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WRITER’S RETREATS are more than just a places to stay. In addition to space, many provide community support, resources, and workshops to help writers improve their skills while they complete major writing projects.

Retreats can last anywhere from a few weeks or months to a whole year, and vary in structure. Some have set time limits while others allow the writer a choice of schedules. Even the number of artists in residences at one time varies greatly depending on the program.

Gaining acceptance into one of the more established programs is nearly unheard of for beginning writers, however don’t get discouraged. At more-recently established retreats, less experienced writers have an excellent shot at acceptance.

Residencies are located all over the world and welcome writers at all levels. Some are genre-specific, focusing on poetry or fiction. Here are a few retreats that welcome writers of creative nonfiction, which includes travel writing.

Edward F. Albee Foundation William Flanagan Memorial Creative Persons Center, New York

www.albeefoundation.org

Edward F. Albee Foundation William Flanagan Memorial Creative Persons Center, also known as “The Barn” is an artist’s retreat in Montauk, New York, that accepts up to five guests at a time for stays of 4-6 weeks from May to October. There’s no application fee and no charge to stay at the retreat, but space is limited and admissions are highly competitive.

Applicants for non-fiction residencies will need to submit three essays or articles, a resume, a one page “artist’s statement”, and two letters of recommendation. Applications are accepted from January 1 to March 1.

Artcroft Creative Residency Program, Kentucky

www.artcroft.org

Located an hour northeast of Lexington, the Artcroft Creative Residency Program accepts creative nonfiction writers for retreats of 2-4 weeks all year round. The program accepts up to six artists at a time and there is no charge.

The colony provides transportation from the airport and basic food staples and in return residents are expected to contribute 20 hours per week to working on the farm and in the community. Applicants will need to submit the $30 application fee, two personal and two professional references, a resume, a one-page description of the work they wish to undertake during the retreat, two work samples, and proposals for the work they can contribute to the community and to the retreat’s work exchange.

Leighton Artists Colony at the Banff Center, Alberta, Canada

www.banffcentre.ca

Leighton Artists Colony at the Banff Center offers ongoing flexible-stay retreats for artists, writers, and composers. There is a $75 application fee, a nightly charge for residency and an optional meal plan at additional cost. Scholarships are available.

First time applicants will need to submit a resume, a description of the project they’ll be working on, three letters of recommendation, and a selection of published works or manuscripts in progress. Applications are accepted throughout the year, but should be submitted six months before the desired residency dates.

The Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow , Arkansas

www.writerscolony.org

The Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow offers stays of two weeks to three months from mid-March to mid-December to writers of genres including non-fiction, journalism, and culinary writing. Writers are asked to contribute what they can to the cost of their stay, though fellowships are available to help fund the retreat. There is no application fee.

To apply, writers need to submit a list of publications and of any prizes they’ve been awarded, two references, and a work sample of no more than ten pages. Each writer will also be asked to contribute time to a local outreach program during the stay. Applications are due in September for the following year.

Writers in the Heartland, Illinois

www.writersintheheartland.org

Writers in the Heartland, located in central Illinois, opened in 2008 and hosted its first writers in 2009. Up to five writers at a time will be welcomed for stays of one week, two weeks or one month in September or October. For the first year, only writers from the Midwest were accepted, but this may change in the future.

There is a $15 application fee, but accommodations and meals at the retreat are free. Prospective residents will need to submit a cover letter, resume, and work sample of 25 pages or less by mid-April for the following year. As this colony is new, it isn’t well known, so there might not be much competition and newer writers may have a better chance of being accepted.

The Martha’s Vineyard Writer’s Residency, Massachusetts

www.writersresidency.com

The Martha’s Vineyard Writer’s Residency is another newcomer. It was established in 2007 and welcomes up to eight writers at a time to stay for two weeks to one month during October. The residency cost is $150 per week, which includes accommodation in a historic inn, but not meals or transportation.

For consideration, applicants need to submit a biography with publication history, a work sample of up to 20 pages, and a statement of purpose outlying the project that will be undertaken at the retreat. Applications are due via email by March 1 for the October residency.

Andrew’s Forest Writers Residency, Oregon

www.andrewsforest.oregonstate.edu

The Long-Term Ecological Reflections Program at the Andrews Forest in Oregon is a residency offered to writers “whose work reflects a keen awareness of the natural world”. Depending on the project that will be undertaken while at the residency, this could include travel writers.

Residents stay for one week during March, April, May, September, October, or November, and receive a stipend of $250. Applications include a work sample of up to 15 pages and a one-page statement describing the writer’s proposed project and how it fits into the mission of the Forest. While at the retreat, writers will have the chance to work with research scientists and their writing will appear in The Forest Log anthology.

Hedgebrook – Washington

www.hedgebrook.org

Up to seven women writers at a time stay at Hedgebrook, a colony on the coast of Washington state, for 2-6 weeks from February to November. Several hundred apply each year but only about 40 are chosen, so the competition is tough.

The retreat accepts both published and unpublished writed, so even those who haven’t made a name for themselves have a fair shot. The application costs $25 but the program is free. Application requirements include a writing sample of up to five pages and two personal essays. The essays detail the work of the writer, why she wishes to attend the retreat at Hedgebrook, and how her work will benefit from her time there. Applications are accepted through September for the following year.

This is only a small sampling of the residency programs out there. Here are some things to consider when choosing your residency.

Overall Considerations for Writer’s Retreats

Don’t worry about geography.

With the exception of the cost of getting to the colony, the location matters little. You can just as easily find a secluded space in the middle of a big city as you can in a more rural area. The setting is more important.

If you need fresh air and nature, pick a retreat set on a farm or forest where you can go for walks on the property when you need a break. If you require more stimulation, a colony in a city or small town might better.

Determine Your Preferred Work Style

Some retreats offer complete solitude. Others have a more communal atmosphere after work hours. Some offer a dedicated studio space and others expect writers to work in their rooms. Think about which situation will allow you to focus most easily and choose the retreat that fits your style best.

Calculate All the Costs

The total cost of the colony is more than the price of staying there. If food and transportation aren’t included, figure that in as well. If you work full time, keep in mind the cost of the salary you’ll be sacrificing.

This many affect how long you can afford to stay at the colony. A few retreats offer short stays. If the price is more than you can afford, look into retreats that offer fellowships to defray the cost.

Apply to Several Retreats

Applying to more than one retreat may increase your chances of being accepted. If a more popular retreat rejects you, a less well-known one might gladly welcome you. Being flexible on dates and applying to year-round retreats may also help you get accepted. If you are rejected one year, you can always apply again the following year.

Community Connection

Do you have experience as a writer in residence? Have you always wanted to take a writers retreat? If you were to dedicate 6 months to writing what would it be?

So, the holy foreskin, eh? How did you find yourself studying such a bizarre footnote to Christian history?

I sometimes asked myself the same question—especially during the periods of self doubt. But having studied European history in college and grad school it seemed like the perfect subject for me: this unusual relic has been looming about the periphery of various historical periods and movements, from the Middle Ages to the fury that inspired the Reformation to the 19th-century Romantic movement. It was a fun challenge in writing the book to put the relic into a historical context for each period.

Your book actually began life as an article in Slate, right? At what point did you start thinking there was a full-length travel narrative in the making, and how did you make that transition from article to book?

Actually, a book was my original intention. But writing the article was a great first step. Plus, in the back of my mind, I had hoped the article would get enough attention that it would help me sell the book. And, in fact, that’s exactly what happened. The blogosphere went crazy over the article, people were talking about it on the radio, and people from the publishing world were emailing me asking if I’d sold the book yet. I often tell my writing students that the easiest way to sell your book is to write an article on the subject in a high-profile publication.

Was it a tough balancing act over there, between making friends, researching your book, learning Italian, and, I assume, writing for a living as well? Any advice on how writers can balance all their commitments while tackling something like a book project?

It wasn’t so difficult. I had fully absorbed myself into the village and into the history of the relic and the area. It all pervaded me to the degree that nearly everything I did could have been part of the narrative that would become my book.

As for magazine and newspaper assignments, they came much easier than when I’m back in New York. One fast-track way to getting assignments is to move to a country often featured in travel publications—like, say, Italy. You’ll get story ideas and angles much easier, you’ll appear “an insider” to editors because you’re living there, and you’ll come delightfully cheap since no one has to pay for you to fly across an ocean to get there.

The rolling hills of Calcata, home of the Holy Foreskin / Photo: draks

When you were still in Calcata, were you thinking ahead to the writing, and going, “Man, I need a dramatic climax to this story,” or were you too wrapped up in the mystery itself to think that far ahead?

I was hoping to have a conclusion that was less speculative, but I didn’t know what. Until I heard (from a Vatican insider) what happened to the Holy Foreskin, I had no idea how the book was going to end. So, not only I was I jump-up-and-down excited that my efforts had finally produced a conclusion on the relic, but I was also happy I was going to have an ending to the book, too.

There’s some pretty meaty religious history worked into the text. Could you give us an idea of the breakdown between research and writing time? Was it difficult to find a balance between the two?

I was—and still am—so obsessed with the history of the Holy Foreskin that it never felt like work to me. It was great going the Vatican Library and doing research and then spending the next day writing about it.

The most challenging part was actually balancing historical exposition and writing about my present search for the relic in the narrative. The transition between the two, while writing an accessible and comprehensive (and generally chronological) history of the relic, was almost like putting together a huge jigsaw puzzle in my mind.

What’s been the hardest thing about writing and publishing your first book? And the most fun, or satisfying?

The only way into Old Calcata / Photo: paulspace

For most people, the most difficult aspect is getting a publishing house to want to publish your book. As I mentioned above, I didn’t really have that problem. So for me one of the most difficult aspects was being able to shut out distractions while I was writing the book.

I wrote the first two-thirds of the book—60,000 words—in three months in Calcata, where I didn’t have very many modern distractions (like TV and the internet) and I wrote the last one-third of the book—30,000 words—in six months in New York City. If I had tried writing the entire thing in New York, I’d probably still be working on it. Now I understand the importance of writing colonies and retreats.

Finally, the inevitable question: What’s next for David Farley? Another book? Another weird town? Perhaps some well-deserved rest?

Trying to get the word out about An Irreverent Curiosity. Also, I’m just starting on another book project, but it’s in the very early stages, so I don’t want to go into much detail yet. I will say that it’s far from a travel narrative and will have much more consequence than stuff I’ve written in the past.

Community Connection:

Feature photo by Seamoor. Photo above by Go Card USA.

Red eye flights leave after 9 PM and arrive before 5 AM. Most people avoid them. I don’t, though, and here are 10 reasons why:

1. Late night flights are often cheaper.

For my recent flight from Charlotte to New York, a ticket that cost more than $200 for a mid-day flight cost just $82 for a late night flight.

2. Late night flights offer faster check in.

Airports tend to be less busy late at night; from curb to check-in, your jaunt to the gate is likely to be smoother and quicker than it would be during the day.

3. Late night flights often fly well below capacity.

Mid-day flights are often full. Late night flights aren’t… which means the one seat you paid for can often turn into three seats for stretching out and taking a nap. Fewer passengers also means you’re more likely to snag the increasingly coveted airline blanket, pillow, and snack.

Photo by caribb.

4. Late night flights are less rowdy.

Parents with crying kids. Businesspeople knocking back a few drinks. The overexcited tourist who just can’t wait to get to Vegas and gamble away her retirement. They’re all absent from late night flights.

5. Late night flights are more luggage friendly.

Fewer passengers = more overhead bin space and less luggage in cargo. Less luggage in cargo = faster baggage claim.

6. Late night flights let you get in a full day’s work.

Mid-day flights always leave me feeling as if I’ve lost a whole day of work, leaving me cranky. A late night flight, however, lets me get in at least a half-day’s work, and I can squeeze in a full day’s work if I’m not procrastinating.

Photo by juicyrai.

7. Late night flights let you avoid rush hour traffic.

Sometimes, the headache of air travel has nothing to do with air at all, but with on the ground traffic. Avoid morning and afternoon rush hours by taking the late night flight.

8. Late night flights tend to be on time.

With less air and runway traffic compared to morning and afternoon flights, late night flights tend to arrive and depart on time.

9. Late night flights allow you to manage your appetite.

Like work, eating habits always seem to get thrown off by morning or mid-day flights. With a late night flight, though, it’s possible to eat breakfast and lunch, and to pack a light snack for the plane.

Photo by reflective perspicacity.

10. Late night flights leave you less prone to losing stuff.

With fewer people, TSA screeners, gate agents, and flight attendants are all more likely to have more time to devote to you… which means they’re more likely to see and return the laptop you left behind at the x-ray machine or the camera you forgot in the overhead bin.

If your next flight is short, you might want to consider taking a train instead. Besides cutting out the long lines at security, you can also relax in more spacious cabins, use your cell phone and laptop (many even have power outlets) and avoid ear popping cabin air pressurization.

The US Amtrak system isn’t perfect. There isn’t service to every city in the US, and cross-country trains still remain slow and expensive when compared to flying. However, if you’re hopping across a few states, it can be less expensive and sometimes faster than taking a flight.

Consider a 5 hour train ride from Boston to Philadelphia. The equivalent flight takes over two hours; however, after adding in time spent arriving early plus waiting in baggage claim, you can easily spend close to 5 hours in transit. If you take the train instead, you’ll spend $157. The cheapest flight available is $265. That’s a 43% savings over flying, and you can get an additional 10-15% if you are a student, AAA member, or military.

So why are we spending more for flights that continue to raise prices, add fees for luggage, and remove basic services when there is a cheap and comfortable alternative?

We’ve pulled the prices of 21 low cost train routes that beat their lowest-priced airline competitor. To do this, we’ve used a standard set of dates for a Saturday to Saturday roundtrip ticket (to make it fair) and the prices below are accurate at the time of writing. Your results may vary depending on the date, lead time, and the mood of the airline on any given day.

Trains That Are Cheaper and Faster Than Flying

1. Boston, MA to Portland, ME
Amtrak: $48.
Cheapest Flight: $353.
Total Savings: 86%

2. Montreal, QB to Albany NY
Amtrak: $90.
Cheapest Flight: $447.
Total Savings: 80%

3. New York, NY to Philadelphia, PA
Amtrak: $86.
Cheapest Flight: $362
Total Savings: 76%

4. Seattle, WA to Vancouver, BC
Amtrak: $60.
Cheapest Flight: $248
Total Savings: 76%

Amtrak could get a big boost this year, if Congress passes a bill that will give Amtrak $15 billion to improve and expand train service. Photo above by MR38.

5. New York, NY to Albany, NY
Amtrak: $74.
Cheapest Flight: $268
Total Savings: 72%

6. Los Angeles, CA to San Diego, CA
Amtrak: $68.
Cheapest Flight: $245
Total Savings: 72%

7. Vancouver, BC to Portland, OR
Amtrak: $88.
Cheapest Flight: $298
Total Savings: 70%

8. Seattle, WA to Portland, OR
Amtrak: $56.
Cheapest Flight: $165
Total Savings: 66%

9. Philadelphia, PA to Washington, D.C.
Amtrak: $84.
Cheapest Flight: $182
Total Savings: 54%

10. Chicago, IL to Memphis, TN
Amtrak: $182.
Cheapest Flight: $328
Total Savings: 45%

11. Boston, MA to Philadelphia, PA
Amtrak: $152.
Cheapest Flight: $265
Total Savings: 43%

Amtrak concession stand. Photo: Kafka4Prez

12. Baltimore, MD to New York, NY
Amtrak: $122.
Cheapest Flight: $193
Total Savings: 37%

13. New York, NY to Boston, MA
Amtrak: $118.
Cheapest Flight: $155
Total Savings: 24%

14. Washington, D.C. to New York, NY
Amtrak: $138.
Cheapest Flight: $155
Total Savings: 11%

Cheap Trains, Long Rides

(These fares are cheaper, but will take longer than flying)

1. New Orleans, LA to Memphis, TN
Amtrak: $100.
Cheapest Flight: $411
Total Savings: 76%

2. New York, NY to Montreal, QB
Amtrak: $122
Cheapest Flight: $427
Total Savings: 71%

3. Toronto, ON to New York, NY
Amtrak: $184.
Cheapest Flight: $398
Total Savings: 54%

4. Cinnicinati, OH to New York, NY
Amtrak: $283.
Cheapest Flight: $554
Total Savings: 49%

5. San Francisco, CA to Los Angeles, CA
Amtrak: $96.
Cheapest Flight: $165
Total Savings: 42%

6. Charlotte, NC to New York, NY
Amtrak: $188.
Cheapest Flight: $274
Total Savings: 31%

7. Washington, D.C. to Chicago, IL
Amtrak: $174.
Cheapest Flight: $229
Total Savings: 24%

Other Ways to Save

If you’re booking a flight in under 14 days, you might want to compare the corresponding Amtrak fare, as airlines prices tend to increase sharply as you approach the departure day, while train tickets stay stable.

You can book online with Amtrak.

Be sure to check out the Amtrak Weekly Hot Deals

For 10 – 15% off the standard fare, see if you qualify for a Student and AAA Member Discounts.

Feature photo by Zador Spanish schools Spain. Photo above by Mike Rollinger.

Do your have a worthwhile project or field of study that involves traveling? If so, consider having your travels funded through a grant, fellowship, or travel scholarship.

Begin by contemplating where you want to go and potential projects you could build around those destinations. (Or vice versa.) Always wondered how sustainable agriculture works in Guam? How about local conservation practices in Central America? Once you have a clear vision of a travel / research project, begin looking for funding possibilities that give you the most freedom to pursue your goals.

When applying, take advantage of the resources and support systems you have. Your school, present or past, will have an adviser who can help you navigate the application process.

Writing grant proposals can take a lot of time, but good advice can help focus your efforts. Your school or area may even offer their own scholarship opportunities–talk to your department or your study abroad office.

Finally, even if funding from your school or other org close to home isn’t an option, you’ll find lots of other opportunities out there to fund your travel / project.

Major Grants

These are highly sought-after, competitive post-college grants that offer a full ride for a year or two of graduate study overseas.

Marshall Scholarship fully funds 2-3 years of graduate study in the UK. Open to US students finished with or finishing college.

Rhodes Scholarship funds two years of graduate study at Oxford. Includes full tuition and expenses and living stipend.

Fulbright offers year-long fellowships to American graduating seniors, grad students, young professionals and artists for study abroad or to teach English abroad. Program requirements vary by destination.

Posing at the Louvre. Photo by marshlight.

Watson Fellowship funds one year of independent research. $25,000. Open to graduating seniors from participating, small American colleges.

Program-based funding

These include grants tied to participation in the giver’s program, and can take various forms.

Institute for International Public Policy Fellowships is a five year program with study abroad component to prepare underrepresented minority undergrads for careers in international affairs. Open to US citizens or permanent residents who apply sophomore year.

Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowships multi-year program also for women and members of minorities underrepresented in foreign service. Open to US citizens to apply by Feb. of sophomore year. Foreign service commitment.

Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is a State Department program supporting study abroad. Up to $5000 offered to enrolled students with financial need.

Rotary Ambassadorial and World Peace Scholarships fund study and language training abroad for undergraduates and masters degrees for graduate students in international studies, peace studies, and conflict resolution to be completed at one of seven Rotary Centers. Ambassadorial grants from $11000 to $24000 depending on duration of study.

Fogarty-Ellison Overseas Fellowships in Global Health and Clinical Research from the NIH funds one year of clinical research training abroad. $25,000 plus $6000 for additional travel and materials expenses. Open to graduate students in health professions.

CIEE Scholarships offers several grants to participants in CIEE’s study abroad programs. Certain grants fund study in particular regions. Essay required upon return. Must demonstrate financial need.

AIFS Scholarships offer a variety of grants covering up to full tuition and airfare for individuals in AIFS programs.

SIT Scholarships fund participation in SIT program. $500 to $5,000. Based on financial need.

Buenos Aires. Photo by Rob Paetz. –Do you have a beneficial project in mind but can’t afford traveling? Find the funds. They’re out there.

Hispanic Study Abroad Scholars reduces costs of Global Semesters programs. Open to students attending member institutions of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.

Institute for International Public Policy Fellowship is a multi-year program of summer institutes and study abroad. Funds up to 1/2 of junior year study abroad tuition. Open to underrepresented minorities.

Regional Grants

These grants are tied to study or travel in specific regions or countries of the globe.

NSEP David L. Boren Scholarship pays for undergraduate students to study in understudied areas of interest to national security. $8000 to $20000 depending on duration of study. Comes with federal government service requirement.

NSEP Boren Fellowship for graduate students. $12000 to $30000 maximum award. Federal service requirement.

Critical Language Scholarships for Intensive Summer Institutes funds study of a list of lesser-studied languages. Covers all program costs. Open to US citizens enrolled in a college or university.

The Killam Fellowships Program fund semester or academic year study in Canada. $5000/semester plus a travel allowance. Open to US or Canadian undergraduates.

George J. Mitchell Scholarship sponsors one year of graduate study at an Irish University. Funded by the US-Ireland Alliance. Includes tuition and stipend. Open to American citizens, ages 18 to 30.

Slovakia, Bratislava. Photo by Rob Paetz.

BUTEX Scholarships offer $1000 for US students accepted to study at a member University of the British Universities TransAtlantic Exchange Association. Simple application due by September 1.

American-Scandinavian Foundation Awards for Study in Scandinavia offer fellowships of up to $23000 and grants of $5000 to fund study or research. Open to college graduates.

DAAD Fellowships from The German Academic Exchange offers a range of study and research grants to undergraduates and graduate students for summer or school-year study in Berlin.

Kress Travel Fellowships in the History of Art funds research in Europe towards dissertation. $3500 to $10,000. Open to American pre-doctoral students in art history

IREX Short Term Travel Grants Program Fellowships for researchers holding graduate degrees for up to eight weeks in Eurasia. Research must be broadly related to policy concerns.

Freeman Awards for Study in Asia supports study in Asia for students demonstrating financial need. $3000-$7000 based on the duration of study. Open to undergraduates with little to no experience in country of travel.

Bridging Scholarships are offered by the Association of Teachers of Japanese , to fund travel and living expenses for academic study in Japan. Grants range from $2500 to $4000.

Monbusho Scholarships available to current and graduated students between 18 and 30. Funded by the Japanese government. Short term exchange program of particular interest to current undergrad and grad students.

Huayu Enrichment Scholarship for Mandarin language study in Taiwan. Stipend of approx US$790/month. Open to overseas students who apply through their local Taiwan representative.

Halide Edip Adıvar Prize For current undergraduates who have not studied Turkey. $1000. Open to American and Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

Other funding

Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Grants towards study abroad. $1000. Open to all students of universities with a Phi Kappa Phi chapter.

NSF: Developing Global Scientists and Engineers offers funds for international research and study to undergrads, grad students and doctoral students in science and engineering fields. Grant

Feature photo by wtlphotos Photo above by Panoramas

I hightailed it to Europe and found a job that was willing to sponsor my work permit. The first few months however, I was working “black,” which meant that I could not get paid because my work and residency in the country had not yet been approved.

I was approaching the end of my legal stay in Europe (wherein citizens of the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK are allowed to travel for six-months within the continent and three-months in one of the Schengen states. It was unnerving.

Getting a work permit was the constant topic of conversion amongst the expatriate crowd in Berlin. From exchanging visa horror stories to grand schemes of getting away with overstaying, we all shared the nightmare of being escorted to the Polish border by the immigration authorities.

Some contemplated proposing marriage to random Europeans, others gave up and returned to their home country, and then there were those who simply buckled down and dealt with the paperwork.

Acquiring a work permit in Europe is a challenge. It will make you feel like you’re perpetually banging your head against a wall, as you’ll often find that you can’t be granted a work permit without a job, but at the same time, most companies won’t hire you without this document.

Therefore, it’s important that you do your research and find the best kind of job for you. Check the companion piece to this article, last week’s How To Find Paying Work While Traveling in Europe.

You can also find out about the specific work and visa options and requirements by checking out the website Anywork, Anywhere and the Do it Yourself Expat site.

Photo by papalars

Key Aspects of a Work Permit

1) A work permit is a non-transferable legal document that allows a non-citizen to work in the country for a specific company.

2) Technically, it is illegal to enter the country to look for work without a permit. To get a permit, you must have a valid job offer.

3) The company that hires you must be able to prove that it has made an earnest effort to fill the position with an EU citizen. This is often the reason why foreigners have many opportunities in the TEFL field, but very few legal options within the service industry.

Applying from Home

You can save yourself a lot of stress and anxiety by applying for a permit before you leave for Europe. This document is country specific and not applicable for the entire continent. The first step is to find a job that is willing to sponsor your application for a work permit.

Photo by gaspa

Ideally, it will be the company that will be applying on your behalf. However, if they are unable (or unwilling) to deal with all the paperwork, you can also go through an immigration agency, such as www.workpermit.com.

Remember to obtain the necessary documents from your home consulate, as well as check the employment regulations of the country in which you intend to work. A good resource is Yahoo’s directory of embassies and consulates all over the world.

Working Holiday

If you’re a commonwealth citizen between the ages of 17 to 30, and planning on working in the UK, you can apply for the Working Holidaymakers Scheme, which is valid for up to two years. This visa is issued under the presupposition that your main purpose for being in UK is for a holiday and work is an incidental aspect of your stay.

If you will be traveling as a student, you can ask your host institution if they can arrange for temporary work permits for specific countries. An excellent service is the British Universities North America Club or BUNAC which offers assistance regarding work and study programs in Ireland and the UK.

Residence/Work Permit

Getting a work permit if you are already in Europe is a difficult yet not impossible feat. If you plan on living and working in a specific city for the long-haul, bear in mind that the work and residence permit are tied together.

One of the most important steps is to register with the local district police within the first seven days of your arrival in the country. If you’ve already found a flat, have your flatmate or landlord write a letter to the authorities stating your rental agreement and the duration of your residence.

The next step is to open a bank account in the country and bring along the accompanying bank statement showing that you would have enough funds to support yourself (amount varies depending on the country). If most of your funds have gone towards beer or train tickets, you can also ask your parents to write you a letter of support which states that they would be willing to support you financially.

Most European countries also require that you have health insurance. It is important to make sure that the country where you’ll be living accepts coverage from your specific insurance provider. Another option is to get a student, travel or public insurance plan from companies like International Student Insurance or Swiss Care.

Photo by angstdei

It is also important to note that most companies in Europe are required to provide public health insurance for their employees.

Once you’ve accomplished all these necessary steps, you can then head over to the city labor office (along with your passport, legal documents, diploma, work contract) where they will review your case which can be approved immediately or take up to three months.

If you can’t speak the language, bring a friend who can serve as a translator, as people in the labor office either don’t speak any English or will refuse to do so. Once it goes through, you’ll be charged a small fee and can live and work in the country for up to a year. Please note however, that the permit is bound to the company that hires you and cannot be used for a job elsewhere.

Though its tempting to skip the mountain of paperwork that comes with getting an EU work permit, it is lot less difficult than being deported (you pay for the flight back), being banned from the country and paying the hefty fine.

Of course there are other options to getting this sought-after document, such as putting up your own business, applying for a freelance work permit, getting a dual citizenship if your parent or grandparents were born in the EU, or putting ads out for marriage (its been known to happen), but these options entail their own issues and mountains of red-tape.

I’ve met many people in my travels through Europe who were intent on avoiding the legalities of acquiring a permit, but unfortunately, many of them either ran out of money or had gotten in trouble with the immigration authorities. If long-term work in Europe is your goal, there really isn’t any getting around a work permit.

Photo by Judy Baxter

There are a confusing amount of options for the novice, but in this step-by-step guide the author’s choice of best services are showcased along with their strengths. If you can use email and a word processor, you know more than enough about computers to blog. In fact, you only really need step two…

1. Email

The first thing you’ll need is a way to keep in touch with friends and family while you’re on the road. If your current email provider isn’t going to be good to you while you’re away, I’d recommend switching to Google’s gmail because of its fast searching, large amounts of space and reliability of access. Promote your new email address early, but you can still check your old accounts in gmail! You don’t have to visit several sites to read your mail. Either set up forwarding to your new address in your old email client or use Gmail’s tools for collecting them.

Once you are set up with an account you can have an infinite number of email address by adding “+”. For example, if my email address is “spam@gmail.com” I can also have “spam+blog@gmail.com” without changing any settings. This can help you quickly identify where an email is coming from. You can also set up filters to keep your blog email separate from your primary email address.

Advanced tip: When visiting the site use https://gmail.com or https://mail.google.com. This will encrypt your login details as well as the content of your emails.

2. Blog platform

Now we need somewhere to write. WordPress.com is a free blogging platform that’s easy to use and has a very good set of features. If you ever want to move to another blogging platform it’s easy to export all your posts and comments.

Go to WordPress.com and click “sign up”. Add a username, password and your email address. Choose name of blog, confirm the URL and language ,then decide whether to allow search engines to find and index your blog. You want the URL to be memorable and easy to write down. Keep it simple!

Now, you’re in! The dashboard in front of you has everything you need to start writing. There are three pre-set examples that you’ll want to change: a post, a comment and a page. These examples allow you to see what’s what in your new blog world. You can edit or delete these then start making your own stuff – just click “write”. Easy.

3. Photos

If you have a digital camera you’ll want a place to showcase your photos. There’s none better than flickr.com . Flickr has a great community feel and lots of ways to share your photos. On the technical side, there’s lots of magic which makes it easy to distribute your photos to your blog and other websites.

Flickr is owned by Yahoo, so if you have a Yahoo address you can sign up with that, otherwise click “sign up” and go for it. Assuming you don’t have a laptop with you, you’ll be plugging your digital camera into a PC at an internet cafe. Do that, and then in Flickr, click “upload”. You’ll be able to browse to your camera, select the photos you want to upload, then name them and add other information if you wish.

You can choose to make your photos public or private, with different settings for friends and family. Use the “private” setting for uploading photos of receipts and serial numbers in case they’re needed for insurance claims.

Flickr is free for up to three albums and 100mb of uploaded images a month. Have a play with the free version first — shrink your photos before uploading — then consider whether US$25 a year is a worthwhile investment for a virtually unlimited amount of space.

Tip: If you’re taking a laptop with you, download one of the uploading tools. It’ll make your life a lot easier.

4. Making WordPress and Flickr play together

Now that you have a WordPress and a Flickr account we get to make them play together. If you want to use a photo in your blog post then start with Flickr. Choose a picture, click “download” and choose a size then select the code at the bottom of the page. Copy and paste into your WordPress.com writing panel and you’re away.

You can also show all your photos automatically. Take note of your Flickr RSS feed (in the browser’s address bar or near the bottom of your profile page) then head back to your WordPress.com administration panels. Click “presentation > widgets” then find the box named “Flickr” at the bottom of the page and drag it into the light-blue rectangular box. Click the icon to the right and follow the instructions there.

5. Styling sidebars

Since we’ve started with sidebar widgets let’s press on. Widgets allow you to quickly and easily change the look of your sidebar without using any code at all. Just to make sure we’re all in the same place, open your WordPress.com administration panels and click “presentation > widgets”. See something you like at the bottom of the page? A “search” bar perhaps? Just grab it with the mouse and drag it into the horizontal box. Now, believe me, there’s a search box in your sidebar. Play around with different looks and different tools until you’re happy with it. You can edit a widget’s text by clicking the page icon to the right of the widget’s name. Make sure you hit “save changes” before leaving the administration panel.

6. Styling the page

You have to admit that it’s important to get the look right. In WordPress the look of the site is known as the “theme”, so let’s go choose one. Also under “presentation” you’ll find the “themes” page. You can browse through the dozens of available themes, simply clicking them to completely change the look of your blog! The “edit CSS” tab will allow you to further customise things, but you’d be wise to save a copy of the orginal before making any changes. You might be happy with words and pictures, but if you want to go a step or so further, the next two sections look at how to add video and audio to your new blog.

7. Adding video

Editing video takes a heap of time. Time that, perhaps, could be better spent actually travelling! But when you take the time to do it, you want to share it with everyone. The most popular video sharing site is undoubtably youtube.com but if you don’t want to create yet another username and password you can also use google video to similar effect.

Having got an account with either service, click “upload” and browse to your video. Most video types are acceptable, so you can upload straight off your camera if you like. (Both services use background encoding to change the type of file it stores so, unlike Flickr, you can’t use these services to backup your videos.)

To add a video to your WordPress blog you have to take some code from the video site and put it in your “write” panel. The “embed” option is the one you want. Simply copy and paste the code you’re given. Of course, you can do this for other people’s videos too.

8. Adding audio

Audio, in WordPress.com’s free service at least, is not quite as easy as video. However, there are two very respectable options:

Option one. If you have access to upload mp3 files anywhere — maybe another family member’s site — you can add a player on your page using the following tag: [audio http://www.example.com/filename]

Option two. If you want to keep everything inside WordPress, then upgrade to one of their “pay” options. This will allow you to upload mp3 files within the system itself.

9. Pushing it Further

RSS is an important emerging medium for distributing your posts. Have a look at your “Options > Reading” panel in WordPress and make sure it looks good to you. I’d recommend “full” feeds with at least 10 posts visible. Although this makes it easier for copyright thieves to take your posts, it means travelers who read posts offline can actually see your post. If most of your readers have constant internet access or copyright theft is a big concern, then shorter feeds are your cup of tea. A useful sevice is feedburner.com which allows you to modify your RSS feed and add all sorts of services — like an automatic email containing each new post. Even if your family don’t understand RSS readers, they probably understand email.

10. Keeping passwords safe

With all these accounts there are heaps of passwords to remember. You did use a different password for each service, right? If not you definitely should go back and change them. All computers are liable to security issues, but internet cafes in some places are especially likely to have nasties on them. A common attack is called “key-logging” which records every button you press on the keyboard. Writing in your password on an infected system is like giving away the keys to your house. And if you have just one key to everything you own…

There are ways to securely store and use different passwords. This is a boon since, in reality, who can remember them all?! Keepass (and KeepassX for Macintosh) is a reliable tool which can also be run from a USB stick. Keepass’s copy and paste eliminates keylogging and deletes the copied item from the computer after a user-set time (set it up for 10 or 15 seconds). Not foolproof, but a step in the right direction.

I told you you only needed step two, but ten steps later and you’re ready to rock and roll in style. Now I guess it’s time to get out of the internet cafe and actually do something worth recording.

This article was updated on 22 January 2008.

Photo by Ryan Libre at www.idioimagers.org

To achieve a freer traveling lifestyle I’ve worked as a valet, carpenter, ski resort parking lot attendant, camp counselor, freelance writer, and English Teacher, among other jobs. What seasonal jobs have you had? What’s worked best for you?

We posted these questions to the Matador Travel Community; here were some of the responses:

1. High-end adventure travel guide. Work your way around the world leading luxury vacations for groups of 10-20. Itineraries range from biking through Tuscany, to camping in Yosemite, to sailing in Croatia. Your job is to organize and execute the best “active” vacation your guests have ever had. Why? Because you love to see people have new, eye-opening experiences, and because it’s your job and the tips pay the bills. Pros: You’re getting paid to be in places and do things people only dream about. Cons: You’re working the entire time and catering to the every need of some extremely high-maintenance guests. Job can be seasonal or year-round depending on language skills. Apply for a job at http://backroads.com

–submitted by Ben Polansky

2. Fishing Guide

One of the opportunities I had in the past, but really didn’t take full advantage of, was working at a fishing lodge on the Kenai Pennisula of Alaska. It really does change your world-view to be waking up directly in the shadow of a green mountain, knowing you have the choice to climb that mountain, raft along that river, fish for red salmon, or make your way towards the ocean and hunt bottom-dwelling halibut.

There’s one particular lodge that has a great boss with good pay, flexible hours, and benefits: Gwin’s Lodge. Whenever a tour company has a last-minute opening on a adventure, they offer it free of charge to this guy, and he in turn is fair deciding which employees deserve a break.

Advice:

Bring a car or prepare to hitchhike; the closest town is 45 miles away. Make friends with your fellow workers; they come from the continental US, the Czech Republic, and Russia. Come during the summer months; although it’s tempting to see Alaska in the winter, you’ll get bored very quickly trapped inside. It’s easy to feel isolated; stop worrying about internet access, the foods you have to have, going to the gym, and shopping. There’s so much around you, if you can learn to appreciate it.

–submitted by Turner Wright

3.Rickshaw Runner

In high school and college I spent two summers working part-time as a rickshaw runner in Ottawa, Canada. I was outdoors, exercising, meeting people and earning cash in hand. I made my own hours, paid a flat rate to rent my ’shaw each night, and whatever I earned I kept. Best of all, though, I got to know every café, dive bar, busker, and street-corner drunk of Ottawa’s Byward Market area. The downside? Earnings varied from day to day depending on the weather and the crowds, but rent was due regardless.

A number of North American cities have rickshaw companies, and far more run cycle-rickshaws, or pedi-cabs. It’s perfect seasonal work: my company, for example, had runners in Toronto and Ottawa in the summers, and Daytona and Orlando in the winters.

American cycle-rickshaw companies, by state:
http://www.ibike.org/economics/pedicab-usa.htm

Cycle-rickshaw companies outside the States, including tons in Canada and the UK:
http://www.ibike.org/economics/pedicab-intl.htm

–submitted by Eva Holland

4.Teaching English overseas can be an ideal way to earn money and experience a foreign culture simultaneously, but it’s essential to do your homework before applying.

I worked as an English teacher for two years in Hokkaido, Japan, with the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program. This is probably the single best English Teaching job available. The pay is good – about $30,000 USD per year, tax free, with benefits. My rent was free. You must be a college graduate, and although no knowledge of Japanese is necessary, you should be able to demonstrate a sincere interest in learning about Japan.

JET is a government program, and participants teach in the public school system. Most English teaching jobs are with private companies, and this is where you’ll find a huge range of quality. On of the biggest Japanese companies, NOVA, recently went bust – leaving teachers stranded without pay. Be careful. Talk with current participants, and take company literature with a grain of salt.

You’ll make the most money teaching in a rich country like Japan or South Korea, especially if you’re good about saving. Teaching in a place like Thailand can be rewarding too, and the cost of living will be low, but you also won’t have much of a salary.

The most important advice is to think hard about your motivations and goals. Do you want to make money? Do you want to learn a language yourself? Do you want to just have a good time and put off a ‘real’ job for a few years? Be honest with yourself, and you’ll find a job that works for you.

–submitted by Tim Patterson

5. Youth Guide. Back in high school, I won a travel scholarship from an organization called EF. At that time, one scholarship was given to a student from each state in the US and one student from each province in Canada, so there were a passel of us who traveled abroad together, and that year’s trip went to England, France, and Switzerland.

Fast forward ten years. I was working as the assistant director of a mental health treatment program in NYC. I hated it. I hated 9-5; I hated middle management; I hated our setting (a basement with no windows and no circulating air); and I realized I was a great therapist, but not for people with mental illnesses. I was constantly agitating for a better working environment, which got me into perpetual trouble, and one day my boss said, “How are we going to work together? You’re so oppositional!” and I found myself replying, “We’re not, because I quit.” Yep, without a job. After a month-long stint at another agency (I quit the day the maintenance guy decided to barge in on a therapy session, crawl onto my desk and begin cleaning the air vent with a toilet brush), and a several months long stint as a personal assistant for a psychoanalyst in NYC who hit the bottle between sessions and interviewed me without shoes on, I found a job posting with EF… sounded great! Travel! Speak Spanish! Teach kids to love travel! I applied, I interviewed, I got the job. EF’s American division (recently renamed EF Smithsonian because of a partnership with the Smithsonian) typically only hires guides– “tour directors” in their lingo– to work in the city where they live (Boston, NYC, SF, Washington, D.C., etc), but they’re always short-handed on Spanish speaking TDs and I was shuttling back and forth between NYC, DC (my first tour was Bush’s re-election inauguration–argh) and Puerto Rico, where EF runs 5 and 7 day tours. I was here so much I convinced Francisco that we should move here.

The job has its amazing aspects… it IS travel and if you’re good at it, you can touch kids’ lives. Kids who have never seen the ocean. Never been on a plane. That kind of thing. But lots of good ole U.S. of A. entitlement, too, which ultimately drove me nuts and made me quit after my first tour this year after two years on the road. Other amazing things: You can pick and choose when you want to work. You’re largely an independent operator– you have 24/7 responsibility as long as you’re with the group, but that being said, there’s no boss breathing down your neck. You get paid cash tips, which is great, and they used to (but no longer) pay in cash. You can sometimes get sent to other cities–especially during the busiest part of the tour season (Easter week, especially) to work. And they ALWAYS need TDs. Always. Because they’ve grown so fast and haven’t done strategic planning for dealing with some aspects of their trips and operations that turn-over is really high among TDs and office staff. Decent money–though, according to other TDs who did this work year round by patching EF tours together with tours with other companies, it wasn’t nearly the going rate. All I’ll say is I could work hard and do some back to back tours for 4 months or 6 months and make enough to live on.

Here’s their website: http://www.smithsonianstudenttravel.com/

They’re honestly so in need of TDs that anyone interested could just call up, ask to speak with Bronwyn Holst, and apply and interview. EF also has divisions all over the world and has an adult division called Go Ahead, where tour guides/directors don’t have to live where they’ll be working. That always drove me nuts, actually, because they send guides to Latin America who know nothing.

If you have any specific questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

–sumbitted by Julie Schwietert Collazo

Contributors:

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Let’s face it – when it comes to highlighting diverse and wonderful locations around the world, words sometimes don’t cut it. Travelers want images. They want sounds. They want local flavor. They want authenticity. They want the next-best-thing to actually being there.

A good option for expanding your travel documentation and reporting into the realm of new media – which, let’s be honest, is both the present and future of the industry – is the audio tour or podcast. The pioneer of the mp3 audio tour industry is Rob Pyles, a twentysomething whose “aha!” moment came while he was hitchhiking through the Irish countryside in 2000. As he traversed the Emerald Isle, he’d come across remote historic locations – old castles and battlefields, for instance – that didn’t even have as much as a sign telling him what happened there.

“It was frustrating because you knew these places had these incredible stories, but you had no way to connect with them,” Pyles said.

Out of this frustration grew the concept for “progressive audio tours,” and from this concept – once mp3s and iPods had gone mainstream – Audissey Guides was created. Starting with his hometown, Boston, Rob produced an audio experience that takes travelers beyond the tourist traps, guidebook clichés, and group tours to the places locals take their visiting friends. With a local narrator, hip yet relevant music, ambient sounds, and off-the-beaten-path stops, Rob’s goal is to get people involved with their surroundings.

“It’s definitely not a passive experience,” Rob says of his audio tours.

Audissey’s resume now includes five U.S. cities – Boston, Seattle, Chicago, New Orleans, and Miami – with several international cities on deck. Rob was recently awarded a contract by the City of Boston to produce a series of audio guides for the many miles of pathway around the city’s harbor waterfront.

For aspiring travel journalists or amateur globetrotters, audio is one of the best and yet under-used media for highlighting great travel spots. But before you whip out your hand-held recorder and go to town, consider the following tips for producing your own travel audio tours or podcasts that don’t suck, straight from the audio guide pioneer himself.

1. Keep it real. “Stick to what you know,” Rob says. “People know when you’re talking about stuff you don’t have a clue about. So talk about what you know and what you’re interested in.”

2. Use your independence. “Take advantage of the fact that this is an audio tour by taking people where they can’t go in a group. When you’re on an audio tour, you can go down tiny alleys that you can’t go down when you’re on a tour bus, or you can actually go eat inside a bar or a café. Use that.”

3. Facts are good, but so is emotion. “When I think ‘audio tours,’ I think of something that puts you to sleep. Very dignified, but totally boring. People want facts, but they also want personality and emotion.” Tips: make the delivery of the narrator less formal and more conversational and use background music that is influenced by the city or place you’re describing.

4. Make it personal. “We like to have a very, very strong first-person narrator. It not a voiceless, omniscient narrator, it’s Claudia Verela, the bartender and bikini model in Miami Beach. It’s Kevin Coval, the Jewish hip-hop poet in Chicago. The tour is almost like an extension of them – ‘this is my town, this is my neighborhood, that bartender is a friend of mine.’ It’s a very personal experience.”

5. Get a decent mic and a quiet room. “I’ve heard audio tours where you can hear people talking behind the narrator, lots of background noise. Not everyone has access to a professional sound studio, but at least find a good microphone and a quiet room to work from.”

6. Ambient sounds are good. “We always walk through once with a microphone recording the sounds of the city. A revolving door, for instance, has a distinct sound that is really cool. There’s something about walking down Hanover Street [in Boston] and hearing Italian men yelling at each other.”

7. Music: Tough, but awesome. “Music takes the listening experience to a whole new level, and it helps capture the flavor of a city. It’s unbelievable how each city tour has taken on its own personality – the music just feels like that city. The Miami tour is a lot of salsa and meringue, but also a lot of Reggaeton, club music. Seattle’s is way more chill – a lot of down-tempo beats, some electronic stuff, experimental stuff. That’s a departure from other audio tours with canned music or no music at all.”

8. Keep things moving – short and sweet. “People have a very short attention span, and anything over an hour is completely lost on people – their eyes begin to glaze over. So you’ll have to decide which stories to leave out of the tour. Our tours are also short from a distance perspective, rarely over a mile.”

9. Surprise me. “Give me something I never expected on this tour. In Boston, we take people to the former headquarters of the mafia. In Seattle, we incorporate public transportation by telling listeners to get on a bus and get off at the Seneca stop. We don’t tell them where Seneca is; they have to ask someone on the bus where Seneca is, forcing them to engage a local person. The things you don’t expect are the things you remember.”

10. As a narrator, I am your friend. “The narrator should be casual, funny, personal, un-touristy. Our philosophy is that our audio tour is the next-best-thing to knowing someone in the city. Narrator delivery should be like it would be to a friend: relaxed, occasionally irreverent, authentic.”

To truly know where Rob is coming from, though, you have to listen to one or two of his audio guides. Rob says his guides are unique because they appeal to “travelers, not tourists.” Travelers, he says, are interested in genuinely exploring the culture. Tourists simply follow other tourists and receive a superficial cultural experience. Rob himself is an avid traveler, and his intrigue with the history and beauty of the world around him is clearly why he does what he does. In fact, when pushed on this point, the truth comes out regarding Rob’s real motives.

“This is all just an excuse to pay for our travel,” he says with a laugh.

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One of Matador’s newest contributors, Steve Holt is a freelance writer living in Boston, eager to explore the world and tell its story.