It may be the future of journalism and a great way to showcase your talents to the rest of the world, but a blog still feels a bit like a grand excuse for an ego trip.
Ah well, here goes……
Travel writing may not be the most high-brow of the journalism genres, but let’s be honest – it’s got to be the most fun. Perhaps my visions of freebie trips to exotic locations, interspersed with banging out the odd 1000-word feature for Conde Nast, aren’t exactly realistic, but travel writing certainly has a romantic and adventurous image.
It seems to be one of the few areas of journalism where you can go to town on descriptive prose and imaginative writing, while still reporting the facts. Good travel writing is an art form – just read the works of Colin Thubron, especially his account of travelling across the Siberian steppes, and you’ll see what I mean.
It also represents a good way for many journalists to realise their own personal holy grail – becoming a published author of a real live book.
All the best travel writers – Sara Wheeler, Dervla Murphy and of course Graham Greene – seem to have started out as journalists. It certainly lends the genre some extra credibility when you consider that these globe-trotting free-loaders are in fact trained professionnals who would have written for some of the best newspapers in their countries, if not the world.
