How to Write a Travel Article or Travel Essay
Write the Story of a Journey for Pleasure or Publication
Apr 1, 2009
The best travel articles are stories about how the personality and interests of the writer interacted with a place at a particular time. For examples of good travel essays, go to Travelers Tales, a publisher of fine travel essays.
The Writer Introduces Herself
Why is the writer in this place? What's the purpose of the trip? Who else is in the traveling group? Is the traveler fearful or hopeful? We need to know the mind-set of the writer, and any expectations or quests, as the story begins.
Identify the Theme
Is this a coming of age story? An essay about the growing confidence that results from coping well on the road? Perhaps it is about resolving old hurts, learning new skills, or finding love. Tell the reader!
Describe the Setting
Just describing a place doesn't make a good travel story Until the writer enters the scene and interprets or engages in action in a place, it is a static scene, a blank page. A scene can be set by describing what the traveler saw, smelled, heard, felt ,touched and thought. Describe the location early in the morning, in full swing of the day, and then at night.
The writer should ask "What am I feeling right now? What do I smell? What sounds are strange to me? What do I see that surprises or confuses me? Any traveler who wants to write about their trip needs to take notes as they go through the day. Jot notes from the first day, before the eye gets used to the visual landscape and sees it as normal. Review any notes and fill in details at the end of the day. Review the day's photos,too, for more information.
Show Action
The story should play out by showing the reader action. This is best done by creating or reporting anecdotes. An anecdote is a little story about something the writer did or observed that reveals something interesting about the place or culture. Perhaps the writer had a funny adventure while trying to buy sexy lingerie in Paris. Maybe a sports fan joined some kids in a park in Greece to play soccer and ended up being taken home for lunch.
Share Information
Readers want to learn something from the story. It can be a snippet of history, some facts about regional architecture, a description of a traditional food item or dish, how locals catch fish, or a reference to a legend or myth. Any advice such as how to visit this place on a budget, or how to find off-the-beaten path sites is also useful to the reader.
Reveal How the Journey Changed the Writer
Every trip changes the traveler.It may have created a love for the county's culture or its food, making the traveler eager to return. It may have made one fall in love with the music of the place. Any interests, changes in attitude, passions or hobbies that result from the trip are great details to include. For ongoing help on writing travel essays and articles and getting them published, go to Travelwriters.com.
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