How to be a freelance travel writer!
For a successful career in travel writing you will need:
- A love of travel, obviously!
- Practice, practice, practice. Whilst not everyone can suddenly jet off abroad to hone their burgeoning skills it is possible to travel locally and write about that (not everyone lives where you do, they may want to visit!) whilst building up a portfolio of online work.
- An online blog is an ideal way to start and easy to promote if you take advantage of social media such as twitter and facebook.
- Exceptional English skills, you will need to be submitting word perfect pieces to impress in a competitive market.
- A unique niche, if possible choose to write about an aspect of the place you’re in, that appeals to you. Choose something you are passionate about
- An modicum of photography skill, all stories need at least one picture right?
Training/qualifications
Ideally it would be good to have some higher education in English. Whilst not essential this can give you a higher chance of getting noticed by prospective employers. There is the possibility of taking full BA or MA degrees in journalism however many people find that this is not the best way to become a full time journalist.
Should you not have any formal qualifications, the best way of becoming noticed in a journalistic sense may be to look for work experience or submit pieces to your local newspaper or online blogs.
Hardware/software
I’ll keep this section brief. Passport, pad and a pen!
Obviously if you are submitting work then you are going to need a way to upload this, so a decent level laptop or notebook would be a good idea, something you can carry on a plane/train/automobile. It may also be a good idea to invest in a decent SLR camera to fully document your adventures, also make sure you invest in insurance!
Where to find work online?
There are websites online offering freelance travel writing jobs including but not limited to:
www.odesk.com
www.freelancer.com
www.elance.com
www.peopleperhour.com
These sites all have easy to use interfaces and are constantly updated allowing you a wide choice of jobs to apply for,
How much can you earn?
Whilst it is possible to earn a full time living travel writing it can be a tough nut to crack, once you have set up an online portfolio it will allow potential employees to see past work you’ve done and read any positive feedback you’ve received, which in theory, should make it easier for you to find more work.
How well does it suit the digital nomad lifestyle?
They are made for each other! Assuming you don’t want to settle in one place for too long there couldn’t be a better way of seeing the world and earning a living/supplementing your income as this!
Other useful stuff
Online qualification advice
www.myjobsearch.com/careers/journalist.html
www.nctj.com
Travel websites
www.lonelyplanet.com
www.traveleachday.com
Travel writer websites
www.freelancetravelwriter.com
www.thetravelwriterslife.com
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