07 - Make Your Passion Your Work - Travel Writing - Helena Smith

HELENA SMITH — WRITER FOR LONELY PLANET AND ROUGH GUIDES AND AUTHOR OF HACKNEY GUIDES <a href="https://imgur.com/tiea5cH"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/tiea5cH.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a> Helena Smith is a travel writer and book author. She writes for the ‘Lonely Planet’ and ‘Rough Guides’ publications whilst exploring the world, and has self-published her own books ‘Inside Hackney’ and ‘Eat Hackney’ in which she shares her insights travelling just a few miles from her doorstep. She shares her insights into travelling and how she worked her way into a dream job being paid to follow her passions. TOP TIPS 1. Pack minimally The less stuff you have the better your trip will be. trust me. baggage drags you down, there is more stuff to lose, more stuff to carry. more stuff to unpack and repack every stop and it literally is a huge drain on your energy and attitude to do fun stuff and ties you down. having just a tiny backpack with everything you need is the most liberating thing you can do for a good travel experience! This can also be applied as a general life strategy to keep you freer and able to take new opportunities without being so entrenched in stuff 2. Want to have a job as a writer — Just start writing. Actually pretty obvious in hindsight. to get good at writing you need to do it. By showing initiative and interest in writing about travel or local insights is the only way to get started in the world of travel writing. Just self-publish on a personal blog or submit to online magazines and grow from there. You can also review things on TripAdvisor and answer questions and give advice on Quora. In this modern age also things like an Instagram wouldn’t hurt… 3. Bananas are awesome You can do lots of healthy alternatives to things with them and keep all your vegan friends happy. And you can basically buy them anywhere in the world cheaply. So no excuses. HELENA’S BOOKS Inside Hackney (http://insidehackney.com/) If you’re in London or plan to visit the inside Hackney is a great resource beyond the avera