If you are new to writing, travel writing, just the particular geographic area or type of travel you’d like to write about, or if you simply need to get money coming in as soon as possible, it can be faster and easier to start with jobs that already exist rather than creating your own.

Starting out in these charted waters will also give you experience with the types of situations that come up with client work so you know what to look for and what to avoid when you strike out to set up your own dream gigs at conferences or create your own custom proposals for clients.

And, most importantly, it means money that you know will be in the bank every month.

I’ve broken out the websites below into several categories—blogging versus magazine writing and subscription sites versus content management companies that act as middlemen between writers and companies that need content—because we don’t all like to work the same way.

Some sites may be a total nuisance for you while others are a great fit, but rest assured, all of these sites are legitimate, even if some people personally dislike them.

Blogging:

  • Problogger
  • BloggingJobs
  • Bloggerbridge

Magazine Writing:

  • Journalism Jobs
  • Gorkana
  • Media Bistro
  • Ed2010 Whisper Jobs

Content Management Agencies:

  • Contently
  • Skyword
  • Newsmodo

Subscription-based Sites:

  • Freelance Writers Den
  • Paid to Blog Jobs
  • Matador Marketplace

Industry Job Boards:

  • TIES
  • YTP
  • Good Food Jobs
  • Travel Massive
  • Travel Age West jobs
  • NATJA
  • IFWTWA
  • SATW

General Boards with Good Opportunities:

  • LinkedIn
  • Freelance Writing Jobs newsletter

Notice that I haven’t mentioned Elance-, Odesk-, and Fivrr-type sites. Or Craigslist (though I and others I know have found things on here once in a blue moon).

While you certainly may be able to find travel-related gigs in these places, they’re not going to be at the type of rates that will help you become a six-figure travel writer. The best jobs from Craigslist, as there are actually some legitimate businesses who don’t know better than to post there, are aggregated on several of the websites listed above, so you’ll find the ones worth applying to without wading through all the calls for “writing for exposure.”