on creating apps

I’ve been lucky lucky enough to do extensive travelling from my early twenties and this situation served as a launching pad to start travel writing. Researching the next destination is very inspiring to me and at some point I thought, “If I’m doing all this research for myself, I might as well share it with others”.

The following are some notes  I’ve taken while working on the content research for Gayjin Travel Guides:

• It is essential to get things down accurately and double-check the names and details such as locations of a place on the map. If you are not sure if the place is where you want to put it, do not include it. Recheck it. Google Maps Streetview option is very helpful.
• All the written material has to be double read by the writer and then proofread by somebody else. Grammar check is compulsory.
• The biggest challenge both during research and the writing process is clarity. It is easy to get lost in your notes, numerous browser tabs, what you actually want to say about the place you are about to describe, and how the result will be perceived by the reader.
• If you are just starting on your own and do not have a publishing house contract, to make the ends meet you’ll have do other non-travel-related work. This tends to drain your creative resources. Take a break and energy will retun.

The most important thing for me is to keep travelling, writing and remain open to new experiences. I see travel writing and research as a liberation from the non-travel-related work before I’ll get back on the road again.