How to Write a Guest Post for the Tortuga Backpacks’ Blog

Colored pencils
(Photo: VinothChandar)

What Makes a Good Tortuga Backpacks’ Blog Post?

Topics: packing, travel hacking, and travel technology (gadgets, sites, apps)

Post Types: “how to”, lists (Top 10..), counterpoints (to a previous blog post or widely held belief)

Audience: international travelers, vagabonds, study abroad students, gap year students, and expats

Dos and Don’ts

DO
Write original, interesting content.

DON’T
Write about the same old hackneyed ideas and lists: “5 Must Do’s in New York City” or “The 3 Most Obvious Tourist Traps in Barcelona That I Could Have Copied Out of Lonely Planet”. We expect any posts that you submit to be written exclusively for the Tortuga Backpacks’ Blog. You may, of course, write on the same topic elsewhere, but posts should not be re-used unless we explicitly decline them.

DO
Write from your own experiences. Tell readers how the ocean smelled when you went surfing in Sydney or how you felt the first time you visited the ancient ruins where your ancestors lived. Without your unique perspective, we could just post a Wikipedia article.

DON’T
Write a journal entry. “First I went here then I went there, and everyone said I was so handsome and clever.” Provide value to readers, not just yourself.

DO
Guest post even if your expertise is in another subject. How? If you’re a personal finance blogger, help readers save money for their trip. If you’re a college administrator, tell students how to find and apply for study abroad opportunities. If you’re a nurse, describe how to put together a cheap, multipurpose first aid kit to use when traveling.

DON’T
Submit unrelated or self-promotional content.

How to Submit a Guest Post

First, email 2-3 post ideas and a few bullet point details about each one to [contact] at [tortugabackpacks] dot com. Please include links to writing samples, preferably posts from your own blog, in the email. Include “GUEST POST” in the subject of the email.

If approved, please submit:

  • The post, formatted for our blog. The post should be 750-1,500 words and broken up into sections for easier reading. If you use WordPress, write the post there and email us the HTML using h3 tags for subheaders. Alternatively, you may send a text file containing the post.
  • A picture you own or a link to a picture with a Creative Commons license on Flickr or elsewhere. We prefer landscape images as seen at the top of this page. We will host the image locally.
  • A 2-3 sentence bio, with a link to your website, to use as a preface to the post.

For reference, please see our past guest posts.

Note: Articles are subject to editing before posting. We reserve the right to make edits for grammar and readability but will maintain the integrity of the guest post. Titles and headings may also be rewritten.

Ready? Hit us with your best shot at [contact] at [tortugabackpacks] dot com. Thank you for contributing!