9/10/2023 0 Comments Becoming a travel writer![]() ![]() Other travel writers live off investments, retirement incomes, trust funds, lucrative divorce settlements, or some combination of these. I didn't earn enough income to pay the bills and didn't need to worry. That’s how I started out freelancing. My wife had a great corporate job that paid the bills while I learned the freelance travel writing trade. In other cases, you might have a working spouse willing to take responsibility for paying the bills. Again, that took the pressure off me to earn enough income to pay the bills. At various times, I’ve taught part-time at two Seattle universities and a local community college. Others work a part-time job for some steady income. For my first couple of years freelancing I did this, too. Use travel writing as a secondary stream of income and you won't need to worry about whether you can earn enough money. Many travel writers have full-time jobs - often in a totally different industry. They send out queries in their spare time, and they use their vacation time to go on press trips. My guesstimate is that 90% of all travel writers are part-time. Most of the writers I meet on press trips and at travel writing conferences are part-timers. They do it for fun, for pin money, and for the occasional press trip. It’s the least stressful way to start a business. Many solo businesses get started as part-time endeavors, while you already have a job. Freelance income is variable so you can’t initially depend on it to pay your bills. For beginners, this is practically mandatory. It’s okay to be a part-time travel writer or blogger. ![]() If you have bills to pay, like most people do, you'll want to hang onto a steady source of income to get the bills paid. When you're just starting out in travel writing the cash flow is small and sporadic. If you want to break into travel writing, and have a steady source of income from a job, the best advice I can give you is, “Don’t give up your day job.” Use Travel Writing As A Secondary Stream of Income to Earn Enough Money It’s a simple formula: come up with great story ideas and sell them to magazine editors. “I have one question that everyone wants to ask at travel writer’s conferences and workshops, but no one does, perhaps because it seems indiscreet: Can you really make money at this? Or is travel writing really for people whose financial security is otherwise assured by trust fund or hefty retirement income and who are going to travel anyway?Īs a writing coach and mentor, I’m often asked the BIG question, “ Can I really make money as a travel writer?” The short answer is “ yes”. ![]()
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