Together with @stephdyson.bsky.social and @travmedia.bsky.social, we're using the Talking Travel Writing newsletter to launch our latest mentoring scheme for aspiring travel writers! Details here - please share: travelwriting.substack.com/p/2025-trave...

As ever, @travelfish.bsky.social is intelligent and measured on the topic of responsible and more sustainable travel, and what it means in practice. An excellent read: travelfish.org/couchfish/news/less-bad-travel

Researching an article this morning and came across a business making blatant use of AI to populate its website with "photos". It immediately turned me off and dampened my trust in their service, so have decided to no longer include it in my article. Fair? Or am I being harsh?

I have neglected this app for several months because it just wasn't giving me interesting or relevant content – anyone got new travel writer / editor lists I should follow? Keen to get back to it! Fellow travel/lifestyle journalists, HMU! (Pic for attention, ofc)

Enjoyed this piece by my pal @lottiegross.bsky.social: www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/comme... As a child, my parents would book ferry crossings six weeks apart during the summer holidays, hook up the 'van & follow our noses: one year we ended up in Portugal, others we'd spend weeks in Italy. Great fun

I love Clarkson's Farm but found Diddly Squat to be a huge disappointment. Here's where I'd rather shop / eat / drink / smooch cows in the Cotswolds www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/en...

We let ChatGPT write our newsletter today (it's free for all to read). Reckon it did a decent job? travelwriting.substack.com/p/this-newsl...

Sure, I've skydived solo and paraglided in the Himalaya. But have you ever successfully reverse parked a caravan at a mechanic's garage while being watched by five men? Let me tell ya, the thrills are second to NONE 💪

Happy ALCS day baby freelance writers! 🤣🙏✒️💰

Very interesting discussion going on here

Fancy a job as a travel writer? Apply here: travelwriting.substack.com/p/job-opport...

What one thing would you suggest every travel writer needs to be good at their job? We're running a series on this very topic in #TalkingTravelWriting this month, so here's my take: travelwriting.substack.com/p/just-one-t...

Call for pitches: We're looking at launching a destination-focused newsletter at point.me, and I'm looking for pitches from writers with deep expertise in a particular city or region(live in/visit often). 🧵

Writers, this really is your last chance now! You've got until noon to apply. open.substack.com/pub/freelanc...

I did a thing! I finished my third book! I am a (sort of) free woman for the next five minutes before I start writing the next one!!!! 😅🥳🐾

It's as if the freelancing gods know I am about to finish my book... Four new commissions have come in in the last week! 😅 A welcome replenish of my bank account #travelwriting

TRAVEL WRITING WEBINAR ALERT! This one should be very interesting - feel like data in travel stories is such an untapped thing! Excited to learn how to harness... travelwritingwebinars.com/product/data...

I AM ON THE FINAL CHAPTER 🤯

In the Talking Travel Writing newsletter we bang on about how reading widely can help you come up with more ideas for features. Case in point for me today; just opened a new book by page three I have two new story ideas for a trip I'm doing later this year! 🙌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 #travelwriting

I've just done the very adult thing of making my will. Worst £500 I've ever spent 🙄

Trying to book parking at my Hilton hotel for the NEC caravan show and getting this quote no matter what dates and times I input 🙄🤣 but steep, no?

I have just meticulously planned out three months of road tripping around Scotland. 🚘26 different locations ☀️ 93 days 🚐 One 30-year-old caravan 🐾 Plus a 4 year old canine menace What could possibly go wrong?! 👀 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Any UK travel writers going to IMM? We wrote some tips for your networking sessions here 👇 travelwriting.substack.com/p/how-to-mak... #travelwriter

First day researching my new Cotswolds book and it was a corker 👏

So, THE COTSWOLDS. I am penning a book for dog owners travelling to the Cotswolds. I need dog-friendly fun to be had in the below destinations. Any PRs with relevant clients out there, get in touch - lottiecgross at gmail dot com. I'm also open to hot tips from dog owners - TIA! #journorequest

I've got 25,000 words to write across nine chapters and an introduction for my next book, all to be completed in the next five weeks. In between now and deadline day I've also got to give one uni lecture, two talks at a camping show and attend a conference in London. Can I do it!? Plz say yes.

I'm not sure yet if this site has the same community of #freelance writers eager to hear a #callforpitches as the other side, but let's see if we can't find out. @trailsmag.net is looking for pitches for Issues 10 and 11!

Here's something lovely – and free! – for writers today. A brilliant collection of pitching guidelines for UK publications. Go get 'em. 👊 ✨ freelancewritingjobs.substack.com/p/pitching-g...

Okay I'm just back from three weeks in Mexico where I mostly sported this fetching wet-bikini-beneath-a-tee look while mainlining mezcal cocktails. Did anything happen while I was OOO? Any big news etc? Probably not, huh? 😳

Travel writers in the UK, this one's for you! Everything you need to know before making big plans this year, plus some resources from TTW. Merry new year, etc! #travelwriting travelwriting.substack.com/p/travel-wri...

More of this for 2025 please? Sunshine, blue skies, good dogs and many, many miles on foot.

First Christmas alone (with dog). This will do 🙌🥂🐾

SO GOOD to have @travelfish.bsky.social back in my inbox after a hiatus! Congrats on finishing your dissertation and thank you for this fascinating insight from your studies: www.travelfish.org/couchfish/ne... #travel

Just been offered 7 pence a word for a 2,200 word feature on a topic I have spent five years building up expertise in. So good to see the holiday spirit is alive and well in journalism! 🎉🙄

Looking to speak to a travel writer who has self published a travel book! Anyone on here got intel? This is for a Talking Travel Writing newsletter at the end of Jan 😊 thanks in advance!

I cannot imagine anyone has ever responded to this sort of request with a "oh yeah good idea"

I spent a day volunteering at my local dog shelter this week and it was VERY BLOODY DIFFICULT to not adopt several good girls and boys 😳 really wonderful experience though. Go find yours and walk some dogs!

Does anyone else get these utterly random replies to a Journo Request these days? It's so bizarre and, frankly, irritating... I had four yesterday after doing a request on Response Source for my Mexico trip. Deeply irritating.

Anyone fancy a job in travel media? The Travel Media Awards Step Up Scheme is now open for young people from diverse backgrounds. Tell your younguns! travelmediaawards.com/travelmediaa...

Not sure what the name a group of travel writers going walkabout in a storm might be but just spent an inspiring w/e with @lottiegross.bsky.social @stephdyson.bsky.social at the #TTWRETREAT2024 to learn about the travel media. Thank you so much to you both & to HF Holidays for a wonderful stay.

Can I do a #JournoRequest here? Need a hotel in Oaxaca City for January for a telegraph review! Email lottiecgross at gmail. Thanks!

Today in the #TTWretreat: a tasting board with David Beckham's private chef and a sample of the best sausage rolls in the country according to Dave himself. We did also do some hard work on pitching, story honing and finding the right publication for your stories, but this was the highlight 🙌

Brilliant first day with our 18 attendees of the #TTWRetreat2024 at Harrington House in Bourton-on-the-Water. Started with how the travel media works and then invited the brilliant @howard-tcg.bsky.social of Travel Connections Group to discuss how to network like a pro #hfholidays

Such an honour to have 20-odd people here – some all the way from the USA – for the TTW writing retreat in the Cotswolds. We are teaching aspiring writers how to get into this industry and make it work for them, and this lot are super engaged and v clever! Exciting times 🙌🎉

I've been fucking about on Instagram and Tiktok with videos lately and the return on investment is minimal most of the time. But sometimes a video kicks off and you get comments like this, where people are actively buying your work because they love it 🥰 worth it for these!

REMINDER: this free webinar is TOMORROW. All travel writers / editors welcome! PRs, you're allowed in too! It should be a brilliant, enlightening discussion! travelwritingwebinars.com/product/free...

Today in weird press trip dynamics: get in your swimwear with a bunch of strangers and have romantic flower baths! 🤣

In a completely normal turn of events in my village, a Santa Claus hanging out of a helicopter has just flown very low over my house. How's your Tuesday?

Latest newsletter is out and it's a goodun from Steph! Plus news on another webinar by Meera Dattani travelwriting.substack.com/p/pitching-n...