Freelance Writing Assignments - Become A Travel Writer

By Author: Peter James
Total Articles: 37
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Do you know that one of the most lucrative assignments for freelance writers is that of writing for travel magazines? Are you aware that even though you might not be a freelance writer in the formal sense, travel and tourism publications are always on the lookout for exciting episodes from exotic destinations?
Quite often, people go on vacation and are quite prepared to record the experience via camera or video, but never even contemplate the possibility of writing it all down. This is one of the easiest methods to begin a lucrative freelance writing career. Travel writing has always been popular because many prospective tourists prefer getting a firsthand view from people who has been there.
As an example, Mozambique is a country with images of civil war, landmines, floods and corrupt traffic officials, but surely there must be more positive experiences and memories that are more enjoyable? After all, it was formerly known as Lourenco Marques, with the old landmark Polana hotel. Furthermore, succulent prawns and some of the most beautiful beaches in Africa, is synonymous with Mozambique.
In my case, a trip ...
... to Mozambique became a reality when a school friend who has a holiday resort over there, invited us to their home. This was based on a previous request from them stating that if we ever decide to go on holiday to please consider this beautiful country. It was an offer we could not refuse and decided to take the wonderful opportunity. Another explicit reason was to record the experience in a freelance writing journal, for eventual submission to a travel magazine or similar online platform.
We entered the country from South Africa and arrived just after six at the border, and to our dismay realized that there were already about 100 cars in the queue, and we were moving forward very slowly. It is advisable therefore that you plan your trip carefully and make allowance for delays. But then again it was a wonderful opportunity to chat with both the locals and tourists in the queue in order to gain an insight into past and future experiences and intentions. In this instance I just let my voice recorder run, to enable the transcription of conversations at a later date.
One and a half hours after our arrival at the border, we were back on the road and on our way to the lodge that belong to our friends. The road was very good in most places, enabling us to make steady progress, but we were regularly stopped by police for random but sometimes unnecessary checks. We also encountered a few speed traps, but fortunately always obeyed the traffic rules, due to the many small villages that caused us to slow down whilst passing these rural locations.
The relief was great when we eventually reached our destination, and that evening we ate in the restaurant. Surprisingly we also met with other holidaymakers who were in the same queue at the border earlier on in the day. After a wonderful night's sleep, we were up in the morning before sunrise, strolled to the beach and enjoyed the dawning of an exotic and warm tropical day.
We went to the local market to buy vegetables, but the language issue was a big problem. The local people did not understand much English and we of course not any Portuguese, which is the national language. A fortunate occurrence for us was to meet a local teenager who offered to become a guide whenever our local hosts were not available or busy with their duties at the lodge.
Needless to say the above experience coupled with the rest of the vacation in Mozambique, formed the basis of an extended article in a travel magazine. They were explicitly looking for freelance writers to share interesting stories on exotic destinations. The main requirement was that the write-up had to be authentic, accompanied by a few pictures, professional and no spelling or grammatical errors. Is this after all not the absolute fundamentals that all freelance writers should uncompromisingly be adhering to?

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