Description
*This webinar took place on Thu 27 Aug 2026. Recording and resources now available*
This free webinar was an informal discussion where we discussed some of the frequently-talked-about topics that come up between writers in-person, in freelance forums, and in WhatsApp chats.
We talked about a variety of issues such as:
No-pay and low-pay publications – Should you ever write for free? Why is there a proliferation of such magazines/websites – and who is really benefitting? What wider, longer-term effect does free/low-pay writing have on travel media and travel writing?
AI – Is AI a threat to travel writing – or will quality and experience win? And with AI pitches, AI writing and even AI editing encroaching on our work, we’ll discuss if/when it’s OK to use AI and up to what point. Are AI checkers such as ZeroGPT any good? What if you’re accused of using AI but didn’t?
Editorial integrity – What happens when the trip/product/experience isn’t all it’s cracked up to be? What about conflict of interest e.g. when does a relationship with the subject of the story need to be disclosed? Are you being paid by both client and publication? If you’re doing PR alongside writing, where’s the line?
Whose story is it? – Are you always the right person to pitch or tell a certain story? When is ‘parachute journalism’ OK – and when isn’t it?
*Note: The topic of ‘Overtourism/climate change/geopolitics/war: How do we find a balance between promoting travel with the realities on the ground?’ was on the agenda but we did not have time. This will have its own webinar soon.
Joining me were: Lottie Gross, travel writer and co-founder of the Talking Travel Writing newsletter; Mary Novakovich, travel journalist, broadcaster and Croatia and France specialist; and Sheeka Sanahori, US-based travel journalist and video producer.
This webinar was sponsored by Adventure Travel Networking (ATN) and supported by Talking Travel Writing (TTW).
The panellists
Lottie Gross is a freelance travel writer with bylines in Telegraph, Times, i paper, National Geographic Traveller and many more, the author of several dog-friendly travel guides for Bloomsbury and Bradt, and a former Rough Guides editor. Lottie is also the co-founder of the Talking Travel Writing newsletter. Founded in 2020 to help travel writers navigate this complex industry and read by almost 10,000 people, TTW has broached many of the subjects to be discussed in this webinar.
Website: lottiegross.com
Follow Lottie on LinkedIn and Instagram
Mary Novakovich is a Hertfordshire-based freelance journalist and travel writer who has been working in journalism for 40 years. A former BBC staffer, she went freelance in 1997 and has since been focusing on travel writing, contributing to publications including The Guardian, Times, Independent, i, Telegraph, Wanderlust and CNN Travel, as well as reporting for BBC Radio 4. She is the author of the award-winning travelogue My Family and Other Enemies: Life and Travels in Croatia’s Hinterland, as well as numerous guidebooks to Croatia and France.
Follow Mary on LinkedIn and Instagram
Sheeka Sanahori is an award-winning freelance journalist and video producer based in Atlanta, covering family travel, food, history, and the outdoors. Over her 20-year journalism career, she’s reported everything from federal court cases to hurricane coverage for national broadcasts to elephant conservation in Kenya. With bylines in Travel + Leisure, Washington Post, National Geographic and others, her travel journalism—exploring the intersection of history and place—has been recognised by NATJA and the Lowell Thomas Awards. A former Director of Video at Lonely Planet, she has also consulted for international media companies and managed content creation for Netflix and USA Today. She also organises the Society of American Travel Writers’ (SATW) annual Virtual Meet the Editors event.
Website: sheekasanahori.com
Follow Sheeka on LinkedIn and Instagram
Meera Dattani is the founder of Travel Writing Webinars, executive editor at Adventure.com, and a freelance travel and culture journalist with bylines in Condé Nast Traveller, National Geographic Traveller, GreenTraveller, Travel Weekly, Olive magazine, and others. Former Chair and Events Director of the British Guild of Travel Writers, she is also a mentor, awards judge, and a speaker and moderator on external panels about travel writing, sustainable tourism and other travel media topics.
Website: meeradattani.com
Follow on LinkedIn and Instagram
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This was the 13th in a series of informal webinars aimed at travel writers. This session was sponsored by Adventure Travel Networking (ATN), an award-winning organisation founded by Pru Goudie that promotes adventure and experiential travel with a positive impact. As well as an annual two-day hybrid Conference & Marketplace in London each February, the twice-a-year spring/autumn ATN Media Meet-up connects the adventure travel community with key travel media during an informal networking event with a panel session. If you write about positive impact adventure/experiential travel, contact Pru here. Follow ATN on LinkedIn.
The webinar was also supported by Talking Travel Writing. TTW is a Substack newsletter that promises to demystify the travel media for freelancers forging a career in travel writing. Follow on LinkedIn and Instagram.
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Travel Writing Webinars pays self-employed/freelance panellists and/or makes a donation to TTW’s mentorship scheme. The usual £6 fee or donations are to cover tech/software, time, panellist fees etc. More info here or email travelwritingwebinars@gmail.com
All previous webinars are available here. Past sessions include topics such as how to be a better ‘sustainable travel’ journalist, working with PRs and navigating press trip coverage, write sparkling copy that gets you re-commissioned, pitching smarter and better, how to use data and trends in travel writing, and mental health and wellbeing (free webinar).
