FEATURED PUBLICATION: Real Travel Adventures

From Arts & Crafts to Weddings… and Everything in Between
By Roberta Beach Jacobson in Karpathos, Greece

Real Travel Adventures e-zine has offered travel stories and adventure tales at its website since 2001. Run by husband and wife team, Bonnie and Bill Neely of Bonita Productions, it currently attracts 14,000 site visitors a day.

The Neely’s encourage articles from a broad range of categories, including Back Road Travel, Family Trips, Wedding Trips, Travel Humor, Arts and Crafts, and more. There really is something for everyone at this site.

The couple also streams an internet broadcast every Wednesday on Travel Talk Radio — you can find details about how to listen in at the website.

The Neely’s don’t provide specific Writer’s Guidelines.  However, they do indicate that they want to know the specifics of your travels, like whether you traveled alone or with grandchildren or with pets. They want to know where you stayed — was it luxurious or more down-to-earth, maybe even “under the stars?” And they like to know how you traveled… how did you get from Point A to Point B?

The word-count varies widely from article to article. Some are short anecdotes of just a few hundred words. Other pieces run to 1,500.

If you wish to submit a story here, you don’t need to query. Just paste your piece into the body of your e-mail. (The short instructions on how to submit an article are emphatic about not sending your story as an attachment.) You’ll find details here: http://www.realtraveladventures.com/ContactUs/howtosubmit.htm

Here’s a tip that can help get you noticed: Make the editors laugh! They love tales of narrow escapes or experiences almost beyond belief. Direct your story to: mail@realtraveladventures.com and don’t worry about your word count.

Real Travel Adventures likes to receive 4-6 photos with each story you submit. The photo requirements are specific, so read the specs carefully. You’ll find them at: http://www.realtraveladventures.com/ContactUs/howtosubmit.htm.

The editors prefer digital images, but if you wish, you can mail prints of your pictures or burn them on CD and send to: Real Travel Adventures, P.O. Box 812, Paris, TX 75461

For first-time submissions, include a three-paragraph biography and photo along with your story. This will appear on their Contributor’s Page. You retain all rights to your article, and it will remain featured for one year. After the year is up, it moves to the archives.

Typically, feature stories are published within several months of submission. But if your story is time-sensitive, be sure to indicate this so the editors don’t miss it.

Unfortunately, this publication is not offering payment at this time. But if you’re in the business of beefing up your clip file, this is certainly a place worth considering.

[Editor’s Note: Learn more about opportunities to profit from your travels (and even from your own home) in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel.]