Travelescape

Write for Travelescape.

For Contributors

Travelescape publishes a few essays a year by other travellers: first-person, slow, and specific. If you went somewhere and came back seeing something differently, we'd like to read about it.

What We Publish

  • A journey you took yourself. One place, one idea, the details only you noticed.
  • Essays, not guides. The people, the pauses, the detours: what an itinerary leaves out.
  • Honest and dated. When you went, what it was like, what surprised you, including what didn't go well.
  • Around 1,200 to 2,000 words, with three to eight of your own photographs.

What We Don't

  • Listicles, "top ten" pieces, or guides written from research rather than experience.
  • Anything written for keywords or for a link. Guest-post offers from SEO agencies are declined.
  • Sponsored stays or trips presented as independent experience. If anything was given to you, say so; we add a note.
  • Writing produced by AI and presented as your own experience.

AI, Language and Translation

Write in the language you think in. AI may help you translate or edit your own words; it cannot write the experience for you. If your essay was translated with AI, send the original with it, and we add a short translator's note to the piece; with your agreement, we also publish your original at the end of it for readers of your language. We may ask you to restore your own phrasing where a translation smooths it into something generic.

How to Pitch

Email nilabh@travelescape.in with the subject TE Essay Pitch: [your name]. In 300 words or fewer:

  1. Where and when you went.
  2. The one idea the essay explores.
  3. One detail you'd build it around: a moment, an object, a person.
  4. A line about you, and where your other writing lives, if anywhere.

Attach two of your photographs from the trip. Please don't send the full essay unless we ask for it.

What Happens Next

  • We reply to every pitch, usually within two weeks.
  • If it's a yes, we agree the length, the fee and a date. Usually we ask to read the full essay before confirming (on spec).
  • Editing: up to two rounds. We never change your voice, your facts or what you meant without asking; you approve every significant edit.
  • Publication: with your name, a short bio, and a link to your site or profile (kept while it works: our system checks every link on the site routinely and removes any that are dead or not secure). Later, we may add a dated editors' note to keep it accurate and lawful; your words stay yours (Contributor Terms).

What to Send, Once It's a Yes

Plain text is perfect: in the email itself, or as a Word file or Google Doc. No formatting, no special software; we do the rest. Please send, in one email:

  1. The essay, and the original too if it was translated.
  2. Three to eight photographs from the trip, as the original files from your camera or phone (not screenshots, and not copies sent through WhatsApp or social media, which shrink them).
  3. One line for each photograph: what it shows, and where.
  4. Your name as it should appear, and the name for the payment if it's different.
  5. A two-line bio and your city, plus a link to your site or profile if you'd like one.
  6. Confirmation that the essay hasn't been published anywhere, including your own blog or social media.
  7. Anything you were given for the trip (a stay, a meal, a ticket), or "nothing".
  8. How you'd like to be paid: bank transfer, Wise or PayPal.

Payment and Rights

Travelescape pays a flat fee for each essay it publishes, including your photographs, agreed before you write and paid on publication. You keep the copyright; Travelescape gets a non-exclusive licence to publish it, and after 90 days you may publish it anywhere else too. The details are in the Contributor Terms.

We look forward to reading your pitch.