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The Right Way to Travel
Edited by Lori Appling in Arlington, VA
"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travels sake."
-- Robert Louis Stevenson
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Today:
*** Cool, New Gadgets... Cheaper Flights... and a $20,000 Contest
*** Get Out of the Cold with These Great Airfares
*** Practical Writing Prompt of the Week: The Best of
*** Reader Feedback: Should You Double-Space Your Query Letters and
Articles?
*** More Opportunities and Resources for Writers
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*Highly Recommended*
JOIN THE CLUB - WRITERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS UNITE:
Members of the ITWPA hail from around the globe. Their mission is
simple: bring like-minded professionals together and provide them with
educational opportunities to enhance their travel writing and
photography skills, and also help them sharpen their marketing
expertise... so they're not only producing better articles and photos,
but selling more, too.
Visit: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/itj/website to find out
more.
====================
Dear Reader,
I have a lot to tell you this week. For starters...
*** Cheaper European Flights
I came across an old article from Consumer Reports over the weekend
titled: "Where to Find the Cheapest Tickets to Europe."
The article claimed that while U.S.-based travel sites like Expedia,
Orbitz, and Travelocity might give you the lowest fares on domestic
flights, they aren't necessarily the best bargain sites for European
flights. In fact, they're not even in the top five, according to a
study conducted by Consumer WebWatch.
Instead, sites like Airstop (www.airstop.com), the German version of
Expedia (www.expedia.de), Opodo (www.opodo.de), and the Belgian
version of Travelprice
(http://travelprice.cwtonline.be/fr/home.asp?cnt=air) had a much
higher percentage of lower fares to Europe when compared to their U.S.
counterparts.
I did a quick search on these sites to see if I could save any money
on my trip to Paris this May. Unfortunately, I didn't have any luck
for this upcoming trip.
However, in all my searching I did turn up cheaper flights on this
site: http://www.flights-to-europe.com. It's not one Consumer Reports
recommended, but I'll take a bargain wherever I find one. Flights from
D.C. to Paris were $200 cheaper here than at www.kayak.com, which is
the low-price flight finder I use most often.
In any event, I'm planning to check all of these sites before I book
future European travel, and I hope you will, too. While they didn't
deliver lower fares this time, they just might the next.
(By the way, not all of these sites are in English. Nevertheless, I
still found them fairly easy to navigate. It wasn't too hard to figure
out that the button with the picture of the airplane is what you click
to check flight prices and the field with a date filled in and a
calendar next to it is where you put your arrival and departure
dates.)
*** New Gadget for Photographers
The Gorillapod (http://www.joby.com) -- a tri-pod like nothing you've
ever seen before -- seems to be a favorite among our readers for Best
Christmas Gift this past year. A lot of you have written in to
recommend it. And our very own Jennifer Stevens got one for her
father, and he LOVES it. In fact, he just spent three weeks with it
hiking and taking pictures in New Zealand, and had nothing but praise
upon his return. It's lightweight, works absolutely everywhere -- he
attached it to a street sign, balanced it on rocks, and even wrapped
it around tree branches. The Gorillapod comes in different sizes --
for point-and- shoot cameras, SLRs, and video cameras -- so be sure to
pick up the right one when you're shopping.
*** Is Conde Nast Traveler reading The Right Way to Travel?
>From across the room, I thought the cover said the winner of Conde
Nast Traveler's photo contest would win $2,000. But no, its $20,000 --
and it's in the form of an all-expenses-paid trip to St. Martin.
OK, so while we here at the Right Way to Travel, can't compete with
that -- our yearly photo challenge prize pays but $2,000 -- I can
guarantee that you'll have less competition (and a greater chance of
winning) in our contest. Here's this month's theme:
http://www.thephotographerslife.com/this_weeks_theme/
That said, I think you should try the Conde Nast Traveler contest,
too: http://www.cntraveler/dreamtrip. Some amazing pictures have been
submitted for our little photo contest. It'd be great if someone from
our readership won. When you get a chance, check it out.
*** Don't Forget about Charleston
Lavish antebellum homes... stately, tree-lined streets... formal
gardens bursting with color... waterfront views. That's Charleston.
And that's where we're hosting our next live photography workshop --
Charleston, South Carolina, April 19-21, 2007.
But the location isn't all that makes this workshop unique. In
addition to the travel shots you'll learn how to take, we'll also
concentrate on stock photography. We're hiring live models (who agree
to sign model releases) to pose for shots we know will sell well to
online stock agencies.
Each attendee will walk away with travel pictures of Charleston...
studio pictures of the models (with model releases)... and still-life
shots they can sell the instant they get home.
Visit: http://www.thephotographerslife.com/charleston for more
details.
And don't forget to keep me up-to-speed on your travel-writing or
photography success. If you have a story to share, send me a quick
note at lori@thetravelwriterslife.com.
-- Lori
Lori Appling
Director, AWAI's Travel Division
P.S. Know a friend or two who'd enjoy the freedom and independence of
a writer's or photographer's life? They, too, can sign up to receive
this free e-letter here: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com.
=======================
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=====================
PRACTICAL WRITING PROMPT OF THE WEEK
The big headline smeared across the cover of January's Conde Nast
Traveler is: Gold List: The World's Best 700 Hotels, Resorts & Cruise
Lines
It's the mother of all round-up articles. And this type of piece --
certainly one of such scope -- is most often written by multiple staff
members or known freelancers. (In other words, a round-up of this
magnitude would not be a project doled out to a novice freelancer with
only a few bylines to his name.)
That said, even as a beginning travel writer, you certainly can write
round-ups. It's simply a matter of writing about something you know.
You need a certain amount of credibility to write a round-up. So write
about places near you.
I, for instance, grew up in the small town of Bethany Beach, Delaware,
which happens to be a summer tourist destination for folks from
Washington, D.C and Baltimore (Delaware has great beaches).
So I could certainly write an article about the best B&Bs in Bethany
or neighboring Rehoboth Beach and pitch it to local D.C. and Baltimore
publications.
Spend some time this weekend thinking about the types of people that
are most likely to visit your town. Could you write a "best places to
stay in..." or "best places to eat in..." for that readership?
If not, what would your fellow residents like to read? The best place
to find discount antiques? The best place to view the Fourth of July
fireworks?
Think of something with "The Best of" theme and write to that.
You needn't come up with 700 picks, by the way. Anywhere from three to
ten or so would work just fine.
[Note: If you're a member of ATS's Unlimited Critiques Program, you
can upload your article to their critique site once you've written it.
And you can expect to receive a helpful critique within 48 hours.
For more information about the Unlimited Critiques Program, visit:
http://www.acceleratedtrainingservices.com/tuc/website]
=========================
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=======================
READER FEEDBACK: "Should I submit query letters in double-space
format?" -- Tom Mosseau
When you're submitting a query or article to an editor, you want it to
be as readable as possible.
Use white paper. Use a standard, readable font -- like Times New
Roman, 12-pt -- never use anything smaller than 12-pt.
Should you double-space?
First, read the publication's writer's guidelines to see if the
editors specify to this extent what your manuscript should look like.
Some do. Follow the writer's guidelines to the letter.
If the guidelines say nothing about whether your article should be
double-spaced or not, then it's really up to you.
Again, you're aiming for maximum readability. Personally, unless
otherwise instructed, I submit my copy with single-spaced paragraphs
and a line space between paragraphs (like this e-letter you're reading
now) and I don't indent my paragraphs.
-- Jennifer Stevens, Author, AWAI's Ultimate Travel Writer's Program
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OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES FOR WRITERS:
* BETTER PHOTOS = MORE MONEY:
http://www.thephotographerslife.com/ph2/website
*HOW (AND WHEN) TO FOLLOW UP WITH AN EDITOR:
http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/biz/website
* 5,102 OF THE WORLD'S MOST FASCINATING PLACES:
http://www.isecureonline.com/Reports/120SWBST/W120H1AI/
* CAN YOU RETIRE AND GET PAID TO TRAVEL?:
http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/kp/website
* ARE YOU GOOD AT PERSUADING PEOPLE? Persuasive Writers are Hard to
Find:
http://www.thewriterslife.com/fr89
* BECOME A SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN'S BOOK AUTHOR
http://www.publishachildrensbook.com/fr89
===========================
The Right Way to Travel is a FREE newsletter from the American Writers
& Artists Inc., available to AWAI members and friends.
(c) 2007 American Writers & Artists Inc.
245 NE 4th Ave., Ste 102
Delray Beach, FL 33483
Phone (561) 278-5557
Fax (561) 278-5929
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To LEARN MORE, visit:
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