Have you been passionate about traveling and writing and want to curate a diverse confluence by pouring both and producing a travel blog? Well, you are at the right place; travel writing has the ability to transport the reader to new places. It can even inspire others to travel, try new things, and learn about different cultures when done well. However, it can be difficult to know where to begin when it comes to writing about your own travel experiences. After all, a location can be many things. It’s the people, the architecture, the city sounds, the smells and tastes of the food, and so much more. So, how do you condense everything that happened into a readable blog post?
Here are five tips you cannot miss out on while writing a travel article.
1. Read
Reading has been the primary thing you will have to do before starting any literary piece. It does not just bud a useful habit for the future but improves your current skills simultaneously. Read good if you want to write good, something I would stand by till the end. When I was first starting out, my dad bought me my first few novels and magazines; the piece that came after reading them shook me in inexplicable ways: it was the best piece of writing I’d done in that time. And this was only possible cause I was engrossed in good reading, and it filtered back through me and onto the page in my writing.
2. Tell a story
Stories hold the reader together. Ever wondered why you don’t like reading extremely technical blogs compared to the one that narrates a tale about a person or place? They aren’t the dull non-fiction reads they could have been but are entertaining and inspiring. This is because the former doesn’t have a story, it’s not personal, nor can many relate to it, but the latter has all of that’s required to make an engaging piece. Readers must be able to grasp something in a piece of writing. Without a story, you’re depriving your reader of the pleasure of reading. Travel blogging needs more storytelling. Blogging doesn’t mean you would only give out information and don’t make the writing a fun read.
3. Make it your own
Travel writing needs to be exciting to read. It should make the reader feel like they are on the highway peeping out the glass windows, with the golden rays kissing their cheeks while the wind dances to the rhythm of their heart. They should be able to taste the spicy noodles that burn your tongue and excite your mind. They need to hear the chaos of the crowded streets and smell the flower shop next to your hotel. In a nutshell, details matter, as does your unique perspective. Determine what is important to you and focus on it; write about your experience and what makes it unique. The way you experience a trip—your emotions, reactions, the crazy things that went wrong, the people you met and chatted with—is unique. That is what makes a writing unique.
Understand the fundamentals of travel writing.
Every type of writing has its own set of conventions—things that are expected and widely accepted as best practices in the field. For travel blogs, this frequently means that the writing should:
• Be written in the first person
• Use a conversational tone (dialogue can be helpful here)
• Include sensory details
• Make it appealing to the audience.
• Narrate the incident in the past tense
• Provide value to the reader in some way, whether that’s providing useful navigation tips or insight into a culture
4. Start with a distressing situation.
Something like, “The sound of tiny spikes on our wheels crunching through snow was the only sound we heard for miles.”, a piece from ‘Racing on thin ice.’
By placing the reader in the middle of a stressful situation, you immediately increase the tension they will feel while they read the story. They become interested in how you deal with or overcome the situation you find yourself in.
5. Be honest.
It is not always the case that trips go exactly as planned. When you include instances of disappointment and difficulty in your writing, you will be able to write more authentically and provide readers with the opportunity to learn from your experience.
If you’re new to travel writing, here’s a checklist of what you should include in your articles. Remember that not every element must appear in the same order as this list, and some may be skipped depending on the story content or the editor’s preference.
• Prompt opening to pique the reader’s interest
• Who—introduce the writer, allowing the reader to identify with the writer
• When— the season, establishing the reader’s place in time and space
• Where—the location, grounding the reader in geography
• Why—the reason for the trip, the motive, drawing the reader into the story
• What—details about the story, quotes from locals, anecdotes, and facts
• How—how the journey unfolds, the framework, and the plot
• End— conclude the article by linking the end to the beginning.
