Writing a Travel Essay

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

Travel increases in the summer, mostly because kids are on break and families can vacation. Even so, travel happens at all times of the year. In the winter, people head to warmer climes. During autumn, they gravitate to areas where fall color is tops. In spring, travelers want to be where the early blooming trees and shrubs are at their best. 

For writers, travel should be a natural inspiration. The photo above was taken in 2001 when Ken and I spent time driving all over Nova Scotia. One of the places we visited was Peggy's Cove. It's a very small village with rugged coastal beauty but is also the site of the SwissAir jet crash. A memorial that will touch the hearts of all is a visitor feature. I was so taken with the little village and the story behind it that I wrote a travel essay.

I've written several other personal essays and/or travel essays. One thing I've found is that I need to take a few notes when certain emotions or images come to me when visiting a place. I also need to write the first draft very soon after we return home so that the memories are still reasonably clear.

People like to read travel essays. If you can't go there on your own, what better way to learn about a place and enjoy the high spots than to read about another person's trip? If you've never written a travel essay, you should give it a try. It needn't be an exotic place like Timbuktu or Iceland. Write it well, and a piece about visiting the largest ball of twine in the world in Kansas can be made interesting. (Yes, Kansas does have the largest ball of twine located in Cawker City)

Things to remember when writing a travel essay:

• Don't merely write a report of where you slept, where you ate, what you did each day. That may be part of your essay, but it needs much more to be interesting to readers.
• Highlight special places or events of your trip
• Use some humor in appropriate spots
• Give a bit of history but don't overdo
• Let readers know your feelings, how something you saw impressed you, hurt you, or stayed with you
• If the trip changed you in some way, be sure to include what it was
• Include things you learned that you had not known before
• Use description but don't go overboard. Actors and actresses sometimes 'overemote.' You don't want to do that with your descriptions. 
• Watch the passive verbs. They are the path to boring reading. Look for active verbs
• Include people you meet. It could be a hotel clerk or a waiter or a taxi driver, but if they are an interesting person and added a memory, feature them.
• Do the same with food but only what is special or unusual. A reader doesn't care if you ate a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast unless there is something out of the ordinary about it. 
• If you were looking for something on the trip and did or didn't find it, that might be included.
• Photos you've taken are an added treat.
• Make it a personal story not a facts and figures article.
• Feature only one part of a trip. I wrote one that told about the food in the pubs in the UK and Ireland.

Is there a market for travel essays? Yes. Many magazines like travel essays. Airlines sometimes feature them in their company magazines you find in the seat pocket. There are websites that feature travel essays. Dave's Travel Corner is one with which I am familiar. Google travel essays or where to submit travel essays and you'll find other places, as well. I have even seen some travel anthologies when looking for places to submit.