Tag Archives: travel writing

advice, travel

Travel Advice — Health Insurance

DoctorsOffice

The two most frequent travel related questions I receive are “how do I setup my money” and “what do I do for health insurance?” I previously answered the 1st question and today, I’ll address the 2nd.

While on the road, World Nomads is hands down is the health insurance of choice.

World Nomads is essentially emergency-only health insurance. For United States residents, your co-payment is $100. This means if you’re going in for something routine, you’re going to pay for it. But if it’s something catastrophic, you’re covered.

Other reasons why I like World Nomads:

  • Covers you while participating in all kinds of crazy activities – surfing, scuba diving, bungee jumping, skydiving, snowboarding, etc…
  • Travel insurance is thrown in for free if your things are lost or stolen.
  • Available to residents around the world (not just US residents!).
  • Easy sign-up process and easy to extend while traveling.

Some things to be aware of before purchasing:

  • Unlike traditional health insurance, if there’s an accident, you pay fully out of pocket first, then file a claim to be reimbursed.
  • While they cover you if your things are lost or stolen, only $500 of electronics are covered. If your new Macbook Air is stolen, you’re not going to be reimbursed for its full value. If you travel with expensive jewelry or electronics, you should consider purchasing additional traveler’s insurance.
  • If you’re a United States resident and purchase domestic health insurance, you’re not covered if you’re within 100 miles of your permanent residence.
  • Lastly, make sure to read all of the fine print of your policy so you understand exactly what you’re getting. It’s surprisingly easy to read.

Check out their website, WorldNomads.com for more information and if you have any questions or opinions on World Nomads, leave a comment, I’d love to hear them.

Jason Demant is the founder of UnAnchor.com, where you can find detailed do-it-yourself travel itineraries for your next trip. For the latest on travel-writing you can follow him on Twitter @UnAnchor, or join the I Love Travel Writing Facebook group.

Full Disclosure: All links to World Nomads are affiliate links and by using them you support my travel habit. You’re awesome!

Photo Credit: Laura4Smith

advice, travel

Travel Writing Advice from Around the Web

chicago skylineHere’s a quick digest of some my favorite travel-writing advice articles I’ve recently run across:

How To Be a Travel Writer – This excellent article by British Guild of Travel Writers member Roger Norum goes through the entire travel-writing process. From, “is travel-writing for me?”, to getting started, advice on writing, and advice on the business side. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in travel-writing.

How to Be a Travel Writer (I guess this is a popular title) – Written by famous travel-writer Rick Steves. In the article he discusses how to get started travel-writing by learning how to travel first and then moving on to discuss how to make money.

Tips on Travel Writing – 7 great tips on travel-writing from Lonely Planet author Tim Richards. In the article he gives tips on your pitch, discusses sponsored travel, and gives advice on the type of articles to start out with as a beginning travel-writer.

Jason Demant is the founder of UnAnchor.com, where you can find detailed do-it-yourself travel itineraries for your next trip. For the latest on travel-writing you can follow him on Twitter @UnAnchor, or join the I Love Travel Writing Facebook group.

advice, editorial, featured, Interviews, travel

5 Questions With…Rolf Potts

Today we return to our “5 Questions With…” series, and we have with us a real treat–travel writer Rolf Potts. Read on to get some insights from someone who has been around the globe–and gotten paid to write about it! When you get done checking out the interview, be sure and head over to Rolf’s site where there is more advice for aspiring travel writers.                                 – Catherine

Rolf Potts
Rolf Potts

1. What is your background in writing and how did you become a travel writer?

I got involved in travel writing by trial and error — by getting out and traveling, writing, and keeping at it until I got good at both.  My first break came in 1998, when I was living in Korea and I started selling freelance travel essays to Salon.com.  Eventually they made me a biweekly travel columnist — and this let to other freelance work for venues like Conde Nast Traveler and National Geographic traveler. 

By 2001 I’d gotten my first book contract, and “Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel” was published by Villard/Random House in early 2003.  I’ve since written general journalism and literary criticism, but travel-writing continues to be my main line of work.

2. In your opinion, what are the biggest mistakes writers make when they attempt to craft a travel piece?

They forget to use the techniques of narrative — character, foreshadowing, scene, etc. — and instead just recount their experiences in chronological order.  In the age of blogs, nobody needs a bland, “travelogue” recounting of what happened to you on the road.  You need to tell a story — you need to guide the readers’ experience of your journey, and deliver them insight as well as information — preferably in a lively and engaging manner.

3. Can you share any savvy travel tips with readers? 

Go slow.  Your experience of a place will differ according to the pace of your travels, and you’ll only get superficial impressions if you spend your journey rushing from place to place.  Rather than covering a huge amount of ground in a short amount of time, stick to one place and get to know it well — and get to know some people there.  Your stories will benefit exponentially.

4. What are the components of good travel writing? Continue reading 5 Questions With…Rolf Potts →

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Possibly the best book I’ve read about writing and living the creative life

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MFA in a BoxJohn RemberThe headline is a quote from Gretchen Little in her Squidoo.com review of John Rember’s book, MFA in a Box. If you are a serious writer, or if you have dreams of being a serious writer, I highly recommend this book.

I also highly recommend signing up for John’s free MFA in a Box newsletter about writing. John has been a professor of creative writing for many years, and he is author of four books. In his newsletter, he plans to share his thoughts on creative writing, what it means to be a writer, and “the weirdness of everyday life.” You’ll get some of the most thought-provoking and lucid prose you will ever read, along with a relentless sense of irony, and John’s subtle sense of humor.

Full disclosure: I am John’s publisher, so I will actually make a few dollars if you buy a copy of his book. But don’t buy it for that reason. Buy it because as another reviewer said, “It makes me want to write, helps me find the courage to do so, and allows me see the purpose in the hard work of it.” And don’t forget to sign up for the free newsletter. It will be one of the best things you’ve ever done for the writer in you.

Mike O’Mary is founder of Dream of Things.

freelance jobs, freelance money, travel

The Guaranteed Way to Become a Paid Travel Writer

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travel-writingThe one sure-fire, 100% guaranteed method to becoming a paid travel writer is to find demand first, and write second. It’s certainly possible to write first and then try to sell your writing, but it’s a whole lot harder. In this post, and future posts as well, I’ll make sure to share some recent paid travel-writing gigs I’ve found from around the web.

A quick warning – while all of these jobs are paying jobs, they are not exactly well-paying jobs. But, for someone interested in travel-writing, these are a great way to get your feet wet, build up your resume, and get paid at least some amount for your time.

All of these jobs are time-sensitive. If you come across this post and the jobs have already expired, do a search on the sites I’ve linked to for their recent job postings.

Destination Weddings Articles – eLance

35 Articles / 500 Words / $3 each – Freelancer

Article Writer – Odesk

Finally, if you’d still prefer to write first and then try to get paid, PhotoJBartlett.com has a great list of sites that actually pay and he includes many direct email addresses – 10 Travel Photography and Travel Writing Markets that Pay

P.S. Just a quick fun, old article from Matador – Four Ways To Sound Like A Jerk In Your Travel Writing (And How to Avoid Them)

Jason Demant is the founder of UnAnchor.com, a place to find detailed do-it-yourself travel itineraries for your next trip. For the latest on travel-writing you can follow him on Twitter @UnAnchor, or join the I Love Travel Writing Facebook group.

Photo Credit: Keith Chan

advice, editorial, photography, travel

Travel: Scouting Out The Good Stuff

Catherine L. Tullyby Catherine L. Tully

As you may know I just got back from a trip to Colorado. I plan to do some writing about places/things I saw there and thought I’d share some stuff with you about how I take a trip and gather info.

If you are going somewhere and you are not quite sure what you are going to write about there, here are some pointers for getting intel together that you can use later on:

+ Ask the locals. Try and avoid writing travel pieces about typical travel spots if possible. They’re generally done to death. If you are going to Philadelphia, don’t pen a piece on the Liberty Bell. Trekking to San Antonio? Pass on The Alamo. The locals know the cool stuff. Check with them.

+ Go brochure crazy. I confess to having a problem with this, but it comes in quite handy. Grab every brochure, booklet and pamphlet you can find. Keep them for later reference. You can find stuff this way that you wouldn’t be able to locate online. Plus–quick facts and figures are all right there for the taking. Makes the research easier.

+  Take a walk. You see so much more on foot than you do when riding on public transportation or in a car. Enough said there.

+ Be open minded. Try stuff that you wouldn’t normally do. Not a rodeo fan? Go anyway. Not too keen on checking out a sushi bar? At least nibble on a California roll. You don’t have to do things that you really hate, but if you are somewhere that is known for a particular thing, you may want to at least give it a shot. It could be article-worthy.

+ Carry a camera. Take pictures of everything. This is so handy! I snap photos of street signs rather than writing them down and jog my memory of a city with visuals. At my age–it’s really helpful. Plus, it helps you remember the “flavor” of a place so you can write about it more authoritatively than if you were relying on memory alone.