To pick one word that no-one ever uses in real life is a bit odd, but to combine two is just ridiculous. The rules of travel writing hackery dictate that “veritable” and “smorgasbord” can never be used independently of each other. They also tend to be used by people that don’t appear to know what [...]
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There is no doubt that the aims of UNESCO’s World Heritage List are entirely laudable. The preservation of sites and areas of great significance is noble, and should be encouraged as much as possible. The problem is that way that the tourism industry has hijacked the World Heritage tag. Guide books abuse it, travel writers [...]
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When it comes to finding hidden gems, it’s probably best to defer to the experts. Miners won’t bother digging through lots of inaccessible terrain for just one gem – they’d sooner just scoop up the array of much more accessible gems. There are lots of gems – why bother chasing the really awkward one? In [...]
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- Writing travel guides online. - Using existing guide book writing skills. - Understanding what people search for and how they use the internet. - Use Google Maps to illustrate travel guide sites. Lack of work for travel writers? There are few things liable to generate less sympathy than a moaning travel writer. And [...]
Continue reading about How travel writers can make money writing for the web
This is universally taken as a sign of a good quality restaurant; a little secret for the writer to share with the readers. Alas, the truly observant would notice that – when given a choice – the locals will eat at McDonalds or KFC. Go on, compare the numbers in that cute backstreet restaurant to [...]
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Mental image of cruise ship passengers I’ve never been on a cruise ship, and I can’t see myself ever wanting to. This is partly due to the image I have of what a cruise holiday would be like – being surrounded by fat, elderly Americans who care about little but being able to graze on [...]
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This one is generally used when the writer wishes to appear more open-minded to different cultures than he or she really is. It’s intended to indicate that sauntering through a group of poverty-stricken stall-holders, who are desperately try to eke out a living by selling complete tat to gullible foreigners, is in some way a [...]
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There are few things that get me angrier than wireless internet access (or lack of it) in hotels. There are some hotels that have an admirable policy on WiFi, but by and large, accommodation providers behave disgracefully when it comes to getting online. Suffice to say, this is likely to be the first of many [...]
Continue reading about Why hotels don’t get WiFi: 1 – Ambivalence
This one is inevitably used when the writer has already described the view (or simply said that it’s great) and doesn’t want to use the word ‘view’ twice in quick succession. It’s a spectacular example of journalese, the language only used by journalists. Think headlines along the lines of “Top cop in vice girl rap [...]
Continue reading about Travel Writer Clichés: #3 – Stunning Vista
A common complaint amongst air stewards and stewardesses is that passengers keep their headphones on whilst trying to communicate. This is an absolutely understandable gripe – it’s incredibly rude, and forces the crew member to try and bellow over the top of a film when they’re trying to ask what drink you’d like. Anti [...]
Continue reading about Should flight crews be wearing masks?