Travel Blogging vs Travel Writing

The impetus for this post came from an off hand comment made by Jen Leo before one of our podcasts a few weeks ago. I mentioned that I was going to a trip sponsored by Princess Cruise Lines in November. Jen is an experienced travel writer who has worked in the publishing industry and currently works for the LA Times. She commented that I can’t take those trips if I want to write for the New York Times or the LA Times, because they don’t allow writers to take comped tours. What struck me about the statement wasn’t the ethics of taking a comped tour, it was that at no point in my life had I ever considered writing for the New York Times. Despite all the traveling and writing I’ve done, it never dawned on me that it is something that could do or that I’d even want to do. Writing for a major newspaper was something that just wasn’t in my universe.

This got me thinking about the differences between the established world of travel writing and the emerging world of travel blogging. The differences aren’t always clear cut. Bloggers obviously write and most writers have a blog. Some writers write for a blog. Nonetheless I think there is a clear distinction between the two if you consider it as a career path, rather than as an end product. Much of what I”ll be outlining here will have exceptions to it. Some people like Chris Elliott are excellent bloggers and writers. I’m also writing this to start a discussion with people in the travel writing/blogging world about where things are going. This is also not intended to be a “which is better” discussion, as the question itself is sort of meaningless. It will hopefully clarify things for those who want to try to pursue a career in travel writing/blogging.

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