Volunteer travel with integrity
Posted: October 20, 2012 Contents: Chapter 3 | Tags: ecotourism, ecotourism.org, sallie grayson, travel journalism, travel writing, volunteer, volunteer travel, volunteer traveling Leave a comment »Chapter 3 reveals that 35 percent of travel editors who responded to a survey said “volunteer” is somewhat important topic to readers. Sallie Grayson, program director at ecotourism.org, offers this advice to travelers to ensure the majority of their funds and time are actually benefitting the host country:
“We suggest that you then ask exactly the same questions of each organization that you contact. As you asses their responses, if the following questions come to mind – ‘Why can’t they tell me how much of what I’m spending reaches my hosts?’ or ‘How do I know that my hosts are being fairly recompensed for their hospitality?’ – maybe you want to think again about choosing to travel with them.”
Grayson, however, neglects to discuss the question: is the time and money a volunteer spends worth more than simply sending…
Beef up stories with interviews
Posted: October 20, 2012 Contents: Chapter 1 | Tags: interview, travel interview, travel journalism, travel writers exchange, travel writing, travelwritersexchange.com, trisha miller Leave a comment »Chapter 1 encourages the travel writer to talk to at least one local to add dimension and a unique perspective to his story. One way to do this is by conducting interviews. Trisha Miller of Travel-writers-exchange.com provides tips for conducting a great interview. Among her advice Miller lists:
- Always prepare in advance.
- Interview people in their own environment – So if it’s a chef, ask if he can be interviewed in the kitchen.
- Make an audio recording & take notes – have a back up recording
- The better the subject appears is the better the writer will appear.
Miller ensures the writer that following her advice will offer the writer interesting and entertaining content that readers yearn for.
Become a better observer
Posted: October 20, 2012 Contents: Chapter 1 | Tags: active observation, become a better observer, david miller, matador network, matadornetwork.com, observation, observer, travel journalism, travel writing Leave a comment »While Chapter 1 urges the travel writer to employ more tools than just observation while investigating her story, observation is still an effective primary source of information. David Miller, at the Matador network has offered these exercises to becoming a better observer. First he discusses active observation which he states,
Active observation is trying to see the connections between what’s visible in someone (their expressions, clothes, what they’re doing) and invisible (their histories, upbringing, dreams, desires). This is key, because within the gap between what’s visible and invisible is often where the deepest, most credible, and most interesting stories are found.
To practice observations, Miller states, try these three exercises:
- Stories out of photos
- analyzing how relationships are…
Sharpen travel writing skills
Posted: October 20, 2012 Contents: Chapter 4 | Tags: how to become a serious travel writer, Julie Schwietert, matador network, matadornetwork.com, travel journalism, travel writing Leave a comment »Chapter 4 discusses reporting and writing skills. Julie Schwietert, of the Matador network, offers advice on how to become a serious travel writer. The majority of her advice is reflected in the text however she has these few tips to add:
- Learn when to break the writing rules you’ve been taught
- get a writing partner
- prepare for rejection
- invest in yourself
- develop other relevant skills
- learn how to use an anecdote
- there is no such thing as objectivity
Adhering to Schwietert’s advice is a sure way to sharpen the necessary tools to become a serious and effective travel writer.
Skip the journey and appear at the destination
Posted: October 20, 2012 Contents: Chapter 3 | Tags: christopher elliot, destination, frommers.com, journey, travel cheap, travel journalism, travel writing, tsa Leave a comment »Chapter 3 discusses the concept of the journey as a key part of the story . However,
according to Christopher Elliott, an author at frommers.com, the excitement of
the journey and the corresponding stories are becoming tales of horror and terrible
experiences rather than hero journey tales.
Among the horrors of traveling Elliott describes run-ins with TSA while travelling by air
and annoying crewmembers on cruises constantly bombarding travelers with extras that
also cost extra. Elliot offers this message to those responsible for the journey:
“Yeah, we want to travel cheap. Truth be told, we’d pay nothing for our vacations if we could. That’s no excuse for turning the journey, which was once the best part of the travel experience, into torture.”
Lose the translator
Posted: October 20, 2012 Contents: Chapter 4 | Tags: budget travel, budgettravel.com, melody warnick, translator, travel journalism, travel language, travel technology, travel writing Leave a comment »Chapter 4 advises travelers on how to seek inexpensive but yet effective translators in foreign locations. What if the traveler gets separated or can no longer afford that translator? Not to worry Budget Travel.com’s Melody Warnick offers a few steps of advice that should be able to get the writer through the day.
A few are: Listen to Pronunciation Before you go. And learn key phrases like, “where’s the bathroom and how much does that cost.”
Trying to become fluent in a language for a week of traveling is illogical and not necessary. Learn a few key phrases, download some apps, and ask your concierge or clerk at the hotel for key phrases and pronunciations then go experience.
A local friend in your pocket
Posted: October 20, 2012 Contents: Resources | Tags: field trip, local, travel guide, travel journalism, travel research, travel technology, travel writer, travel writing Leave a comment »As a travel writer, conducting research on a destination while traveling is a sure way
to miss out on some great opportunities. Inevitably, however, without a local connection the travel writer will come to a point when she wants to explore more than she has researched.
Field Trip, a GoogleApp, might just be the traveler’s solution to this dilemma. As Google describes it,
“Field Trip is like having a local friend with you as you make your way through the city.”
Here’s a bit offered by Field Trip:
“Field Trip is your guide to the cool, hidden, and unique things in the world around you. Field Trip runs in the background on your phone. When you get close to something interesting, it pops up a card with details about the location. No click is required. If you have a headset or bluetooth connected, it can even read the info…
Add visuals to writing for a more complete story
Posted: October 20, 2012 Contents: Chapter 4 | Tags: photography, rose walker, travel journalism, travel photography, travel research, travel writer, travel writing 1 Comment »Chapter 4 discusses the need for research prior to travel. While the chapter focuses more on writing, Rose Walker offers this advice in Do Your Research to Become a Travel Writer to researching the destination:
“your next step as a travel writer is photography. Most travel writers take photos to go with their articles and most editors want photos. I am sure you have taken pictures while on vacation, but now you want to take professional pictures to sell. Do your research on what editors want in a photo, but most importantly do research on how to photograph pictures to sell.”
Using Walkers advice in addition to Chapter 4 the travel writer should have a complete set of tools to get their writing published along with some stunning visuals.
Add Google+Local to arsenal of travel apps and gadgets
Posted: October 3, 2012 Contents: Resources | Tags: dennis schaal, travel apps, travel gadgets, travel journalism, travel journalist, travel technology, travel writing, usa today, usa today travel Leave a comment »Resources mentions four Gadgets and Apps Every Travel Journalist Should Carry. Tack on Google+ Local. Travel.usatoday.com’s Dennis Schaal offers this description:
“If you’re traveling and looking for a restaurant, hotel or attraction, then Google has revamped its local-business search results through the prism of restaurant-review specialist Zagat and Google+, its own social network and answer to Facebook.”
The story – In three sentences or less
Posted: October 3, 2012 Contents: Chapter 6 | Tags: david miller, matador network, matadornetwork.com, micro travel notes, microblogging, travel journalism, travel journalist, travel writing Leave a comment »Chapter 6 cited microblogging — blog posts of 140 or fewer characters — as a tool for travel journalists. The Matador Network’s David Miller put out a call for something he calls Micro Travel Notes. Miller states,
“The goal was to tell a complete travel story–something with character, setting, chronology, and ideally, some kind of transformation–in three sentences or less.”
