Travel Writers on the Internet

Posted by Adam Williams Aug 6, 2008

I've been trying to remember exactly how Internet use became such a significant part of daily life.

I got my first email account in college. I would periodically check my email at the campus computer lab.

My memories of that are sketchy. I figure that's because I probably wasn't exchanging many emails with anyone, unlike now when I'll check my inbox dozens of times a day. Can you imagine if the mail man stopped by your house 30 times a day, and on 27 of those trips it was only to say, "You have no mail."

Only four years ago I was refusing to ever have a Web log (blog). I had received a writing fellowship for a travel writing project to roam the middle of America known as Flyover Land. People wanted me to start a blog. Reluctantly -- very reluctantly -- I did.

It didn't amount to much. A number of friends and family paid some attention. But I was clueless about maximizing its potential.

The good news is that blogging has greatly evolved in just the few years since I made that vagabonding trip -- and my first foray into the blogosphere.

Travel writing on blogs and Web sites now can be mass-marketed through numerous social media sites. They can be used as income-earning ventures, whether independently operated or with blog networks and Web-zines.

The world of publishing has changed; it still is growing to, as of yet, unpredictable heights. For anyone interested in travel writing -- or reading -- Internet-based publications are worth serious consideration.

There will continue to be travel guidebook writing as well as travel journalism opportunities for some time to come. But the Internet is not going away, and the travel writing sites that are out there are only getting stronger.

Who'd have thought? Probably, not me.