The problem with holidays is that they cost money. One way of minimising the shock to the pocket is to write and sell a travel article when you come home. Before you head off on your writing break, do a bit of research into the area to see if there is any potential for a travel article.

Essentially there are two kinds of travel articles: travel guides and travelogues.

Travel guides

Travel guides tend to be external, focusing on what to see, where to go and how to get there. They are or may be:

• quick wrap-ups of ‘must sees’
• Numbered lists: eg “The 5 best sunshine destinations”
• Often focused on the general traveller – lowest common denominator
• An overview of a place rather than detailed description
• Make extensive use of text boxes and sidebars for info
• Use tourist info brochures/websites/guidebooks as source material – be careful not to plagiarise!
• Usually uses 2nd Person point of view (POV) rather than 1st (but occasionally can). 3rd Person is too distancing.

Short journeys
If you use a narrative structure (telling the story of the journey), focus on short periods of time: weekend getaways or city breaks are good subjects for general articles.

Longer journeys
If you try to cover a longer journey in the travel guide style then it becomes: ‘and then we saw … and then we went … and then we did … then we went to bed … and then … and then… and then we came home.

Solution? Narrow your focus. One highlight, surprise find, unusual encounter.

Travelogues and travel features

Travelogues are literary accounts of a journey written as a memoir – these may be written up as books, essays, blogs or articles. When ‘packaged’ for a magazine, the travelogue becomes a travel feature. They are or may be:

Internal rather than external, focusing more on the writer’s experience of the destination. The best travel writing incorporates both.

• A narrative journey: The article is structured as a journey of discovery.
• The writer becomes a travelling companion (see Bryson) rather than just a guide.
• The writer uses his / her own experience as a lens on a destination
• Always written in 1st person.
• Very narrowly focused either on subject or theme
• May be presented as a quest: eg the quest to find the perfect curry; the quest to find a legendary guitar maker
• An inner journey: the writer contemplates a spiritual, emotional or metaphysical change that has taken place as a result of the journey or encounter.
• Plays with timelines
• More ‘literary’ in tone and style than a mere travel guide
• Utilises the senses
• ‘Fictional’ writing techniques (eg dialogue, shifts in timeline, characterisation, mood setting)

For more on how to structure a travel article see writing travel articles.