer, but obviously the first is an ability to write well. Perfect for English majors like Bill who said, “Studying English gave me a chance to see how sentences and stories are put together.” Other skills he said imperative to the job are, “Curiosity, flexibility (that is, the ability to be enchanted, rather than annoyed, by the unpredictable), and attention to detail.” He added, "It is critical to get the facts straight....and to tease out what actually happened after 14 different people have given you conflicting accounts."
According to Monster.com.uk, skills needed include the ability to express ideas clearly and logically, and the ability to work and travel under pressure. They also list a love of writing, which was echoed by Bill, who said, “Do not bother venturing into writing if you have only a casual interest."
Mark Anders, a freelance writer, said in his 2007 profile in Outside that you have to “be equal parts writer, salesman, project manager and idea guy.”
Ideas are one of the key and more difficult aspects of the job. "Conceiving the stories is harder than finding them. It's rare that you just find them," said Frank. Pitching ideas to a magazine will be, more often than not, what a freelancer does, rather than receiving assignments from them. While the world is full of things to write about, Bill gets most of his ideas from reading newspapers and websites. It's also easy to forget ideas, so write them down in a journal, a google document, or anything you can access freely.
A new travel writer may already have stories percolating or hidden in journals or stored in the file cabinet that is the human brain. Upcoming local events or festivals can be a good place to start, just remember to leave enough time to pitch the story before the event happens. Ideas can also be your niche, there are many genres within travel writing: food, wine, adventure, budget, local et al. in which you can write. This plethora of permutations provides plenty of possibilities to create an identity. When honing ideas, remember travel writing is finding the unique not the ubiquitous, the intoxicating not the insipid, and the abstruse not the apparent.
Pitching these ideas is the next step and while every publication is going to vary on content, the premise behind how they accept stories is similar. For example, National Geographic Adventure Magazine’s submission guidelines includes three sections of information about pitching.
What’s in Adventure is the first and what they want is “Exciting travel destinations and outdoor pursuits, to accounts of cutting-edge expeditions and profiles of modern-day explorers.” The gist to take from this specific information is that you need to be familiar with any magazine you are planning to pitch to. This can include the often imperative knowledge of what column the story will be pitched for.
Next up, the What’s Adventure looking for in a query section says they want, “Focused ideas tailored to a department of the magazine.” This takes the previous advice to the next level. Not only do you need to know what they want, you need to know who to send the pitch to. There are various ways to do this, but the most obvious is looking at the masthead to see who the editor is for each department. If you're not sure, it isn't a bad idea to send a pitch to a few of the editors.
Adventure's Features section guidelines require, “In-depth, descriptive pieces on celebrities of adventure, gripping accounts of groundbreaking expeditions and scientific exploration, and intriguing, unknown historical tales. Feature writers possess unique expertise on or experience with the subject they cover; their articles tell a previously untold story, at once finely detailed and broad reaching.” Unfortunately for the newbie, longer features are given to writers with considerable experience, but as Frank says, "Craft ideas for big stories, listen when others critique these ideas, revise and eventually it will work out."
Freelance writing is not known to be the most lucrative of careers, but Mark Anders also said in his interview in Outside, “Although I may not get rich, I’ve never once had to wear a tie or punch a clock.” The same article lists the wages for a travel writer as being between $20,000 and $100,000 per year. When asked about these numbers Frank didn't know anyone making six figures and said, "Most of us are at the lower end of that and as long as we can pay our bills, are happy." It does seem that with the number of travel writers freelancing and making a livable wage, it is a reasonably attainable goal to do so. The bigger magazines do pay substantially more. According to Bill, a national magazine like Travel and Leisure might pay $2 dollars a word (more for famous writers), while a local weekly might pay 15 cents per word.
"Getting magazines to pay me on time," is the hardest part of job said Bill.
No travel writing isn't all fun and games, it's hard work. The toughest parts of the job for Frank are, "Rejections. Edits. The constant hustle. The void into which you must launch your work." His payoff? "When you get lost in a piece or work and emerge from it knowing you've done something good and interesting and real." Frank seems to echo the sentiments of all types of writers, in that they put ink on the page because it is fulfilling.
Other downsides of the job include the competitiveness of the field, paying your dues on boring, low paying assignments and not only writing when you are inspired, but also when a deadline is looming.
You might also end up with some improbable stories to tell....for better or worse, Frank had his appendix removed while on assignment in Tanzania. While Bill came upon an armed security checkpoint in Morocco near the disputed Algerian border. He was singled out by the guards, who talked seriously in Arabic, while he offered bribes which they refused. In the end the guards just laughed and let him go. They were messing with him out of boredom.
Still jealous?
The big dollar pieces in glossy mags about faraway places, outlandish exploits, engrossing personages and bizarre customs might seem a distant reality now. Sometimes you may have to take a risk, like Frank did to research the article, A Mind Dismembered: In Search of the Magical Penis Thieves.
“I was forced to contemplate a land more foreign than any I had ever seen,
a place where one’s penis could be magically blinked away. I wanted to
see for myself, but no magazine would send me. It was too much money,
too far, and too strange. Finally, when my wife became pregnant, I realized
that it might be my one last reckless chance to go, and so I shouldered the
expenses myself and went.”
His reward?
Getting published in Harpers.
The future of magazines might seem up in the air with the transition of much writing to the internet. Does this make travel writing a career worth pursuing? Frank lamented the shifting of revenue to the internet and the proliferation of bloggers and other writers who don't take the craft seriously. But, people are still traveling. They still want to know about adventures grandiose and get-at-able, far-flung and around the corner. People still read magazines, guidebooks and websites for information on where to go and what to do when they get there. Bill said, “I still believe that despite all the hue and cry about the death of print, there is still, and always will be, an audience for good stories."
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