Interview with Emily Gerson of Maiden Voyage

Hi everyone, and welcome back to another inspiring interview on GO! Overseas. This week we are proud to introduce Emily Gerson of Maiden Voyage Travel. Emily is a 20-something travel junkie and professional writer currently based in Austin, Texas. She enjoys sharing her travel experiences, both good and bad, with the online community. Her hope is to inspire all young people to get out and travel the world. We hope you enjoy the interview and feel free to ask more questions in the comments below!

GO!: Let’s start with a brief introduction. Who are you, where are you, and what are you doing?

Emily: I’m a 25-year-old professional writer based in Austin, Texas. My background is in journalism, but now I’m a copywriter and online marketing manager in the travel industry. I also do a large amount of freelance writing, editing, and social media consulting, and run my own travel blog (unaffiliated with my day job), Maiden Voyage.

GO!: When and how did you get hooked on travel?

Emily: I’m fortunate that both of my parents also love to travel, and they took me on all types of great trips growing up. They passed the bug on to me, and an awesome two-week trip throughout Europe right after college really got things going. Once I had my own income, I began to travel even more.

GO!: What does travel mean to you?

Emily: Many 20something bloggers seem to think that backpacking and staying hostels is the only way to authentically travel. While I think that travel style has merit, I don’t think that’s the only way to travel. I have gone backpacking, but I have also stayed in boutique and mid-sized hotels and gone on cruises. I prefer budget hotels to hostels and often use a suitcase instead of a backpack, but I don’t think that makes my travel experiences any less genuine or valuable. To me, travel is about discovering new places, cultures, history, and food, but it’s also about self-discovery. It broadens your horizons and is often humbling. It also can be empowering. While I think cruising can sometimes be a crappy way to travel, to me, all travel is eye-opening.

GO!: Where have your travels taken you so far?

Emily: I have traveled throughout much of the United States, including Alaska. I have been to Mexico many times, in addition to Belize and Jamaica. I have traveled throughout Scotland, England, Italy, and Greece. I have also been to Germany, France, and Turkey. I have so many more places I want to go!

GO!: Favorite destination?

Emily: Santorini, Greece. It’s insanely beautiful.

GO!: I've never been to Austin, Texas. What should I see and do?

Emily: 1) While it costs more, stay downtown. It is very walkable and full of restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues. The rest of Austin is very spread out and it’s easy to get lost, and the only public transportation we have are buses.

2) Consider coming between March and November. We’re home to the largest urban bat population in North America, and at dusk during this time they emerge from the bridge over the lake in the millions. You can stand on the bridge or somewhere nearby (hang out on a boat) and watch them fly out.

3) If you love music, come in town for the Austin City Limits Festival or South by Southwest Conference and Festival. They both bring in incredible bands from around the world.

GO!: What does it mean to be a professional travel writer today, and how did you enter this profession?

Emily: It used to mean that you were published in the likes of Travel + Leisure or the Lonely Planet. With the surge of online journalism and blogging, it’s easier to be a travel writer. I know this is somewhat vague, but I consider a professional travel writer someone who gets paid by legitimate websites, publications, or well-respected blogs for articles about travel.

My first job out of school was as the editorial assistant at a personal finance website. It was a bit dry, but I was given a lot of wiggle room with the blog, so I wrote many posts about personal finance and travel (credit card foreign transaction fees, pay toilets, etc.). I really enjoyed writing about travel, even if just in small bits,, so when I saw an opening for a copywriter at a local online travel company, I jumped on it. I began writing for a variety of other websites and publications on a freelance basis. Each new writing clip opened up another door.

GO!: What are the pros and cons of the occupation?

Emily: The pros are that you get to write about something you’re passionate about, and if you get big enough, you often get offered free trips so you can write about the experience. The cons are that it is extremely competitive and it’s frustrating writing about travel all the time but not getting to travel all the time!

GO!: What advice do you have for aspiring travel writers?

Emily: Be persistent. When you find websites or publications you want to write for, study what types of pieces they publish and make sure your pitch fits with their style (and doesn’t overlap with something recently published). If they ignore your pitch or turn you down, keep trying with new pitches. You can also search for writing gigs on sites like Craigslist.org, Elance.com, and FreelanceWritingGigs.com. ProBlogger.net’s job board sometimes has openings for travel writers/bloggers. If you can’t get any gigs, having your own blog is a great way to dynamically showcase your work, though it’s not technically “professional.” If you do plan to blog, be sure to familiarize yourself with the new FTC regulations about blogging—it requires disclosure if you are given freebies.

GO!: You run a successful blog at Maiden-Voyage-Travel.com. Can you tell us a little more about this site, how it got started, and what your goals are?

Emily in Santorini.

Emily: I started Maiden Voyage almost a year ago. I was getting to do some travel writing for my day job, but it was more sales/marketing copy rather than articles. I was doing some travel writing on a freelance basis, but not as much as I wanted. I also liked the idea of having total editorial freedom, so I launched my own travel blog. I sometimes write narratives or tidbits about personal experiences, but I also try to make it a resource for other travelers. I feature interviews, travel news, tips, interesting guest posts, and more. I’m making some money from it, but not too much. That’s OK—I just hope to get to a point where I am able to go on some press trips and travel for free in exchange for writing about it.

I specifically target 20something travelers. I know of one other great travel blog that does this, but I haven’t seen many other travel blogs that are explicitly geared toward that one demographic. As mentioned before, I also position myself as a blog that celebrates all forms of travel—I don’t focus on just backpacking or hosteling.

GO!: What does the future hold for you?

Emily: I’m getting married in March, so I’m excited about a great honeymoon (we’re still figuring out the plan)! I have some possible exciting projects for my travel blog, but I’m not ready to reveal them yet. Basically, I plan to keep blogging and keep traveling as much as possible. At some point in the future, I want to be a full-time freelancer.