Writing has never really been a talent of mine, but I had started to document a few travel stories for myself for when I get too old to remember my adventures very well.
It all began with me repeating telling the story of being chased by angry monkeys through the jungle in Borneo, and I finally decided to write it down.
Just for fun, and for somewhere to put my stories, I started a blog page, but was always stuck on creating more content. As we entered yet another Covid lockdown, I was looking for something to do and discovered The Ultimate Travel Journalism Course with the Morris Journalism Academy. I knew that this would be the challenge that I needed to keep me busy and to learn how to improve my writing.
My tutor’s feedback was more in depth than I expected; he really pulls apart what’s good and what needs to be worked on. Because of this, I can reflect on what I’ve done and attempt to improve it, rather than never knowing what could be better.
Whilst in New York, I got in contact with a bunch of travel bloggers that I’d met from the famous Facebook group, Girls Love Travel for a #gltmeetup at a little bar near Times Square. I was out of my comfort zone, walking alone into a bar to meet with a bunch of strangers, but that’s all apart of the job, isn’t it! It was amazing to meet up with like minded people and discuss our next adventures.
I’m the kind of person that finds it hard to finish a project, and I did get off the track for a while, but I have completed both this and a travel & tourism course recently, so that’s a huge win for me (and I got to armchair travel through a pandemic!) I also have a qualification in photography, so this helped with part of the course, and adds to my package of skills.
Thanks to my tutor, I now have a new confidence to pitch stories to publications, something that wasn’t ever on my radar.
Although I perhaps haven’t written as much as I’d have liked over the past year, I’m excited for what the next few years will bring! I encourage anyone with a desire to travel and write to give this course a go, you’ll never know what you can achieve until you try.