Welcome to the first of what will be a probably-irregular feature here on The Royal Tour. While I’ve written reasonably frequently about how I personally travel, I’ve given some push back to writing about my process of writing. I’ve thought it was less relevant, less interesting. But I’ve now given in, so this is for those who want to know just what it’s like to be a travel writer, or at least to be me as a travel writer. (I don’t pretend to know if my organizational paradigms, style, processes, or anything are similar to those others would have.)

So while I’ll cover topics ranging from my specific writing process (did you know I do 95% of my writing on my phone?) to social media strategy, today I want to answer the most common question I get. “Jonathan, how do you organize your ideas into articles? How do you decide what to write about?”

It’s a good question, and one I often struggle with. After all, I visit a wide variety of places, see and learn some incredible things, and those places and sights don’t necessarily go together beyond the most generic “all in xyz location.” It can be a challenge to come up with cohesive articles that are more than “things I did when I was in Marrakech” or “a collection of thoughts about Toronto”.

My organizational paradigm for articles ranges depending on how much time I spend in a given place. It is, naturally, easier to do more specific articles about narrow aspects of life somewhere when I have a longer period. Likewise, seeing more things in a destination allows for some natural groupings.

General “A Day in” Articles

This is obviously the easiest way to organize my thoughts and writing. On my recent trip to Morocco, for instance, I had less than a single day in Tangier. Having only several hours there doesn’t lead to much in the way of perspective besides the basics of what I did, and what I felt while doing it, perhaps with a dose of what I learned in the process.

These articles are reasonably straightforward, but are probably my least favorite to write. I don’t feel they add a ton to the world; after all, so many others have written basic “a day in” guides to everywhere. And they cater less to my specific niche of deeper learning. But not to write them would be a) to ignore a place I visited that did offer some meaning to me, and b) to reduce my article output by one, which is hard given that I publish about 150 articles per year on The Royal Tour and need content.

A Day or Two, but with a Perspective

Sometimes a short trip produces an actual perspective, whether because what I do lends itself to something a bit deeper, or because one experience stands out above the rest and calls for it to be the centerpiece of an article. An example of this can be found in my recent trip to Cleveland, Ohio, where – intentionally – two of my three activities focused on President James Garfield. So rather than talking about a few things I did that don’t necessarily go together, I was able to write a deeper comprehensive look at Garfield’s life and how it can be seen in the region.

Sometimes those are pre-planned. Other times they are more happy accidents. My day and a half in Marrakech, for instance, led me to largely ignore several things I did to focus on the Jewish history of the city as seen from two sites. For me, that’s a plus, as it allows me to center my writing in the way I like: on narrower but deeper slices of life in a place.

Narrower Slices of a Detination

Speaking of those narrow focal points, when I have a longer time in a place, I am able to organize things I do around themes, and arrange multiple experiences that will tie in to those. For instance, when in Athens, I was able to do separate pieces on the Ancient Greek history of the city as well as the Roman history. AND I was able to take the Acropolis and write about it individually.

More often than not, these narrower looks are pre-planned, as I tend to come into a trip with a basic idea of what I want to write. But sometimes they aren’t, and things just naturally organize themselves. In Tunis, for instance, seeing the ruins of ancient Carthage allowed for a cohesive story of both Carthaginian and Roman Tunisia along with visiting the colosseum of El Jem. I had planned to write about those things differently, but the story worked better together.

This is my favorite way to write. I love being able to tell historical and cultural stories in smaller pieces, rather than trying to have a single all-encompassing story of a place. Plus it means that readers with different interests can have more focused articles to choose from. (Someone not interested in ancient history might want to read about the founding of modern Greece, for instance, without the older portions.)

Overarching Concepts

Next, we have articles that transcend a specific destination in order to talk about a larger concept. Some of these might be written from the perspectives of multiple places, while others will use a single place but focus more on that larger issue. Articles on Guatemala as it relates to the news cycle, or issues of immigration as seen from El Paso, are examples.

These mainly political pieces are rarer, but important. After all, travel means exposure to issues like these firsthand, and our experiences are relevant to the dialogue.

One Cool Sight

Finally, sometimes I am just insanely inspired by a single sight. That can be the British Museum or a monument to a man I’d never heard of in Santo Domingo. Telling the story of a single place and its importance is fun, although it can sometimes be challenging to nurse 800 or more words out of those articles. Typically, these articles are unplanned, as I am not sure I’ll be that inspired by a single place. (An exception is seeing a museum or something at home in Los Angeles, where I do so many things that to wait to group them would take years.)

Did this answer the question? I hope so. To sum up, I try to pre-plan articles around themes, and prefer to tailor them as narrowly as my time and ability allow. Sometimes it works better than others.