Travel

Travel Writing Contest Winners Present and Past

Guidelines for the 2016 Narrative Travel Writing Contest

TransitionsAbroad.com invites you to enter its 2016 Narrative Travel Writing Contest with a $500 first-place prize and no fee for entry.

Please read our carefully considered guidelines carefully, as understanding and following them are a big factor in terms of our final decision.

Professionals, freelancers, and aspiring travel writers are invited to submit an article that describes how traveling in a slower manner and attempting to adapt to the space and time of locals, their culture, and land has deepened your experience of both the people and the destination. One of the results of a slower form of immersion travel is the experience of epiphanies through the senses and spirit that change one's perceptions of others, of oneself, of the interrelationship, and of the world as a whole. We urge you to translate one or more such transformative moments into a narrative.

Transitions Abroad has always observed that more experienced travelers and travel writers seek to engage more deeply in a destination by staying for a longer period and thereby immerse themselves in the culture and homes they are fortunate enough to visit as guests. Learning to attempt to communicate by any means, ask questions, share stories sad and humorous, cook, work on the land, volunteer, and participate in other daily activities or sacred rituals and festivals is one way to deepen the travel experience and transform it into a two-way street in the process. The Slow Food movement born in Italy and the aesthetic and ethical spirit of the Slow Movement are a manifestation of the urge now felt by many more and more travelers to participate in the daily lives of the host community and not simply as consumers of their culture and land.

We are not looking for destination pieces that describe in flowery amazing terms your experience, moralistic essays on the pros and cons of a postmodernist view of travel, nor are we looking for travelogues or blog-like posts that are often too overly personal and self-involved to resonate with others on their own paths of discovery. We are looking for well-written inspirational pieces that will lead others to experience the sense of engagement as a global citizen.

Accompanying photos that enhance the narrative are highly preferred, as strong visuals often adds a substantial component to a travel narrative on the Web. Photojournalistic essays or accompanying videos will also be considered, and gentle (self)irony or humor is always appreciated.

Please include an optional bio of 1-3 sentences that reference your websites, blogs, books, and contact information in the body of the submission. We can include 1 link in the final winning version.

TransitionsAbroad.com will publish the top three winners' entries as well as those of the selected runner-ups. See past contests for examples.

Notification of your participation in the contest via Twitter, Facebook, or other social networking sites would be appreciated (see our links/buttons at the top and bottom of this page).