Travel and Leisure Magazines

Travel season is just ahead. Those wonderful weeks of summer when you waved farewell to neighbors and friends as you headed out to explore the wonders of destinations far away and close to home. Domestic attractions are feeling the economic crunch as well.

Hopefully your travel plans haven't been impacted too severely by the falling value of the dollar. Consider travel writing. You don't have to be a professional travel writer to create an article that will interest readers back home.

When you return home, polish up your notes and turn them into a worthy article. This time, however, you're not just talking to friends and family about what you found. Well before you start your trip, spend time researching your chosen destination more carefully than you might have in the weeks before departure in the past. Head to the library and review travel books on your target destination. Picking the Subject

The field in which you currently work or perhaps worked in before you retired can serve as a relatively easy way to begin your travel writing experience.

Talk with restaurateurs or chefs in the places where you dine. What is the signature dish of the destination? There's your story, ready-made for your local newspaper's food section or for one of the food magazines.

Perhaps you're a banker, a plumber, a doctor, a waste management specialist, indeed whatever your occupation, seek out your peers in the places you visit. You've got your story. A huge market exists in the United States for articles on religious practices.

Observation is key to your success as a travel writer. Placing Your Stories

It is important to remember that travel publications are not the only users of travel articles. Your stories likely won't appear in the Sunday New York Times or in Travel and Leisure. But there is a world of non-travel publications that welcome quality articles on their specialties.

Magazines exist to cover myriad topics. You can also head to the Internet and click into The Wooden Horse, the outstanding online directory of magazines.

To accomplish successful travel writing, a writer must identify their audiences and learn how to effectively present different types of writing for the travel genre.

Different Types of Travel Writing

A writer may choose between an array of approaches regarding travel writing, which spans guidebooks, newspaper articles, magazine spreads, advertising and corporate work, and website content. For example, writing a guidebook on Florida travel for families is much different than creating a guidebook for the college student.

Guidebooks

An easy-to-follow writing style that touches upon theme parks, casual restaurants, and kid-friendly points of interest suit family-oriented guidebooks.

Student travel guides tend to focus on affordable eateries, clubs, concerts, drinking and drug rules, and youth hostels. Some guidebooks target a specific subject regarding a destination, such as "Top 20 Museums in Italy" or "Restaurant Guide for Mexico." Travel Narratives

A travel narrative may include fictitious characters written in the third person, utilize dramatic narrative (stories with a beginning, middle, and end), and include a hint of conflict and character development. Magazines, Newspapers & Brochures

Every magazine and newspaper approaches the subject of travel quite differently. Description, anecdotes, and travel tips are quite helpful in this type of writing.