MELBOURNE. I had a staycation at the Standard X Hotel in Fitzroy. This boutique hotel in the heart of Fitzroy has 125 minimalist rooms. A communal table in Bistro X on the ground floor doubles as a co-working space.

Nearby, Brunswick St is still awesome for its vintage shops, specialist bakeries and dozens of bars and cafes. I also found blonde. a very cool handmade jewellery business where customers can take classes and make their own rings.

I’m still drafting and editing the stories I wrote about Bali and I spent some time answering an editor’s questions about a story I’d filed. She needed one more line to explain something I’d written about and it took me over 40 minutes to make it perfect.

I interviewed a master jeweller about his love for a town in WA, spoke to a chef about his new offering in regional Victoria and tried (and failed) to set up an interview with an alumni of a Victorian university about her career.

This week I went to a Melbourne Writers’ Club event to meet up with other writers in the city and hear author, Jo Skinner, talk about the craft of writing and her new book, A World of Silence.

Some of the unpaid work I’ve done this week includes:

• Pitching stories for my next trip in August. (3 hours)

• Setting up a coffee meeting with a PR who’s read some of my work and wants to meet me to talk about her destination (Japan!).

• Going back and forth on email with an editor who’s sending me on a trip with a photographer and trying to find dates that suits both of us and the destination host.

• Chats with a chef about how he can attract more diners to his restaurant. (1 hour)

• Emailing with a contact I’d made as part of a story a year ago who wants to chat with me about how to become a freelance writer.

Out to dinner:

Tuesdays and Wednesdays are steak nights at Bistro X . Great value and delicious! I can recommend the sticky date pudding for dessert.

Industry Insights:

If you’re going to Bali, you need to know this: Indonesian authorities are cracking down on people who monetise their social media. For years, content creators have been getting ‘free’ hotel stays, meals and experiences in exchange for content, but the following things are now classified as illegal work on a tourist visa:

• Sponsored social media posts

• Brand partnerships and collaborations

• Hotel and accommodation barter deals

• Professional photography and videography shoots

• Influencer marketing campaigns

• Content creation carried out for commercial purposes, even if unpaid.

I chose not to post on socials until I was back in Australia.

In my Traveller’s Toolkit:

Last year I bought a Selfie stick tripod with a wireless remote so I could take more natural photos of myself in different destinations. I’m hopeless at ‘traditional’ selfies so this has been great. It was cheap, it’s lightweight and it’s easy to use on the road.

What I’m reading:

Untamed: Stop Pleasing, Start Living by Glennon Doyle. It’s about listening to your inner, authentic voice and trusting it. There are some passages in the first quarter of the book that resonated so much I was tempted to underline them.

Subscriber Question:

Q: Networking - how do you do it when you’re a brand new travel writer?

A: When I first started writing I joined professional Facebook writing groups, went to travel-related meetups, connected with editors and writers on LinkedIn, and started following other writers on social media. I was such a beginner that I knew I had to seek out those who’d been in the industry for years and ask a lot of questions. It takes time but it’s worth building sincere and positive relationships with other people in the industry.

Today’s freelance writer is tomorrow’s magazine editor, and vice versa.

Send me your tricky travel writing questions and

I’ll do my best to answer them.

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Melbourne, working from deep underneath a mountain of warm blankets.

I’ve just come back from Bali so I’m drafting and filing some stories I had commissioned before I left Australia and pitching out a few ideas that I came up with while on the road.

Some of the unpaid work I’ve done this week includes:

• Meeting a PR for coffee. 2.5 hours from the time I left home to the time I returned. Excellent insight and great to connect with her in person.

• Dreaming up headlines and pitching story ideas. (3 hours)

• It’s the start of the new financial year so I spent some time searching through my unpaid invoices and moving them to the 2027 document. Then I set up my income target spreadsheets for 2027 (I use Lindy Alexander’s download).

• I went to a Travel Massive meet up in Melbourne. Travel Massive is a global networking community for tourism professionals, content creators, and travel startup founders. (5 hours)

• Discovery call with a new copywriting client. (45 mins + half an hour creating a quote for potential work)

Out to dinner:

Last week I ate at an authentic Italian restaurant Borgo Food and Wine in Ascot Vale, owned by Christian Giorgini and Danilo Vezzoso.

Christian is from Pescara, Abruzzo and Danilo is from 500kms away in Alba, San Lorenzo in Piermonte. The friends and business partners met while working in hospo on the Mornington Peninsula (at DOC) and then dreamed of opening their own authentic Italian neighbourhood diner. Twelve years later, they’ve made it happen.

Each dish on the menu is fresh, deeply considered and delicious - especially the tiramisu and the handmade al dente pasta.

Industry Insights:

The new financial year means that editorial budgets have been refreshed. It’s a good time to pitch.

In my Traveller’s Toolkit:

I’m still using an iPhone 12 so the battery drains faster than an Irishman’s pint glass on St Patrick’s Day. This week I’ve been using my Charmast Power Bank which has a USB charging port and three different charger attachments. With this little friend I can charge my Kindle, my phone and my MacBook when I’m out and about.

What I’m reading:

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. It’s set in a fictional town that’s inspired by the author's real-life hometown of Columbus, Georgia in the USA.

Subscriber Question:

Q: I reached out to a big travel blog/instagram with over 150k followers. They said they would love me to write for them but they don’t pay anything. Would you consider it if you were in my position & wanting to get into the industry?

A: While I NEVER advocate writing for free once your freelance writing career is established, I do think that it’s a good way to get a few articles published. If editors can see samples of your published writing they’re more likely to have confidence in your ability to write for them. I started with Weekendnotes and wrote about events and experiences in my local area.

Send me your tricky travel writing questions and

I’ll do my best to answer them.

Stories published this week:

Explore: I tried the viral sudoku packing hack - and it’s changed the way I travel

Escape: Insider Knowledge with Nikki King - Wanaka

Thanks for reading The Travel Writing Life!

Subscribe to receive new posts and support my work.

Subscribe now

The problem was, I didn’t know what to do. I’d always wanted to write “The Great Australian Novel” but I was exhausted from years of pouring my energy into my own young children and the teenagers in my cl…

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