To reasonably expect to succeed as a travel writer you must also enjoy the writing process (I often scribble notes while waiting at red lights) and develop your own distinctive voice with which to tell each story.

	Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Be cautious about traveling in order to write. I travel to experience this planet and its people; to explore myself. Sure, I keep a journal, take photographs and collect enough unique facts to support a story if I choose to write one. But if writing takes precedence, it can create a membrane between the traveler and the world. The writer who lets that happen has forsaken true travel in favor of making a living. G. K. Chesterton made a similar point:"The traveller sees what he sees; the tripper sees what he has come to see."

My friend Amelia and everyone else who dreams of writing about travel as a career face significant obstacles. That's life. I prefer to be guided by the words of one of our civilization's greatest travelers of the mind, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and magic in it."

Read Rob's answers to questions that were asked by the GORP community Who makes all the money in the travel industry? http://www.gorp.com/gorp/location/expert/ask_indmoney.htm Tom asked how one breaks into the travel and tourism industry http://www.gorp.com/gorp/location/expert/ask_trvlindustry.htm Kimberly wants to know how Rob affords to travel and live http://www.gorp.com/gorp/location/expert/ask_money.htm

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Traveler's Tool Kit by Rob Sangster, offers practical tips on how to travel absolutely anywhere. Click here to order!