Contribute
Write for Travel Pen
We receive a lot of pitches. The ones we accept are the ones that feel like a conversation with someone who actually went, not a guide written for a search engine.
Travel Pen is built around a simple idea: the most useful travel content is written by someone who went to that place for the same reason you are going. Not a generic city guide. Not a top-ten listicle. A real account, tagged by destination and reason for going, so the right person finds it at exactly the right time.
Every story on Travel Pen follows that format. You write about a place you have been, and you write it for the person who is about to go there. Where you stayed, what the accommodation was actually like, what the location felt like, what you did, where you ate, and what you would tell a friend before they boarded the plane. The honest version, not the highlight reel.
Publishing on Travel Pen is not something we offer to everyone who gets in touch. We receive a high volume of pitches and accept a small number. If your pitch is accepted, you create an account and publish directly. We review it, promote it across our channels, and give you a do-follow backlink to your site. Your story stays on your profile. It belongs to you.
What you get
A do-follow backlink to wherever you want to send people, plus promotion across our channels to an audience that is actively planning trips. Your story stays on your profile permanently. We just help the right people find it.
The brief
What Your Story Should Cover
Think of your reader as someone who is planning the exact trip you just came back from. They have chosen the same destination, the same reason for going, possibly even the same time of year. Write it for them. A good contribution answers all of the following:
- Where you stayed and honest thoughts on the accommodation
- What the location was actually like — the atmosphere, the vibe, the reality
- What you did there and what you would skip next time
- Where you ate, what you ordered, and whether it was worth it
- Practical detail that someone heading there for the same reason would actually use
- The moments that surprised you or changed how you thought about the place
Photography
We require a high quality cover image and several images placed throughout the piece. All photos must be your own. Ideally they show you at the destination, not just the scenery. We want the reader to feel like they are getting a personal account, and photography is a big part of that. Stock images will not be accepted and stories submitted without adequate photography will not be reviewed.
No sanitised versions
Travel Pen has no interest in polished, inoffensive travel writing that could have been written by anyone. We want the real version. If somewhere was brilliant, say so. If it was not what you expected, say that. If it was complicated, write about the complication. The only rule is that it has to be true and it has to be yours.
Standards
Requirements
- Minimum 1,000 words, ideally 1,200 to 1,500 for pieces with real depth
- First-person perspective — you must have actually been there
- A high quality cover image that will make someone stop scrolling
- Several inline images throughout the piece — your own photos, ideally showing you at the destination
- All images must be your own. No stock photography, no borrowed shots
- Correct spelling and grammar — we will not rewrite it for you
- Your destination tagged and your reason for going selected from our categories
Not a fit
What We Will Not Publish
- Listicles with no personal angle — "10 things to do in X" with no you in it
- Anything that reads like an ad or a sponsored placement
- AI-generated writing
- Content you have published elsewhere
- Stock images or images you do not own the rights to
- Anything unrelated to travel
How it works
The Process
Send a pitch
Email us with the subject line "Guest Post Pitch". Your pitch should include the destination, the reason for going (using one of our categories), and a short outline of what your story will cover. A paragraph is enough. We do not need the full piece upfront.
We review your pitch
We receive a high volume of submissions and cannot accept all of them. If your pitch is a good fit we will come back to you within a few days to confirm. If you do not hear from us, it means we are not taking it forward this time.
Create an account and publish
Once confirmed, sign up, write your story on Travel Pen, add your cover image and inline photography, tag your destination, and select your reason for going from our categories. Publish when you are happy with it.
We review, promote, and backlink
Once live we will check it against what was agreed. If it meets the standard, we will promote it across our channels and add your do-follow backlink. Stories that do not meet the agreed brief will be returned for revision before promotion.
Ready to pitch?
Email admin@travelpen.io with the subject line Guest Post Pitch. Include your destination, the reason for going from our categories (for example: solo, family, backpacking, adventure), and a short outline of what your story will cover. We look forward to reading it.