Pitches from Southeast Asia wanted (travel) | $750 per piece

[This opportunity was posted 30+ days ago and has expired.]

Do you think you could help people get more out of their trip to Southeast Asia and, at the same time, make this website more useful?

New: call for pitches from Southeast Asia

We’ve kicked off a crowdfunding campaign to fund feature stories from the region. The crowdfunding is going well, and the stories are going to happen.

So this is our call out for ideas.

First, some quick thoughts on our readers.

Our readers skew older and are familiar with Southeast Asia. In many cases they have travelled to the region for decades. You do not need to tell them how to peel a durian.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

It is easier to say what we are not looking for. We’re not looking for anything you’d read in Travel & Leisure or any other travel rag. We’re not interested in travel fluff, listicles, or where to get the whatever best whatever. Let's be honest, the best according to some listicle is, more often than not, far from the best.

What we’re looking for is more in-depth. Particularly in the age of covid-19, we’re looking for local people and local voices. People write about how the rising tide of tourism floats all boats, but we all know that is not always the case.

Land encroachment on Cambodian islands. Environmental issues in Ha Long Bay. The “Ten New Balis” in Indonesia. UNESCO and the Disneylandification of destinations like Hoi An, Georgetown and Luang Prabang.

Plenty gets written about the value that travel, and travellers, may bring to the region. We’re interested, in part, in the downside. What can travellers do to avoid becoming a part of the problem, and instead help to deliver solutions? Not only for them, but the destination they’re travelling in and the people who live there.

It is easy to pick the festering sores of the travelling scene in Southeast Asia. Despite this, we’re strong believers in the benefits of budget, slow travel. You all know the moment—when you’re handing money over to a mother in a family–run guesthouse after three days there. You know where that money is going. You are making a difference.

Yes, you are learning about them and their country, and they are learning about you and yours. We all know travel can be about so much more than money. This societal interchange can get lost in the machinations of the industrial tourism machine. The industry’s obsession with ever-growing revenue does nobody any favours. It ignores these “soft” benefits.

In the past, tourism’s cost was environmental and societal, and now we have covid-19 to contend with as well. How can we all do better?

How can our readers help grow destinations rather than decimate them? How do we make the region one that we will want our kids to travel to and learn from? How can we help travellers learn more about where they are travelling?

We imagine you’ve not received many “please pitch” emails like this one.

But this is from the heart. We’re not from Southeast Asia, but we’ve been here 20+ years. This is the most amazing, fascinating and diverse region in the world, and home to some of the most wonderful people. While tourism (among other things) is responsible for much going very wrong, done right, we believe it can still do good. Show us how.

SMALL PRINT:

• Pay: US$750 on editorial sign–off (ie, before publication)
• Word count: 1,500-2,000 words with at least 5-6 pics.

Rights, photo specs and so on we will detail in a contract that we’ll send for you to sign off on before we begin to work together.

If you want to write under a pseudonym that is fine.

We have a strict no–freebies policy.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

[This opportunity was posted 30+ days ago and has expired.]