How to Find Hidden Travel Stories
I just heard from Marina Krakovsky, one of my travel writing workshop alumna, on the success she had in placing an essay she worked on during the course. I love getting news like that! And working with Marina, who is such an accomplished writer, was a total joy.
Marina’s goal, when she signed up for the class, was to find, write and publish deeper stories from her travels. This is a time-honored approach to travel writing, in fact, some of the finest examples of travel writing are in that genre, as opposed to what we call “travel service”, the nuts n’ bolts of how to travel, hotel deals and so forth.
Finding these deeper stories can be tricky — these are the less obvious stories, and they spring from the writer’s own unique curiosity. This is why I encourage my students to pay careful attention to the questions that pop to mind while they’re traveling, no matter how insignificant they may seem.
Also, I urge my students to pay attention to the moments when they’re puzzled or startled. Those are idea gold! For instance, when I was in Barbados this past Fall, I was taking a tour of a synagogue, and met a guy that looked to me like a younger Joe Lieberman. He was actually a second generation Barbadian and spoke in an island lilt, which totally took me by surprise. (At first I couldn’t place the accent.) That moment of startle led to this piece in the Huffington Post.
Marina also shared with me the backstory of how another piece she’d placed from her travels came about:
During my trip to Moscow last summer I wondered what the deal was with all the unsmiling Russians–and with subway posters urging people to smile. (Remember, I was born in that region there, and still felt taken aback by all the dour looks.) I asked people about the posters, and nobody could explain them, but when I got home I did some research and got my answers.
And she got a salable story, which she placed in Psychology Today – a magazine which she’d written for in the past.
Now, what’s extra interesting about that is that PT is not in any way a travel magazine. But that’s the beauty about these deeper travel stories — your options for placing them goes way beyond traditional travel outlets.
If you’re interested in trying your hand at these types of stories, my next workshop begins April 13th! Sign up here.
I’m new to your site and just bookmarked it. Thanks for the deeper travel article. I’ve just lost regular contributor spot when the magazine bit the dust. Now I’m having to reinvent myself. Thanks for the invitation to dig into topics creatively.
Soosee
This is inspiring, especially since it would seem that travel stories might be harder to place in this climate…Just one question — out of curiosity — does Huff post pay?
Hi Soosee, glad you found this inspiring. It sucks to lose regular gig, but that just means that you have a new opportunity to exercise your creativity. (I’m sure we’re all a little tired of exercising our creativity in that way! But it’s a great alternative to depression.)
Hi Cal, the Huff Post typically does not pay, although there are exceptions.
Thanks for an interesting approach to writing travel stories.
The link to the article in Psychology Today is broken; it has an extra couple of characters that slipped in at the end.
Great reading.
P.S: noticed too that the Psychology link is not working.
The link is fixed now, thanks!