What this life looks like
You tell the stories of places and the people who inhabit them. Travel Writers produce written content about destinations, travel experiences, and the cultures, cuisines, and characters encountered along the way — for magazines, newspapers, travel guides, websites, and books. In a continent as extraordinary and as misrepresented in global media as Africa, travel writers who tell authentic stories of African travel are doing important cultural work alongside their craft.
What she actually does
You pitch and write articles, essays, and guides about travel destinations and experiences for publications and websites, develop long-form narrative travel writing for books and major magazines, produce destination guides and travel content for tourism boards and travel companies, build a personal brand through social media and a writing portfolio, develop relationships with editors, tourism boards, and travel brands, and continuously travel, research, and write.
Where you can work
| Sector | Places in Africa |
|---|---|
| Travel Magazines | Getaway (SA), Afar, Condé Nast Traveler Africa editions — print and digital travel publications |
| Digital Media | TravelStart blog, African travel websites, Culture Trip Africa — digital-first travel content platforms |
| Tourism Boards | Commissioned travel content for national tourism boards — press trips and content partnerships |
| Books & Guides | Lonely Planet Africa guides, Bradt travel guides — travel guidebook writing and updating |
Why it matters in Africa
Africa remains dramatically underrepresented in global travel media — and when it is represented, the coverage often defaults to crisis, wildlife, or poverty rather than celebrating the continent's extraordinary urban cultures, culinary scenes, music, fashion, and hospitality. African travel writers who tell the real, complex, joyful story of African travel — intra-African travel as much as international visitor experiences — are filling one of the most important gaps in global travel media.
Your pathway in
- Develop exceptional writing skills first — travel writing is a craft and clear, evocative, precise writing is non-negotiable
- Build travel experience across your region and beyond — you cannot write authentically about places you have not genuinely experienced
- Study journalism fundamentals: pitching stories, meeting deadlines, fact-checking, and writing to editorial briefs are core skills
- Build a portfolio: start a travel blog, contribute to local publications, and pitch to national magazines before approaching international publications
- Develop social media presence: most travel writers build audiences on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube alongside their written work
Skills you will need
- Literary travel writing
- Narrative journalism
- Destination research
- Photography (travel writing increasingly requires visual storytelling)
- Pitching to editors
- Social media audience building
A woman in this field
Lerato Mogoatlhe
South Africa
Lerato is a South African travel writer who spent five years on the road across the continent — through West, East and North Africa — and wrote about it in her memoir Vagabond. She writes Africa from the inside: not as a destination that needs explaining to outsiders, but as somewhere she belongs, keeps leaving, and keeps coming back to.
Take your first step
- Read 'How to Write About Africa' by Binyavanga Wainaina — it is the most important piece of writing about African travel writing ever published, and its satirical demolition of travel writing clichés should shape every African travel writer's practice
- Start a travel blog or write a 1,000-word account of a place in your city that visitors never see — practising descriptive, narrative travel writing from your immediate environment develops the core skill
- Study the Lonely Planet and Bradt travel guides for your country — understanding the standard format and content expectations of guidebook writing gives you a reference point for your own writing
- Research the British Travel Press Awards and Society of American Travel Writers — international travel writing professional bodies — to understand what is valued in the global travel writing market
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