How to Use Travel Writing to Win a Holiday

If you have a flair for writing and a love of travel, you may be able to turn your passion for the written word into an opportunity to win a holiday! There are a number of travel writing competitions that offer cash prizes or fabulous trips and experiences for a well-written, personal travel story. What a way to fund your future travel!

Because the requirements for entering these contests mean a little bit of work, competition may be lower than other contests, tipping the odds of winning in your favour. If you’d like to win a holiday by doing something you love to do anyway, read on for information on what’s required and where to find these amazing opportunities.

Requirements

Travel writing competitions attract people with various skill levels, from novice writers to the more experienced, all looking to win a holiday or a nice cash prize. You do not have to be working as a travel writer to enter these contests, but you do need to have a good story to tell.

Most require articles of less than 1,000 words (some only 500 words) and will set out additional guidelines and criteria for contestants to follow. Travel writing competitions are not like other contests where winners are chosen at random and each person’s entry has the same chance at success. In these challenges, judges read through each submission individually and choose winners based on the quality of the work.

Winning pieces that tell a compelling, personal story that judges feel will resonate with and connect to their audience can be awarded prizes ranging anywhere from £50 to £2,000 in cash or travel vouchers.

Knowing that writing contests require superior work should not discourage you, but encourage you to practice your craft as much as possible with the goal to win a holiday. Some writers subscribe to the idea of writing a certain number of words, or for a particular amount of time each day, some even setting a timer to keep them on track. Other writers start a blog and commit to writing a post regularly to continually improve their writing skills. Still others enrol in writing courses to provide them with the structure of setting a time each week to write and the added bonus of feedback from an experienced teacher.

Where to Find Opportunities

Finding travel competitions for writers is pretty easy. Start with your favourite travel publications and national newspapers. Once you find their websites, the home page will display any active contests. Know that the bigger the publication, usually the better the prize, but also the greater the competition. Smaller travel magazines offering writing challenges may be good to target because less entries will mean a better chance at success.

Another way to win a holiday through travel writing opportunities is to do a search online. Typing “travel writing contest” and “travel writing competition” into Google and the search functions on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter will bring up a number of results for you to comb through.

Once you find a few travel writing competitions you are interested in entering, make note of the due date and aim to have your article finished a week before the deadline, to allow for a week of editing. You want to be able to submit your best work and give yourself the optimal chance of winning. Good luck!