Do you want to be a published travel writer?
Go on assignment to Tokyo with Rough Guides!
Kick start your travel writing career by going on assignment to Tokyo, Japan. After touching base with your travel writing mentor, Simon Richmond, you will hit the road for 7 days reviewing and writing for 'The Rough Guide to Japan' travel guide and staying with Hotels.com. Then you will get a chance to relax and enjoy a 4 day "Flavours of Tokyo" independent tour with Intrepid Travel offering a foody-focused insight into the Japanese culture.
Your assignment brief
* We'll fly you to Tokyo from your country of residence. You need to be available between February 15th - Friday 26th 2010 to participate in 'The Rough Guide to Japan' writing assignment and "Flavours of Tokyo" independent tour with Intrepid Travel.
* After spending two days learning the ropes with mentor Simon Richmond, you will research, review and update essential travel info for the Tokyo section of 'The Rough Guide to Japan', including accommodation, bars & restaurants, entertainment, shopping, tours, activities and transport, as well as searching out those local secrets that travellers want to read about.
* Your mentor will be at hand to offer guidance, but essentially this is your assignment; you will travel on your own for this part of the journey so you must be comfortable travelling solo. Simon will assign you a specific area based on your travel experience.
* Your work will feature in the new edition of 'The Rough Guide to Japan', placing your foot firmly in the door of the elusive travel writing industry!
Mentor, Simon Richmond
Important Dates
2009
Dec 21 - Competition closes (11.59pm, Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Dec 28 - Shortlist will be announced
2010
Jan 8 Winner is announced on the World Nomads web site
and an email will be sent to all applicants with the results.
Feb 15 - Feb 16 Meet with Simon and shadow for two days
Feb 17 - Feb 19 Go on assignment
Feb 20 - 21 Meet up again with Simon and receive feedback on work
Feb 22 – 25 Flavours of Tokyo Tour
March 26 - Content deadline - deliver to Simon Richmond by email.
Flavours of Tokyo Tour
* Take Japanese cuisine and add Tokyo, one of the most amazing cities in Asia, to create a true taste-and-see sensation. You will discover the famous aspects of Japanese food - sushi, sashimi and hand-made noodles - and be surprised by some of the less well known but equally interesting meals on offer. You will be staying in a traditional ryokan in the heart of Tokyo's old downtown area and experience Japan one mouthful at a time.
* Highlights of the trip include: visiting the world's largest fish market, participating in a traditional cooking class making noodles from scratch, savouring a seven-course Japanese dinner, staying in a traditional Japanese inn.
Assignment location
Photos courtesy of www.intrepidtravel.com.au
One of the world's most exciting cities, TOKYO (東京) is a fuel-injected adrenaline rush into a neon-bright future. But for all its cutting edge modernity, this ceaseless metropolis remains fiercely proud of its ancient heritage. Lively neighbourhood festivals are held virtually every day of the year, people regularly visit their local shrine or temple and scrupulously observe the passing seasons in lovingly tended gardens. And at this hyperactive city's centre lies the serene and mysterious Imperial Palace – the inviolate home of the emperor and a tangible link to the past.
Text Courtesy of http://www.roughguides.co.uk/
Who can apply
* The scholarship is open to students, emerging and non-professional writers and lovers of travel looking for a career change.
* You must have a high degree of proficiency in written English.
* The opportunity is designed to give you a taste of what it's like to be a travel writer on the road, so you must be comfortable doing some travel on your own.
* Minimum age 18 with a current passport.
* You should be an excellent writer with a lust for adventure travel and a burning desire to be a travel writer!
What constitutes a professional travel writer?
Essentially this is a 'learning opportunity' for someone who is looking for an introduction into the travel writing industry and importantly to be mentored.
As a guide, for the purposes of the opportunity, we would consider you to be professional travel writer if you have been published regularly in newspapers, travel magazines or travel journals. We would also consider you to be a professional travel writer if you derive more than 25% of your income from travel writing.
If you have had a few stories published, or keep a regular travel blog etc then we would not consider this professional.
We would also like to further clarify that a professional writer of any sort (travel writer or otherwise) is not eligible to apply if they derive more than 25% of their income from writing.
Please consider the spirit of the program which is intended to help those with a burning desire to be a travel writer and need some help getting started.
Apply now
If you want it, you've got to show it. To apply you need to:
1. Write. Craft a 500 word (or less) travel focused essay based on a personal experience around one of the following themes;
a. 'A Journey that Changed Lives'
b. 'Responsible Travel'
c. 'Adventure in an Unknown Culture'
d. 'A Memorable Experience Involving Food in a Foreign Country'
It's up to you to convince our judging panel through your writing that you have the spirit of adventure and passion for travel writing to be chosen for this scholarship. We will be looking for:
- great descriptive ability
- strong eye for detail
- ability to uncover and tell a compelling story
- excellent spelling and grammar and a knack for avoiding clichés
2. Complete an entry form which includes contact details and a 200 word (or less) essay on why you should be chosen and what the opportunity will mean for you. Your answer will provide considerable weight in the judging process.
3. One entry per person.
4. The entry must be submitted in English.
The recipient of the Scholarship, along with the best entries will be published on the WorldNomads.com website on January 8th, 2010.
Read the winning and best entries from our 2009 Travel Writing Scholarship
Applications closed midnight December 21, 2009.(AEST)
CONDITIONS OF ENTRY
1. Information on the scholarship prize and how to enter forms part of these conditions of entry. By applying for this scholarship you agree to be bound by these conditions of entry and all decisions of the scholarship promoter (World Nomads) which are final in all matters relating to the promotion. The scholarship and these conditions of entry are void where prohibited by law. Any changes to these conditions of entry will be published on the World Nomads website at www.worldnomads.com.
2. The promoter is World Nomads Pty Limited of Level 5, 24 York St, Sydney, NSW 2000.
3. Employees of World Nomads, Rough Guides, Rough Guide Books, Intrepid Travel, Expedia.com and their subsidiaries and affiliated companies, and members of their immediate families or households, are ineligible to apply for this scholarship.
4. Entry is free. No purchase necessary. You must be older than 18 to enter and hold a valid passport. To enter,submit a 500 word(or less)travel focused essay in English based on a personal experience around one of the following themes; 'A Journey that changed Lives', 'Responsible Travel' 'Adventure in an Unknown Culture' or 'A Memorable Experience Involving Food in a Foreign Country'. You are also required to complete an entry form which includes contact details and a 200 word (or less) essay on why you should be chosen and what the opportunity means to you.
5. The scholarship entries can be submitted from 9.00am AEST on November 6, 2009 and entries close at 11.59pm AEST on December 21, 2009. Entries are deemed to be received at the time of receipt by World Nomads and World Nomads records are conclusive as to the time of receipt. All dates are subject to change if necessary in World Nomads discretion.
6. The Scholarship recipient will be selected by a panel of judges including one independent judge (Simon Richmond) who will select the best overall entry from a review of all eligible entries. The best overall entry will best interpret both the writing task AND best articulate why the author of the entry should be awarded the 2009 World Nomads Travel Writing Scholarship. The selection will be conducted at World Nomads Pty Limited of Level 5, 24 York St, Sydney, NSW 2000 between December 22nd 2009 and January 8th 2010. The judges' decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into, including in the event of a dispute. Chance plays no part in determining the successful scholarship recipient.
7. The successful applicant will receive the following;
- 7 day assignment in Tokyo, Japan, reviewing and updating for The Rough Guide to Japan, including a stipend of AU $100 a day to cover meals and local travel costs.
- 4 day "Flavours of Tokyo" independent tour with Intrepid Travel including accommodation, activities and some meals.
- return economy airfares from nearest international airport to Narita Airport, Tokyo, Japan.
- 7 days accommodation with Hotels.com for the duration of the assignment
- mentorship with travel writer Simon Richmond of Rough Guides.
- cost of any relevant visas.
8. The scholarship recipient must work with the mentor Simon Richmond, and under his direction, review and update local travel information in Tokyo such as accommodation, transport, bars & restaurants, entertainment, shopping, tours & activities. All relevant writing must be submitted to Simon Richmond for review and possible editing no later than March 26, 2010. Some or all parts of the work submitted may be published in the 2010 "The Rough Guide to Japan" where the Scholarship recipient will be duely credited.
The scholarship recipient must also keep a daily travel diary and upload diary entries (no less than 200 words per daily entry) to the World Nomads website, via an online travel journal, no later than 2 weeks after returning from the trip.
9. The Scholarship recipient will be notified by email and the recipient's name will be published on the World Nomads websites within 14 days after selection.
10. If the Scholarship recipient is not immediately identifiable or contactable World Nomads will make reasonable efforts to identify and/or contact the Scholarship recipient. If the Scholarship recipient has not accepted the prize within 7 days, the next best entry will be selected as scholarship recipient.
11. No responsibility is accepted for late, lost or misdirected mail or any errors or failures in internet or other communications. World Nomads reserves the right to cancel or modify the scholarship promotion if, in its sole discretion, the administration of the scholarship promotion is impaired for technical or other reasons beyond its reasonable control and, in such an event, may select the Scholarship recipient from all valid entries received prior to the impairment.
12. Scholarship prize consists of:
- 1x return economy flight to trip destination Narita Tokyo departing from the nearest international airport to the scholarship recipient's home (approximate value AU $3000)
- 7 day assignment in Tokyo, Japan, reviewing and updating for The Rough Guide to Japan, including a stipend of AU$100 a day to cover meals and local transport. (value AU $1100)
- 7 day 3-4 star accommodation in Tokyo, Japan with Hotels.com (value AU $3200)
- 4 day "Flavours of Tokyo" independent tour with Intrepid Travel including accommodation, activities and some meals (approximate value AU $1,460).
Total prize value of scholarship is approximately AUD$7,760
The value of the prize is accurate at the date of commencement of the scholarship promotion. World Nomads accepts no responsibility for any variation in the value of the prize after that date. The prize cannot be refunded, transferred, substituted or redeemed for cash. World Nomads reserves the right in its sole discretion to substitute the prize with cash or a prize of comparable value if the prize cannot be awarded as described for any reason.
13. The scholarship recipient will be responsible for all personal expenses and any other expenses, fees and costs connected with the prize that are not included in the prize description. The scholarship recipient is also responsible for all transportation to the point of departure, including accommodation costs prior to and following the travel dates in order to meet flight connections.
14. The scholarship recipient must hold a valid passport.
15. The scholarship recipient agrees that acceptance of the prize by the scholarship recipient is conditional upon compliance with all relevant laws, rules and regulations and upon the scholarship recipient releasing World Nomads, Rough Guides, Intrepid Travel, Hotels.com and their affiliates, subsidiaries, directors, officers, employees and agents, from any and all liability, claims, demands and causes of action for any personal injury or other loss or damage (including but not limited to indirect or consequential loss) suffered in connection with the acceptance or use of the prize, except for any liability which cannot be excluded by law. World Nomads reserves the right to disqualify the scholarship recipient at its absolute discretion in the event of non-compliance or the failure to provide such releases.
16. As the author of your entry, you warrant that your entry is original and your own work.
