Day 4: Travel the world on $0 a day…

Free Report #4 from The Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop San Francisco, CA

Imagine if you didn’t have to save a penny toward your next vacation… If you could afford to take off for as long as you wished — like spending an entire summer traveling across Europe at your leisure…

No boss to talk around… No need to sacrifice on pay… In fact, as well as traveling on someone else’s dime — and enjoying a free vacation — you could earn a handsome profit on your adventure, too.

Allison here again, at the Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop in San Francisco, where the attendees lucky to be here this week are hearing all about this lifestyle — and how they, too, can travel for $0 a day.

Over the last few days, I’ve spotted some common themes in the presentations — a few things that are key to getting yourself on the right side of editors and landing assignment after assignment, so you can literally travel the world for free…

Here are the top three:

** START SMALL
Lengthy, more “literary” travel articles still exist, but they’re in the minority. Today’s reader has a shorter attention span — particularly those skimming on the web — so editors are always on the lookout for short, get-straight-to-the-point pieces, usually around 200-500 words. Longer pieces may follow, but this is the best way to break in.

** BE SPECIFIC
No editor is going to hop on an article that claims to cover the entire Paris experience. Instead, narrow your focus to the five best restaurants in one of the city’s arrondissements…a niche tour that you’ve taken…or what about a relaxing break at the city’s Hammam steam baths? This goes hand-in-hand with starting small. It’s easy to stick to a shorter word count when you’ve a specific idea in mind.

** DON’T FORGET ABOUT HOME
Every travel writer loves to travel, and you’ll have plenty of opportunity to do so. But, don’t overlook the opportunities in your own hometown. Writing about your own area — or day-trips from your hometown — can be the most lucrative trick in your bag. Think about it — you don’t have to worry about airfares, hotels, taxis, and dining out. You could go out, do your research, snap some photos, write up your article, and submit it all in a day. Many publications like to have someone local write about a place, so they’re sure to get the inside scoop. You could be it!

And, one last tip. You’ve heard it many times before, but it bears repeating here…

** FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES
A sure way of putting yourself ahead of the crowd is to pay strict attention to a publication’s writer’s guidelines. They are usually stated somewhere on a publication’s website — and they are gospel. You’d be surprised at how many writers neglect to read these…or let them wash over them somehow. Pay attention to what an editor wants — and you’ll be rewarded.

Sadly, this is the last day of the Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop for 2012. And what an intense, hands-on, exhilarating experience it’s been. I can feel the energy among my fellow attendees here, all ready to return home to work on the ideas they’ve come up with over the last few days, applying all the techniques they’ve learned from the pros, so they can finally start selling their travel stories.

And, even though you couldn’t be here in person, you don’t have to miss out…

Grab a copy of our Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop-at-Home package and you’ll have access to audio recordings of all our speakers, their Powerpoint presentations, and hand-outs from the Publications Expo (notes on what the editors really want) — all the tools you need to never pay for a vacation again.

— Allison

Allison Maryan
Great Escape Publishing
Official Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop Spy

[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.]