Imagine your office being a hotel balcony with a view of the Eiffel Tower--or a lodge looking out at the snowy peaks of the Swiss Alps.
Don’t stop there. Why would you?
What if you could plop down to work on the Jamaican sand or poolside at a Mayan Riviera resort? What if your job, on one particular day, was to follow a guide through the exotic ecosystem of a rainforest in Southern Asia or the heart of Central Africa?
No way, you say? WAY. Was that a teasingly sarcastic “Shut up?” we heard? Shut up MORE!
Oh, the life of a travel writer. Meet Kim Schneider--she calls the world her office.
“I’ve been able to see and do a lot of incredible things that I never would have had the chance to do without this job," says Schneider, of Sutton’s Bay. “And now I want to teach other people how to do the same thing.”
Schneider, has scoured the country--and other corners of the globe--seeking story after story for a dozen years; now she’s preparing to instruct others--to help show them just how to land the dream gigs that have whisked her to locales she’d only imagined visiting.
She, together with Texas-based travel writer Janice Turk and photojournalist Michael Poehlman, are pooling their talents to launch a new venture,
Try Travel Writing, this fall.
This series of learning vacations, including tours, classroom instruction, writing exercises, presentations from visitor’s bureau directors, will introduce writers, bloggers, or just about anyone else, through on-the job training, into the world of travel journalism.
“Our first trip is a three-day stay at the Grand hotel on Mackinac Island in October,” she says. “We’re getting and giving tours all over the island to give our students opportunities to look for story ideas. Most of them won’t come with an assignment, I don’t think, but everyone will write and journal while they are here and learn how to approach professionals in the field, if they want to do that.”
Students will have the chance to make fudge, go ghost hunting, and study architecture and island history. And the annual exodus of horses from the island--via ferry--will make for the perfect photo assignment if it happens that particular weekend.
“How do you travel for free?” and “How can I break into travel writing?” are the most frequent questions Schneider and her partners hear.
“Everyone asks us those things,” she says. “We’ll answer those questions on our tours.”
Students signing up for the maiden workshop destination, Schneider says, are retired baby boomers with an itch to write and the free time to fulfill travel dreams, students exploring career options, seasoned journalists seeking new avenues and even aspiring writers. Practically anyone, Schneider says, including those who simply want to try something new and go somewhere exciting, will find the seminars helpful.
“Some of our students will be experienced writers, but you don’t have to be,” Schneider says. “All that’s required is a sense of adventure and willingness to try travel writing or photography for a few days.”
Intrigued, but can’t make it in October? How about New Orleans in January? The workshop will be held four times a year in different locations, including, Schneider hopes, Africa in the near future.
There is definitely interest--even from those already in the field.
Susan Kopka, of Sutton’s Bay, says, in a public post on the
Try Travel Writing Facebook page: “I would like to speak more with you about this. Do you need instructors or guides? I have 22 years of photo-teaching experience... I also love to write and travel!”
The travel bug is biting … and someone has to write about that sting.
Kelle Barr is a Portage-based freelance reporter who can be reached at Kellebarr@gmail.com
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