The Beginning of a Journey

by Mackenzie Brim

The first class session for Tourism and Media I arrived unaware of the great journey on which I was about to embark. I sat by myself on the side wall in a room of stark gray tables and cheap carpet and waited in silence with the other students anticipating the arrival of our professors. 

Joselyn arrived first with hands overflowing with a crockpot full of chili and cloth bags full of other food. She explained that we should get used to it because we would be cooking for the whole group when we got to the “Island,” as she and Meta called it. I couldn’t help but think Oh god what have I gotten myself into.

With your writing you can transport your readers to new worlds and expose them to things they couldn’t otherwise experience. This is why I have always been interested in the field of travel writing and ultimately why I decided to take this class. It had been so long since I had written creatively in any sense of the word. Bogged down by the formatting of academics and research I had forgotten why I loved it so much.

That first writing assignment we did was to describe our room as a destination. I titled mine “A Pink Paradise,” after all the pink decorations and jungle foliage mural in my room. I didn’t keep the paper: It disappeared into the abyss that is my backpack. But that writing inspired my trip and a journey that would lead me to learn things about myself.

Mackenzie Brim

mackenziebrim.com

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REVISITING ‘OUTDOORS IN THE INDOORS’

By Jeremy Cowen (Twitter: @JeremyCowen)

(Tags: Travel blogging, blogging, travel writing, writing, editing)

                At our first JMC 5273 class meeting, back in November 2016, I remember huddling over my keyboard wondering how I was going to turn (what seemed to me as) mundane into the sublime.

                Our task was to describe our own living room as a tourist destinations – portray it as a legitimate getaway spot for those who have never visited before. The duty seemed a bit herculean to me: although I love my house, specifically my living room, I couldn’t exactly classify it as a “tourist destination” of any sort.

                My first effort at it, in hindsight, appeared rough and unorganized. After studying travel blogging over the past few months, however, I can see it began to coalesce into its final form, which was handed in for a grade on Jan. 5. Even since then, however, I see language I wish I could revise – describing things IN to too-grandiose of terms to try to cover for the fact that I was, literally, attempting to make a common living room into the next Palm Springs.

                Travel blogging is more than simply enticing readers to visit a place: It’s trying to put the visitor IN that particular place. A good writer should let the readers decide if they should visit by bringing them to the place through their writing. Descriptive and exciting writing is only ONE of the weapons a good travel writer can wield on his or her quest to bring readers closer to their destination.

                I think I’ve learned a lot in the last few months and it was interesting to look back and over one of the first writings for this course. Here are some resources I came across over the past few months I found helpful in travel blogging:

·         https://expertvagabond.com/professional-travel-blogger/

·         https://travelblogsuccess.com/start-a-travel-blog/

·         http://indianajo.com/2013/05/so-you-want-to-start-a-travel-blog-10-things-i-wish-id-known.html

 

Before the storm — Jeremy Cowen’s living room stands mostly undecorated early in the move-in process. A rather bare living room belies what will soon become a haven for outdoor photos, paintings and other décor. Photo courtesy Jeremy Cowen.

Indoors/outdoors — Jeremy Cowen’s living room displays the many decorations he collects from his love of the outdoors. The décor stands as a testament to the room’s ability to be a proxy for being outside. Photo courtesy Jeremy Cowen.

Literary sense — Signs and photos from the famous novel “Lonesome” Dove adorn Jeremy Cowen’s living room walls. Besides actual first-person representation of Cowen’s love of the outdoors, books that glorify outdoor loving, such as Lonesome Dove, are prominently featured as showcase décor. Photo courtesy Jeremy Cowen.