Freelance travel writing jobs – 127 publications that buy travel articles
Here’s a selection of publications, print and online, travel writers should know about. This list is far from exhaustive, but it’s a good starting point for creating your own go-to list of platforms that offer freelance travel writing work and are worth pitching.
I’ve included links to the contact forms or writer guidelines where I could find them, though wasn’t possible in every case.
This list mostly consists of publications that publish international stories from various locations, to cater to your globetrotting escapades.
And I’ve only included publications that pay, even if some of them pay very little. No fee = no-no.
Unless the guidelines state otherwise, it’s always best to write directly to the editor of the section your idea fits best, with most names and email addresses easily found these days with a bit of Googling or searching on LinkedIn.
Decent fees (US$0.65+ per word)
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Middling fees (US$0.30-0.65 per word)
Alaska Airlines Magazine: http://www.alaskaairlinesmagazine.com/contributor/guidelines/
Anthropocene Magazine: http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/contribute/
BBC Travel: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160106-bbc-travel-author-brief
Canadian Geographic: http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/careers
CNN Travel: http://travel.cnn.com/about/
Cruising World: http://www.cruisingworld.com/cruising-world-guidelines-writers-and-photographers
Delta Sky: http://www.deltaskymag.com/About-Delta-Sky/Writers-Guidelines.aspx
Earth: http://www.earthmagazine.org/for-authors
Four Seasons Magazine: http://www.fourseasons.com/magazine/contact
Hana Hou! (Hawaiin Airlines): http://www.hanahou.com/pages/about.asp?PageID=2#WritersGuidelines
High Life (British Airways): http://highlife.ba.com/contact/
Horizon Guides/I&I Travel Media: http://ianditravelmedia.com/journalists/
Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/service/external-contributors-policy-7905982.html
Momentum.travel: http://momentum.travel/ (contact via editor.momentum@
Motorhome: http://www.motorhome.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/WritersGuidelines.pdf
Open Skies (Emirates): http://www.openskiesmagazine.com/
Small Boats Monthly: http://smallboatsmonthly.com/editorial-guidelines/
The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/faq/#37
The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/info/1999/nov/22/contributors-guide-and-contacts
The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/travel/SUBMISSION.html
The Times/The Sunday Times: https://login.thetimes.co.uk/links/contact
Tiger Tales (Tigerair): http://ink-live.com/emagazines/tiger-tales-asia
USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/
Wanderlust: http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/aboutus/writers
Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/31/AR2005103100911.html
Low fees (less than US$0.30 per word)
Alpinist: http://www.alpinist.com/p/magazine/contribute
Atlas Obscura: http://www.atlasobscura.com/work-with-us#freelance
BootsnAll: http://bootsnall.submittable.com
Broken Jaw Travel: http://www.brokenjawtravel.com/submissions
Buzzfeed: https://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelysanders/how-to-pitch-buzzfeed-life
Coconuts.co: http://www.coconuts.co/about-us.html
Dreamscapes: http://www.dreamscapes.ca/contact_us.php
Eastern Fly Fishing: http://www.matchthehatch.com/EasternFlyFishing/WritersGuidelines
Edible Communities: http://www.ediblecommunities.com/content/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=1&Itemid=200075
GoNOMAD: http://www.gonomad.com/travel-writer-guidelines
Island: http://islandmag.com/pages/submit
Matador: http://matadornetwork.com/content/contributors-and-job-applicants/
Oregon Coast: http://www.oregoncoastmagazine.com/guidlin.php
Pathfinders Travel: http://pathfinderstravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/WRITERS-GUIDELINES1.pdf
Perceptive Travel: http://www.perceptivetravel.com/guidelines.html
SouthWest Fly Fishing: http://www.matchthehatch.com/SouthwestFlyFishing/WritersGuidelines
Wanderful: http://www.sheswanderful.com/write/
Wine Tourist Magazine: http://www.winetouristmagazine.com/about-wtm/
101 Holidays: http://www.101holidays.co.uk/write-for-us/
Unknown fees (but worth pitching)
Africa Geographic: http://africageographic.com/magazine-contributions/
American Way (American Airlines): http://www.ink-live.com/emagazines/american-way
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: http://www.myajc.com/staff/
Cruise Travel: http://www.cruisetravelmag.com/ctravel_contact.php
DestinAsian: http://www.destinasian.com/contribute/
En Route (Air Canada): http://enroute.aircanada.com/en/articles/writers-guidelines/
Fah Thai (Bangkok Airways): http://www.ink-live.com/emagazines/fah-thai?page=1
Going Places (Malaysia Airlines): http://www.goingplacesmagazine.com/website/editorial
International Traveller: http://www.internationaltravellermag.com/about-us/
Islands: http://www.islands.com/contact-us
Lonely Planet: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/careers/#become-a-contributor
Matter (Medium): https://medium.com/@lotto/would-you-like-to-pitch-medium-s-in-house-publications-matter-and-backchannel-27cb772e6705#.qrr8pbb4e
Metropolitan: http://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-info/your-trip/metropolitan-magazine
Orbitz: https://www.orbitz.com/blog/
Outpost Magazine: http://www.outpostmagazine.com/25-outpost-information/173-contributor-guidelines-contribute-to-our-travel-magazine-and-travel-website
Pacific Yachting: http://www.pacificyachting.com/writer-submission-guidelines
Sunset: http://www.sunset.com/general/travel-writers
The Wayward Post: http://thewaywardpost.com/contribute
Transitions Abroad: http://www.transitionsabroad.com/information/writers/writers.shtml
Travel Africa: http://travelafricamag.com/contribute/
Westjet Magazine: http://www.westjetmagazine.com/write-us
Wonderland: http://www.wonderlandmagazine.com/contact/
Yachting: http://www.yachtingmagazine.com/contact-us
I was under the impression CNN no longer paid.
Their freelance outlay has been reduced in the last year, but they do still use freelancers, especially on the travel side. I’ve done three pieces for them myself in the last couple of months.
Excellent list, thank you for compiling it! I found it was just not worth it to pitch travel articles, made more money blogging and selling advertising. Now I focus on freelance and the money is more in business writing.
But I do wish I had this list when I was in that world, excellent and very comprehensive, very nice of you to take the time to compile it.
Hi Molly – travel writing can be a tough and thankless job, that is true. But the perks can also be great! Business writing I do know can be much better for the wallet. It’s been a while since I was in that world, but I seem to recall that US$1 a word was standard… in travel it’s like finding a golden truffle.
Thanks for putting together this really useful article. I liked how you have organised it depending on rates paid. This has saved me a lot of time, great job 🙂
I am working on compiling my own list so this is a real bonus and saves me masses of time!! Thank you sooooo much!!
SO USEFUL! Thanks so much for sharing!
Useful info, James, and shrewdly organized to boot. Thanks!
That was really nice of you to compile that list. Thank you! I wrote for Hemispheres, Continental (before the merger) and American Way for many years they used to pay between $1-$2/word. When did they get so cheap?
Those you mention are in my ‘unknown fees’ section – so they could well pay those fees, I just wasn’t able to verify. If you know they do, please let me know and I’ll move them into the correct section.
Great article. Thanks for sharing! I’m really curious for European company’s too and would love to review your book when it comes out. I’m sure a lot of Dutchies would be interested!
Thanks Kim! Make sure you’re on my mailing list and you’ll be among the first to hear when it comes out – I’ll be giving away a few review copies.
You can also pitch for us at Wanderful! http://www.sheswanderful.com/write
What an awesome and very helpful list!
Now it’s time to write some more and send pitches.
Many thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks also from Australia. This is very generous of you. And useful!
Thanks for this list, James, and for this blog. You’ve inspired me to work smarter at getting published in travel publications. I was aware of many of these publications, and have pitched some of them in the past, but it’s great to have an updated list.
Some publications will not take anything if the writer has had any freebies, like meals, accommodation, etc., but it’s pretty hard to do some of the travel all on your own dime. So it’s good to check out the guidelines and see what the policy is.
By the same token, some publications don’t want your “vacation” stories, so I always try to find angles they may be interested in when I’m on vacation.
I have quite a few travel articles on my blog that I use as writing samples but I don’t try and send those as they have been “published.”
It’s time to look at those again and see how I can rework them to fit the pubs you’ve listed.
Thanks again for this.
Cheers,
Christine
You’re welcome Christine! And sure, why not revisit old stories and give them a fresh look? There may be a couple of nuggets hiding there you could use to angle pitches and even whole stories.
Whoa Nelly, what a great list! Kudos for compiling this James! It’s given me an idea actually, to try to pitch the lot over a number of weeks. I’ll let you know how I get on, assuming I don’t get disheartened too quickly!
Good to hear Jools, def let me know how it goes. I should try to do the same, but it may take longer than a few weeks…!
Thank you so much for such a useful post ! I’m getting into freelance writing and this is so helpful. I have a question concerning pictures – do you supply the photos yourself ? If yes how much do you charge ? Thanks for your help.
Hi Violette, glad you find my blog useful. I actually wrote a post about sourcing or providing pictures here: https://travelwriteearn.com/heres-freelance-writers-source-photos-editors/.
I argue that freelancers need to get used to sourcing pictures themselves, because it will help you become a valuable contributor to your editors. If you’re a good or even great photographer then you should ask for a fee too, yes. I’m not, so I never do! And you have to bear in mind that many online editors these days don’t have extra budget for pictures. In general, if someone provided their own pictures to me with their article, I would sometimes bump the fee up by US$50 or 100. But only sometimes.
This is a great list. Thanks for sharing this on your site!
Your website is like gold mine of information. Thank you so much for helping out newbies.
I wish I could find relevant contacts for Indian sites/magazines as well. Finding right person for each source is becoming a challenge.
You’re welcome Manisha! Hope it helps.
Never seen as much as a comprehensive list!
Maybe it needs an update? something of the links are broken.