{"id":98601,"date":"2022-04-12T05:05:16","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T05:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sawriterscollege.co.za\/?p=98601"},"modified":"2022-04-12T05:09:10","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T05:09:10","slug":"how-has-travel-writing-changed-over-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sawriterscollege.co.za\/how-has-travel-writing-changed-over-time\/","title":{"rendered":"How Has Travel Writing Changed Over Time?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Rose-Anne Turner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Travel Writing has always been romanticised \u2013 a dream job for many. Just imagine getting paid to travel the world and write about it? While such jobs do exist, the reality is that this is not the case for most travel writers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A decade or two ago, every budding travel writer aspired to work for award-winning travel publications such as Cond\u00e9 Nast Travel<\/a><\/em>,<\/em> Wanderlust<\/a><\/em>, or National Geographic<\/a><\/em> as a staff or in-house writer, being sent off on fantastic assignments across the globe. Or they dreamed of working for everyone\u2019s go-to travel guide books such as Lonely Planet<\/a><\/em> or Rough Guides<\/a><\/em> \u2013 heading off the beaten track, testing the waters of undiscovered places for other travellers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most travellers have smartphones now, so where does that leave an aspiring travel writer? Are travel magazines and guide books still the go-to research tool for travellers? Well, yes and no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many professions, travel writing has had to adapt to the times and deal with new competition. It\u2019s far cheaper to publish a blog post than print a quality glossy magazine, meaning anyone who fancies themselves as a travel writer can write a blog and call themselves a \u2018published writer\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while there may be a plethora of travel content out there online, how much of it can be considered quality content? Are printed travel publications and guide books dying out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some ways, traditional travel guides and glossy publications have died out. The outstanding ones, though, have adapted and survived the transition. The way in which travellers research before a trip has changed, with travel websites, blogs and social media now being the go-to places to search before a trip. No longer do you see backpackers carrying Lonely Planet Guides around in limited backpack space. Instead, they pop out their phones and check out TripAdvisor<\/a><\/em> and Google Reviews. There\u2019s no longer a need for the fold-out map in the guidebook with Google Maps<\/a><\/em> at your fingertips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The die-hard publications have survived by adapting to their audience. Glossy magazines now have e-zine versions with paid subscriptions, hooking their audience with newsletters, blogs and enticing social media posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So does this mean there\u2019s no hope for an aspiring travel writer? Most certainly not. Travel writing is very much alive. However, the trend with travel writing has changed from \u2018facts, figures and logistics\u2019 to \u2018inspirational and FOMO articles\u2019. A traveller can easily find out how to get to their destination, book accommodation online, read reviews on TripAdvisor, or Google Reviews and check the entry requirements to a country on embassy or tourist info pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, travel magazines now lean towards articles that inspire the reader to travel to a destination. They create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out). They speak of experiences, adventure, culture, food, and people. These stories then lead the reader to use tools such as flight and accommodation booking apps and review sites to turn the inspiring story into their own reality and book a trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in the day of traditional guide books, travellers would take suggested itineraries literally, and you would see backpackers all clutching their same Rough Guide<\/em> or Lonely Planet<\/em>, staying in the same hostel and snacking at the same street food cart \u2013 because that\u2019s what the guide book told them to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a personal experience, I saw this when walking the Camino de Santiago \u2013 an 800km journey across northern Spain. John Brierley\u2019s Guide to the Camino<\/a> suggests breaking the journey up into specific \u2018stages\u2019 of between 20 and 35km per day. I\u2019d see pilgrims walking with their guidebooks in hand and stopping exactly where the author suggested for the night. I soon discovered that by stopping in a village just before or just after the \u2018recommended stage stop\u2019, I would have the best choice of albergues (pilgrim hostels) and at better rates too. While walking, I wondered if Mr Brierley realised just how much influence he has had, not only on the pilgrims walking the journey but also on the businesses he recommends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are your options workwise if you want to be a travel writer?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In-house jobs for both magazines and e-zines do still exist. But you\u2019ll need to have experience behind you for these.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The reality is that most travel writers work as freelancers. In this case, you\u2019ll have options on how to get stories published:<\/p>\n\n\n\n