Travel and Seasonal Articles

Travel and Seasonal Articles

When we think of seasons, we think of weather, holidays, food, and activities, and even childhood memories. We often associate seasons with travel—think of summer vacation, summer camp, or even returning home for the holidays. For this reason, I have lumped Travel and Seasonal articles together into a single assignment.

Let’s start with the travel article.

Travel is a big business. So, it shouldn’t surprise you that the magazine industry is loaded with travel titles—Condé Nast Traveler, Cruise International, National Geographic Traveler, Sunset, Texas Highways, Arizona Highways, and Outside, just to name a few. The American Automobile Association has four magazines (three of which have circulations of more than 2 million): Westways, Going Places, AAA World, and Home and Away. And your probably familiar with the travel magazines produced by major airlines (e.g., Southwest’s Spirit, Delta’s Sky, etc.). So, if you are looking for work, or even freelance work, travel journalism presents many opportunities.

Let’s take a look at the kind of articles you might find in a travel magazine.

There are five basic types of travel articles—although many of these types overlap, as you will see in some of the packages described here:

1.     The Destination Article (which will be described in detail below).

2.     The Attraction Article. This is basically a subset of the destination piece because it focuses on a very specific or particular place or event. In the section that follows, I will give you an article on Colonial Williamsburg. This article essentially is a destination/attraction article.

3.     Personal Experience. Today, this is written in the form of a blog as a first-person account of a particular travel experience.

4.     The Service Article. This type of article focuses on the mechanics of travel (e.g., how to obtain a passport, navigating the London underground transportation system, how to rent a hytta in Norway, etc.).

5.     The Roundup Article. This is essentially a themed piece and often shows up as a part of a larger package (e.g., “The Five Best Kept Secrets of Maui,” “The Secrets of the Disney Resort,” etc.).

We’ll begin with a recent issue of United’s Hemispheres. Like most travel magazines it has what we would call a destination article. These are articles that essentially function as a travel guide to a particular city.

The February issue of Hemispheres includes an article about the country of Belize. Here’s the link to the online version:

http://www.hemispheresmagazine.com/2013/02/01/three-perfect-days-belize/

The article is a part of their “Three Perfect Days” projects, in which the writer provides a proposed travel itinerary that includes information about the country (flora and fauna), tourist and cultural sites to visit, hotel information and description, and general travel info.

Here’s another example of a destination article from Sky. This article is about Austin Texas. Please note the way in which this article is packaged:

http://www.spiritmag.com/your_adventure_in/article/your_adventure_in_austin/

While many destination articles focus on a city or a geographic location, others focus on a single specific venue (museum, stadium, amusement park, historical site). Here’s a link to an article about hiking trails in Phoenix from the US Airways Magazine:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pace/usairways_february2013/#/32

Here’s another link from that magazine to an article on Colonial Williamsburg:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pace/usairways_february2013/#/62

So what are the keys to writing the destination piece?

1. Nothing can replace being there. You will notice that many of these examples are written from a first-person, experience perspective. The authors talk about being there—what they saw, felt, liked and experienced. You write about what you have experienced—so you have to try everything. Travel writers travel on assignment (or pitch the idea as a freelancer) to the location.

2. These pieces combine elements of the how-to article. They focus on what people need to know—how to get to the destination, how to find hotels, ground transportation, tourist information, notes of food, appropriate dress, available activities and side trips, activities for children.

3. The travel writer spends some time learning about the location: history, culture, flora, weather, etc. A good travel writer will talk to hotel managers, restaurant owners, local tourism and travel executives, destination owners, and even the locals (for inside tips) etc.

4. It’s all about the package. Think of photographs, sidebar information, and related maps and graphics that could be included in the overall story package. Take a look again at the Colonial Williamsburg article and see how it has been packaged. In addition to the main story, you will find: 1) A graphic map, 2) vignettes of two of the actors in character (including the sidebar on guest artist Erica Hubbard), 3) a sidebar by comedian Joan Rivers (talking about her visit), 4) a sidebar that includes a calendar of events for the year), and 5) a top-10 list of things for children to do.

As you think about the travel/destination article, remember some of the following advice from Sumner and Miller:

Even the short-distance or regional traveler needs information to best use his or her time and resources. Travel writing serves this purpose when done well. Business travelers need guidance on all aspects of their travel (including airlines; ground transportation; hotels, motels, and inns; restaurants; and entertainment),. And an entire industry catering to business travelers has evolved in this century. Included in that movement is a subdivision of the travel publication industry that produces magazines and newsletters aimed at veteran travelers. Simply writing about your recent vacation will not get the job done. Most travel-oriented publications provide a standard fare of information for the traveler, or the person thinking of traveling, or the person simply daydreaming about traveling some day.

Getting Ideas

I have a few suggestions: personal experience, take a journalistic walkabout, search the web for tourist destinations, read travel blogs, contact local area chambers of commerce and tourism and visitors’ bureaus, read from travel books, talk to the concierge at local hotels, collect travel literature, and be brave. See the attachment, “Best Sources for Travel Writing.”

Although I never wrote the piece, I had an experience that prompted an idea for a great story. When I was moving my family from California to Missouri, we spent a night in Tucemcari, New Mexico. We arrived at dinner time, only to find that it was a key location in the “Hands Across America” event that was taking place that week (this was in the 80s; you should look it up). We tried to find a place to eat, but even Denny’s had an hour wait. So I stopped a local and asked about a good place to eat. They guy looked at me funny and then described a diner on a far edge of town. We (including my wife and kids) walked about 20 minutes and found the place. They were real locals, so when we walked in we got some funny looks. To make a long story short, it was the best chicken fried stake I have even eaten. I thought, wow I should do a piece about out-of-the-way diners (this one was on the old Route 66) that serve great food. Needless to say, 30 years later you can watch Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network and HGTV. I thought of it first. It was a good idea.

Now, let’s consider the seasonal article.

The season article focuses on the changing seasons—just like it sounds. This could be an article about Christmas, Thanksgiving (remember the Charles Kuralt article we reading earlier in class?), Easter, or it could be about events tied to Spring, Summer, or Fall. As I noted before, the seasonal piece is often tied to the travel article or even takes the form of a how-to (e.g., how to create a traditional Southern Thanksgiving dinner, fall travel ideas, creating colorful spring gardens, etc.).

The key to the seasonal article is to avoid the routine or mundane and to find the new angle. A San Francisco Chronicle reporter wrote a St. Patrick’s Day piece by profiling the owner of a beloved local Irish “dump of a bar,” and OK Magazine interviewed a nutritionist for a Christmas piece on the 10 foods to avoid during the holidays. I think you get the idea.

To get ideas:

1.     Look at the calendar. What local and national holidays are coming up?

Check this calendar out:

http://www.marketwire.com/getattachment/Media_Relations/content_ideas_editors_bloggers_journalists/Features_2013Calendar.pdf

Personally, I really looking forward to April 16. That’s the national wear your pajamas to work day. How could things get any better?

2.     Check the World Almanac and the Information Please Almanac for significant religious and public events (focus on the unusual).

3.     Anticipate what might be on your readers’ minds. What upcoming holidays or seasonal events might be on their minds?

4.     Think of visuals—seasonal pieces should be visual.

5.     Talk to retail store managers and clerks. They might have some interesting insights into what is trending for the upcoming holidays. I guess in our digital age, Pinterest would tell us the same things.

6.     Talk to historians and museum curators.

7.     As noted, check the web.

Here’s some links that show where ideas can come from:

http://businessjournalism.org/2013/02/01/february-feast-seasonal-business-stories-abound-in-the-shortest-month/

http://businessjournalism.org/2013/02/26/spring-break-personal-finance-economy-stories/

http://businessjournalism.org/2010/06/24/find-your-fourth-of-july-biz-story/

Lead Time

Remember, most magazines’ editorial calendars plan 6 to 12 months in advance. So If you’re planning to sell a freelance idea that is related to the fall, you best get started now.

Today’s Blog

Spend some time reading this document. I want you to then spend some additional time developing ideas for a localized travel or seasonal piece that would be of interest to the BYU audience. Please pitch at least two ideas, describing the story and identifying your information sources. Also, please identify any target publications that might be interested in your story.