How to Travel Writing Jobs & Freelance Assignments with Kerri Allen

This podcast and post focus on how to land paid travel writing assignments when the travel landscape changes. Learn how to land stories in top-tier magazines and outlets such as Condé Nast Traveler, Fodor’s Travel, and Fathom during the height of a global shut down and how to pitch now that the world is opening, but still not totally stable as far as international travel goes. This is all about how to shift and still get travel writing jobs. My guest is Kerri Allen.

How to Land Paid Assignments when the Travel Writing Landscape Changes

About Kerri:

Kerri Allen is an award-winning travel writer with nearly 20 years of professional experience in culturally-focused journalism.

From her first assignment to cover the Tohono O’odham Nation’s annual pow-wow in Arizona to witnessing a shamanic ritual on South Korea’s Yangtze Island or eating the tongue-numbing jambú plant from the Amazon forests of Brazil, Kerri’s insatiable curiosity about people, culture, food, performance, and human connection is her driving journalistic force.

She was a fellow with The New York Times Institute for Journalism, and her award-winning writing has appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, HuffPost, Fodor’s Travel, Anthony Bourdain’s Roads & Kingdoms, Time Out New York, Budget Travel, Fathom and many others.

Kerri has published hundreds of pieces, ranging from reviews to profiles to features, some of which have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, French and Greek. She served as the U.S. delegate to the Association international des critiques de théâtre (International Association of Theater Critics), an NGO and partner organization of UNESCO, covering performing arts across Asia, Scandinavia, Eastern & Western Europe and North America.

Kerri holds a Master’s degree in global strategic communications from Georgetown University and B.A. in Spanish from Rutgers University. She lives in Brooklyn, NY. Connect with Kerri on Instagram.

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How to land paid assignments when the travel writing landscape changes with Kerri Allen

Show focus: How to land paid assignments and travel writing jobs when the world of travel has shifted. How and where to find writer’s guidelines and rates. How to keep securing paid assignments.

Listen to today’s episode where Kerri and I chat about how to land stories in top-tier magazines and paying outlets. Kerri also shares her insights about how as journalists, we need to shift and adapt to continue to get freelance travel writing gigs.

>> Listen to the full podcast; click here!

In this podcast episode Kerri and I chat about:

Kerri’s travel writing background and what inspired her to become a travel writer.
How travel journalism has changed in the last 20 years.
The evolution (or fall) of the Sunday travel section in newspapers.
How travel journalism has shifted and changed since Kerri started as a travel writer.
How competition to land paid assignments has changed over the last ten years.
How to secure paid assignments when it’s difficult to travel.
How to shift article topics and pitches during the past 16 months
How to change pitching tactics by responding to the changes in the world.
Why you must think about the audience, the editor (and the stakeholders) for a publication before you pitch.
The process to land paid gigs in top-tier magazines and outlets such as Condé Nast Traveler, Fodor’s Travel, and Fathom during the height of a global shut down.
With Covid, a lot of local city magazines and other travel-based magazines went from print + online to online only. What Kerri has experienced with this and the ability to land paid gigs.
What media trips look like now that more of the world is opening, but still not totally stable as far as international travel.
Kerri’s thoughts about how to continue the shift to pitch, and land freelance travel writing gigs.
Why “bleisure” travel (adding a few days vacation to a business trip) is the hardest hit sector of travel right now.
How cool the Amazon Explorer experiences are.
Kerri’s top piece of advice when pitching top-tier outlets like The New York Times, Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, Budget Travel, HuffPost & Afar.
You have to keep the ‘voice’ of the outlet in mind when pitching.
Always remember your pitch is your proposal and your writing must shine.
Why you should review the editorial calendar before a pitch.
Process for follow-up if you don’t hear back from a pitch.
Kerri’s outlet that she hasn’t written for yet that are on her personal bucket list.
How Kerri sees travel and freelance travel writing evolving.
Travel trends she anticipates in the next 2-3 years.

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