WHEN 8 weeks, July 29 - September 16 Chats Tuesdays, 10-11 pm ET WHERE Online. Click here for more information. LEVEL Intermediate/advanced PRICE $499 ($475 for ) more info

Course Details

Travel writing is a way to engage with the world and to build a bridge that brings faraway places home. It wakens the senses and stands everything we take for granted on its head. This class looks at the romance and realities of this exciting and lucrative market.

Over the course of eight weeks, students will consider the various forms of the field, from travel-related news items to personal essays, with the goal of selling these pieces to local, regional, and national publications. Each week, students will be assigned a travel-related article up to 1,000 words, along with a pitch letter, and will be expected to investigate unfamiliar neighborhoods, seek out experts in the field, and demonstrate the highest levels of research and reporting. This course requires a commitment of at least eight hours a week of outside work.

In this class, you will learn:

• How to use where you live to break into the travel market
• How to expand your career as a travel journalist
• Which sections of travel magazines are easiest to break into
• How to write perfect pitch letters
• What to do when you get to your destination
• How to negotiate with your editor for travel compensation

Students who have taken this class have been published in:
Travel + Leisure; The New York Times's Escapes section; The New York Times Magazine; Blue: The Adventure Magazine; Vogue; the Los Angeles Times; the Los Angeles Times's Travel section; The New York Times's Travel section; the Los Angeles Times Magazine, and more.

• Instructors post lectures once a week. You can read them online, print them, or download them at your convenience.
• Students post completed assignments for feedback and discussion by the instructor and class.
• Weekly chats allow your class to get together via instant message. Transcripts are available for review if you can't attend.
• Technical support is available from mediabistro staff.

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Instructor Bio

Christine Egan's Courses

Christine Egan is a freelance travel editor and writer. As a former travel editor on staff at Town & Country, Time Out New York, and Travel Holiday, she explored several continents on other people's dimes. She has also written travel articles for The New York Times, Glamour, Paper, Breathe, Pursuits, Indagare.com and USA Today Weekend. Christine holds a Master's Degree from Central School of Speech and Drama in London, which has nothing to do with travel journalism except that she kicked around Europe a lot during grad school.

Testimonials

Christine Egan was great. She was very knowledgeable about the travel writing industry and gave insight from both a writer's and editor's perspective. She was both critical and encouraging, helping me to improve upon my ideas and writing. The guest speakers that came to talk to us were also very knowledgeable of the industry and gave us great pointers on how to go about pursuing travel writing in the field. -- Rozanne Gelbinovich