How to Become a Travel Writer in 2024 (& Get Paid For It)
Curious about how to become a travel writer?
Travel writing is probably the most asked about niche for new freelance writers. There’s a certain amount of $ex appeal associated with travel writing thanks to Instagram, YouTube and other social platforms.
Luckily for you, I’ve been a travel writer. Unfortunately, I have no luxury TikTok videos to show for it–because not all travel writers get that fancy social life.
But if you’re looking to get into travel writing, this is the place for you. I’ll share all my nuggets of advice so you can get started on the right foot!
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Tae the Travel Writer (AKA My Story)
I have to admit, I stumbled into it.
While I always thought it was a cool idea, I really didn’t have a ton of travel experience—I’d been on a plane a handful of times, and had only left the country twice. Both on short-term trips—so, honestly, I figured I didn’t fit the bill.
Travel writing was a far-off, barely-there dream for me. But when I started building a future in freelance writing, I certainly didn’t have it anywhere close to the horizon.
Then, out of the blue, I got an email from a travel editor.
I had apparently applied for a writing job with them (which I swear I didn’t remember doing) and they were interested in working together.
I know, scam alert.
But the company was real, the editor really worked for them, and her email was official. They wanted me to do a test SEO rewrite on one of their articles, and they’d pay me via PayPal.
Cha-ching!
I was brand new to freelancing, and I didn’t exactly have anyone with a wad full of cash knocking down my door. So, naturally, I went for it.
Fast forward four years…
I’ve written hundreds of travel-related pieces, covering everything from cool destinations to what to pack and wear while you travel. I’ve written for some HUGE websites and a few smaller ones. And I can tell you, I LOVE travel writing.
I am living proof that you can legitimately make money writing about travel, even if you have no experience. Better yet, eventually, you can make money writing about travel while you’re traveling!
What is travel writing?
Before we get too far into it, let’s talk about what travel writing is.
Travel writing is the art of sharing stories about people, places and things. Writers in the travel space can pen a variety of things, such as:
- Best of and recommendations
- Guide books
- First-person narratives
- Tailored travel advice
- Social media content
- Reviews
They can specialize in writing about places where they live or spend significant time, or they may write about many places they visit.
The former is probably the most lucrative if you live in a unique destination, and don’t have the bank account to fund regular travel adventures. But the latter is what most people picture when they think flashy travel writer.
My experience as a travel writer has been focused on the hows, whats and wheres of travel. That is, I write practical travel advice.
This is the most lucrative route in my experience. It’s also where my skills lie.
You’re unlikely to find me crafting a feature about taking an African safari fit with gorgeous photographs. But if you’re looking for a gal that can tell you the technical ins and outs of the best time to purchase a cheap plane ticket, that’s me.
Travel writing like every other niche is filled with sub-niches. It’s your job to carve out your own.
But travel writing is NOT…
Let’s get serious for a second: travel writing is NOT what Instagram makes it out to be.
I would love to be sipping bellinis beachside with my laptop in a pair of designer sunglasses, a comped bikini, at a fully-paid for hotel. But that’s simply not the reality.
Honestly, I have a beach in my literal backyard, and while working on it is really cool – it’s not glamorous, and there’s a TON of sand involved.
So, before you get too far into planning your dream travel writing career, it’s important to know that travel writing is not:
- Getting paid to travel–you might experience paid-for trips and experiences, but it’s never as simple as jetting off into the sunset and snapping a few photos for your blog or Instagram. For most of us, no one is going to hand us a check and say “book a flight to Turkey on us!” Instead, the majority of travel writers get paid for telling their stories after the fact with the benefit of expensing parts of their trip. It might not be the full dream, but it still counts. The exception here is press trip writing, but this isn’t my area of expertise.
- Writing about your family vacation—unless it was unique and amazing, no one wants to know that your father-in-law wore a banana-coloured speedo on the beach, or that your kids loved Mickey’s ToonTown. The caveat to this is that you can share these things on your own blog.
- Always a stable industry—If you asked me about job security last year I would have told you that people always travel so there’s always an appetite for content on it—2020 decided to prove that hypothesis wrong.
These realities are not meant to sway you from going down this path.
If you want it and you’re willing to work for it, you can get there. Just don’t quit your day job tomorrow to freelance in travel.
How to become a travel writer and get paid
Now that the formalities are out of the way, let’s dig into the meat of why you’re here: you’ve got at least some interest in becoming a travel writer, and you’ve got no idea how to get there.
No problem.
If you’ve got a little patience, time and passion, I can teach you how I became a travel writer, and started making money. But first, you’re going to need to do a few things…
1. Proof You Can Write (AKA a Portfolio)
My initial magical story aside, you do actually need some examples if you want to get hired. In fact, I left a little bit out of my story at the beginning…
I’ve been a writer my entire career working mostly in the legal, accounting, energy and government sectors, all well before I started freelancing. And while I didn’t have travel-specific experience, I did have a portfolio and demonstrable knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO).
The original travel gig I got was updating articles from an SEO perspective. After I completed that, I was moved to their regular pool of freelancers and started taking on more niche work from there.
All this is to say that if you want to become a travel writer, you need to show them that you can do the job. You do that by producing travel clips for your portfolio.
Clips, for those of us just starting out, are examples.
If possible, you want these clips published on someone else’s site–the bigger the better. But for those starting out, that might not be an option. With that in mind, here are the two places I recommend testing out your skills:
- A shared revenue site where you can possibly earn a little side cash (Medium is my choice)
- Your own blog
I recommend doing both. Long-term having your own travel blog is going to be important.
Self-Editing Your Samples
There are some REALLY important things to keep in mind if you want to make money with your pen (AKA keyboard since it’s 2024). You want to make sure that your content:
- Has no errors
- Has a beginning, middle and end
- A genuine point
- Is unique
- Is built with SEO in mind (even writers who don’t specialize in marketing content NEED to know how to optimize articles)
- Has a killer headline. You can use CoSchedule’s headline analyzer to help you out with that.
2. Get feedback on your writing
When I first started reaching out to prospective clients, it never occured to me to get feedback. As someone who’s been writing for my entire career, I should have known better. But, alas, I didn’t.
I wish I did.
I’ve learned a ton of things over the years, but there are a few that I could have learned faster had I just asked. So, I humbly suggest that you get someone to give you feedback on your first few BEFORE you start shipping them off to potentially paying customers.
You do not have to ask an actual editor to read your work for feedback (though you certainly can). Anyone you trust will do. The point of it is to (a) double-check that you don’t have any crazy grammar or spelling mistakes, no matter how many times you look over something, things still get missed, and (b) the piece is engaging.
This process sounds A LOT scarier than it really is. I totally understand not wanting to show people your work before you’re ready or you get the money in your account—but as someone who does this for a living, I can tell you this never goes away. So, slash that idea right now.
Eventually, people are going to pour over your work. They’ll cut it to bits and deliver you the pieces in blood-colored text, so you may as well start practicing receiving that feedback sooner rather than later.
3. Set up a writing business
I’m not going to dig too much into this topic in this article but I think it’s important to touch on. BEFORE you start making money, you really should look into the requirements of running a sole proprietorship in your jurisdiction.
When you make an income from anything you need to pay taxes. When it’s an income that’s self-reported, there are additional responsibilities. And simply not paying taxes (even if you think they’re dumb) is a bad idea because it often results in having to pay more later on.
To be clear, I’m not a lawyer or accountant. You should speak to one if you have questions. You’ll also want to have a look at what you need to do and report wherever you live.
You’ll also want to have:
- Some way to accept payment
- Some way to make and send invoices
- Some way to record income
If you’re just starting out, I recommend Bonsai.
I used it for years and I can vouch for the ease with which it makes freelancing. Nowadays, I use a combination of Honeybook and Wave–these are equally good choices.
Writers also need insurance in most jurisdictions. It’s not a thing we talk about a lot, but it is important. In my jurisdiction (Canada), this insurance is called errors and omissions insurance.
4. Create a Pitch List
Most websites that have any semblance of a lifestyle section publish travel-related articles. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean they hire freelance writers–some have in-house staff that take care of these specific niches. But it doesn’t hurt to ask.
With some work under your belt, it’s time to scope out travel-related opportunities.
There are some great resources where you can find work of all kinds, including travel. I recommend checking out:
- Who Pays Writers
- Freelance Writing Jobs
- ProBlogger
- All Freelance Writing
Beyond looking at job boards, I can tell you a few places that might take something travel-related. But it is really important that you take a peek at their requirements before you submit a pitch. Here are a few places you can check out:
- Popsugar Voices
- Great Escape Publishing
- Listverse
- Matador Network
- GoWorld Travel Magazine
- Horizon Guides
- Verge Magazine
Please note: Just because I mention something here doesn’t mean I currently work with the publication. I might have in the past, I might not have–regardless, I’m not intimately familiar with their current processes, how much they pay or how easy it is to work with them.
It’s also important for me to stop here quickly and tell you a hard-and-fast freelancer’s rule: unless a publication specifically asks for something that’s already written, submit only a pitch.
5. Write a Thoughtful Pitch and Send It
Once you’ve found a few places that you’d like to submit your work, start crafting some pitches.
Pitches are essentially ideas for articles that will fit in with the outlet you’re hitting up. These ideas are more in-depth than simply dropping a title in an email and saying I want to write for you.
When you pitch, you want to define:
- A suggested title
- What you want to talk about
- What angle you’re going to take
- Who you are
- Why you should be the one to write about the piece and not anyone else
And don’t forget to include links to some of your sample work!
Pitching sucks. I STILL hate doing it. But it’s a part of working for yourself as a writer, so it’s something you’ll want to start on.
You’ll make mistakes when you pitch—seriously, I STILL do. So, write your pitch. Double-check it. Run it by someone you trust and see if there are any quick fixes you can do to improve. Then send it and move on.
If you haven’t heard anything from the publication in a week or two, it’s totally fair game to circle around and follow up. A simple, “I just wanted to follow up and see if you were interested in this” will do.
It’s also important to stop here again and say, do not submit the same pitch to multiple outlets. It’s VERY bad practice, reserved for times when you have no choice—for example, you have a very timely piece that needs to be published ASAP. If you’re a beginner, you’re likely not there yet.
Don’t feel bad if you get a rejection or, worse yet, hear nothing back. It happens to all of us.
Stick to one pitch per outlet. If you don’t hear from them in a while, then you can move on to the next. In most cases, I’d give it 14 days, at least, but check their writer guidelines to see if they have a predetermined time frame set out.
Where can I find travel writer jobs?
Finding contract jobs for travel writing can be a bit of a challenge. In a lot of cases, you’ll want to pitch travel publications stories or become a staff writer. The more and better you write, the more jobs you’ll get. But if you’re just starting out a few of my favorite places to keep an eye out for entry-level work include ProBlogger and Freelance Writing Jobs.
6. Rinse and Repeat
This is the part of the article where I tell you that becoming a writer can really suck at times. Most pitches you send will be rejected or ignored.
This is not a reflection on you or your work—unless your work sucks, then maybe it is. But in most cases, editor’s inboxes are STACKED with pitches. They only have so much room and budget to hire contractors.
So, if you don’t get a yes right away, that doesn’t mean that you’ll never become a travel writer. It just means you need to give it some time.
Keep creating sample work and keep reaching out. If you try enough times, someone eventually says yes.
What Do Travel Writer’s Get Paid?
Unless you’re a staff writer for a publication, you likely won’t get a salary as a travel writer. Most of us work on a per-word or per-piece basis, and for those writing for bigger publications, you’ll be at their mercy of how much they’ll pay for it.
Payment of $150 to $500 per article isn’t uncommon for a seasoned travel writer. However, as a newer writer, you’ll probably make closer to $50 to $100 per article. It’s not the most lucrative niche to write in, but if you get good you should see pay increases!
I always recommend providing your own freelance rates when you approach a new client (after you’ve had some back and forth of course!). While they might not pay you them yet, it’s worth it to know what you WANT to make versus what they offer. You don’t have to take every job that’s offered to you!
What Other Niches Go Well with Travel Writing?
I’m a firm believer that when you’re starting out you need to explore multiple writing niches. But if all you’ve ever considered is travel writing, you might not have any ideas of what else you could write about without straying too far.
No problem, I can give you a few ideas.
In most cases, travel is considered a lifestyle topic. So, if you want to stretch your writing legs and do some more practice work (or get paid more) you could try out another lifestyle niche. Examples could include:
- Fashion
- Beauty
- Relationships and dating
- Product reviews
- Personal finance
Writing in other niches can be a good way to back-door some by-lined work that has a travel angle for your portfolio, and still make money while you do it.
Almost all of the above niches could have a travel association. For example, you could write about the next romantic place to visit for couples in love or the best makeup to pack in your carry-on bag without overloading your liquids allotment.
If you already have a regular gig in some other lifestyle niche (or you get one before you start travel writing), you could always pitch a piece or two that has a travel angle to it and possibly get a piece published that way.
What About Writing Guest Posts?
A lot of people talk about using guest posts to boost your street cred in the beginning—whether or not you’re aiming to become a travel writer. And I can tell you that while I don’t have a problem with it, I’ve never guest-posted anywhere to gain followers or get a published piece.
There are A LOT of benefits with guest posting—which you can find by simply Googling them—but I’ve always had the mentality that if I’m going to create something for free, I’m going to do it for me.
So, any piece that I might have submitted has gone onto one of my blogs, my Medium profile or somewhere else where I could boost my own output or possibly put money in my pocket.
By no means am I saying that guest posting is a bad idea. I don’t think that at all. I’m just not the one to tell you about how to do it or why you should because I’ve never done it myself. But if that ever changes, I’ll let you know.
Is Travel Writing For Me?
Becoming a travel writer is just like becoming a writer in any other niche. It’s not right for everyone, even some of those that are passionate about it don’t find it to be a fulfilling job.
And there’s nothing wrong with that.
If you get into travel writing and decide that it’s simply not the niche for you, then move onto the next. It’s OK to decide that you don’t want to do something, even if you’ve already started it.
I did a lot of personal and commercial finance writing earlier on, only to find out it wasn’t my favourite thing in the world. There are definitely aspects of it that I LOVE but a lot of the work I was doing I wasn’t passionate about.
While I didn’t completely drop it from my roster, I did severely slim down the contracts I took, sticking with things that I was truly passionate about.
It’s OK to change your mind, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Final thoughts: How to Become a Travel Writer
Travel writing is NOT for everyone, and because it’s such a *fun* niche to work in, there’s A LOT of competition. But if you’ve been daydreaming about travel writing, there’s no time like the present to try.
I stumbled into travel writing, and I can tell you that I still do a lot of travel writing these days. I’ll admit, it’s not the most lucrative niche that I’ve written in — but I’ve also learned in my time as a freelancer, there’s more to consider than just the money.
My best advice to sit mix your travel writing with a second, slightly more lucrative niche — like technology or business. This way they can balance each other out and provide you with a combination of fun and money.
