Dear Travel Writer,

Imagine vacationing for a week in the Caribbean, but instead of staying in a standard hotel, you’re in a villa on the water, just 50 feet from the shoreline.

It’s on stilts hovering above the brightest blue water you can imagine. And, not only is the water blue, but it’s so clear you can see straight down to the white-sand bottom where starfish are the size of basketballs and fish are the brightest orange, yellow and blues you’ve ever seen.

You spend your afternoon in a handmade hammock on the deck. Miles of ocean stretch out in front of you. You enjoy tropical nights surrounded by good food, great wine, and cool ocean breezes.

Tomorrow’s itinerary includes snorkeling, diving for rock lobster, then grilling it oceanside.

Everyone on the island brings a side dish, including cracked conch, coconut pancakes… and you’re the guest of honor.

The perks of traveling the world as a VIP…

“Guest of honor” is something my dad says anytime he takes me (or anyone really) out to dinner. “Your money’s no good here, Lori. You and your family are my guests of honor.” And that’s a lot like what it feels like to travel as a travel writer.

Meals, museum tickets, hotel upgrades, they’re all on the house. Someone else foots the bill.

And here’s something else…

When you travel as a travel writer, all sorts of great travel opportunities will open up for you.

Opportunities you might not even be able to imagine right now.

Growing up in a small beach town in Delaware, my idea of a vacation was a road trip to Disney World. Fifteen hours of driving followed by eight hours a day of waiting in line after line to ride a two-minute ride. It all seemed worth it as long as I got to ride the rides.

As a 10-year old, this was my ideal vacation, and I couldn’t imagine anything that could possibly be better.

As an adult, however, I’ve gone back to Disney a few more times. And here’s the thing – a lot of the rides I loved as a child all do the same thing. They rise up in the air and go around in a circle. I’m not so sure what I was so excited about back then.

Throughout my travels, as I’ve had the opportunity to explore the world, I’ve thought back to that moment where I couldn’t imagine anything better than Disney World.

I could never have imagined I’d be seated on a small six-seater prop plane leaving Belize City headed to Ambergris Caye. And that the next day I’d be jumping into open water to swim with nurse sharks.

One travel writer I know was paid to take tango lessons in Argentina.

Another to dive along the Great Barrier Reef.

And another boarded a plane to Borneo to see the amazing orangutan sanctuaries.

You can land trips like these, too

To land all-expenses paid trips like this, your job is simple. Keep good notes about where you went and what you did. Then write an article sharing your opinion about your experience — good or bad — with others who are interested in going there.

You might be asking how that could be. How could taking notes of all the fun things you’re doing actually fund your trips?

It works, because one of the ways travel-related businesses advertise is by inviting travel writers to experience (for free) what they have to offer — maybe a tour, cruise, special event, or resort package — in hopes that you’ll have positive experiences and write favorable articles in magazines, newspapers, newsletters, or online.

The more articles written about a place, the rationale goes, the more tourists will go there.

And more tourists mean more money.

Once you’ve got a track record with a few articles published under your belt, you can begin to cash in on perks like invitations for free travel and reduced-rate vacations for you and a friend.

Do that, and when you earn a few hundred… or even a few thousand dollars for an article… it’s pure profit.

And the truth is, you don’t need to be a gifted writer. You don’t need journalism courses. You don’t need a job in the travel industry. You don’t even need to travel – your hometown is a travel destination for somebody. I’ll show you how to start locally and become a mini celebrity where you live in a minute.

A day in the life of a Travel Writer

Now, before you decide for sure, let’s look at what a typical day for you might look like should you decide to give travel writing a try…

Over the last decade, I’ve had the opportunity to personally get to know many successful travel writers.

As I’ve talked with these writers, and gotten to know them, I’ve learned that in this industry, there really is no “typical” day. For many, that’s one of the most attractive things about being a travel writer.

Let’s take a look at a few examples.

Write whenever you want…
From anywhere in the world

Let me introduce you to Patti Morrow. Patti is a part-time travel writer who is often traveling the world in search of her next adrenaline-pumping adventure.

Patti admits she’s addicted to traveling. So to fund her “hobby,” she became a travel writer.

In the past year alone, Patti has traveled to Sanibel Island, Florida, San Diego, Santa Fe, London, Tijuana… and more.

When she’s on the ground at her destinations, she enjoys local cultural events, wine tastings, white water rafting, walks along the beach, bargaining at open-air markets, and chatting with locals. She also checks the local real estate listings for perspective on the highest priced neighborhoods and what’s up and coming.

Last year, Patti traveled across the country from coast to coast, and then all the way down to the southern tip of Mexico in search of the world’s best Margarita for an article.

For now, she says she still needs to do more research on that one.

She turned a love of chocolate…
into paid assignments

And then there’s Terri Marshall.

Terri is a self-proclaimed chocoholic. It’s funny, but most of her travel articles revolve around chocolate – chocolate martinis, chocolate spa treatments, chocolate tastings, etc.

She’s a great example of how travel writing lets you combine two passions, in Terri’s case, traveling and chocolate.

Terry was a tax accountant before becoming a travel writer. She was definitely one of those creative people trapped in a desk job we hear about all too often.

But today she knows firsthand that a travel writing “dream job” is achievable.

One of my favorite stories from Terry is when Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flew her to Vermont to tour their headquarters, sample the ice cream, and create her own flavor.

Also, this past year, Terri took two trips to the Hotel Hershey where she visited The Chocolate Spa for delicious cocoa facials, body wraps, and massages that she later wrote about.

She even headed down to the forgotten “Toledo” district of Belize to discover the source of something wonderful… chocolate.

There she harvested cacao, made her own chocolate bars, swam through caves, climbed up waterfalls, and went horseback riding through the jungle. And that’s just a small snapshot of her adventures this past year.

Your first paid assignment

Before we continue with details on how to try out for publications around the world, I’d like to tell you a little bit more about Great Escape Publishing and International Living Magazine, where you might land your first paid assignment.

As I said earlier, I’m Lori Allen and I’m the Director of Great Escape Publishing.

Here, we publish home study programs and we run live workshops that help people get paid to travel – everything from travel writing, photography, import/export, tours, and travel blogging.

And a lot of our members get their feet wet by getting articles and photos published in International Living Magazine.

You may not know this, but you already have a foot in the door at International Living, because the very person who created our Ultimate Travel Writer’s Program, Jennifer Stevens, happens to be the Executive Editor at International Living.

She and others there know that if you’ve gone through the program, you’re already ahead of the average travel writer.

International Living is a great place to get your first byline if you’re interested in overseas travel. And while I’m not employed by International Living (they publish resources on living, retiring and investing overseas and I barely know a lick about any of these things), I know our trained writers make great writers for them.

Here’s what International Living told me they’re looking for in new writers…