Writing Travellers: A Ground-Floor Opportunity for Writers

Posted by Tom Colvin

August 1, 2008

Now here’s a fasinating idea: a collaborative travel guide, growing out of the emerging interactive Web 2.0 and wiki technology. That’s what I have just uncovered at Writing Travellers, a new website in beta development.

Conceived by Ferdinand Harmsen and Bart van Slobbe, who are located in Amsterdam and New Delhi, this new project, in my view, has enormous promise. Not only will one be able to find travel guidebooks online, but one will be able to order on-demand an up-to-date printed guidebook from a printing company affiliated with the website. Writers and travellers are invited to contribute to guidebooks-in-the-making. While Writing Travellers is organized as a non-profit organization, contributors will receive printed credit for their contributions, as well as points credited toward purchase of guidebooks. In fact, because the website is so new, an enterprising writer has the opportunity to jump in and establish a quick identity as a travel writer.

At the moment, when you visit the website, you will not find very much there. I recommend that you first take a look at the demo guidebook on Amsterdam, which was just uploaded on 30 June. It’s a good sample of what can come together.

Once you’ve looked that guide through, click on the link “About user generated guidebooks,” under the Building A Guidebook column. Here’s a good description of just what the creators have in mind:

WritingTravellers is an initiative for fans of travelling and writing.
For people who like to share their passion and for those who are
constantly looking for unique experiences all over the world. Most of
all WritingTravellers is a – non-commercial! - website about
travelling, put together from tips and experiences of a group of
enthusiast travellers. It’s a website that can be neatly compared with
the encyclopaedia of Wikipedia.

Since I live in both the Philippines and Mexico, I checked to see what is already there for these destinations. VIRTUALLY NOTHING! Rather than being disappointed, I’m excited. Hey, here’s a great opportunity to create something valuable while further building my networks where I live. As I clicked around on the Philippines page, I was amazed to come across a fabulous list of budget hostels throughout the archipeligo. That’s information I am sure to use this fall while I’m tfavelling around doing research on my book.

One of the best features of the site is that one can contribute one snippet at a time. Click on one of the “Last Changes” articles to get a quick hint of what’s possible. Not only can you write; you can also post photos. Don’t have any photos of your own? Then maybe you can find one at Flickr.

What’s so fabulous about this is the opportunity to write just a paragraph or two. For example, why not write about the weekly farmer’s outdoor market in your hometown? Or about your favorite night-time hangout. The subjects are endless.

And you will be a ground-floor contributor. One can offer anonymous contributions. Better for us writers, one can “join” the group, which will give you a byline on your contributions. It’s a simple procedure; I’ve already joined myself. I’ve just contributed a reason to visit the Philippines — and I plan to follow that up with an article, with photos, about my own adventure on a banca tour. Give me a week or so to put it together.

If you want more information, just visit the website. You’ll find various ways to contact the site administrators. Also, the site is tying into quite a number of the social-media groups, such as Facebook or LinkedIn. In fact, that’s how I uncovered this site, while looking for new groups at LinkedIn. So here’s an opportunity to broaden your network too.

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