What is travel memoir and does it differ from travel writing?

Travel memoir is a personal story of travel and change. While it sits within the broader category of travel writing, travel memoir serves different purposes: making “the other” feel less strange, sharing a writer’s unique perception of the world, helping readers see a place differently, and using narrative to explain the self. Rather than persuading or instructing, travel memoir is expansive and reflective, often working toward a universal insight—that travel changes us.

More specifically, travel memoir centres on the narrator’s inner journey. It is shaped around a shift in perspective or a lesson learned during a trip, or even within a single moment of being away. The writer’s impressions, interpretations, and desires are integral to the narrative, building toward a story that ends in some form of personal transformation (however small).

Travel writing, by contrast, may take the form of service journalism—what to see, eat, or do in a particular place—or reportage focused on a location, culture, or person. It typically prioritises the external world and does not require the author’s personal story or a narrative arc of change. In short, travel writing looks outward, while travel memoir attends to both the outer journey and the inner one.

What are the creative possibilities of travel memoir?

The creative possibilities of travel memoir are vast. You could write about a stroll down your own street, a weekend away, or a whirlwind trip around the globe, and anything in between. A travel memoir can emerge from any journey, large or small, that takes you outside your usual daily routine. That openness is what makes the genre so creatively rich.

While travel writing often responds to current trends, popular destinations, or the needs of magazines, travel memoir is not bound by timeliness. It can be set during a recent trip to Tokyo or revisit a summer in Croatia twenty years ago. In fact, distance often deepens the work. Time allows writers to uncover new angles and meanings in journeys they may have already written about.

For example, I once wrote a light, observational piece about my interactions with a man who worked at the restaurant beneath the apartment where I lived in London. Twenty years later, I returned to that experience and wrote a far more serious piece about the same relationship—one I could only fully understand with the benefit of hindsight.

What are the key craft considerations for effective travel writing?

The key craft consideration in effective travel writing is shaping the journey into a story. That means identifying a clear story arc—sometimes more than one—and building the piece around it. In my course, I teach writers how to uncover those arcs within their travel experiences and how to develop a narrative from there.

Writers also need to think carefully about how they open their piece, drawing readers in from the first line, and how to weave in backstory so the reader understands why a particular destination or desire matters. Raising the stakes of the journey is crucial, as is ending the piece in a way that meaningfully resolves the story arc rather than simply concluding the trip. The course also covers revision strategies, along with practical guidance on editing and publishing.

What are the professional opportunities for travel writing or travel memoir?

There is a range of professional opportunities for both travel writing and travel memoir, though the pathways differ. Travel writing often involves publishing in magazines that run travel features or reportage. Success in this area usually requires careful market research and a strong understanding of how to pitch editors effectively.

Travel memoir, by contrast, is more commonly published in literary magazines. Some journals specialise in travel memoir or place-based writing, while others focus on creative nonfiction more broadly or publish work across all literary genres. This pathway also requires research, but it typically does not involve pitching. Instead, writers submit completed pieces by following each journal’s submission guidelines.

In my course, I cover the first steps for researching appropriate markets and provide examples of literary magazines that actively seek travel memoir, helping writers move from drafting to submission with confidence.

Who are your favourite travel memoirists?

Rather than naming individual writers, I tend to think in terms of books that have stayed with me. Some of my favourite travel memoirs include:

• The House on Dream Street: Memoir of an American Woman in Vietnam by Dana Sachs
• The Woman Who Fell from the Sky: An American Woman’s Adventures in the Oldest City on Earth by Jennifer Steil
• Grammar Lessons: Translating a Life in Spain by Michele Morano

There are many more, but these books share something in common: they were written by young women on significant adventures abroad. Each writer encountered unfamiliar cultures, formed complex relationships, and learned new ways of living through their time away. Reading these memoirs made me want to do the same.

That impulse eventually led me to teach in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where I undertook my own journey of travel and self-discovery. I later wrote my travel memoir, Abu Dhabi Days, Dubai Nights, about what I experienced and what that place ultimately taught me. Later still, I published Write Your Travel Memoir: A Step-by-Step Guide to help other writers understand the travel memoir form and write compelling stories of their travels.