Welcome to the Friday Freebie Five, a new weekly feature on Dream of Travel Writing’s Six Figure Travel Writer blog.

Each week, we comb our Travel Magazine Database to bring you five magazine sections open to freelancers around a theme–front-of-book trend pieces, long-form first-person features, short narrative postcards–to inspire your pitches.

Cambria Style

“Explore” covers a different city in each issue, usually located in the U.S. Articles are about 500 words long and round up suggestions for things to do and see including shops, attractions, bars, and hotels. There are about 12 suggestions per article and products are often included such as a suitcase to use or beauty product to pack. There is a short third-person description for each with the website, address, phone number, and price included. Cities recently covered include Sonoma County, San Diego, and Denver.

Hemispheres

“Three Perfect Days” is a 2,500-to-3,500-word feature which covers a different destination that United flies to in each issue. After a 150-to-250-word introduction, the article is split into “Day 1,” “Day 2,” and “Day 3,” as the writer shares a narrative of their trip to the destination in first person. The tone is conversational, informal, and often humorous as the writer covers activities, attractions, hotels, and restaurants and often includes quotes from business owners and locals. There is usually a sidebar for each day which gives the reader more information on the destination in the form of a round up. This could include a round up of recommended hotels, where to find the best tacos, and interesting facts about the area. Hemispheres finalizes “Three Perfect Days” locations up to a year in advance in order to release the magazine’s annual calendar to advertisers. Destinations recently covered include Las Vegas, Los Cabos, and the Canadian Rockies.

Lonely Planet Traveller (UK)

“Well Spent” covers how to spend a set amount on money, usually around £200, in one day in one city. The subheadings of “Stay,” “Do,” “Lunch,” “Buy,” “Dinner,” and “Drink” can be found with one recommendation for each covering a hotel, attraction, restaurants, a shop, and a bar with a 50-word description of each and the website. Cities recently covered include Copenhagen, Dublin, and Budapest.

Cara

“Business & Life” offers a guide to a city serviced by Aer Lingus. There is sometimes a subtle twist for business travelers such mentioning a conference in the city or why the destination is good for business travel. There is a short introduction to the city followed by the subheadings of “Eat,” “Get Smart,” and “Sleep,” where recommendations for restaurants, attractions or transportation tips, and hotels are given respectively. The piece is about 1,000 words long and written in a third-person descriptive style. The price, address, website, and phone number is often given for recommendations like hotels and restaurants. Examples of destinations covered recently include Rome, Zurich, and Lisbon.

Canadian Traveller 

“In Short” is a 500-to-700-word roundup of what to do in a given city. It’s written in first- or third-person, and typically focuses on both regional and international destinations that might appeal to the average Canadian traveller. The article is usually divided up into five or six 100-word paragraphs that cite what to explore in a certain city, where to eat and drink, and how to have fun. The writing style is fast-paced and informative, often incorporating specific details (e.g., “24-hour and 48-hour tickets are available”), alongside helpful local tips (e.g., “the upper deck has better visibility”). Most “In Short” roundups reference nightlife hotspots, museums, restaurants and shopping locales. Past articles have covered how to navigate London as a family, and what to see on Prince Edward Island. Text is accompanied by few images, and one sidebar (“Tip for accommodations”), which lists lodging sites for travelers.

You can find complete how to pitching information for each magazine listed, including email addresses for all editors, in our Travel Magazine Database by clicking on the magazine’s name and logging in with your account.

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