Steps for Writing a Travelogue

1. Decide on the purpose of

your travelogue. Whether it is
for a magazine, for friends, or
for yourself—determine your
writing style.

2. While traveling, take notes

about what you see, places
you visit, and people you get
acquainted with. Keep a
diary of your impressions. If
you don’t have enough time
to write, perhaps a recorder
would be a smart option for
keeping a diary. Also, collect
various brochures, tourism
maps, and guides. They may
come in handy when you
start writing a travelogue.

3. Take as many pictures as

possible. A photograph
doesn’t necessarily need to
capture an historic or famous
place. Sometimes, a photo of
a crowded street, neon
signboard, or an old man,
conveys a stronger
impression of a place you’ve
visited than the images of
monuments anyone can see
on the Internet.

4. When you return home, take

time to review your
recordings. Sort them out by
date, personal importance, or
based on any other criteria.
Choose photographs which
best illustrate the brightest
moments of your journey.

5. Create an outline of your

travelogue. This must not be
a detailed report yet. The
 outline is necessary for you
to structure your thoughts
and to see if the story flows
logically and is easy to
understand.

6. After you’ve completed the

outline, write the full
travelogue. Try to make it as
interesting as you can. Add
vivid descriptions, historic
and factual information, and
educate your readers on the
customs and traditions of the
country you’ve visited.

Topic Selection
Since a travelogue is
written after your trip to
another country or place,
the main topic of this type
of writing is a description
of your experience there.
Though your travelogue
can contain may areas of
focus, when writing a
travelogue, you can
concentrate on:

 local customs and traditions

 cuisine
 depictions of places of
interest, local history, and
culture
 your adventures
 prices and transportation
 entertainment

Key Points to Consider

1. A description of nothing but
places you’ve visited and
exotic food you’ve eaten will
most likely be perceived as a
boring travelogue rather than
an interesting read. A
travelogue needs a central
idea, which will be the
backbone of your whole
piece of writing. Life lessons
you’ve learned during the
voyage, your reflections
about the differences
between the place where you
live and the place you’ve
visited, or at least some
historic theme could serve as
such a backbone.

2. Deviate from the common

tourist routes and make
explorations on your own.
This way, you can add lots of
interesting, distinctive places
into your descriptions, which
will definitely add value to
your travelogue.

3. Keeping a travelogue within

the structure of an essay is a
sound way to present your
material. In the introduction,
you can provide some
background about the place
you are writing about and
also describe your traveling
conditions. In the main body,
introduce the information you
want to convey to your
readers based on the
recordings and notes you’ve
made during the journey.
Finally, summarize the
experience from the trip.
Share your thoughts about it,
your findings, and what you
 will be contemplating after in
regard to the trip.

4. You don’t necessarily need

to write about the
attractiveness of the place
you’ve visited. The journey
most likely won’t consist only
of nice events, places, and
people. Describe the
difficulties you faced, strange
customs, sanitary conditions,
etc.

Do and Don’t
Do Don’t
 Do include not only personal experiences, but Don’t shoot pictures of yourself in the
also information that will be useful for those background of historical monuments for a
who will want to visit the country you describe. travelogue. Such pictures are okay for your
Give your readers an idea about transportation personal photo album, but for a travelogue it is
costs, hotels, and resorts. Give advice about the better not to choose them.
entertainment in the area or about places of
 Don’t repeat or retell the information that is
interest to visit.
usually typed in various tourist guidebooks.
 Do try to convey the atmosphere of the place
 Don’t use stock photos or other photos that can
you visited. Talk to the locals about their lives
be found on the Internet.
or problems and benefits of living in that place.
Include fragments of these interviews.  Don’t indulge in the judgement of the other
country’s customs and traditions and don’t
 Do provide a historical and cultural background
mock aspects of that country that are unusual
about the place you’ve been to.
or weird to you. Some cultural peculiarities
 Do add some humor in your writing. You might may seem odd and uncommon to you, but don’t
want to describe some funny situations that claim them to be bad or stupid. This doesn’t
occurred during the voyage or a humorous spin speak in your favor and prevents your readers
on some serious problems you managed to from having their own opinion. It can facilitate
solve. prejudice against the country you are
describing.
 Do proofread and edit your travelogue.
 Don’t wait long to write your travelogue. Do it
immediately after you return home, while your
impressions are fresh and you can recall events
clearly.