Being a successful travel writer or outdoor writer is a dream shared by many freelancers. However, only a small percentage of freelance writers will truly be successful at it, and by successful I mean able to support a middle-class lifestyle.
Frustrations of a Beginning Travel/Outdoor Writer
Below are excerpts I wrote in response to a frustrated beginning travel/outdoor writer who posted in the “writing rants” section of the forum at Freelance Writers Den. I’ve also added some extra info for greater clarification.
The frustrated beginning travel/outdoor writer said he was discouraged with his efforts in the travel field. It sparked a very good discussion. It’s a bit disjointed, but it’s useful for freelance writers, and it covers some aspects of my early years as an outdoor writer you may not know about.
(FYI: I’m a moderator in the Den with about 2800 comments to date.)
Travel Writing and Outdoor Writing Niches: Key Points
Below are some of the key points I made during the discussion. Specifically:
- Many of us choose freelance writing niches that pay our bills, even if at times it’s not that exciting.
- Freelance writing for travel and outdoor publications is hard work.
- “Do what you love and the money will follow” won’t work for everyone, including many people who want to write in the travel/outdoors field.
Choose Your Best Freelance Writing Niches…
With my short and powerful self-guided course that explains:— 7 aspects of your life that can lead to lucrative freelance writing niches
— How to research a potential freelance writing niche for viability
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Forum Discussion About Travel Writing and Outdoor Writing: My First Response
It is quite difficult to make a good living as a travel writer, especially if you write only articles for magazines. There are hundreds of thousands of writers traveling the world, so there’s a lot of competition for the limited number of feature articles in the limited number of magazines that pay well.
If you are truly serious about it, consider starting on a lower level and then using your clips to market to progressively better markets. Newspapers can be good place to get initial clips, along with some of the better websites.
More suggestions:
- Focus on other niches that can pay your bills while you get your travel writing going.
- Buy recent books about how to succeed as a travel writer. (Use Amazon for research.)
- Consider business writing related to travel. (See Erin Raub’s site.)
- Go through the Step by Step Guide to Freelance Writing Success and the Freelance Business Bootcamp, if you haven’t already.
- Have your queries critiqued here in the Den.
Travel and Outdoors Writing Reality Check: My Second Response
Like everyone else above [earlier replies in the forum thread], I understand your frustration. I write primarily for higher education companies, and while I love what I write about, I often have to write in a very specific style that often isn’t how I’d truly like to write.
However, higher ed writing has paid all my bills and funded my retirement accounts, and leaves me a lot of time for vacations.
I started as an outdoor writer, which is a form of travel writing, and I specialized primarily in hiking. I wrote three books, two still in print, and 100-plus magazine and newspaper articles, but I finally got tired of the hassle of pitching stories to magazines and just focused on the higher ed companies. I do still write new editions of my books, and I market them on my Northern California Hiking Trails website, but the book royalties are a relatively small percentage of my income.
There’s an expression: “Do what you love and the money will follow.” That does work for a few people, but most of us have to make compromises.
I suggest you find a high-paying freelance writing specialty that will pay the bills, and then use your time beyond that to pursue the types of writing you really want to do.
But I Want to Travel and Get Paid for It!
My writing in my specialty earns me the money to go hiking and traveling without having to feel like I have to make a living solely from hiking and traveling.
For me, there’s a major difference between traveling when I’m writing about it and just traveling for the pure pleasure of it: I enjoy the latter far more than the former. I don’t have to take notes or do interviews or gather information; I just get to do what feels right in the moment.
There’s a good article about the travails of travel writers here.
My Advice for a Beginning Travel/Outdoor Freelance Writer
If you want to be a travel/outdoor freelance writer, start by writing about local destinations, and for local publications, and then build from there.
That’s actually what happened for me. I love to hike. I was very fortunate to land contracts in the 1990s with a mainstream publisher, The Mountaineers Books in Seattle, to write hiking guidebooks on Northern California. I parlayed that into writing about Northern California hiking in Sunset, VIA, and a national outdoors magazine, along with a hiking column in six newspapers.
I had wanted to become an outdoor writer who travels around the country and the world doing cool things, like Tim Cahill. However, for the reasons listed above, I decided to focus almost exclusively on writing for higher education companies. But if I had wanted, I could have continued to pitch magazine and newspaper pieces about Northern California outdoors destinations and activities. Would I have had substantial success eventually? Maybe, but I didn’t feel the odds were very good.
Other Niches Are Easier…
There are niches that are well-suited to your particular interests, knowledge, and circumstances. My course Find Your Freelance Writing Niches: Make More Money for Less Work will quickly help you find the best niches for you.
Travel Writing and Outdoor Writing: Your Take
Are you interested in travel or outdoor writing? Had much success at it? Share your thoughts below.
Choose Your Best Freelance Writing Niches…
With my short and powerful self-guided course that explains:
— 7 aspects of your life that can lead to lucrative freelance writing niches
— How to research a potential freelance writing niche for viability
— 9 ways to increase your expertise
— And much more
John, I’ve had a fair amount of travel pieces published, many in national publications, but the work is so sporadic and the pay limited—it’s hard to conceive of many people being able to make a living doing it. And sadly, with the decline of print (particularly newspapers), many publications pay less than they did five or ten years ago.
I have been able to go to some interesting places on fully compensated press trips (Myanmar, Stuttgart, many places in the US), but most major publications don’t accept pieces from comped trips, so the writing work for those has been unpaid, and relegated mostly to online publications. And that speaks to a travel writer’s trouble too: the sheer expense of travel, and often when it’s backed by a PR firm or the like, the writer can’t get published in a big venue.
However, it’s still fun and interesting to write travel stories; I just wrote one for a local publication—the San Jose Mercury News—about a local place to hike (Nisene Marks) and eat afterward. No exotic travel there, but a good time anyway.
Tom, thanks for sharing your experience. The cost of the travel itself is a major headwind to making it as a travel writer. When I’m researching my Northern California hiking guidebooks, I almost always am able to sleep for free in the forest somewhere, and I can buy and prepare my own food and keep it in the ice chest. By contrast, staying in hotels and eating in restaurants adds up quickly.
I’ve had a few travel pieces published, but in other types of publications like motorcycle and dog magazines. Planning to head your way in 2 weeks with my dogs. Maybe another travel piece about what you can do with your dogs in Crescent City or Coos Bay – for a dog pub!
I agree. Travel writing doesn’t pay the bills. Plus there’s a bazillion bloggers who write about every place in the world, it’s getting harder to find travel markets.
My newest guidebook Hiking the Parks: Redwood National and State Parks comes out in spring of 2019. The parks themselves don’t allow dogs on trails, but dogs can go on a few city beaches, and on Smith River National Recreation Area trails outside of Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.
I am mildly interested in travel writing but for the RV & travel trailer crowd. Our family travels often pulling a camper trailer. RV & travel trailer (temp.) living & travel seems to be popular. By any chance, anyone know about airline magazines? Will check around. Nice blog, John!
For me, there’s a major difference between traveling when I’m writing about it and just traveling for the pure pleasure of it: I enjoy the latter far more than the former. I don’t have to take notes or do interviews or gather information; I just get to do what feels right in the moment.
Great tips for those starting out. When I originally started out as an outdoor writer is was more of a hobby than anything. The local newspaper ran across my website one day and offered me a job as a journalist covering local events. That eventually turned into becoming the Editor. Eventually, I circled back around to working for myself, so I could have more time to travel. I supplemented my income with sponsored posts and selling my photos (I am also a professional landscape/wildlife photographer). I love that they both work hand in hand, but it is still a tough market.
My friends think I have the perfect dream job. They don’t understand how much work goes into all of it. I’d like to say I make middle-class income from it, but I am not there yet! I will say though, that I never really thought of reaching out to publications!