The daily routine of freelance travel writers forges through to the discovery of sparkling beaches, the most delicious foods, and the grooviest mountain tops on Earth. Yet most of these writers never pack a bag, get Montezuma’s revenge or slice through the air during a London fog. In fact, as a freelance writer focused on travel, thanks to the monthly lollipops that arrive in your mailbox, you can write about the hip happenings of the Congo Pygmies or the housewives of New York without slipping out of your cloud covered pjs. Become a believer in the fresh air provided by these top travel mags.
Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel
Long before the world was exposed to the musings of Rick Steves or the chipper Lonely Planet guides, we had Arthur Frommer, travel guide extraordinaire. His magazine Budget Travel introduced the world at large to traveling on a dime in the 1980s. Check out the endless Top 10 lists in this delightful travel mag, as well as useful tips for the average wanderer.
Condé Nast Traveler
Founded in 1987, the Condé Nast Traveler nurtures the wanderlust of world traveler-wannabes with the on-ground reporting presented in this mag’s glossy pages. If you want to be a true blue travel writer who lives in huts on the rivers of the Amazon and sleeps under mosquito netting in Tanzania, start with this glorious travel guide.
Travel + Leisure
Top rival to Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure fosters a more idyllic vision of travel. Envision America’s Next Top Models sprawled out on a beach in Costa Rica being served grapes from squirrel monkeys as the Poet Laureate jots down the words of a visionary while lounging in a hammock. This is the perky world of travel as seen through the lens of Travel + Leisure. For freelance writers interested in the most delightful places on the planet, dive right into the sparkling seas of this high end travel magazine.
What to Do to Be a Travel Writer
Save your pennies for these travel magazines so you can become immersed in the world around you. Mull through each issue filled with red carpet worthy swimsuits and soul searching soldiers with their Moleskin notebooks in tow. As you read these articles, jot down your interests. Do the cultures of other countries stir up your soul, or are you more interested in discovery of pristine sandy shores? Explore your travel interests, and then start researching these places or ideas before you set out to become the next Rick Steves.
Your next step is to start submitting work to travel magazines, either online or in print. If you plan to write for the likes of Condé Nast Traveler, so you can enjoy sweater weather while writing on location in the Netherlands, make sure to study back issues of the mag. Look online at shops like eBay for years worth of back issues of magazines on the cheap. Then, make a note of the editor and subscription instructions spelled out in the most current issue of the magazine’s front pages. As you wait for impending rejection slips and pay checks, continue to forge ahead in your revolutionary writing as a freelance writer evangelist soon to become America’s Next Top Travel Writer.
Miranda B is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
