The truth about travel writing

Here's an informative video slamming the conventions of mainstream travel writing by Chuck  Thompson...

Which makes me wonder what our responsibility is to our readers, our editors, and ourselves. I'd challenge any travel writer (or writer in any genre) to say they never packaged an idea around a set of standards and a vacuum of industry standards. Is our responsibility to tell the truth, to entertain, to inform, or somewhere in between?

I prefer the practical applications of travel. How to stay in a convent, alternative lodging, a review on a rental cabin big enough to hold 20 people. For me it's not as much about the destination as it is how to get there and how to manage once you're there. But I would like to see more candor in my own writing, as well as travel writing as a whole. This might make for a good experiment on selling a brutally honest travel article on a destination.

How to write about travel in a down economy

I get asked this question a lot. How do you sell a travel piece when no one has money to travel? We're all broke. What magazine is going to run it? Who's going to read it? It's all about the packaging of the idea. You can even sell a luxury destination piece in any economy with the right slant. And remember that not all magazines and publications are catering to the economic woes. There are still luxury travel mags out there that want like-minded pieces about high-end destinations. Like LLuxury Travel Magazine or Elite Traveler. The latter is only available on private jets. No one on a private jet is going to want to read about a budget blow-out vacation about Austin.

But for those of us who can't just wait around for one or two magazines to decide to run a piece on the Italian Riviera's 4 star hotels, there are ways to angle your topics to reflect the current economic situation.

Here are some ideas to get started:

What does $1,000 Get You: Write profiles in your hometown in New York, in San Francisco, in Hawaii, in Russia, in Rome. Compare the costs including budget hotels, luxury, restaurants, attractions and more. Everyone loves a piece that investigates a comparison of money.

The Most Expensive Cities on a Budget: How can you platform free attractions and little known haunts, home swapping, couch surfing, or work stays in the most expensive cities around the world?

Learning from Open Air Markets: How a trip to a market in Oaxaca, Mexico taught you about the practical value of haggling or bartering and how to apply that to travel, hotels, services, and every day life. 

Get creative about what you're trying to say with your travel writing.  It doesn't always just have to be about a destination. In fact, it will be easier for you to sell a piece that isn't focused on a destination that's been done to death. No one wants to run that piece again. Editors want old ideas freshly repackaged.

The truth is you can't use the bad economy as an excuse not to write about travel. It's certainly more difficult to get published. I won't deny that. But you're missing an opportunity to readjust your focus and get more creative in how to define what travel writing is in today's market.