Shoestring Traveler

TransitionsAbroad.com invites you to enter its 2009 Narrative Travel Writing Contest with a $500 first-place prize.

Professionals, freelancers and other talented travel writers are invited to write a travel narrative relating to the intrinsic educational aspects of meaningful travel. We are looking for evocative and engaging writing in which sensitive immersion in the country, the people, the food, the land, the art, the rituals, and the culture in general play the leading role in the writer's self-discovery and enlightenment. We are absolutely not looking for self-involved travelogues or diaries, but rather for a well-crafted and inspirational story which should appeal to those who have traveled independently overseas with open minds, sensitive souls, and empathetic imaginations.

The specific theme for this year's contest is "Travel in a Dangerous World." Many of our readers are independent travelers who are looking for travel ideas which take them to areas unspoiled by mass tourism, where they may meet and respectfully interact with local people who have not yet become cynical about the foreigners who come into their homes or lands. We are looking for stories written by authors who have taken a risk — or been told that they were taking a risk — when traveling overseas. How did you manage to stay safe even while engaging in this form of adventurous travel, which often involves finding oneself in remote areas of the world or in off-the-beaten-track areas of known cities and regions? One implicit question the articles should address is whether the world (at least that part of the world in which you have traveled) is truly more dangerous than it has ever been, or did you discover that governments and/or mass commercial media has exaggerated the threats for their own motives?

What we are not looking for are submissions that represent travel as a form of consumption and objectify the people of other countries or which involve "poverty tourism" or "poorism."

Accompanying photos which enhance the narrative are a plus, and we are open to photojournalistic approaches to the subject outlined above for this year's Narrative Travel Writing Contest. Please include an optional bio of 1-3 sentences with references to your websites, blogs, books and contact information.

TransitionsAbroad.com will publish the top three winners' entries as well as those of the selected runner-ups.