WHY TAKE A TRAVEL WRITING WORKSHOP?
by Judith Fein
Do you want to have more fulfilling travel adventures? Would you like to explore and communicate your truth to others? Do you long to be in the moment, see in the moment, and be a more active participant in life? Then join us for unique and unforgettable adventures and experiences on the road.
Award-winning travel journalist Judith Fein and her husband, travel photojournalist Paul Ross, teach travel writing in a real-world setting. Most other travel writing courses invite participants to attend a several-hour or all-day seminar in an urban hotel room. Teachers lecture participants about how to prepare a pitch and structure a story; they also provide information about the business of travel writing. While the information may be good, the technique often doesn’t work. And the reason it doesn’t is simple: This is not the way most people learn best.
Instead, Fein and Ross take participants who would like to learn travel writing to an exotic destination for eight days. In addition to learning what the business is like and how to write those pitches, students will be taught how the best travel journalists travel and how they find or engage in unique situations they can write about. Participants will be encouraged to put these travel techniques to use. They will meet and interact with people from another culture. They will be sent out to find subjects and stories that excite or intrigue them. They will write their stories. And they will work with skilled professionals to craft their stories into publishable pieces. Those who would like to learn how to be travel photographers will also have the option (included in the cost of the workshop) of classes and one-on-one sessions with Paul Ross. There is a great demand for photos to accompany and illustrate articles, and Paul Ross demystifies travel photography and helps students practice it in the field.
Most travel writing courses are fairly expensive, often costing several hundred dollars a day, not counting accommodations and meals. Fein and Ross provide high value and high quality trips and courses that are affordable. The participants who have attended their workshops are some of the brightest, most open, willing people Fein and Ross have met. A few grousing mates--who came along reluctantly and had no desire to participate-- have turned into promising writers and photographers.
Participants range in age from 15 to 78, come from diverse destinations, and are willing to learn, laugh, travel deeply, be receptive to the unusual and the unexpected and, in many cases, change their lives.
The workshops are designed for any and all of the following:
--people who want to be travel journalists
--folks who want to stretch and learn new skills
--those who are interested in writing
--people looking for an adventure
--and, especially, folks who want to learn to be travelers rather than tourists.