Break Into Freelance Travel Writing

There are ads for freelance travel writers everywhere. You've probably come across them on job boards. You may have seen such postings and wondered, "What is freelance travel writing?" Freelance travel writing doesn't mean you have to travel. Really, people looking for freelance travel writers are looking for information that would appeal to travelers. This means, you can write about your own city's hotels, nightlife, landmarks, museums, or activities that would appeal to people traveling to your city. Of course, if you do happen to travel, you can also write the same type of material as related to the places you go.

The key to freelance travel writing when you're writing about your own city? Think like an out-of-towner. If you were only in your city for one day, what would you want to see? Beyond writing about the basics -- best restaurants, best hotels, must-sees (parks, stadiums, zoos, etc.) -- put yourself in other people's shoes. If you were a business person, where would you stay? If you had three children under the age of 12, what kind of activities would you plan? If you were a writer in town on assignment, which library would you recommend? If you were going to stay in a vacation rental property for a week, which would you choose? If you were an international student visiting for a few months on a tight budget, could you recommend a youth hostel or a low-cost housing situation?

If you want to stand out as a freelance travel writer, you'll have to bring something new to the table. Does anyone really want to read another article about the same four-star hotel that dozens of writers have already written about? Probably not. Will an editor to a travel magazine want to purchase a review of a vacation rental property for which hundreds of publicly posted reviews are available on free websites? Probably not. At least, not unless you can bring something really new, important, or otherwise compelling to the publication's readers.