This may come as a surprise, but you don’t have to travel to become a travel writer. Almost everybody lives in or near a town or city that has some points of interest for others. If you’ve lived in your area for a long time, you probably know a lot about its various attractions. That makes you a great resource for others who may be interested in visiting your city or region. It’s also a great opportunity to use your knowledge to break into the field of travel writing without ever having to board an airplane.

Lists are a great entry point for new travel writers. Niches are all around you, and you can easily create lists of things to do for each of those niches. Many of the articles I have written and published about where I live – Berlin, Germany – have been very focused list articles. For Paste Magazine, I wrote “Three Two-Wheeled Ways to See Berlin,” which covered ways of getting around in the city that didn’t involve public transportation or a car. iExplore published my article “Berlin Is a Year-Round Halloween Town,” which detailed several local attractions that cater to fans of horror and the macabre.

The following are some additional examples of niches that you could focus on if you’re interested in breaking into travel writing.

Fun for Families

Take a look around you and list the top attractions in your area that would be great for families to visit. Are there kid-specific museums or special concert venues? Does your city or county have interesting or notable parks or playgrounds, or are there a variety of interesting sites that would be perfect locations for a child’s birthday party? These are all potential topics for a list that traveling (or even local) families might find useful.

Luxury Vacation Tips

If there are venues and sites that would appeal to travelers looking for one-of-a-kind experiences, you can put together a list of places in your area for this demographic. High-end spas or winery tours – even private workshops with artisan cheese-makers or chocolatiers – are great examples of attractions for those with larger travel budgets.

Can’t Miss Roundups

As a local, you likely know the best hotels or inns in the area, great dining options, or the hottest places to shop. Lists on these subjects – providing details on location, prices, or other relevant details – are a mainstay for travel publications. For example, I spent a year researching all the best places to buy and enjoy cheese in Berlin for “Käse Study: A cheese-lovers guide to historic, hedonistic Berlin,” which was published in culture: the word on cheese.

My cheese article brings up a final important point: Don’t forget to look beyond travel magazines as potential outlets for your pitches. The following is a list of some great publications that accept pitches for travel writing:

AFAR Magazine – https://www.afar.com/about/pitch-guidelines
culture: the word on cheese – https://culturecheesemag.com/pitch/
Food & Wine – https://www.foodandwine.com/about-us
Go World Travel – https://www.goworldtravel.com/submissions/
GoNOMAD – https://www.gonomad.com/3500-writers-guidelines-gonomad-travel
iExplore – https://www.iexplore.com/articles/submissions
Today’s Parent – https://www.todaysparent.com/about-us/

To save yourself time and energy, before writing anything, check the guidelines for the publication you want to approach with your story idea. Publication needs differ when it comes to length and tone, so you don’t want to have to completely rewrite your article based on the outlet. Of course, some editors will want to see a complete piece, so pay close attention to guidelines before submitting anything.

Starting out in travel writing can seem daunting if you don’t live in a major city. However, don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need to be invited to go on fancy press trips in order to start building your portfolio.

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BIO: Bernadette Geyer is a writer, editor, and translator in Berlin, Germany. Her writings have appeared in AFAR Magazine, culture: the word on cheese, FundsforWriters, The Writer, and elsewhere. Geyer has copy edited or translated more than 20 books and teaches the “Online Clips for Freelance Writers” workshop through WOW! Women on Writing. You can find out more about her through her website at https://bernadettegeyer.com.