Have you dreamed about being a travel writer? If so, check out Jeremy Bassetti’s story and tips below.
I have been interested in travel and writing as independent things for most of my adult life.
But I came to travel writing—or travel literature—later in life, when I moved to Spain to research in the archives for my dissertation. Since then, writing about travel, place, and experience and thinking about the intersection of travel and literature have interested me.
Travel writing is powerful because, when travel and writing combine, they become something greater than the sum of its parts.
My first stab at travel writing was for a blog that no longer exists. I have several manuscripts and aborted projects in the proverbial desk drawer, and I’m working on a new project, but only lately have I started exploring the world of freelancing and pitching online journals and in-flight magazines.
3 Characteristics a Travel Writer Needs
To be a good writer, one must be a good reader. And by “good reader,” I mean someone who not only reads in the genre she writes but widely.
This is standard advice, but it is especially true for the travel writer—a job title that is so alluring that people forget that there is work and craft involved. Writers read differently; they read to understand what is being said as much as they read to understand how something is being said.
I think a good travel writer also needs to “distill the eternal from the transitory,” as the poet Baudelaire says in a famous essay. What I think he means here is the ability to universalize a general idea or moment, to write about a private experience in a way that is meaningful for others, to capture a moment emblematic of a specific time and place.
For the travel writer, this means to create something that is much more than an account of their experiences on the road.
It is okay to keep a diary. In fact, I recommend it. But it is difficult to write something interesting that reads like a mundane account of the day’s events.
Which is also to say, travel writers should think about story. We’re back to craft.
Travel Writers Need to Take Risks
Lastly, travel writers should go out on limbs.
Writing about that horseback sugarcane excursion you went on while vacationing in the Dominican Republic might be good for an in-flight glossy—and those types of articles pay the bills—but it is not the type of writing that really interests me.
That new resort in Cancun or five-star hotel in Paris? Not for me. I don’t sit in my armchair to read articles about the best hotels.
The root of the word travel is travail, and the type of travel writing I’m most interested in has an element of growth, difficulty, or struggle—intellectual and/or physical.
Paul Theroux once told me he’s interested most in travel writing that has an “ordeal,” which perhaps is a better way to say it.
The Major Benefit of Having a Podcast
I started my podcast Travel Writing World to engage more openly with the larger community of travel writers.
Any book is essentially a conversation with the author and the reader, but I wanted to have larger, more public conversations with them about culture, travel, and the writing process.
It was basically a selfish move.
This, I think, is the major benefit in having a podcast—building community and fostering conversation.
Is It a Good Idea for a Writer to Start a Podcast?
While it is important to think of your podcast listeners and serve them what they signed up for, podcasting will be a burden, unpleasant, and unsustainable if you don’t first focus on your own interests.
Can you sustain interest in a weekly, a fortnightly, or a monthly about your topic?
Writers thinking about starting podcasts should probably ask themselves what they want to get out of it. That is, other than money.
The meteoric rise of a handful of indie podcasters have fooled us into believing that their level of “success” (flush with cash and freedom) is common or attainable.
This type of podcasting “success” will not happen for a large majority of all podcasters, to say nothing about podcasters interested in the realm of literature and writing.
But can it be a part of a successful writing business? Sure. People with so-called “mid list” podcasts do very well. Podcasting is a brilliant strategy for content marketing.
Besides community-building, this is one of the strategic functions of podcasts, which offer valuable content for free while also introducing the audience to the podcaster’s work and services and deepening brand loyalty.
In this respect, a podcast can function like a blog and introduce listeners to your work. It can also create new opportunities.
Before Starting a Travel Writing Podcast, Research Other Podcasts
Lastly, I would tell aspiring podcasters to research how many other podcasts exist in your specific niche.
There still is (probably) space for multiple podcasts in the same niche but consider how your idea or approach stands apart from the pack. Do you have a unique background? Do you have a unique format? What will you offer that others do not?
Podcasting is demanding work. Podcasters need to book guests, prepare for the recording, set up technology, edit the audio, publish the episode and show notes, promote on social media, etc.
Starting a podcast is a great idea if you want to engage with a community, but it comes with a different set of challenges than, say, blogging or sticking to writing.
What Travel Writing is Really About
I have a deep respect for freelance writers and travel journalists.
They work extremely hard, their financial situation is often precarious, and pitching articles to publishers can feel like you are running on a hamster wheel.
The amount of time, expense, and energy that goes into a travel story is staggering. So, I’ve learned that travel writing is just as much about the business and craft of writing as it is about travel.
What I mean is that travel writers often spend more time and energy sitting in chairs pitching, writing, thinking about story structure, and editing as they do traveling.
Most “travel writing”—whether that be blogs, magazine articles, or guidebooks—is an appendage of the travel industry itself.
I hope I do not sound too much like a Marxist, but it is true. The two are linked such that writing opportunities can be found where dollars are being spent.
Conversely, as soon as the industry goes belly-up, as we have seen in the past few months, so go many of the writing opportunities in equal measure.
Balancing Work-to-Pay-the-Bills and Creative Work as a Travel Writer
My professor duties pay the bills. It is my job. My creative work, however, drives me. It is my vocation.
I’m sure many writers can relate to the sentiment. How do I manage both? I don’t know how I manage my work. I don’t have a rigid system or a ritual. I suppose I just make the time.
I get up early and do my creative work before my other work burns me out. Instead of sleeping in on the weekends, watching television, or fooling around on Facebook, I’m reading, writing, or recording a podcast.
Writers Need to Stimulate Their Minds in New and Different Ways
It is important to stimulate the mind in new and different ways. Photography is a creative outlet, visually speaking. It helps me see, if that makes sense. By the way, I’ve recently returned to painting with watercolor, which is another way that has been helping me slow down and see.
While I have been paid for my photography in the past, it does not generate any income for me worth mentioning. I do not pursue it commercially. That said, many travel writers and bloggers I know supplement their income selling photos online through stock photography agencies. Many travel writers use this as an important source of supplemental income.
Advice for a Young Travel Writer: What Are You Willing to Sacrifice for a Rewarding Life?
I would ask them questions. Why do you want to be a travel writer? What kind of travel writing interests you? Books? Magazine articles? Guidebooks? Blogging? What place or subject would you not get tired writing about? Do you read in the genre? Do you have a plan?
Would you sacrifice a life of riches and comforts for a rewarding life?
Featured photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash.
* * *
Jeremy Bassetti is a writer, photographer, and educator.
He is the host of the award-winning Travel Writing World podcast and has interviewed some of the world’s most celebrated authors and photographers like Paul Theroux, Pico Iyer, and Steve McCurry.
For more information on Jeremy and his work, please see his website and Travel Writing World, or connect with him on Twitter and Instagram.
Books:
Denounced:
Set against the backdrop of the Counter Reformation, Denounced is the story of two men whose paths collide as the Holy Office clamps down on Protestantism and the illegal book trade in Spain.
Based on true events, this historically rich and tragic story brings to life an often overlooked period of religious persecution, suspicion, and paranoia during the Renaissance.
Available at Amazon.
The Travel Writer’s Guidebook:
I wouldn’t call this a “book.”
It is essentially a small pamphlet of notes I put together when I first started the podcast—itself distilled from my research and from the insights and conversations I’ve had with others—to help me gather my own thoughts on the subject and to help others who are just getting into travel writing.
I will at some point rework the PDF into a larger book, but you can get the PDF for free now on Travel Writing World.