21 Magazines That Pay for Travel Writing

If you like to travel, you are in luck, because lots of magazines want to hear about your trips. And, as a bonus, they are perfectly willing to pay to get your insights, print your photos, share your adventures.

In addition to these magazines, many newspapers include travel sections. Check your local paper to see if the editors are interested in travel articles. Many are happy to accept features, especially those about your locale.

For additional magazines that pay (some quite handsomely) see: Paying Markets

Go World Travel Magazine

Go World Travel Magazine covers world travel in more than 90 countries. "We’re looking for honest, down-to-earth descriptive writing. We’re not interested in a laundry list of things you saw and did; rather, we look for vivid descriptions, lively anecdotes and straightforward language that shows a sense of curiosity and interest in the destination. Go World Travel is written from an international perspective. Our readers are travel lovers from North America, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and around the globe." Length: Up to 1,600 words. Payment: $30 to $40 per story/photo essay upon publication.

Big Grey Horse All things Texas!

Big Grey Horse All things Texas! Blog posts require that you visit the location. Sources are required for each piece. All blog posts are written in first person. Photos are required. You must be a Texas resident and familiar with the state. Length: 600 to 1,000 words. Payment: $125-$200.

Desert Times

Desert Times wants stories about the deserts of North America and the culture and lifestyle of the people who live there. They prefer writers to also submit photos. Payment: $50.

Trailer Life

Trailer Life is a monthly magazine for RV enthusiasts. They cover travel destinations (unlimited), outdoor activities, technical trailer info, and DIY projects for trailers. They also purchase photos. Payment: $75 - $700, depending on the type of submission.

AFAR

"AFAR’s mission is to inspire and guide travelers who seek to connect with people, experience their cultures, and understand their perspectives. AFAR knows that the best travel adventures often happen when you step off the beaten track or open yourself to the unexpected. So, while other travel magazines tell their stories through itineraries, AFAR tells its stories through people, allowing readers to explore authentic local cultures from the inside out." Payment: Negotiated.

Great Escape Publishing

Great Escape Publishing publishes articles on the craft and business of getting paid to travel, whether by writing, photography, tours or other means. "We also publish short interviews with successful readers and members, as well as professionals working in a field that enables our readers to get paid to travel. We do not publish straight travel pieces." Payment: $50-$75 for articles requested for the website, $100-$150 for interviews and personal stories, and $150-$200 for articles with specific income advice a reader can print and follow to earn more income.

Ensemble Vacations®

Ensemble Vacations® is a national, consumer travel and lifestyle magazine published by Ensemble Travel® Group for its member agencies, including American Express Canada and Uniglobe Eastern Canada. Each issue of the magazine is focused on specific destinations, timed to coincide with Canadian consumer purchasing patterns. Payment: Competitive.

101 Holidays

101 Holidays is a UK-based publication that covers world-wide travel. Themes include Honeymoon destinations, singles destinations (by month), family holidays, where's hot, and where to take a short break. Payment: £50 - £100 per article.

Adventure Motorcycle

Adventure Motorcycle (ADVMoto) is a bi-monthly magazine "showcasing courageous people on inspiring rides around the world, both on road and off. Feature articles and Ride Reports tell the personal stories of riders overcoming challenges and adversity on their rides. Every issue also includes rider, reader and industry profiles, news and reviews, bike reviews, event reports and book/DVD reviews." Photos required. Payment: $150 and up.

Rider Magazine

Rider Magazine is written for the most mature, affluent and discerning readers in motorcycling. They are mostly experienced motorcycle enthusiasts. Photos required. They buy everything from full-length features to short posts. Payment: $200 and up.

International Living’s Daily Postcards

"If you’re an expat living overseas, we want to hear from you. Imagine you’re talking to your friends back home. What do you want to tell them about your experience overseas? What are the most important things you can tell someone about your life in another country." Payment: $75.

BootsnAll!

The BootsnAll community loves independent travel no matter what form it takes. Payment: Feature articles pay $50.

The Expeditioner

"Just get back from a trip and have a great travel story you want to share with the world? Love to write about travel and want to inspire others? Our articles tend to be first-person narratives of all lengths and sizes (anywhere from 1,200 words and up). Once in a while, but not so much anymore, we also publish “Top 10” pieces, location overviews and other types of non-narrative pieces. We only require that your piece be interesting, informative and inspiring for future travelers." Payment: $30.

Verge Magazine

"Verge is the magazine for people who travel with purpose. It explores ways to get out and see the world by volunteering, working and studying overseas. Our readers are typically young (17-40 years), or young at heart, active, independent travellers who want to do something different and make a difference doing it. Some are seasoned travellers who have seen a good part of the world. Many are contemplating overseas travel for the first time and want to do it in a meaningful way." Payment: Not specified.

Transitions Abroad

Transitions Abroad publishes "inspirational yet practical planning guides for cultural immersion travel, work, study, living, and volunteering abroad." They are looking for first-hand experience geared to readers who travel to immerse themselves abroad while respecting the culture and land of the people whose countries are being visited (while preferably spending money that benefits local economies directly). Payment: 7 cents/word.

Desert USA

Desert USA is an Internet-based, regional publication, focusing on travel, wildlife, geology, desert lore, cultural and natural history related to the North American Desert regions. "The main editorial focus of DesertUSA.com is travel in the North American Desert and surrounding regions. A strong emphasis in natural and cultural history is a major theme in our website and a popular interest to readers. Adventure, desert lore, photo essays, events, southwest arts & crafts are also consistently represented in our editorial. We have over 6000 pages online now, use our search engine to see what we already have on the site. We are only interested in new material." Payment: $50.

Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines is looking for writing with vivid visual images, anecdotes and a strong narrative flow. "We are interested in writers who can cover business with insight and style; local writers who can lend inside perspective to our destination and travel columns; journalists who write with a sense of humor, though we do not publish a humor column." Payment: Rates begin at $150 to $250 for short articles in the Journal section (200 to 600 words); $150 for business shorts (500 words); $500 for columns (1,600 words); and $700 for features (2,000 to 2,500 words). Expenses, if agreed to in advance, are paid on invoice.

Horizon Edition Magazine

Horizon Edition Magazine is the monthly in-flight magazine for Horizon Air, reaching more than 574,000 travelers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California, Nevada, Western Canada and Baja, Mexico, each month. Our target audience is business and leisure travelers, the majority of whom are between the ages of 35 and 54. "We look for writing with vivid images, anecdotes and a strong narrative flow. We are always looking for writers of national-magazine caliber, who can cover business and travel with style and insight. Horizon Edition Magazine is 80 percent freelance written." Payment: Rates begin at $100 for The Region section, a series of short (200 to 500 words) news articles and profiles from around the Pacific Northwest. Rates for departments, which may include corporate and industry profiles, regional-issue analysis, and travel and community profiles, start at $250; departments run about 1,600 words in length. Feature rates start at $450 for 2,000 to 2,500 words.

Wanderlust

Wanderlust is a British travel magazine. They accept proposals from freelance writers, but not many. Payment: Current rates (as of 01/06/10) for most magazine features are £220 per 1,000 published words. Unless otherwise agreed, the fee is based on printed, not submitted, words. Fact pages are paid at £90 per page (approx 750 words) pro-rated. Fees for other sections (including Pocket Guides, Dispatches and interviews) are set per-article rates, agreed on commissioning.

Smarter Travel

Smarter Travel accepts multi-page slideshows and both short- and feature-length stories on a range of consumer travel topics, including booking strategies, saving money, avoiding scams, packing tips, best places to go, travel tech, travel trends, and travel tips that represent all kinds of travelers and travel experiences. "We also publish destination content, but prefer thematic round-ups that highlight multiple destinations (for example, “Europe’s Cheapest Cities,” “Destinations You Have to See To Believe,” and “Beaches That Should Be on Your Bucket List”). Occasionally, we’ll publish single destination stories, but those tend to be based on either hot/popular destinations or places that embody the notion of discovery (think “secret,” “surprising,” or “lesser-known” places)." Payment: $500 for long-form articles and multi-page slideshows, and $100 to $250 for shorter posts.

Journeywoman

Journeywoman is a travel resource for women. "Do you have a female-centered travel experience you'd like to share? Women travellers as well as travel writers often gift us with select stories they would like to see published at the site." Payment: $35.00 honorarium for articles. (No payment for "gifted" stories.)

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