Travel content is an excellent way to record your observations and impressions on the road and a promising idea for making money. We have prepared a manual on crafting travel videos and travel articles for those just thinking of starting this business.
Table of Contents
How to Craft a Travel Article?
The ultimate objective is to transport your readers to the heart of the destination through your carefully crafted words and experiences. A masterfully composed travel article doesn’t just inform. It inspires, igniting the curiosity and wanderlust that compels readers to explore the diverse wonders of the world around them.
Select a distinctive theme
Explore your chosen destination, delving deep into its history, culture, and unique attributes. Identify a specific theme or angle that distinguishes your article from the rest. Whether it’s an adrenaline-fueled adventure, cultural immersion, historical exploration, culinary escapade, or a niche interest, let this theme serve as the guiding thread throughout your narrative.
Develop a compelling narrative
Architect your article as a captivating story, weaving together the fabric of your experiences. Establish a clear structure with a well-defined beginning, middle, and end. Whether presenting your journey chronologically or thematically, ensure a seamless flow that immerses readers in the unfolding tale, keeping them engaged from the first paragraph to the last.
Elevate your article with a title that not only describes but also entices. Choose words that evoke emotions and spark curiosity in your readers. For instance, instead of a generic “Exploring Paris,” enthrall your audience with “A Parisian Adventure: Unveiling Enigmatic Hideaways in the City of Lights.”
This Tre Cime Hike article is a great example of a compelling narrative and an awesome title. The title “Tre Cime Di Lavaredo Hike: Best Hut-To-Hut Trek In The Dolomites” shows this route’s uniqueness and encourages people to read it. It has a captivating story and answers 11 questions people may have. Moreover, it includes both videos and visuals, induсing people to embrace this route.
Enrich with quotes and dialogue
Enliven your narrative by incorporating the voices of those who make the destination unique. Include quotes from locals, fellow travelers, or experts to present diverse perspectives. If possible, weave in dialogue to vividly capture the essence of your experiences, bringing the destination to life through the words of those who call it home.
Immerse with visual elements
Enhance the sensory experience for your readers by incorporating captivating visual elements. Thoughtfully select and embed high-quality photographs, maps, or infographics that seamlessly align with the overarching theme and tone of your article. Let these visuals serve as windows into the world you’re describing.
Optimize for Search Engines (SEO)
If your journey unfolds in the digital realm, strategically infuse your article with relevant keywords to enhance search engine visibility. This not only attracts a broader audience but also ensures that your narrative finds its way to those seeking immersive travel experiences.
How to Craft a Travel Video?
Creating a travel video consists of an idea, story, and video montage.
Idea
Before you start making a travel video, consider the idea behind it. There are several popular formats for travel videos.
Such videos are similar to entries in a personal blog, based on the personal experience of the traveler, made in a natural, relaxed manner. For the target audience, video blogs are attractive because they are built on trust, show things “from the inside”, and often provide useful tips for travelers.
They don’t have a rigid format and structure. So, starting with a travel vlog, you can reveal yourself as a creative person and, therefore, get maximum pleasure from the process. Here, you can use the most vivid impressions, sketches of local life, and thoughts that visit you on the road.
Like regular guides, they are created to inspire and help other travelers. Such videos are well-optimized for search engines and gather a lot of views. So, if you’re considering making money while traveling, aim for video guides.
Be warned right away that this is a very time-consuming job that requires good preparation, planning, and a lot of on-location filming and editing efforts. In fact, you first need to make up an itinerary yourself(s) and capture it in enough detail on video. Tips and explanations can be given either on the spot or added post facto by recording a voiceover commentary.
These videos focus on a single aspect or travel theme: food, yoga retreats, or ancient excavations. If you have a passion in life that you realize in your travels - try telling it through your camera.
Story
The most important component of any video is the story. If you shoot beautiful shots and put them to music, you’ll want to turn it off after a minute of watching it. It may be spectacular and technically perfect, but it’s boring to watch if it has no story. On the other hand, even technically flawed video blogs where the authors explain something or share something make viewers return repeatedly.
Also, you need to decide whether you will feature yourself(s) in your video. Obviously, viewers are immersed much more if they can see your face and feel your personality. Of course, this doesn’t mean that your countenance should always loom in the frame. Alternating standups with factual footage showcasing what you’re talking about is best.
It should be noted right away that speaking on camera is not an easy task. Some people can do it immediately, while some need practice. Try to relax and imagine that you’re not talking to the camera but to your best friend. As a last resort, you can stay off-camera and use a voice-over.
Video montage
Montage is not the most fun part of video production, but some people enjoy it. The simplest structure of a travel video might have 4 parts:
- Introduction (about 10 seconds). The first few seconds of your video are very important. If they aren’t engaging enough - viewers won’t watch any further. Grab their attention with something unusual.
- Logo (5 seconds). Promote yourself - create a logo/title for your travel video project and insert it with music at the beginning of each video.
- Body (3-8 minutes to start). This is where you show and tell everything you’ve planned and filmed. Don’t be afraid to cut all the extras. Leave only the juiciest stuff!
- Ending and call to action (about 10-15 seconds). Ask your viewers to like and subscribe to your channel at the end of the video. You can tell them what’s going to happen in the next episode.
Don’t get too caught up in special effects during the editing process. Focus on cutting off the pieces you don’t need and gluing together the missing pieces to make the story look complete.
Depending on your programs, learning how to edit can be harder or easier. The most popular video editors are Adobe Premiere and Final Cut. There are some pretty good free apps like Lightworks.
Use music and background sounds. Background noise, sounds of nature and the city, and the voices of locals all help to convey the atmosphere of a place to the viewer. When using music, be careful about copyright.
How to Craft Travel Articles and Videos Faster?
By the way, with Content.Ai, this process becomes much easier at each step of crafting a travel article. Content.Ai’s inbuilt Keyword Idea Generator can ease the task of SEO optimization. Its text-to-image feature allows you to create stunning visuals in several actions.
Particularly, it can generate powerful apt quotes, titles, and SEO-optimized video descriptions in seconds.
All in all, Content.Ai is an all-in-one tool for creating articles, assisting you at each step, from selecting a theme to creating a compelling narrative and inserting quotes and dialogues.
Conclusion
Remember to weave a narrative that takes readers and viewers on a journey, allowing them to vicariously experience the wonders of the destination. Whether it’s the hidden gems, cultural nuances, or adventurous exploits, your goal is to evoke a sense of wanderlust and curiosity.
