Or where to look first for cheap flights.
Travel writer freebies
As a travel writer, it is often possible to get a lot of freebies – hotel rooms, restaurant meals, excursions, even the odd airport transfer. But one thing that I’ve always found it hard to blag is the air fare.
Flight costs
Take a lot of flights (which, almost inevitably, any full time travel writer will do), and the costs can ramp up massively.And if you’re going to end up paying for all those flights, then you may as well find the cheapest, cutting your costs as much as possible.
Skyscanner
There are various ways to do this, but one that I find consistently good is Skyscanner. In fact, at times in the past, I have been worried that I may be getting slightly addicted to it.The site certainly has its faults – especially since a recent redesign which has seen an irritating amount of complete inaccuracies creep in – but for cheap flights on budget airlines, it’s hard to beat.
Budget airlines missed by most search engines
Skyscanner tends to cover the airlines that most search engines miss – the likes of Ryanair, Easyjet, Tiger and Jazeera Airways – as well as some downright obscure low cost carriers that only fly a few routes.The real beauty is that you don’t have to give it much information. One of the irritating things about other engines is that you usually have to put dates in and say which airport you want to fly from.
Getting the best deal
Personally, I just want the best deal. For me, there are four or five airports which are roughly as easy as each other to get to – I’ll generally fly from whichever is cheapest and has the most sensible flight times.I’m also very flexible on dates – I’m freelance and I don’t have a nine-to-five job to go to. I don’t need to book leave, so I’ll book for whenever the flights are cheapest.
Date and departure options
With Skyscanner, you don’t need to faff around, constantly tweaking the date and departure options in order to get results. If you want to, you can just put the departure airport as ‘United Kingdom’ and leave the rest open. It’ll come up with every country that can be directly flown to from the United Kingdom, listed by the lowest possible price throughout the year.
Booking on a whim
Obviously, you can narrow these options down if you’re wanting to go somewhere specific in a certain month, but part of the beauty is seeing what options are available. In the past, I’ve just booked to go somewhere on a whim through Skyscanner, purely because I’ve never been there before, it’s cheap and I may as well.
Starting point
It’s not a failsafe tool – as I say, they have really messed the redesign and expansion of the site up – but it’s a great starting point if you’re looking for flight options.
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Monday, 29 September 2008
#28 – Re-using information in round-up articles
Or how to milk your research.
Re-selling... or re-working?
Unless you’ve been foolish and signed away all the rights to a story and the research related to it, there is usually a way of re-using the material. The obvious one is selling the story a second (or third, or fourth...) time, but we’ll come to that at a later date.
Round-up articles
The best way of re-using information is to make it part of – my old favourite - a round-up article. This is often a case of cutting down what you have already written, or picking out an aspect of it, then matching it with some other things that fit.
Celebrities in Anguilla
For example, when I was in Anguilla in April 2008, I was researching a couple of stories. One was on how celebrities have recently adopted the island as their getaway of choice, another was on the oldest hotel on the island (and coincidentally, one of the few places that is suitable for those on a budget).
Adapting articles
I wrote those two pieces up, and then thought about ways of adapting them. The celebrity one was easy – I took out the relevant information, then put it together with other information I’d got from elsewhere in the Caribbean. Et voila, there were pieces on Celebrity Caribbean Hideaways and Celebrity Honeymoon Destinations.
Travelling independently in the Caribbean
For Lloyds’ Guesthouse, it was a case of extending the budget theme through the Caribbean. I ended up incorporating it in a piece about travelling independently in the Caribbean, as well as an advice piece on where to look in order to find good value, non-resort style accommodation in the region.
Top 10 Beaches
I’ll probably end up using other aspects of original article somewhere else too – the restaurants are prime candidates, and if ever I sink low enough to do the archetypal Top 10 Beaches piece, then there are a couple of candidates for that as well.
Turn the detail into a general theme
This process can be applied to just about every destination article you write. Turn the detail into a general theme, then look to see what else fits that theme. If you do a feature on glass-making in Venice, then how about a round-up of other places in the world where you can see glass made?
If you’re doing a story about white-water rafting in the Czech Republic, why not convert it into a piece on Europe’s white-water rafting hotspots?
It’s often a simple way of getting more mileage out of the same material, and making your trips more cost effective.
Re-selling... or re-working?
Unless you’ve been foolish and signed away all the rights to a story and the research related to it, there is usually a way of re-using the material. The obvious one is selling the story a second (or third, or fourth...) time, but we’ll come to that at a later date.
Round-up articles
The best way of re-using information is to make it part of – my old favourite - a round-up article. This is often a case of cutting down what you have already written, or picking out an aspect of it, then matching it with some other things that fit.
Celebrities in Anguilla
For example, when I was in Anguilla in April 2008, I was researching a couple of stories. One was on how celebrities have recently adopted the island as their getaway of choice, another was on the oldest hotel on the island (and coincidentally, one of the few places that is suitable for those on a budget).
Adapting articles
I wrote those two pieces up, and then thought about ways of adapting them. The celebrity one was easy – I took out the relevant information, then put it together with other information I’d got from elsewhere in the Caribbean. Et voila, there were pieces on Celebrity Caribbean Hideaways and Celebrity Honeymoon Destinations.
Travelling independently in the Caribbean
For Lloyds’ Guesthouse, it was a case of extending the budget theme through the Caribbean. I ended up incorporating it in a piece about travelling independently in the Caribbean, as well as an advice piece on where to look in order to find good value, non-resort style accommodation in the region.
Top 10 Beaches
I’ll probably end up using other aspects of original article somewhere else too – the restaurants are prime candidates, and if ever I sink low enough to do the archetypal Top 10 Beaches piece, then there are a couple of candidates for that as well.
Turn the detail into a general theme
This process can be applied to just about every destination article you write. Turn the detail into a general theme, then look to see what else fits that theme. If you do a feature on glass-making in Venice, then how about a round-up of other places in the world where you can see glass made?
If you’re doing a story about white-water rafting in the Czech Republic, why not convert it into a piece on Europe’s white-water rafting hotspots?
It’s often a simple way of getting more mileage out of the same material, and making your trips more cost effective.
Sunday, 28 September 2008
#27 – Always meet your deadline
Or delivering what you promise, when you’ve promised it for.
Time management skills
I have met plenty of freelancers in the past who are completely unsuited to freelancing. They’re constantly in a flap, have no time management skills and always seem to behind for any number of deadlines.
Quite how these people keep getting work, I will never know.
Missed deadlines
If there’s one thing that’s going to make an editor reluctant to use a freelancer again, it’s a missed deadline. So if you say you’ll get something done by a certain date and time, make sure it is done by then.
Frankly, the editor will not care about what sort of workload you have. And he or she will certainly not care about your grandmother getting lost in the wash, your dog having the flu, the bus having eaten your notes or your computer being delayed.
Deliver when you promise
The simple rule is that if you promise something by a certain time, you deliver. You may have to bust a gut to deliver it, but deliver it you should do.
The time to negotiate a deadline is not after you have accepted it. If you really think it’s impractical, make the query before accepting the assignment.
Negotiating a deadline
I’ve done this in the past, and editors rarely mind a slight tweak of the deadline when forewarned. If accepting an assignment, I’ll occasionally say something along the lines of: “I’m going to be on the road until the 15th – would it be OK to get it by the 17th instead? If not, no worries, I’ll work something out and get it done on time.”
Timeframes
The key with this approach is that you have shown you’re prepared to move mountains to get it done by the original deadline. But, by offering another, very reasonable option that’s not far out of the proposed timeframe, you’re not losing anything.
Chances are that the initial deadline proposed was entirely arbitrary anyway, and another couple of days won’t hurt. It only becomes a problem when whatever deadline is agreed upon isn’t met.
So once you’ve agreed – meet it.
Time management skills
I have met plenty of freelancers in the past who are completely unsuited to freelancing. They’re constantly in a flap, have no time management skills and always seem to behind for any number of deadlines.
Quite how these people keep getting work, I will never know.
Missed deadlines
If there’s one thing that’s going to make an editor reluctant to use a freelancer again, it’s a missed deadline. So if you say you’ll get something done by a certain date and time, make sure it is done by then.
Frankly, the editor will not care about what sort of workload you have. And he or she will certainly not care about your grandmother getting lost in the wash, your dog having the flu, the bus having eaten your notes or your computer being delayed.
Deliver when you promise
The simple rule is that if you promise something by a certain time, you deliver. You may have to bust a gut to deliver it, but deliver it you should do.
The time to negotiate a deadline is not after you have accepted it. If you really think it’s impractical, make the query before accepting the assignment.
Negotiating a deadline
I’ve done this in the past, and editors rarely mind a slight tweak of the deadline when forewarned. If accepting an assignment, I’ll occasionally say something along the lines of: “I’m going to be on the road until the 15th – would it be OK to get it by the 17th instead? If not, no worries, I’ll work something out and get it done on time.”
Timeframes
The key with this approach is that you have shown you’re prepared to move mountains to get it done by the original deadline. But, by offering another, very reasonable option that’s not far out of the proposed timeframe, you’re not losing anything.
Chances are that the initial deadline proposed was entirely arbitrary anyway, and another couple of days won’t hurt. It only becomes a problem when whatever deadline is agreed upon isn’t met.
So once you’ve agreed – meet it.
Saturday, 27 September 2008
#26 – Thinking laterally for film angles
Or using the story, not the destination.
More than filming locations
In Travel Writer Tip #24, I suggested that films are a great inspiration for travel stories. This was mainly talking about locations that the films were shot in. However, by thinking laterally, there is another way of using films as a hook for a travel feature.
Indiana Jones
I’ll use 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as an example. I ended up doing a round up piece on locations used across the Indy series, but looking back, there were other angles that could be extracted from it.
Stand-in filming locations
For example, much of the film was set in Peru, but filmed in Hawai’i. That could have been used as a peg to base a story about stand-in film locations around. What other films have been filmed somewhere entirely different from where the scene is supposed to be set?
Point Break springs to mind for this – Patrick Swayze’s character supposedly disappeared into the sea at Bells Beach, Australia, but due to budget restraints, this was filmed in Oregon.
Aztec and Maya civilisations
Then there’s the Crystal Skull angle. Surely there’s scope for a story on the beliefs surrounding crystal skulls in the Aztec and Maya civilisations? This is especially the case if you can get to a site where the skulls have been found and city ruins remain.
Dig sites
And what about archaeology? Every time an Indiana Jones film comes out, there’s a boom in interest about archaeology. Visit a dig site, speak to one of the chaps scrabbling in the dirt, write about the growth of volunteer holidays where tourists can help out uncovering ancient secrets.
Using the plot
It’s all about thinking in themes again. The destinations may not have a direct link, but the plot does. To use another example, it’s possible to do a spy training course in the UK, stay at author Ian Fleming’s pad in Jamaica and visit a Spy Museum in Tampere, Finland. All could use the release of a Bond film as a topical hook.
Links to upcoming movies
And, if you think about it, there’s almost certainly something you have done or somewhere you have been that has some kind of link to an upcoming movie. That could make you money, if you can sell it.
More than filming locations
In Travel Writer Tip #24, I suggested that films are a great inspiration for travel stories. This was mainly talking about locations that the films were shot in. However, by thinking laterally, there is another way of using films as a hook for a travel feature.
Indiana Jones
I’ll use 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as an example. I ended up doing a round up piece on locations used across the Indy series, but looking back, there were other angles that could be extracted from it.
Stand-in filming locations
For example, much of the film was set in Peru, but filmed in Hawai’i. That could have been used as a peg to base a story about stand-in film locations around. What other films have been filmed somewhere entirely different from where the scene is supposed to be set?
Point Break springs to mind for this – Patrick Swayze’s character supposedly disappeared into the sea at Bells Beach, Australia, but due to budget restraints, this was filmed in Oregon.
Aztec and Maya civilisations
Then there’s the Crystal Skull angle. Surely there’s scope for a story on the beliefs surrounding crystal skulls in the Aztec and Maya civilisations? This is especially the case if you can get to a site where the skulls have been found and city ruins remain.
Dig sites
And what about archaeology? Every time an Indiana Jones film comes out, there’s a boom in interest about archaeology. Visit a dig site, speak to one of the chaps scrabbling in the dirt, write about the growth of volunteer holidays where tourists can help out uncovering ancient secrets.
Using the plot
It’s all about thinking in themes again. The destinations may not have a direct link, but the plot does. To use another example, it’s possible to do a spy training course in the UK, stay at author Ian Fleming’s pad in Jamaica and visit a Spy Museum in Tampere, Finland. All could use the release of a Bond film as a topical hook.
Links to upcoming movies
And, if you think about it, there’s almost certainly something you have done or somewhere you have been that has some kind of link to an upcoming movie. That could make you money, if you can sell it.
Friday, 26 September 2008
#25 – Information in ex-pat bars
Or getting the inside track in an Irish pub.
Something missing in Kiev
Recently, I was in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital. I heartily recommend it by the way – it’s a gorgeous city. I was doing a few pieces for various outlets, but by the end of my third day there, I had a nagging doubt that something was missing.
Feel for the city
In essence, although I’d seen a lot of the city and thoroughly enjoyed it, I hadn’t really got a feel for it. Usually I’m pretty good at this; getting a snapshot impression, spotting a few quirks and getting a general gist for the overall atmosphere. But it wasn’t happening with Kiev, and I knew that this would show through in the articles.
The only solution, therefore, was to go to the pub.
Not speaking the language
This isn’t as crazy as it sounds. Part of my problem was that I don’t speak or understand any Ukrainian. It wasn’t as if I could break into conversation with a shopkeeper or a waiter. The same applies for if I went to a local bar.
I could sit, watch and soak up – something that’s usually a great source of material – but I wasn’t going to quite get it.
Ex-pat bars
This is where ex-pat bars and pubs come in. There are some in every major city – the places where the foreigners that have ended up living in the city go for a few drinks. More often than not, they are the Irish pubs.
This sort of pub isn’t exactly my first choice to drink in – I much prefer to find a real local joint that has the character of the city/ country it’s in rather than one that’s been imported – but it is often ideal if you’re after the lowdown.
Listening in
I plucked one out of my guide book, sat myself down with a beer, ordered some food, then kept my ear open for conversation in a language I recognised. As luck would have it, I ended up on a table next to two Englishmen and their Ukrainian work colleague who was fluent in English.
I surreptitiously listen in on them, moaning about the odd aspect of Kiev life, and then when I got the opportunity, I barged in.
“Hi, I couldn’t help noticing...”
Pub crawl
Within a few minutes, I was sat around the table, discussing endemic local corruption, infrastructure problems, relations with Russia, the antagonism of locals towards sex tourists and those coming purely to get an attractive East European wife.
It was fascinating. I got an idea about underlying tensions, work ethics, cultural differences and odd habits.
And, just before we embarked on a pub crawl (“come on, we’ll show you the best places to hang out”), they gave me a run-down of the best places to eat and see.
Sense of place
It was brilliant; the sort of information you can never get from a tourist board or PR person. And it’s not the first time that this has happened. Admittedly I struck gold this time, but on other occasions just listening in has been enough to give me a better sense of place. It won’t always work, but it’s often a good trick for getting that little bit extra.
Something missing in Kiev
Recently, I was in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital. I heartily recommend it by the way – it’s a gorgeous city. I was doing a few pieces for various outlets, but by the end of my third day there, I had a nagging doubt that something was missing.
Feel for the city
In essence, although I’d seen a lot of the city and thoroughly enjoyed it, I hadn’t really got a feel for it. Usually I’m pretty good at this; getting a snapshot impression, spotting a few quirks and getting a general gist for the overall atmosphere. But it wasn’t happening with Kiev, and I knew that this would show through in the articles.
The only solution, therefore, was to go to the pub.
Not speaking the language
This isn’t as crazy as it sounds. Part of my problem was that I don’t speak or understand any Ukrainian. It wasn’t as if I could break into conversation with a shopkeeper or a waiter. The same applies for if I went to a local bar.
I could sit, watch and soak up – something that’s usually a great source of material – but I wasn’t going to quite get it.
Ex-pat bars
This is where ex-pat bars and pubs come in. There are some in every major city – the places where the foreigners that have ended up living in the city go for a few drinks. More often than not, they are the Irish pubs.
This sort of pub isn’t exactly my first choice to drink in – I much prefer to find a real local joint that has the character of the city/ country it’s in rather than one that’s been imported – but it is often ideal if you’re after the lowdown.
Listening in
I plucked one out of my guide book, sat myself down with a beer, ordered some food, then kept my ear open for conversation in a language I recognised. As luck would have it, I ended up on a table next to two Englishmen and their Ukrainian work colleague who was fluent in English.
I surreptitiously listen in on them, moaning about the odd aspect of Kiev life, and then when I got the opportunity, I barged in.
“Hi, I couldn’t help noticing...”
Pub crawl
Within a few minutes, I was sat around the table, discussing endemic local corruption, infrastructure problems, relations with Russia, the antagonism of locals towards sex tourists and those coming purely to get an attractive East European wife.
It was fascinating. I got an idea about underlying tensions, work ethics, cultural differences and odd habits.
And, just before we embarked on a pub crawl (“come on, we’ll show you the best places to hang out”), they gave me a run-down of the best places to eat and see.
Sense of place
It was brilliant; the sort of information you can never get from a tourist board or PR person. And it’s not the first time that this has happened. Admittedly I struck gold this time, but on other occasions just listening in has been enough to give me a better sense of place. It won’t always work, but it’s often a good trick for getting that little bit extra.
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Where’s my Travel Writing Tip?
I’m currently jaunting through Central America, so the tips may not be uploaded every day at the moment. I managed to stock a few up in advance, but not quite enough to cover the fortnight I’ll be away. Normal service shall be resumed shortly though.
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
#24 - Film-related travel stories
Or taking advantage of the set-jetters.
Filming locations
One excellent source of story ideas is the cinema. If a big movie is slated to come out soon, you can bet your bottom dollar that will be a market for a story on the filming locations used in it.
This is especially true if it’s been filmed somewhere exotic.
James Bond
I’ve now lost count of how many stories I’ve sold that have a tenuous link to James Bond. I once made the decision that I was going to watch all of the films, make notes of what happened in particularly interesting destinations, and then research where those destinations are.
Multiple articles
It was a real bugger of a task – at one point I never wanted to watch a Bond film again – but it paid off. I’ve sold multiple articles based on that research, and the material is timeless. Every two years or so, when a new Bond movie is released, I can re-package it and sell it on again.
It may be as the cities of James Bond, it may be as Bond’s beaches, it may be as the lairs of Bond villains. Either way, most of the work is done.
Quantum of Solace
Quantum of Solace – the latest in the Bond series - is out in November. Which reminds me – I should really start pitching the Bond material out again, especially given that I’m actually in the film*. It’s practically guaranteed that there will be a glut of Bond-related travel articles out there at the time.
I’m already doing two pieces on places featured in the new film (Panama and Siena, Italy), and I’m sure others will be doing more.
Pirates of the Caribbean
It’s not just Bond of course – most big films lead to a bit of a travel boom. There was Pirates of the Caribbean in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Lord of the Rings in New Zealand, and all manner of plodding costume dramas in England.
I’ve ended up trotting out travel articles on Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, The Italian Job, Star Wars, Roman Holiday, Mad Max, The Matrix and probably many more.
Internet Movie Database
But how do you find out about where these locations are and which movies are coming up? Well the Internet Movie Database is a fabulous resource, but can be scant on the details. Otherwise, tourist boards are always keen to promote anything filmed in their area. They’ll almost certainly have a list of films that have visited in the past, and ones that are due to arrive.
Apocalypse Now
Then there’s searching on the internet. Want to find out where the river from Apocalypse Now** is? Just do an internet search. The results may not be accurate, but at least they’re a starting point.
----------------
*I was in Siena while the crew were filming Il Palio, the famous horse race held in the city centre. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to pick myself out in the crowd in a wide shot. And I’m telling everyone that I’m the star until they can prove otherwise.
** It’s the Pagsanjan River in the Philippines, if you must know.
Filming locations
One excellent source of story ideas is the cinema. If a big movie is slated to come out soon, you can bet your bottom dollar that will be a market for a story on the filming locations used in it.
This is especially true if it’s been filmed somewhere exotic.
James Bond
I’ve now lost count of how many stories I’ve sold that have a tenuous link to James Bond. I once made the decision that I was going to watch all of the films, make notes of what happened in particularly interesting destinations, and then research where those destinations are.
Multiple articles
It was a real bugger of a task – at one point I never wanted to watch a Bond film again – but it paid off. I’ve sold multiple articles based on that research, and the material is timeless. Every two years or so, when a new Bond movie is released, I can re-package it and sell it on again.
It may be as the cities of James Bond, it may be as Bond’s beaches, it may be as the lairs of Bond villains. Either way, most of the work is done.
Quantum of Solace
Quantum of Solace – the latest in the Bond series - is out in November. Which reminds me – I should really start pitching the Bond material out again, especially given that I’m actually in the film*. It’s practically guaranteed that there will be a glut of Bond-related travel articles out there at the time.
I’m already doing two pieces on places featured in the new film (Panama and Siena, Italy), and I’m sure others will be doing more.
Pirates of the Caribbean
It’s not just Bond of course – most big films lead to a bit of a travel boom. There was Pirates of the Caribbean in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Lord of the Rings in New Zealand, and all manner of plodding costume dramas in England.
I’ve ended up trotting out travel articles on Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, The Italian Job, Star Wars, Roman Holiday, Mad Max, The Matrix and probably many more.
Internet Movie Database
But how do you find out about where these locations are and which movies are coming up? Well the Internet Movie Database is a fabulous resource, but can be scant on the details. Otherwise, tourist boards are always keen to promote anything filmed in their area. They’ll almost certainly have a list of films that have visited in the past, and ones that are due to arrive.
Apocalypse Now
Then there’s searching on the internet. Want to find out where the river from Apocalypse Now** is? Just do an internet search. The results may not be accurate, but at least they’re a starting point.
----------------
*I was in Siena while the crew were filming Il Palio, the famous horse race held in the city centre. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to pick myself out in the crowd in a wide shot. And I’m telling everyone that I’m the star until they can prove otherwise.
** It’s the Pagsanjan River in the Philippines, if you must know.
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