How I Saved Over $115,000 on Travel by Making My Skills Pay

Trying to make the most of saved over 115 000? You are in the right place. Below we break it down in plain English, with practical tips you can actually use.

Key Takeaways

• One of my favorite things about running Making Sense of Cents is getting to share unique ways people are making money and designing a life t...
• Today’s guest, Rosie Bell, has built a really interesting career as a travel journalist, and she’s been able to see the world in a way that...
• Rosie has contributed to over 30 publications, including BBC Travel, Condé Nast Traveler, Fodor’s Travel, and Lonely Planet.

One of my favorite things about running Making Sense of Cents is getting to share unique ways people are making money and designing a life they love. Today’s guest, Rosie Bell, has built a really interesting career as a travel journalist, and she’s been able to see the world in a way that most people only dream about. Rosie has contributed to over 30 publications, including BBC Travel, Condé Nast Traveler, Fodor’s Travel, and Lonely Planet. Instead of paying full cost for trips, she’s used her writing skills to save over $115,000 in travel costs while also earning income along the way. In this article, she’s sharing how she got started, what it’s really like to get paid to travel, and different ways you can use your own skills to make travel more affordable too.

My skills, not earnings or savings, have helped me see the world, traveling by private plane, yacht, helicopter, and even a school bus converted into a ferry. As a freelance travel journalist, I have managed to save over $115,000 in travel expenses by leveraging my writing skills and industry knowledge.

This career has allowed me to live out my wildest travel dreams and tick off bucket-list experiences like over-the-water bungalows in the Maldives and sailing in the cerulean waters of the Caribbean.

In this article, I will break down the financial reality of travel journalism, outline my own path into the industry, offer guidance for early-stage writers, and provide inspiration for ways to make your travels pay.

Note from Making Sense of Cents: If you’re interested in becoming a travel writer, Rosie has a course called Travel Writing 101: How to Build a Full-Time Career as a Travel Writer where she shares what she’s learned from her experience in the industry. It goes into more detail on how to get started, pitch publications, and build a sustainable career.

How I became a travel journalist

My first international trip was when I was three years old. Growing up in a diplomatic family meant that moving between countries and continents was simply part of life. I also attended a school that prioritized learning through travel: museum-hopping in New York for art class, Moscow and St. Petersburg for history, hiking in the Pyrenees to connect with nature, and even tiramisu-making in Venice. I guess it’s no surprise that I ended up being a professional traveler.

My foray into travel journalism was the result of a happy accident, though. In 2017, I left London for Panama after falling in love with the country on a trip through Central America two years earlier. I had just stepped away from running a swimwear brand in London and was looking for a fresh start after a deep-cutting personal loss. I gave myself a year to figure things out, spending much of that time writing my first book, Escape to Self.

While living there, a friend happened to share an open call from World Nomads for essays about life in Panama. I pitched, got the assignment, and was paid $300. That first payment showed me that writing about my life, travels, and perspective could form the basis of a career.

From there, I kept pitching various publications. I had no contacts and no formal journalism training, but being based in Panama gave me a point of view, and over time, that led to commissions from dream publications like Lonely Planet and Forbes Travel Guide.

Though becoming a travel journalist wasn’t part of a lifelong grand plan, it’s a career that suits me perfectly, and a reminder that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel and can make a profession out of things you’re already doing.

Namibia press trip - Onduli Ridge

Press trips and money-can’t-purchase experiences

Organized by tourism boards, PR agencies, hotels, and brands, press trips are professional invitations extended to journalists to experience a destination, property, or offering firsthand. Rather than buying advertising, these organizations are investing in storytelling and trusting that a well-reported piece carries more weight than a paid placement.

Unlike travel content creators, travel journalists are not paid to attend press trips.

Instead, some or all of the costs, flights, accommodation, meals, and experiences are covered, allowing writers to reduce expenses and, in turn, travel more frequently. More travel means more stories, and more stories mean more opportunities to publish and earn money.

Press trips can be one of the most efficient and rewarding elements of a travel journalist’s career. They allow journalists to build relationships within the industry, experience places in ways that would be difficult to arrange independently, and acquaint themselves with more destinations, which is ideal since knowledge is our currency.

What also makes press trips so compelling is the level of access they provide. Doors open that would otherwise remain closed. You might get VIP passes at a festival, private gallery viewings, pre-opening hotel tours, introductions to hard-to-access individuals, or an invitation to a tasting curated specifically for a small group of media.

Some of the press trips I have been on have felt surreal. I’ve found myself front row at the Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival being singled out mid-performance by John Legend in a crowd of thousands. I’ve rappelled down waterfalls in Honduras, shared meals with sumo wrestlers in Tokyo, had a flamingo-dotted lake to myself in Bonaire, and unwound on a private island in Turks and Caicos.

In Mexico, I dined on caviar tacos and gold-dusted grasshoppers and had a luxurious spa ritual that bordered on theatrical, where as numerous as ten people attended to me at once. These are the kinds of extraordinary, immersive, and deeply memorable experiences press trips can unlock, and I don’t take any of it for granted. If I had paid for these trips myself, I would have easily spent well over $115,000.

I feel very passionate about press trips, which is why I created a matchmaking database to help travel media get discovered for more of the press trips they want, and it’s called Press Trip Pros.

What one must remember is that these are not “free” trips. After the journey, a freelance journalist is expected to secure coverage in one (or several) of the publications they contribute to, and that is where their money is made. After going on press trips, I have sold stories to travel publications such as Condé Nast Traveler, Atlas Obscura, and Fodor’s Travel.

How I pivoted during the pandemic

When travel halted in 2020 during the COVID-19 global pandemic, I started hosting virtual travel trivia games via Airbnb Online Experiences and quickly worked my way up to five-figure months. I had corporate bookings from the likes of Google, Apple, Spotify, Etsy, Balenciaga, and LinkedIn, and Business Insider even profiled my event.

However, in June 2024, Airbnb removed all Online Experiences from the platform, leaving me and other hosts without a sizeable source of income. This showed me the danger of relying on one platform or “building your castle on someone else’s land.”

These days, players can book me as a virtual travel trivia host via a platform called Elevent, but also directly on my website. These lucrative online sessions can bring in over $500 per hour, significantly outpacing typical freelance writing rates and providing some stability when media work fluctuates.

Maldives LUX South Ari Atoll press trip

How to weather the highs and lows of freelance travel writing

There is a lot of money in travel but it is by no means distributed evenly. Last year at the Signature Travel Network conference in Las Vegas, I met several successful travel advisors who make millions annually, whereas a freelance travel journalist might not reach seven figures during a 20-year span from article-writing for publications alone.

I frequently say that being a freelance travel journalist is like living a millionaire lifestyle on a backpacker budget, because you may get to rest your head on high-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets at a $3,000-a-night resort, but get paid $300 to write a story about your stay there for a glossy magazine.

The biggest downside of freelance travel journalism is financial insecurity. Even when you write for high-profile publications, the pay can be surprisingly modest. Your hourly rate also depends on how fast or slow you write and how hands-on the editing process is (some publications have a policy of at least two rounds of edits). 

Commissioning budgets fluctuate, assignments aren’t guaranteed, and your income can be inconsistent because you might have gaps between commissions and the various publications you write for have different pay periods. I am very honest about this perilous nature in my online course for would-be travel journalists, Travel Writing 101: How to Build a Full-Time Career as a Travel Writer.

The way to navigate the ebbs and flows is by building a portfolio career and not relying on writing alone. Numerous travel writers I know have other gigs keeping the lights on, and there’s no shame in that. Diversification is protection and enables you to do the work you love without being entirely at the mercy of an unpredictable industry.

In my case, I have various methods of leveraging my skills, knowledge, and travels beyond freelance writing for publications, including:

• Travel Writing 101: How to Build a Full-Time Career as a Travel Writer: A distillation of everything I wish I knew when I started as a travel journalist into a detailed PDF course of over 220 pages. My course has changed from a video format to a PDF so that I can easily incorporate the rapid changes in the industry. I have welcomed more than 1,500 students into the course over the years.
• Ask me anything sessions: People who want to pick my brain about breaking into travel writing, pitching, PR and media relations, or the destinations I write about can book 30 or 60-minute video calls with me.Final Thoughts

  Before you check out, double-check saved over 115 000 against current offers and any coupons you can stack. Small habits like this add up to real savings over a year.

  Originally published at makingsenseofcents.com.