Want to be a professional travel writer?
Want to learn how to become a travel writer and get paid to travel?
Everyone imagines lying on a beach, tapping away lazily on the keyboard. And don’t forget the hammock, beautiful service staff and a cocktail. With an umbrella in it.
The reality is that many aspiring travel writers fail, because they don’t have the business tools they need to make their craft into cash. Lots of people want to be paid to travel, so the competition is tough.
How to become a travel writer
So how do you become a successful travel writer?
There’s no question that being the best at what you do is going to help. But there’s going to be a few years of hard graft, study, and lots of words on the screen before that happens. To paraphrase, 90% of success is turning up writing lots.
I mean, the thing about being a professional travel writer is that you need to travel. And write. And do it again. But how do you get paid to write? That’s another story.
What you need to know about getting paid to write
There’s no questioning that you need to hone your writing skills. We all do. What you might not know is that you need to hone your personal marketing and business skills too.
The MatadorU writing course looks at structure, voice and strong storytelling, just like any writing class. But it goes further. It looks at how editors think, shows you how to manage the business (and busy-ness) of travel writing, and looks at new media tools and social media marketing skills to grow your personal brand, and your income.
That’s what we look for in a modern writing course. And you should too. We hope you take a look at our MatadorU writing course review and seriously consider taking it.
If writing isn’t your strong point, but you still want to make money online or make money travel blogging, we suggest you look into Affiliate Marketing for Beginners. It’s another winning course.
Want to get paid to travel?
There are as many ways to get paid to travel as there are people who are doing it. However, the main goal of this website is to present our MatadorU writing course review and MatadorU photography course review.
Go look at those! Or check out MatadorU itself.
That said, let’s look at five ways to get paid to travel.
Become a professional travel writer
If you want to become a professional travel writer we recommend taking a look at our MatadorU writing course review. It’s a great place to get started.
A professional writer might travel somewhere, take copious notes and photos, then transform her experiences into several stories. A wise travel writer, however, will first “pitch” editors, get story approval, then start her trip with angles and interviews in mind.
Here are 15 places which pay for travel writing.
It would also be good to keep a good travel blog, which can make supplementary income and showcase your talents and printed stories for future editors to see.
Become a professional travel photographer
Like the wise travel writer, a business-savvy travel photographer will pitch editors with ideas before their trip in order to gauge interest, and hopefully win some contracts before he leaves home.
He might also look at other photographers’ work, analysing images and creating an idea of what light, shapes and themes might appear. That said, it’s best to arrive with an open mind, as well as a desired shot list.
If you want to become a professional travel writer we recommend taking a look at our MatadorU writing course review.
Become an English teacher
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages is a useful tool … in fact, it can be a passport to work around the world. English language skills are in high demand and it’s easy for teachers to get both visas and relatively well-paid work In many countries.
You can also use your English-teaching qualification in private schools in native-language countries like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, Canada, the US and the UK.
To find out more about becoming an ESL teacher for travel, look at the linked resource page.
Become a professional travel blogger
There are literally thousands of travel blogs in the world, and most of them earn less than US$50 a year. In fact, there are only a handful of independent travel blogs that make more than $2,000 each month.
To make money travel blogging isn’t easy, but it is possible. To get started, we recommend the Beginners Guide to Affiliate Marketing and the make money travel blogging guide.
Become an international rock star
‘Nuff said. Rock on!
