Work Abroad

Many travelers dream about writing for the Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide. Wouldn’t those surly guesthouse owners give you some respect then! You’d see travelers everywhere holding up your work between them and their destination like a shield and you’d have the pride of knowing that your words echo in their heads.

Right. Your contribution to the world of travel will have been to check bus routes, clarify hotel prices, describe restaurant menus and inquire about student discounts in museums. The fact is that compiling a guidebook is 97% pure and tedious fact checking and hard work. You need to have a meticulous eye for detail and the patience of a saint as you check out a dozen places to stay in each god-forsaken place on the map.

And what do you get at the end? Money for life? World recognition? Well, no, most likely that for about 6 months fact checking and listing of statistics you’ll be lucky to see much more than $5000, with more in royalties a few years later with the reprints.

It does look cool on your resume, though, as most employers have about as much idea of what goes into writing a guide book as you did when you took the job.

Still, writing for guide books is travel writing that is in demand, albeit a competitive market and you’re getting paid for putting pen to paper which is more than most writers can say.

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