Hi Anna, Would like to write about New Zealand (Country of white cloud)
What should i keep in mind before writing?
Reply to this Re msg# 21
The correct name is "Land of the Long White Cloud", also known by the Maori name "Aotearoa"
Reply to this What angle are you taking? and is this a personal project or something you will be aiming toward a specfic audience? Is it a description of your travels there or a historicial piece?
Give me a little more info on this project and I'll do my best to get you started.
Anna
Reply to this Hi Anna,
Which travel writers do you enjoy reading, and what is it about them that makes them stand out from the rest?
Jon
Reply to this Hey there. I believe that a lot of travel writers take the approach of accurately describing a destination, with nothing further. I find that helpful, but not enjoyable to read. A lot of travel writing sometimes borders textbook writing (which we all know reminds us of high school and that's no fun). So, to answer your question,the travel writers that stand out most for me personally are ones that see their jobs differently than what I described aove. It's the writers that choose to write for the purpose of inspiring travel that get my attention. The ones that take a step further than just accurate descriptions. I like to read about crazy situations that happen while traveling. My personal favorite is Thomas Kohnstamm. He was a writer for Lonely Planet (key word: was) that took on an assignment to re-write their guide to Brazil. Instead, he wrote a book entitled "Do All Travel Writers Go To Hell" where he dsecribes what happened when his measley Lonely Planet budget ran short. Its a great read and he's a fantastic writer because he crosses that certain boundary. I was fortunate enough to get an interview with him for our webzine. If you're interested, check it out: http://offtrackplanet.com/archives/category/inspiration
Reply to this In my opinion, the most attractive travel writing is done by those who clearly love travel. It is not so much the writing technique that attracts me, as the feeling and passion the person writes with. It resonates with my on passion for travel.
Instead, he wrote a book entitled "Do All Travel Writers Go To Hell" where he dsecribes what happened when his measley Lonely Planet budget ran short. Its a great read and he's a fantastic writer because he crosses that certain boundary. I was fortunate enough to get an interview with him for our webzine.
I heard the Lonely Planet dont pay their writers well. Is it really true, or do they just feel they need more money to travel with than many of the budget backpackers manage on? Or, will I find the answers in your link above. I am going to read it later, either way. It seems like an interesting story.
Reply to this I haven't read the book, but I read about his accusations when they emerged. He wasn't paid as much as he wanted for a trip to South America, so he dated a girl from Argentina and used most of her stories and information. I think that's the family website version of it!
J.
Reply to this He wasn't paid as much as he wanted for a trip to South America, so he dated a girl from Argentina and used most of her stories and information. I think that's the family website version of it!
Is that the one who created all that scandal for the Lonely Planet a couple of years ago? What a scumbag. If the job did not suit him, he should have said 'No thank your'. Just because they dont pay enough, it is not reason to respond to it by becomming a liar and a fraud and then a scandal monger.
Reply to this Actually, the story itself was truthful and honest. He kind of exposed the lie more than being a liar. He didn't stay at ritsy hotels or travel in any more luxury than would an average backpacker. I think he did a great job covering an interesting topic (which turned out to be less of a guide of Brazil and more of an exposure of the not-so-glamorous life of a travel writer). Yeah it may have been a scummy move on his part, but he writes very well and the story was unique. I firmly believe that you can love the art and not like the artist.
Reading about pristine, aquamarine white sand beaches just doesn't cut it for me anymore.
Reply to this Yeah it may have been a scummy move on his part, but he writes very well and the story was unique.
Somehow, that is the sort of thing that would put me off reading his work. Yeah, I could love the art, without loving the artist, but when somebody defames somebody else, in order to leech of that persons fame.....
Speaking of who he has leeched off, have you read Tony Wheelers book? I want to read it, but it is difficult to find. It does not seem to be widely available in bookshops. Now, he is the type of person who experiences I want to read about. The grandfather of backpacking, who paved the way for the rest of us. I sometimes try to imagine what it would have been like to travel in certain countries, that are very untouristed, without the help of a Lonely Planet or similiar guide book.
Reply to this I belong to this website as I personally don't trust Lonely Planet. I met the princple of this website travelblog.org Ali in a Gloria Jeans coffee shop in Bali "Kuta Beach Hi Frank!" becuase I noticed his dive bag and we hung out there on several days "talking story" while we were working on our websites.
As the past owner of EcoSea Dive in Cambodia I saw all of the travel writrers that came through Cambodia like Fromers Charley Agar, who came and hung out for a few weeks and I got to see how he did the job. SHERIDAN PRASSO from the New York Times who stayed for several days and I took her for a motorcycle ride around the area and then went to dinner at a great restaurant that she did a great job of discribing. Rough Guides came in and talked to us for an afternoon and many other travel writers like Matt Jacobson who wrote the books "Adventure Cambodia " who is my idea of a a real adveture travel writer, where he took his motorcycle, mosey net and drove into places in Cdia very few if any have traveled to "Adventure Cambodia is available on Amazon Books" and alot of other magazines, newspapers like the Bangkok Post, Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia Daily but we never saw Lonely Planet.
The writer for LP Cambodia back in 2001 and until I heard 2006 or later was givin my phone number when he was in Phnom Penh with an an open invitation anytime to come for free and see the beachs of the islands off Sihanoukville, like Virgin Reef or Koh Rung Northside. He had portrayed Cambodia beaches as being not as good compared to Thailand beachs. I don't know many places where you can go and have kilometer long beaches to yourself for days at a time which you can still find today in Cambodia !
Scuba Diving in Cambodia was one of the more expensive things that you could do as a backpacker and Sihanoukville was the fastest growing resort destination in Asia, you would have though the LP would have come through, but the entire time that I was living there full time from Dec 2001 to April 2007 I never heard of or saw anyone from LP in Sihanoukville and Sihanoukville at the time, all the expat bisiness people who ran the backpacker hotels, beach resorts, dive shops, trekers, restaurants all knew each other well and nobody had ever seen them in Sihanoukville.
Fred Tittle
Reply to this Hi Anna,
I've just written an article about a monastery here in Kiev. As I've taken a lot of care over it and added some historical context to the narrative, I'd like to offer it to a print publication rather than just add it to my site. Do you know any magazines or journals that might be interested in pieces about specifically European or eastern European culture?
Thanks,
Jon
Reply to this Hey Jon! Glad to hear you're still going strong with your writing. One magazine that I know of is Hidden Europe (I think if you google it, their site should come right up). It may be fitting to what you're looking for. Let me know if it works out.
Best,
Anna
Reply to this I don't think my writing style suits their outlook,...
What kind of writing style do they generally choose?
Reply to this On that Hidden Europe what would they pay for 1500 words?
Reply to this 
