Beyond The Byline: What It Actually Means To Be A Travel Journalist

Travel journalist Christopher Elliott has set foot in dozens of exotic countries from Jamaica to Vietnam, and he has had accounts of his adventures published in virtually every major newspaper in America. By now, he’s been in the travel journalism industry for almost 30 years.

Elliott, 61, also produces two national travel columns each week: the “On Travel” column for USA Today established in 2013 and the “Travel Troubleshooter” for Elliott Advocacy established in 2014. He founded Elliott Advocacy in 1997 to help people with common travel issues such as cancellations and refunds.

While freelance globe-trotting may sound like a dream gig, Elliott recently shed a more realistic light on the struggles of this lifestyle. The glamor of nonstop travel can come at a steep price in terms of a compatible family life. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Can you share your journey to travel journalism?

I didn’t start out as a travel writer, nor did I want to become one. I was simply interested in journalism.

As an intern with the [Los Angeles] Times’ bureau in San Francisco years ago, I covered basically all of Northern California for them. It was what got me thinking [that] I really like being on the road.

They gave me the keys to their beat-up old “company car” and handed me a brick 1991 cellphone. And they said, “Northern California is yours.” 

I knew I didn’t want to spend my life sitting in an office. I hated the idea of that. I wanted to get out, meet people and see interesting things. I wanted to see the world. 

What was the process of starting Elliott Advocacy?

I’ve really had two parallel careers: one as a travel writer and the other as a consumer advocate. 

Early on in my career, I realized there were a lot of people who needed help. The travel industry is notorious for taking people’s money and giving them bad service in return, especially airlines. And it dawned on me that maybe I should publish stories like these [for everyone to see]. 

What is your favorite part of your Elliott Advocacy career?

Helping people is what keeps me going. 

I used to think the best thing in the world was being on the front page of the newspaper or the Today Show. I’ve done those things. Relatives call you, like, “I saw you on the Today Show,” or whatever. But the only people who read bylines are editors and your mother. 

What does a day in your life look like?

Do you really want to know? I’m usually up at about 3 a.m. 

I think people believe if you’re a travel writer, you can simply show up at a destination to enjoy a few days of sightseeing and go back to your office to write it up while you wait for your next assignment. But the truth is that you’re constantly thinking ahead of time, which requires early mornings.

I have six months of work already written for one of my columns. I have about a month of my other column done. And the moment I get a little bit of daylight on the calendar, I’m already looking at what I want to publish or where I am going in April.

You can’t think in a linear way. You have to think five or six moves ahead. 

Plus, my best writing hours are actually between 4-9 a.m.

Can you talk more about your upcoming trips?

My home for the next month is in São Paulo. After that, Rio de Janeiro, Aruba, Grenada, Antigua, Bermuda and The Bahamas. I don’t know where I’m going after that – maybe Montreal. 

You wake up in the morning and you’re like, “Where am I?” Like seriously, I don’t know where I am sometimes. When my friends call me, they don’t say, “Hey, Chris, how are you?” They say, “Hey Chris, where are you?”

Do you have a home base?

My home is wherever I’m sleeping that evening. Sometimes it’s the airport. 

I get mail at my uncle’s home in Spokane, Washington. 

Does that ever become hard?

If you think you’re going to have normal, personal relationships, like marriage and family, don’t even think about it. You’re not going to – not with this kind of lifestyle. 

The last time I saw my son’s mother was when she walked out on me seven years ago. It’s not the kind of lifestyle where you have a normal relationship with anyone. It’s all-consuming. 

You can do it, and I love what I do. But there is a price to be paid. It’s a very high price. 

Can you share more about that?

Well I’ve detoured in a big way because I used to have a family, which is completely incompatible with this life. 

For about 26 years, I [wrote from home as a] stay-at-home dad. I love my [three] children, don’t get me wrong, but I probably should’ve given up journalism and become a PR person for everyone’s sake or should’ve just not had a family. Doing what I did was crazy because I would sit there and think, “I gotta take my next trip, go somewhere. Where can I go?” School is about to start for the kids, but I’m thinking about whether or not I can get to Europe. 

I got to the top. In 2004, 2005 and 2006, I had a travel column for The New York Times and National Geographic. I had the most popular travel blog. But then there was no place else to go [from there].

Are you familiar with greyhound dog races? At some point, one of them catches the rabbit, but it’s a fake rabbit. When they realize the rabbit isn’t real, they can’t race them anymore. That’s how I feel; I don’t know what else there is. I’ve done it all.

• journalism
• travel journalism
• work life balance