13 Ways to Get Paid for Travel Writing

This article is for Assignment 7 on the MatadorU course…

You’re not going to make your millions being a travel writer – but retiring early to a cottage by the sea is a definite possibility if you submit your articles to the right places. Most websites will want you to write for free with just a link back for your troubles, but there are a few ways to get paid for travel writing. Here’s the bare bones of what you can expect to get from paying online magazines – just click through for more details on submitting.

*I decided that I wasn’t going to write for anyone for less than $10 – if it’s not enough to buy me a Mojito what’s the point?

1. Lostgirlsworld

• Pays $12 for country and city guides (£7.50)

2. BootsnAll

• Pays $50 for 800+ word feature articles (£31)
• Pays $30 for an expert travel article (£18)
• Pays $20-$40 travel essay (£12.50-£25)

3. Matador

• Pays $25 (can be $40-$60) for special projects or in-depth features (£15.60-£37)

4. In the Know Traveler

• Pays $20 for a 450-600 words (£12.50)

5. Wend Magazine

• Pays $100-$1,300 for 350+ words (£62)

6. Gonomad.com

• Pays $25 for 800-2000 words (£15.60)

7. GoWorldTravel

• Pays $30 for a 10-photo essay or a 1000-word article (£19)

8. 2Camels

• Pays $20 for 500-1000 words (£12.50)

9. The Expeditioner

• Pays $30 for 1000 words (£19)

10. GoWorldTravel

• Pays $30 for 1000 words (£19)

Magazines

And here are three magazines that will accept your submissions – as long as they’re super amazing and incredible that is…

11. Wanderlust

• Pays £220 per 1000 words

12. WildJunket Magazine

• Pays $50-$150 for 1000-2000 words (£31-£93)

13. Traveller

• Pays £200 per 1000 words printed.

Bonus sites

14. Vagabundo Magazine

• Pays $125 per 1000 words

I worked out that my monthly expenditure is around £900, when I’m being good. This means I’d need to pitch, write and submit one of everything, which would equal about £775, and then do another big article too – wow! Looks like I’d have my work cut out as a freelance writer…

Few sources

I used the following useful sources as part of my research. As you can see I didn’t use all their suggestions because I either wasn’t too keen on the sites, or they’ve stopped paying.

Expat Heather | Matador | TravelontheDollar

There’s also a brilliant article on getting paid to travel by the Lost Girls, which has some great pitching tips for approaching publications.

Thanks to Charles Jeffrey Danoff for the image: I’ll replace it with one of mine asap!

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