Remember National Geographic Traveler and Travcoa's Next Great Travel Writer contest last year.
Well, the winner Suzanne Roberts is currently on the road in Mongolia with National Geographic Traveler Editor in Chief Keith Bellows (and a tour group). Suzanne's assignment is to write an article about the experience that will be run on the National Geographic Traveler website. Keith is along to offer support and coaching.
And thanks to the Intelligent Travel blog, we can follow their travels...
The Next Great Travel Writer: Arriving in Beijing
Next Great Travel Writer: Day Two in Beijing
Next Great Travel Writer: The Real Mongolia
The Next Great Travel Writer: Dating in Mongolia
with more to come...
Showing posts with label travel articles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel articles. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Travels with the 'Next Great Travel Writer' contest winner...
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Travel Writing Miscellanea...
Fellow blogger and travel writer Leif Pettersen was interviewed StarTribune.com for an article about Twitter. Called Keep it Short and Tweet, the article quotes Leif on his initial reaction to Twitter...
"I didn't get it," said Pettersen, 38, of his first reaction to the ultra-short posts. "It was like hearing bits of conversation from a room full of schizophrenics."
But looks like he's got it now. You can follow Leif's twitter over at his Killing Batteries blog.
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Jerry Guo over at Gadling.com has been Talking travel with the notorious Thomas Kohnstamm.
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The Sunday Herald has a review of Semi Invisible Man: The Life Of Norman Lewis, a neglected British travel writer who apparently "...spent his life foraging around some of the world's most dangerous places, from civil-war Spain to remote corners of Asia and drug-ravaged Latin America." Can't say I've ever heard of him, but he's now on my reading list.
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SF Gate reviews "Presidential Travel. The Journey From George Washington to George W. Bush". Another book that sounds intriguing.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Travel Writing Miscellanea...
Sandwagon has an Interview with Robin Barton - author of 101 Weekends in Europe
Latest Perceptive Travel Zine Offers Good Reading.
Sex, sunshine and sangria? You must be joking! or more on the Thomas Kohnstamm saga.
World Hum writes about Travel Writing and Tall Tales: An Historical Perspective
Pam at Nerd's Eye View is giving away three copies of Mark McCrum’s Going Dutch in Beijing: How to Behave Properly When Far Away from Home. All you have to do is post about your favorite story about a cultural misunderstanding and leave a link in the comments.
The Matador Network, the interactive travel magazine, is launching 8 new websites. Here's a complete list of their sites:
Matador Travel
Matador Trips
Matador Study
Matador Nights
The Traveler's Notebook
Brave New World
Matador Goods
Matador Pulse
Matador Volunteer.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Long Story Short: Six Word Travel Article...
"For sale: baby shoes, never worn."
Not all of us have the skills of Ernest Hemmingway to create a poignant story in six words.
But it can be done.
And it seems to be all the rage at the moment, with online magazines such as SMITH getting people to submit 'six word memoirs' which they turned into a real book entitled Not Quite What I Was Planning.
As travel writers, we are always trying to paint pictures with words.
So my challenge to you is how well can you paint the picture using only six words?
In other words, can you create a 'six word travel article'
Here's mine from my recent road trip to the West Coast of New Zealand...
'Ice glacier melting, no footprints left'.
What's your 'six word travel article'?
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Travel Articles that Caught My Eye...
I’m off on a short road trip next week, so of course, have been thinking about possible angles for some travel articles. As part of my research and thinking process, I have been reading short travel articles published in various newspapers. Everyone knows that the best way to figure out what editors are looking for is to study what they’ve already published. So I’ve been studying short articles - the ones in between features and fillers - to determine the structure, content, and style that works.
Articles such as these…
Take a walk in a swamp to see Florida's rare orchids - a Seattle Times article on a swamp tour through the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park in southwest Florida
Amazing Grace: The Art and Ordeal of the Kimono - New York Times article about the Women's Association in Kyoto that teachs women how to wear a Kimono
Afternoon tea is back at the newly reopened Plaza Hotel - USA Today article on the joys of high tea at the Plaza Hotel in NYC.
Touring San Diego — on the run - another Seattle Times article, this one taking a City Running Tour around San Diego.
(photo credit)
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Travel Articles that Caught My Eye...
This months Oscars have put Hollywood center stage, so it’s not surprising to find a few movie related travel articles around. Movie location travel is already big business, so articles such as Set jetting 2008 - fabulous film locations and 10 great places to check into movie-hotel history often appear.
Another news item - Fidel Castro stepping down - will also create travel article fodder. Traveling in a post-Fidel Castro Cuba is probably the first of many articles about Cuba in the coming months.
And of course, finding out about new places to visit is always a winner. Saudi Arabia is one such place, with the this article Closed Kingdom Cracks a Door Open.
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Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Travel Articles that Caught My Eye...
We are constantly bombarded in the media with negative images of Iran, so it was quite refreshing to read the NYT travel article The Other Iran.
Articles about the Grand Canyon always catch my eye. I'm been there a number of times, both to the South and North Rim and each time I've been rendered speechless by it's size and beauty. But I haven't yet made it there in wintertime, which is the focus of this Baltimore Sun article Winter at it's Grandest.
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Saturday, February 02, 2008
Word Travel TV Series: Episode One…
Earlier in the week I wrote about a new travel series created by Canadian TV.
Here’s a trailer of the first episode which aired this week. The two intrepid travel writers were in Bolivia.
Articles that resulted from this episode:
Car Blessings in Bolivia by Karen
Twice in a Lifetime by Robin
Anyone had the chance to watch this television series yet ?
Would love to know what you think of it?
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Travel articles that caught my eye...
There’s not been much time for reading this week but I still managed to read a few travel articles.
Did you know that grease was one of Vancouver Islands most valuable commodities. Neither did I until I started reading A taste of history on the Grease Trail by Lawrence Millman who takes on a journey along the Grease Trail. Not a trip that most travellers would take.
The recent coup in Fiji has discouraged tourists from visiting. But if you want to know whether it’s safe to return check out this article Some Enchanted Island by Justin Wastnage.
I always believed that Elvis still lives…I’d run across him in Los Angeles and in Las Vegas. Now it seems that he’s in Australia. Presley’s Pulling Power by Guy Wilkinson tells you just where to find him.
Happy reading…
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Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Travel articles that caught my eye...
I spend what my family and friends consider ‘way too much time’ reading articles on the internet. I have an excuse though - it’s all market research…
How else, I ask, will I get my travel articles accepted if I don’t know what they are looking for, if I don’t have a good grasp of the travel topics that are popular and if I don’t pay attention to the advertising that is part and parcel of newspapers and magazines. After all, the key to freelance success is to know your market.
So, to prove that it really is market research, I’ve decided to post a weekly column about travel articles that caught my eye…
New York Times
Any article that has the words ‘road trip’ will immediately catch my attention. And if it’s located in the American southwest, then I’m hooked. An Arizona Road Trip on the Edge of America by Keith Mulvhill simply made me want to hightail it back to the states and hop into a car and re-visit the Arizona desert.
Or I could just stay in New Zealand and go winery hopping. I’ve done a lot of that in New Zealand’s South Island. But North Island Coast of Small Wineries and Big Pleasures by Debra A Klein has made me think that I need over to the North Island one day and check out the boutique wineries and cafes in the far north.
The Baltimore Sun
It’s a long way from New Zealand to Europe. Actually, it’s a long from New Zealand to anywhere. So it’s great to have a few interesting places to stopover en route. And let’s face it, Dubai is interesting. Dubai: The new Gold Coast by Toni Salama tells us why.
Chicago Tribune
People watching (and food) are great ways to spend time when travelling. And with millions of people visiting Las Vegas each year, this could be the prime people watching city. The Las Vegas insiders' guide to people-watching by Jay Jones gives the low down on when and where to people watch.
USA Today
Nine destination bookstores worth putting on a tourist's itinerary by Beth J. Harpaz focuses on bookstores across America. I’ve only been to one of the bookstores listed - The Strand in NYC. One day, who knows, I’ll make it to the rest. Meanwhile, the article is a good example of how to compile an interesting and compelling travel list.
Budget Travel Magazine
Written by editor Erik Torkells, Paris and Amsterdam, Together, is a first person account of how to plan a trip for someone else and discovering that not everyone wants to see what you do.
So what are you reading this week???
(photo credit)
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