In this podcast episode James talks to Philipp Meier, a former accountant from Switzerland who moved to Thailand a few years ago to chase his dream of being a travel writer. After years of writing for small publications for free, Philipp recently broke through to some better known publications such as CNN Travel, Nat Geo Traveller, and South China Morning Post. James and Philipp discuss his journey, examine what he did that finally saw him win commissions at big name titles, and discuss some of the dos and don’ts if you’re a wannabe travel writer pitching to editors.

This interview first appeared on What Editors Want, the Substack newsletter that collects 200 calls for pitches each month.