In your writing, use all the senses. I’m Westways Travel Editor Elizabeth Harryman, and here’s a 60-Second Travel Writer Tip.

         Most writers are pretty good at describing what they see. But they often neglect to use the other senses. Describing how things taste, feel, sound, and smell can fill in the portrait you paint of a place. Listen to these excerpts from Lisa See’s captivating novel Shanghai Girls:          A bracelet carved from a single piece of good jade hangs from her wrist. The thump of it when it hits the table edge is comforting and familiar. And:          We cross a bridge over Soochow Creek and then turn right, away from the Whangpoo River and its dank odors of oil, seaweed, coal, and sewage.          Hear how See’s use of the senses of sound and smell draws you in and paints a fuller picture than if the descriptions stopped at the visual. When you’re visiting place, look carefully, to be sure. But close your eyes for few minutes and let your other senses speak to you.

For SATW Professional Development, I’m Westways Travel Editor Elizabeth Harryman. SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave

What are “reliable sources?” I’m Westways Travel Editor Elizabeth Harryman, and here’s a 60-Second Travel Writer Tip:

When you research a topic, use accurate, trustworthy sources. If the tobacco industry funds a report on smoking, for example, the results might not be as reliable as a report done, say, by the American Medical Association.          When you submit an article for publication, you’ll often be asked to provide contact information for the sources you used so that researchers can fact-check the story. A primary source is the person you interviewed or wrote about. A secondary source could be a person affiliated with the person or company—could be a Public Relations representative. They’re great for checking things like the number of rooms in a hotel—but if they say the chef is fabulous—well, you might want to get the opinion of a food expert. Be careful about websites. If you’re writing about national parks, for example, NPS.gov is a good source, but beware of commercial sites masquerading as the real thing. And while Wikipedia can be a place to start, don’t rely on it; make sure you have a second source.

For SATW professional development, I’m Westways Travel Editor Elizabeth Harryman. SaveSave SaveSave

Be your own editor. You can save yourself trouble and ingratiate yourself with your editor by taking some precautions before submitting your story. Here’s a 60-Second Travel Writer Tip from LA Times Travel Editor Catharine Hamm:

--After you’ve finished your story, walk away for a couple of hours; then come back when you can look at it with fresh eyes. --Print out your story and read it aloud. You may find sentences that are too long or nouns and verbs that don’t agree. You may hear a word that “clunks. And don’t discount intuition; it’s experience at work. --Highlight your facts and recheck your sources. Are e-cigarettes allowed in carry-on bags or checked bags? An error caught in a recent LATimes blog post—but not before it made it online. When you’re pitching an editor, your credibility counts heavily in the decision. Think of self-editing as money in the bank.

In the next installment, we’ll talk about reliable sources. For SATW professional development, I’m Westways Travel Editor Elizabeth Harryman. SaveSave

The English language has millions of words - a veritable buffet. But like a buffet, sometimes we overindulge. Here’s a 60-Second Travel Writer Tip from LA Times Travel Editor Catharine Hamm:

Strong verbs and nouns are keys to great prose. Adjectives and adverbs are not always your friends. If you’re writing about a jungle, there’s probably no need to describe it as a “lush, green jungle,” unless it isn’t. Same with describing a nuclear explosion as powerful - or winter in the Artic Circle as frigid—unless it isn’t. Which evokes the livelier image:  traffic that moved very slowly or traffic that crawled? A vendor that loudly called out his prices or a vendor who shouted them? A sun that reflects brightly off the snow or snow that glistens? By choosing a strong noun or verb, you also save words, which makes you a hero to an editor and, more important to a busy reader.

In the next installment, we’ll talk about being your own editor. For SATW professional development, I’m Westways Travel Editor Elizabeth Harryman. SaveSave

At an SATW professional development session some years ago, University of Missouri professor Don Ranly gave us this gem: Something compared to nothing doesn’t mean anything. Here’s a 60-Second Travel Writer Tip from LA Times Travel Editor Catharine Hamm:

Dr. Ranley was talking about using numbers effectively to paint the kind of word picture that helps reader see what you’re saying. Maybe you’re writing about San Bernardino County, California, the largest county in the lower 48 states. It’s 22,000 square miles. But how big is that? You can say that it’s about the size of Delaware. Or you depending your audience, you could say it’s about the size of 165,000 Disneylands. It takes a little extra reporting, but the delight of a story often is in the description that lets the read see through the written.

What are some other ways to make descriptions come alive? We’ll talk about some pitfalls of descriptors our next installment of The 60-Second Travel Writer. For SATW professional development, I’m Westways Travel Editor Elizabeth Harryman. SaveSave SaveSave

The old joke among journalists is that we chose our profession because we can’t do numbers. Here’s a 60-Second Travel Writer Tip from LA Times Travel Editor Catharine Hamm:

You don’t have to be a mathematician to use numbers in stories, and that’s good because they lend gravitas. The number of square feet in a hotel room. How far a place is from the airport. How much it cost to build something. But sometimes we end up with sentences like this: The hotel, built at a cost of $7 billion and opened in 2013, has 204 rooms, each about 650 square feet in its eight stories that loom above downtown 22 miles from the airport. Rates begin at $225 a night for two people, excluding taxes and the $20-a-night resort fee. All of that information could be important, but stick to this rule of thumb: About three numbers is the maximum a reader can absorb in any sentence and, some editors say, any paragraph. Choose the two or three most important figures in what we’ll call a gravitas graf. If there are other stats that could help, sprinkle them in unobtrusively.

Up next: how to use numbers more effectively. For SATW professional development, I’m Westways Travel Editor Elizabeth Harryman. SaveSave SaveSave

Good writing begins with good reporting. Here’s an SATW 60-Second Travel Writer Tip from LA Times Travel Editor Catharine Hamm:  

A well-known travel writer used to insist, “I’m NOT a reporter. I’m a writer.” Yet her stories brimmed with facts, figures, and imagery collected by carefully questioning sources and recording observations. Think about the reporting it took for the New York Times’ Timothy Egan to write this paragraph in his book The Worst Hard Time, which chronicles the Dust Bowl years. “They had been on the road for six days, a clan of five bouncing along in a tired wagon, when Bam White woke to some bad news. One of his horses was dead. It was the nineteenth-century equivalent of a flat tire, except this was the winter of 1926. The Whites had no money. They were moving from the high desert chill of Las Animas, Colorado, to Littlefield, Texas, south of Amarillo to start anew.” Reporting details—and skillfully incorporating them into a story—paints a picture for your reader.

Using facts also helps writers avoid another deadly sin of writing: telling, not showing. We’ll talk about that in the next edition of The 60-Second Travel Writer. For SATW professional development, I’m Westways Travel Editor Elizabeth Harryman. SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave

Show me, don’t tell me. Here’s an SATW 60-Second Travel Writer Tip from LA Times Travel Editor Catharine Hamm:

Missouri is the Show Me State. It’s a good reminder for travel writers that our craft requires showing, not telling, readers about what they’re seeing. The best travel writing gives the reader an unseen narrator, to explain things. It also lets readers reach their own conclusions. Listen to the differences in the word pictures these two sentences paint: “The enormous chandelier overwhelms the tiny lobby in the new Chinese-themed hotel.” versus this “The chandelier, made in Croatia, not China, contains 72,000 crystal prisms that illuminate a lobby that’s about the same size as the hotel’s 380-square-foot guest rooms.” To write this, you’ve asked where the chandelier was made, how many prisms it has, and the dimensions of the lobby and of a standard guest room. You don’t have to say it overwhelms the space. The reader can imagine a chandelier of that size in their room. You’ve led the reader to that conclusion, but you haven’t made it for him.

Are there too many numbers in that sentence? We’ll talk about numbers in our next edition of The 60-Second Travel Writer. For SATW professional development, I’m Westways Travel Editor Elizabeth Harryman.   SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSaveSaveSave SaveSave SaveSave

Travel Camel Shane Dallas returns to talk about a life-changing trip he led to Tajikistan.      SaveSave SaveSave

Key West Mayor Craig Cates chats with Paul and Elizabeth about why Key West is the world famous destination it is. They talk about ocean racing and the Cuban connection. Mayor Cates assures us that Key West is ready for visitors.    

With a glass conservatory dome designed for intense storms the Key West Butterfly Conservancy is back undamaged and and provides not only great beauty but a real learning experience for visitors to Upper Duvall Street. SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave

Jennifer Dombrowski checks in from Bordeaux, France to tell of her trip with husband Tim to Coastal Wales. They drove part of the way and discovered some fun inns, great scenery, and some neat attractions. And bad weather in Snowdonia keep them out of the mountain hikes they were looking forward to.    SaveSave

Andy Newman who has been spokesman for the Florida Keys for 37 years, is a Florida native and has a home in the Keys. He talks with Paul and Elizabeth about how Key West and all of the Keys are coming back after Hurricane Maria. Andy shares the details of how hurricanes can both effect a place and spare it. He also reveals that Hemingway's six-toed cat descendants are just fine.        

Emily Gallagher talks with Paul about how Hostelling International is changing with the enlarged expectations of young travelers today. However she also stress that all age groups use hostels in order to not only experience the comraderie of other travelers that hostels pride but to stretch travel dollars. She also shares with Paul that hostels are also accomodating those who want more privacy with hotel-style rooms. She provides some great advice for those  wanting to find good reliable hostels around the world. 

John Poimiroo joins Paul to kickoff another Fall Color Season in California. John tells how a unique climate and changes in altitude  make the fall color season last for months in the Golden State.       

Janice Wald Henderson joins Paul to talk about her annual journey to Virtuoso Week, the annual conference where the world's luxury travel advisors meet to shape our view of luxury travel. Janice and Paul point out that luxury travel doesn't have to be super expensive. However, while costing more than mass market vacations, a luxury experience can offer more in building memories and experiences for a lifetime. Janice notes that Virtuoso Members are carefully vetted not only for experience but reputation, giving the association real integrity in a competitive world of travel. She also discusses the role of an advisor rather than just someone selling travel. SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave

Max Hartshorne joins Paul to talk about the joys of travel to Canada's Gaspe Peninsula, which is about as far east as you can go and still be on the mainland. The Gaspe combines French and English culture, great food, and enough scenery for a year of travel. Read all about Max's journey here.         SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave

Greg Geronemus co-founder of Smartours  joins Paul to discuss travel costs and how to control them. Greg brings his expertise as a successful tour operator to the subject and helps to dispel myths about tours and touring. This time they discuss Cuba, Europe and Asia and why each offers unique opportunities for touring.     SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave

Global Correspondent, Gary Arndt joins Paul to talk about his latest adventure  which combined storm chasing with eclipse watching. Of course joining a storm watcher tour requires clouds and watching the eclipse requires clear skies. So that means a lot of driving. Gary describes the advantages of having a van and a driver who knew the territory along the path of totality.   You can check out some marvelous images Gary has taken on his travels at his Instagram account here.       SaveSave SaveSaveSaveSave

Our correspondent, Jennifer Dombrowski lives in Bordeaux and brings France, and her global travels with husband Tim, to Traveling. Jennifer joins Paul and Elizabeth to discuss her recent trip to Toulouse, France, where she discovered an amazing world of wine that serves as an educational resource. Jennifer also reveals a passion for airplanes and discusses the tour she took of the huge Airbus plant where the mammoth 380s are built.      SaveSave SaveSave SaveSaveSaveSave SaveSave

Margie Goldsmith travels the world as a correspondent with Traveling and when she manages to find good wifi we talk on Skype. Besides finding time to make an ugly stick or perhaps play the harmonica in Africa she really does travel the world whether on the back of a BMW GS 1200 or finding her way along a jungle path. In this episode she talks about hiking in Gros Morne National Park in Canada and visiting Newfoundland in the Canadian Maritime provinces. As a Lowell Thomas Travel Award receipient, Margie has been to 134 countries and written about them for: Travel + Leisure, Robb Report, National Geographic Traveler, Islands, Coastal Living, Virtuoso Life, Business Jet Traveler, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Affluent Traveler, O the Oprah Magazine, American Way, Hemispheres,  Private Clubs, etc. Jennifer has also managed to win a Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Gold, ASJA Gold Award, four Folio Awards and 66 other writing awards. Fellow Resident, the Explorer's Club, Travelers' Century.     SaveSave SaveSave

What are “reliable sources?” I’m Westways Travel Editor W, and here’s an SATW 60-Second Travel Writer Tip. When you research a topic, use accurate, trustworthy sources. If the tobacco industry funds a report on smoking, for example, the results might not be as reliable as a report done, say, by the American Medical Association.          When you submit an article for publication, you’ll often be asked to provide contact information for the sources you used so that researchers can fact-check the story. A primary source is the person you interviewed or wrote about. A secondary source could be a person affiliated with the person or company—could be a Public Relations representative. They’re great for checking things like the number of rooms in a hotel—but if they say the chef is fabulous—well, you might want to get the opinion of a food expert. Be careful about websites. If you’re writing about national parks, for example, nps.gov is a good source, but beware of commercial sites masquerading as the real thing. And while Wikipedia can be a place to start, don’t rely on it; make sure you have a second source. For SATW Professional Development, I’m Westways Travel Editor Elizabeth Harryman. SaveSave SaveSave

Colin Roberts Scotts joins Paul and Elizabeth to talk about the Sydney Cup.  Colin was the second Australian, after Colin Ridgeway, to play in the NFL, and he joins Paul and Elizabeth to both talk about the first official NCAA college football game to be played in Sydney August 27. The game pits Stanford University against Rice University. Colin also reminisces about some of their favorite things to see and do in Sydney, such as visiting the Taronga Park Zoo, taking a boat for great seafood at Doyles on the Beach, and having pie and peas at Harry’s Cafe de Wheels. Join them for a fun, free-wheeiling discussion about Australian sports, food, and fun.    

Dan Sullivan, Jr joins Paul and Elizabeth to discuss the remarkable history of Collette Tours, founded a century ago as a tour company specializing in discovering America. The chat about how the tour and travel industry has changed and evolved and how guided vacations are more popular than ever. He also talks about the benefits of a guided vacation to America's National Parks. They also explore how the company has evolved to offering guided vacations around the world.      SaveSave

Sable Island National Park Reserve is a windswept sliver of land off Nova Scotia’s coast, where horses and seals have called it home since the late 1800s. Everything-everywhere’s Gary Arndt, Traveling’s global travel correspondent joins Paul and Elizabeth to reveal his sojourn in this little-visited place. As 3x Travel Photographer of the year, Gary shares photography tips, explaining that what great photographers of yesterday used to do in darkrooms, and how photographers can apply those workflows today in the digital realm. SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave