One of the first freelance jobs that I got paid for after becoming a blogger was travel writing.
Many people who start a blog dream of becoming a travel writer or making money from travel writing. Let’s face it – we’re all into writing about our travel experiences, and wouldn’t it be great to get paid for that, too?
I’m here to tell you that it’s definitely possible to get freelance travel writing jobs, even as a beginner blogger.
While travel writing hasn’t been my main freelancing jam before now, it has been something I have done on a fairly regular basis to supplement my income while working from home or during my travels. So far, I’ve written 18 articles for various websites, and been paid between $40 USD and $150 USD each time. Here’s how it all started:
My first travel writing job was for a startup called Grabr, who approached me via email to ask if I could create some content for their new website. To be honest, I don’t know how they found me, but my guess is that it was by searching for travel bloggers online and finding ones that had a writing style that they liked.
I completed 5 articles for the Grabr blog before I never heard from them again. I later found out that the person I had been dealing with had left the company, and she hadn’t passed on her contacts to the new person who took over her job.
It wasn’t long before I picked up some more travel writing gigs. While I was looking for freelance work, I sent Intrepid Travel an email with a few article ideas, and they responded to say that they were interested in publishing them. I went ahead to write 8 articles for their blog over the next year.
Most recently, I worked with Matador Network who reached out to me after I created a Matador Marketplace profile. Now this company is huge, but unfortunately they don’t pay much for travel writing. I did 3 articles for them before I decided the pay wasn’t good enough to cover my time.
I’ve also done a few one-off articles for various blogs. I recently wrote an in-depth destination guide for Thrifty Nomads, and a few months ago I wrote a seasonal article for a hostel company in Europe.
In these two cases, they reached out to me about writing an article because they were looking for something specific, and they knew that I had the knowledge that they needed because they’d seen me write about it on my blog.

I hadn’t really considered travel writing full-time until a few weeks ago, when I came across a Digital Content Producer contract role through the Tourism Australia website. I successfully applied, and last week I officially began writing articles for australia.com!
I’m incredibly excited about this contract job, which I’ll be doing for the next few months. For this one, I’ll be paid on a daily basis instead of a fee per article as the job requires me to work from the head office in Sydney.
There is loads of competition for paid travel writing jobs, so to increase your chances of being successful, you’ve got to prove that you’re an awesome travel writer. The main reason that I’ve been able to get these jobs is because I have a blog full of articles which show that I can produce high-quality content.
If you don’t have a blog, don’t worry – there are other ways to create a portfolio, like guest posts! Try pitching some article ideas to travel blogs and see if they will publish your work. Most of the time you won’t get paid for this, but once you’ve done it a few times, you can start pitching paid sites.
Tips for becoming a freelance travel writer:
- Create portfolio of your work. No-one will hire you if they can’t see examples of your writing. You can use a travel blog as a portfolio, or use guest posts for other sites. Create a list of writing samples that you can send out to show people that you’re a great travel writer.
- Advertise that you’re available. I have a travel writing services page on my blog, which is useful because it means that when companies visit my blog, they will see that I’m open to travel writing jobs. You can also post in Facebook groups or network using word of mouth.
- Regularly search job websites or Facebook groups for opportunities. Matador Network often post call-outs for submissions in their Marketplace, so that would be a good place to start.
- Pitch travel brands with a few article ideas. Show them that you have a unique perspective that their customers might find interesting. A little research on the company will go a long way.
- Start small. There’s no point going straight for Huffington Post if you have no prior travel writing experience. Start with smaller travel brands or blogs, then work your way up to the top.
Sounds like a perfect solution for us writers! Thank you for the tips! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
No problem, Charmaine! I’m glad you found the info useful 😉
Such an awesome post! Thank you for sharing 🙂
I’m so glad you liked it, Jona! 😀
Thanks for sharing these tips. I’ll check out the websites listed and try to approach more travel institutions.
Best of luck! Let us know if you have some success 🙂
Thank you for this, i found it useful as i’m looking into getting into freelance travel writing. xx
I’m glad you found it useful, Anna! Good luck with your travel writing career 😀
Congrats on the Australia.com gig! Sounds like a great job. 🙂 Awesome advice too, I need to start having the courage to pitch some of my article ideas!
Thanks Clazz! It definitely takes some courage to get started, but once you’ve done it a few times and had some success with pitching, it gets easier 🙂
I would like to be engaged in travel writing
Thank you for all your tips, exactly what I was looking for.:)
You’re welcome, Kiara 🙂
Thank you for these tips! I love writing on my own blog but I must admit creating content for others is becoming more and more enticing. I wrote for Millican on their blog a while back and loved it!
Oh that’s great, Rania! It definitely pays better to write for others rather than for your own channels!
Some great tips!
Congratulations writing for Australia.com 🙂
This motivates me to really want to get good at travel writing – I will look at your blog for inspiration!
alicekatex – The life of Alice
Thanks Alice! Best of luck with your travel writing – I’m sure you’ll do great 🙂
Amazing post – thanks so much for sharing. I’ve been blogging for five years now and am finally in a position to go down the freelancing route. This is excellent information for anyone like me starting out. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post, Annabel! I love sharing my experiences with people who haven’t blogged for as long as I have – best of luck with your freelancing journey!
This was a great post. I appreciate the tips that can help me get started in focusing on travel as my niche for writing. Have you found that blogs are the primary types of travel writing available or are there other options such as social media management?
Thanks Danielle! There are a variety of options out there for travel writers – so far I have found that travel companies (hotel brands, tour companies, etc) are always looking for travel writers to create content. Social media management is also an option, though I have found that most brands will hire a dedicated social media manager instead of hiring freelancers to do that work.
Hi,
I’m very interested in travel writing. I turned 70 earlier this year and want to see more of this United States. I have wanted to write all my life, but, never pursued it. I was not a good student, but, I was a great outdoorsman and to share my love of places that I’ve been, in writing. Your article has strengthened my resolve. Thank you!
That’s amazing – I think travel writing would be a great pursuit for you, Ben! There are plenty of people around your age who would be very interested in hearing about your travel experiences. Best of luck starting your writing journey 🙂