David on December 29th, 2009

This piece was originally written last year for Ninemsn.com.au. But I thought it was worth reposting here for anyone who fancies an insight into the glamorous life of a travel journalist. This isn’t a verbatim, true diary of one week, but it’s not far off the mark and should give a decent idea of proceedings…
 
Sunday
Day [...]

Continue reading about A week in the life of a travel writer

David on December 21st, 2009

Hot destinations lists
It’s that time of year again where every guidebook publisher, newspaper travel section and website trots out its list of the top ten hot travel destinations for 2010. From Lonely Planet to the Guardian, you can guarantee that anyone who’s anyone will have their own spurious list. And, therefore, Grumpy Traveller shall do [...]

Continue reading about Top ten hottest new travel destinations for 2010

I’m sure many travel writers have encountered a situation where they have been offered a ‘media rate’ by hotels, airlines and tour operators. And I’m sure many of us have struggled to know how to word the most appropriate response.
Well never fear – just alter the details on this template letter to suit your individual [...]

Continue reading about Template letter for travel writers offered a ‘media rate’ by hotels, airlines & tour operators

David on December 16th, 2009

Or a Vanuatu rugby kit. That would do nicely as well. Heck, I’d even accept a Dominica cricket shirt if I could get hold of one.
 
Travellers’ collections
I should perhaps explain a little here. A lot of travellers collect things from their travels. Some go for postcards, others like to get stamps, others go for coins. [...]

Continue reading about All I want for Christmas is a Montserrat football kit

Future of tourism at Uluru
Sydney Morning Herald blogger Clive Dorman has sparked a big debate on the future of tourism at Uluru (the monolith formerly known as Ayers Rock). His reaction seems to be that if you can’t climb the rock, then there’s no point in visiting.
 
Background to climbing debate
That, frankly, is bollocks. But first, [...]

Continue reading about Why climbing Uluru shouldn’t be banned – and why you shouldn’t climb it

David on December 8th, 2009

What makes a good travel story?
I often get asked what makes a good travel story, and it’s something that hard to quantify. Evoking a sense of place, letting the reader in on things they don’t know, passing on useful information and skilfully managing to weave pertinent themes together are up there. But if there’s one [...]

Continue reading about Why we need more celebrity travel journalism

Why the hospitality industry doesn’t get WiFi. Again.
I know by now that rambling on about wireless internet access isn’t exactly smashing the boundaries of literature and reportage, but today I encountered a classic example of why the hospitality industry (and by extension, the tourism industry) just doesn’t get it.
 
Moving house
I have just bought a house [...]

Continue reading about What is free WiFi access? An explanation for idiots in hotels and pubs

David on December 3rd, 2009

//

Trivia time
As you may have noticed, I’m not averse to the odd bit of trivia. That doesn’t make me a loser. It makes me very cool indeed.
 
Christmas quiz 
And as I’m far too stingy and Scrooge-like to hand out proper presents to the readers of this blog, I thought I’d create a Christmas quiz for [...]

Continue reading about The Grumpy Traveller Christmas Travel Quiz