English Teacher Turned Travel Writer

Lucy Brown attended one of our live workshops in New Orleans and now lives in places like Thailand…Guatemala…London…in fact, anywhere she likes.

Read below about how she’s putting the travel writer’s life to work for her…

COULD THIS BE THE WORLD’S BEST JOB?       
By Lucy Brown

After coming to Antigua, Guatemala in 2006 to study Spanish, I extended my one-month language course month-by-month for seven months. By then, I’d fallen in love with the city and lifestyle, befriended both locals and expats, and felt I wanted to make this a more permanent lifestyle…so I stayed.

The lifestyle is simpler and cheaper than back home, and the climate is sunnier and warmer. I love having six months of no rain! I also love speaking Spanish and living in a beautiful, cosmopolitan city where festivals and cultural activities abound. I can choose from an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables in the market, or local street food and cuisine from around the globe.

People here are a mix of locals, expats, and travelers, so there’s a real melting pot of language and culture. Boredom isn’t an option!

I’ve always loved to write about my travels, but the idea that I could actually become a paid travel writer seemed an unattainable dream. Then I came across a writing workshop from Great Escape Publishing and decided to see if it could help me. I gained invaluable advice and tips but more importantly, I realized that the inexperienced could also break into travel writing.

In fact, I got my first assignment here in Guatemala, when I was asked to write about and photograph a local town. That was the first time I sold my writing, but it wouldn’t be the last. Today my work has been published on websites, in guidebooks, and in magazines.

I haven’t just been writing about Guatemala, either. I’ve just been offered work writing for a magazine about a recent trip to Mongolia. My income from travel writing helps toward paying for some of my trips and it makes living in Guatemala (or elsewhere!) and traveling a much more enjoyable and fulfilling experience. As long as I have a decent Internet connection, I can work from anywhere—there’s nothing to keep me tied to one location.

My most recent trip was to a village in the highlands of Guatemala for a unique festival with inebriated, traditionally clad locals racing horses on All Saint’s Day. Soon, I’ll spend Christmas on the edge of a volcano-rimmed lake in Guatemala. And, next year, I’m visiting Thailand…and maybe moving back there to live.

I prefer working to my own schedule and earning my income while doing what I love.

[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.]