Submit to Traveler Magazine
We don’t cover everything. Just the stuff that actually matters.
Traveler started on Instagram. It grew into something with more depth. The magazine is where a destination stops being a scroll and starts being a story. Where a hotel is more than a nice bed and a good shower.
If that’s the kind of writing you do, read on.
WHAT WE PUBLISH
Five categories. Your submission should fit one of them.
Destinations: Not lists. Not “10 reasons to visit.” We want writing that makes a place feel like itself. The kind of piece where you can smell the market or feel the afternoon heat. Real point of view, real specificity. 800 to 2,000 words.
Stays: Hotels, villas, guesthouses. We care about how a place feels to be in, not just how it photographs. Honest coverage. The awkward check-in, the view that actually stops you, the breakfast worth waking up for. Not a press release with adjectives. 500 to 1,200 words.
Food and Drink: The meal that changed the trip. The bar where you ended up staying three hours longer than planned. Local food scenes that tell you something true about where you are. 400 to 1,000 words.
Guides: Practical, specific, useful. Not a brain dump of every option. The things worth knowing, written for someone who already travels and wants to do it better. 600 to 1,500 words.
News: What’s opening, what’s shifting, what’s worth paying attention to right now. Keep it tight. 150 to 400 words.
PHOTO/VIDEO SUBMISSIONS
We look at these submissions as standalone essays or alongside written pieces.
What we want is simple: real light, real places, real moments. Work that feels like it was made somewhere specific, not assembled from a preset. Editorial sensibility matters more than gear.
Instagram Reels: We also accept video submissions for the @Traveler Instagram account. Travel is full of moments that are impossible to describe in words. A sunrise that appears out of nowhere. A stretch of coastline that doesn’t look real. A local market so chaotic and alive it pulls you straight in. If you managed to catch something like that on camera, we want to see it.
We are looking for footage with real viral potential. That could be a stunning destination, a side of a place most people never get to see, a rare moment in nature, or just something so quietly beautiful it stops people mid-scroll. Raw files are fine. It does not need to be polished or professionally shot. It just needs to be the kind of thing people can’t stop watching and have to share.
BEFORE YOU SUBMIT
A few things to know upfront.
We only take work that hasn’t been published before. That includes your blog, your newsletter, and your Instagram caption from 2022.
We don’t accept AI-generated text or images. Full stop.
One submission at a time, please. Wait to hear back before sending something else.
We try to respond within one to three weeks. We can’t give feedback on pieces we pass on.
If we accept your work, we may edit it. Nothing significant gets changed without talking to you first.
HOW TO SUBMIT
Email submissions@travelermag.com with this subject line format:
SUBMISSION / [Category] / [Title]
So something like: SUBMISSION / Destinations / Four Days in Tbilisi
Include:
- The piece itself, pasted in or attached as a .doc or .pdf
- A pitch note, 100 words max. What is it, why does it belong here
- A short bio, two or three sentences
- For photos: up to 15 low-res previews
No DMs. No Instagram pitches. Email only.
ONE LAST THING
There is a lot of travel content out there. Most of it says the same things about the same places in the same way.
We are not interested in adding to that pile. We publish work that has something to say and knows how to say it. Work that earns its place on the page.
If you’ve got something like that, send it over.