I started travel writing by accident in 1999. Julia and I went on our first true vacation trip that year, to Cancun, with her sister and new boyfriend, and some girls who worked at the gym that were serendipitously going to Cancun at the same time. I cannot say we loved Cancun, but our group had a lot of fun. We did not stay at an all-inclusive, but a Holiday Inn that was perched between the beach resorts and downtown. (We enjoyed one day at an all-inclusive after sitting through one of those horrid time share sales-pitches). We had a lovely pool, an interesting clientele, and plenty of tequila. What I remember most about that trip is not the location, but the stories, even though, at the time, my idea of a dream vacation was Cancun. When we returned from that trip, I didn’t want to tell all of our friends the same stories, so I wrote about them in three emails, figuring I was a good enough writer to make them somewhat entertaining. I had some positive feedback, so I kept going, writing more travel journals from Hawaii, Thailand, Ireland, Italy, Antigua, Belgium/France, and Japan. Of course I’m missing some as well, and recently wrote about our adventures in Mangaia, Cook Islands, from 2006. I hope to follow up with stories about Jamaica, Laos, and Cambodia before they fade to black from my memory bank.
Traveling and writing have great symbiosis. If you haven’t done it, give it a try; you won’t be disappointed. Over the next week or so I’ll be providing you with my TOP FIVE reasons why you should write about your travel experiences, even if nobody else will read them.
Paul Panchyshyn 