How to Write a Travelogue

Many of our readers wanted to share their interesting travel experience but didn't know how to get started. Here's a step-by-step guide to show you how to write a travelogue.

This article is contributed by Tan Kian Ann of Blogopreneur.com

Guide to Travel Writing & Photography

Wth the advent of camera phones, reliable mobile Internet connections and note-taking devices today, writing about your travel experience is becoming easier. Whether you are armed with a a DSLR camera or a smartphone camera, you have the ability today to come up with interesting travelogues of your adventures.

Photo by Simon Marsault on unsplash.com/photos/YHvHjItP1Fc

However, traveling with the intent of writing a travelogue after your trip does require you to take some deliberate actions as take your trip. In fact, how much you can recall and the amount of detail you can write on your story will depend on how diligent you are in noting down what you experience in your trip.

Gadgets for Your Travel Writing

First, take stock. You will need a camera and a notepad. These two can be the same device, e.g. if you use an smartphone like an iPhone, which has both camera and notepad, or separate devices like you trusty compact camera or DSLR with a regular paper notepad.

But keep only one of each - the last thing you want is messy notes jumbled up between 2 notepads or having to combine photos from 3 cameras.

Use Local Time Zone

If you are travelling to a different time zone, set the date and time of your camera correctly so that the photos will be tagged with the local date and time when you transfer them to your computer.

Bring Along Your Charger

Make sure that you have sufficient battery power on these devices to last the entire trip (or have recharge points!). Also make sure that you have enough memory space left on these devices!

Travel Photo Taking Tips

Head off on your trip, snapping photos at just about anything you think would play a part on your trip. Some things that you would want to consider to snap are things like

  • the buses, boats, trains, planes or other transportation vehicle that you use.
  • the bus numbers, station signals, ticket stubs, receipts, ticket purchasing counters of these transportation.
  • any nice scenery that you see along the way, and any significant landmarks that you see.
  • any food you eat, especially if the food tastes so good that you have to recommend them to others to try!

For better record purposes, you might also want to snap a picture of your watch or clock every time you get to a new place. For example, when you first turn on your camera after your flight lands, snap a picture of your watch, so you know exactly what time you landed.

Use Your Camera to Take Notes

The notepad is for you to take down finer details. But don't waste time copying down anything that you can take a photo with your camera e.g. signboard, see how I used my camera to record information in the travelogue on Mid Valley Shopping for Singaporeans. Things like bus fares, train routes can be logged with a photo. Use the notepad only when you absolutely have no way to capture the piece of information using your camera.

If your camera comes with audio or video recording features, you can even leave your notepad at home. Instead of writing on your notepad, take a selfie video and just act like a reporter, and "report" on what you originally wanted to note down in your notepad. Don't worry about looking nice. You don't have to share the video as part your travelogue. We just want the facts.

Pick Up Free Travel Brochures and Keep Your Ticket Stubs

Collect any brochures, leaflets and mall directories as you make your adventures. Keep all ticket stubs and take photos of them.

All these said, try not to sacrifice your fun just for the sake of logging your notes. You shouldn't have to change you itinerary just because you want to spend time writing down the finer details. If you do so, your trip may quickly become more like a "research" trip rather than a holiday.

Next: The 8-Step Travel Writing Guide


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