If you’re going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair…

… and a windbreaker, because it’s frickin’ cold. That wind blasts in right off the coast. Still, it’s mostly sunny and summerish right now. The streets are steep, with rolling cable cars bulging with tourists and the bell being pulled and the clackety-clack on the tracks. Everyone vanishes over the hill to Fisherman’s Wharf, where clam chowder and boat trips and sea lions on the dock await.

If you’re going to San Francisco
You’re gonna meet some gentle people there…

… and some crack addicts, if you linger around Union Square. Apparently homeless drug addicts are more prevalent here than anywhere else in the States. The SF Chronicle devotes an entire section of their site to it, with sensitive, illuminating articles.

Meanwhile. suits pace in the Financial District, shoppers bustle through markets selling herbs and teas in Chinatown, hipsters sip espresso and ponder life in North Beach, while tourists scurry to galleries in Soma and face the wind heading over the Golden Gate Bridge.

For those who come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there…

Really? I’ll have to look for the love-in. It wasn’t on my walk today.

All across the nation such a strange vibration…

The two major earthquakes here were in 1906 (followed by a gigantic fire) and 1989. Haven’t felt a tremor yet…

In The Art of Travel, philosopher and writer Alain de Botton notes that before we visit a place our expectations are unrealistically molded by images of it we’ve already seen in another context, either on TV, on postcards, in films etc. My impressions of San Francisco were thus founded on the following:

A giant, green, angry, scantily-clad man running up steep hills (Incredible Hulk). A deadbeat dad masquerading as a Scottish nanny (Mrs Doubtfire). A teenage girl from Russian Hill being rescued from the ordinary by her grandmother, who informs her that she is a princess of a small European country (The Princess Diaries). Privileged kids living by Alamo Square in a picture-perfect Victorian house (Full House). A lost soul leaping off the pier next to the Golden Gate Bridge (Vertigo).

Vertigo aside, I’m cringing at that list of ‘entertainment’.

What about you? Have you visited San Francisco? What were your impressions?

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Welcome to the first-ever Carnival of Travel Articles on Travel Minx, showcasing recent articles and photos submitted by fellow travel bloggers. Click here to learn more and submit your own work.

I’ve received so many entries already that I thought I’d post this edition a little early. Hope no one minds. This is also the first-ever Carnival I’ve hosted so please bear with me if there are any glitches.

Thanks to all those who submitted articles, there are some talented writers and great stories out there! The next Carnival will be hosted again here at the end of July. Submit your articles here.

** = my personal favorites

Thrifty Travels

• Annette Berlin presents 10 Money Saving Vacation Tips posted at Frugal Journey. **
• Mary Jo Manzanares presents A Dozen Money Saving Travel Tips for Family Travel posted at Fly Away Cafe.
• Dean presents Travel Around the World For Cheap posted at Mr. Cheap Stuff.

Travel Tips

• Nath presents Avoiding the Shower Menace: Tips For Travelers, not Inmates posted at Ubertramp.com. **
• Adam Hurley presents Travel Tips For Staying Safe posted at Vietnam In Focus. **

US Journey Articles

• Rickey Henderson presents Rickey’s Weekend Running Diary (Of Doom) about a weekend in Massachusetts posted at Riding with Rickey.
• 7 Days of Disney from The Beef Jerky Blog
• Jon presents Are We on Mars? posted at The DC Traveler. “Great place to visit, the Luray Caverns in Virginia, just an hour outside of Washington, DC.” [pics, video]
• Mary Jo Manzanares presents Experience the Japanese Tea Ceremony (based in Washington) posted at The Seattle Traveler.
• Lucynda Riley presents The Traveling Lucynda posted at Quietly into the Night. [pics]
• Madeleine Begun Kane presents Surmounting Marriage posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog. **
• Lydia presents The Outside World: Night Wonders posted at CovertEffect about a trip to Las Vegas
• Linda Martin presents Illinois River Memories posted at Country Kitchen Pantry.
• Meredith Mathews presents Take a Virtual Walk in New York City this Afternoon! posted at Lemonade Stand.

Asia Journey Articles

• Road to Issan and Road To The North from Art Thailand [pics]
• Mike presents Beer Cafes in Hanoi Vietnam posted at Travel Zulu. (Mike, I had this experience in Vietnam too! Classic!) **
• Sheila presents Press a button for refreshment posted at Perceptive Travel Blog about Japanese vending machines. **
• rfcheah presents 3 More Dives @ Redang Island (Malaysia) posted at The World Behind The Viewfinder. [pics]

Europe Journey Article

• Pickled Eel presents Sneaking a Kiss in Paris posted at Pickled Eel.

Photos

• Joey presents Alaska My Home posted at Hearts A Fire. **
• Adam Hurley presents Images From Vietnam posted at Vietnam In Focus.

Other

• Several hotel profiles were submitted which I don’t consider ‘articles’ but here’s a link to the Hotels of the Rich and Famous website if you’re interested in browsing flash hotels.

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We have covered how to write a killer travel article. So, you’ve written your article and you reckon it’s good enough for the world to see. You want to submit it to a publication. But how?

Ask Your Contacts
If you know someone in the industry, don’t be afraid to ask for help. They may not have much clout but will probably be able to point you in the direction of someone who has. Warning: don’t exploit your contacts. Asking for help once is okay, but doing so repeatedly will annoy them. Ask a specific question: “I have written [the article], and I think it might be suitable for [a publication] so who would you suggest I talk to?”

Be Targeted
Pick the publications you are interested in. Look at them long and hard. What is the average length of their articles? What is their tone? What demographic is their audience? What is their average age and income? Don’t just send your piece out to anyone or everyone. Focus on a chosen few, and make sure your article’s tone will appeal to their audience.

Do Your Homework
Now you’ve found some relevant publications, find out who the editor is, or the features or travel editor if it’s a middle-to-large company. Check the first few pages of the magazine for contact details, or call the company. Check the spelling of their name. Find out their email address and pitch your article, with a deadline so you can offer it to someone else if they’re not interested. Use the words “exclusive offer”.
If you hear nothing in a few weeks, follow up with a phone call.

Pitch Your Article Before You Write It
This can be preferable if your main aim is to be published, in case you’ve written your article but it doesn’t fit the publication’s criteria. Give the person a short synopsis (including your hook) and ask if they’d be interested. They may not commit outright, but you’ll be able to gauge their interest much better this way. They may also offer some guidelines to help you tailor your article to their needs.

Pitch With Their Needs in Mind
Don’t say, “Will you publish me pleeeease?” You have to sell the article: what’s great about it? How does it fit their audience? They are looking for ways to fill their publication with quality content. Show them you can help. Got some good travel pics too? Even better.

Don’t Get Disheartened
Editors are incredibly busy people working to tight deadlines. Many receive more emails than they have time to respond to, and some publications are simply disorganized. My first travel article was published without anyone even contacting me first, due to staff changes happening at the time.
If they make it clear they’re not interested, ask for some feedback. If you’re not having luck with the big players, try some smaller magazines or papers. Also bear in mind that many travel sections are left to employees to fill with sponsored junkets and it’s hard for outsiders to squeeze into the remaining space.

Make the Agreement Clear
When you hit the jackpot and they want to publish, get in writing the payment amount, the approximate date it will be published and when they’ll pay you. This varies from country to country but generally when it’s published you send an invoice with your tax details and the agreed amount (usually a standard per-word amount). If you haven’t been paid by the agreed date, don’t be afraid to follow up.

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I am not Bill Bryson or Earnest Hemingway, but I’ve written a fair chunk of travel articles that have been published and I’ve been paid, thus inspiring and funding more madcap world adventures.

My First Travel Article

My first travel article was written and published in 2000. It was about my experiences living in Berlin for a year. The ‘hook’ (what made it current and fresh) was the mention of a new Working Holiday Visa introduced in Germany. I wrote the article, emailed it to a random person at a newspaper - probably through their website - and forgot all about it until someone rang me congratulating me on being in the paper.

Since then I’ve had many other travel articles published, from Europe to South America to Asia. Here’s my advice on how to write your own publishable articles.

1. Find a ‘hook’
A hook is something that makes your article current and fresh, like the example above. Has the country or town been in the news for something special lately? Is there an event unique to that area? Did you have an experience unlike any other? Open with that.

2. Write in your own style
Your writing style makes you special. Although you need to keep the tone of the publication in mind that you’re submitting to, don’t ‘disguise’ your natural style. It’ll sound forced and awkward.

3. Don’t stress, just write
Get it all out onto paper/the computer. Tidy later. Don’t fret over each sentence. You’ll never get it done.

4. Don’t recount your itinerary
No one wants to read ‘Then… and then we… and then we…” Start with a strong memory, and link your thoughts, but it doesn’t need to be in chronological order.

5. Make it vivid
When traveling, take detailed notes as you go so you don’t forget your impressions. Look around and get the details down. What was said? What was smelled? What was felt? Take photos of the unexpected: an amusing sign, an unusual meal. The minutiae make up your trip and will make your readers feel like they were there, too.

6. Get your thoughts straight
Before you start communicating, have a think about what you actually want to say. Did you have a wonderful time, or an awful time that ended well, or an unexpected time that was better than you could’ve imagined? Do you want to warn people, encourage people, educate people, entertain people? Figure out your aim first, so it comes through in your writing. Choosing a headline and introduction can help you focus.

7. Talk to locals
Fellow tourists are fun and often have good tips, but if you’re writing a travel article you need to talk to people who can share words of wisdom about their country. Are the locals poor, oppressed, healthy, happy, hard-working? Unless you’re reviewing a resort you’ll need to get out and meet people. It’s also the most interesting part.

8. Balance facts and opinion
Your thoughts alone are unlikely to be enough. What is the history of the area? The population? The culture? Likewise, a geography lesson can be dull. Add your impressions. It’s about finding a balance.

9. End with a bang
End as you hopefully opened: strongly. Don’t trail off with, “So I had a great time and recommend it.” What was your overall impression? Can you link it back to the beginning? I always try and add an event or snippet of conversation that encapsulates the tone covered in the rest of the article.

10. Give to a friend
Get a friend to check and read your article. Chances are, you’re so close to it now you can’t see any obvious oversights or errors. Take feedback into consideration, and certainly word counts, but keep your gut instincts in mind too.

Already written your article? Here are my tips on getting published in print.

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Where do you like the read travel articles - newspapers, magazines, online or all of the above? I mostly prefer magazines, simply because you can curl up on the couch and let yourself mentally drift to an exotic location. Sitting at the computer isn’t quite the same.

Still, as Brand New Traveler points out in their weekly round-up of the best travel tales online, people who post their own articles don’t have a hidden agenda unlike some MSM. And it’s easier to start a conversation with the writer about their trip.

As a writer, it’s still best to be published in print if you want to get paid. As a reader, well, it’s fun to browse the web for treasure. I’ve been reading a few such articles which people are submitting to my first-ever Carnival of Travel Articles. In fact, I’ve had so many that I might put them up a little earlier than planned…

Some Great Travel Articles

• The NY Times’ Most Emailed Travel Articles of 2006
• 80 Days or Bust on Conde Nast
• Gorilla trekking in Bindi

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