Expat Community > Ecuador

canman
Joined 2009
Posts: 108

Beware of biased information

14 years ago

In my opinion, today's postcard from International Living is another clear example of their biased and often misleading writings labelled as helpful info and tips. (large pinch of salt situation)

IMO, Real, unbiased travel writers pay their own way through hotels, restaurants, attractions, etc. and write their honest impression of their experience. They don't take freeby incentives or write slanted articles that their employer wants them to write in order to sell you something else.

Some may disagree, I'm OK with that.

The following is today's IL postcard:
"It's Hard to Believe This is a Real Job!"

International Living Postcards—your daily escape
Saturday, Aug. 21, 2010

"It’s hard to believe it’s even a real job," says Sandra of her new career. One she didn't need any lengthy training to take up.

She gets to travel wherever she wants whenever she wants…and enjoys a raft of freebies. Like hacienda stays, Chilean trips, a Galapagos cruise, and more.

She explains everything…including how you can do this, too…below.

Len Galvin
Managing Editor, IL Postcards

P.S. Today is the last day you can subscribe to IL magazine for just $17. Get the full details here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the House Travel…Here's How
By Sandra Kennedy

It was while exploring the Schist villages of central Portugal earlier this year that I realized just how much my life has changed. I’d retired from teaching and wasn’t sure how I’d keep myself busy. But now here I am getting paid to travel, take pictures along the way, and write about what I recommend other people do and see. It’s hard to believe it’s even a real job!

But I’m living proof: It is.

I stayed at lavish haciendas, ate the freshest foods in Ecuador, got to know the smiling, helpful locals. I went to a Shaman healing ceremony, rode horses in the Andes and learned to weave. And then I sat sipping fresh mango juice, relaxing by the pool. It’s hard to believe it costs me nothing to travel like this.

--Recommended By IL--

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******************************************************
Okay, so I take notes and photos along the way and spend a few evenings writing up my impressions while they’re fresh in my mind. Back home, I put them into proper sentences. But then more than one editor pays me for them.

I used to think it was too good to be true. But it’s the life I lead today. I’ve always loved travel and photography. And as a retired teacher, I figured I could put a sentence together—though I’d hardly say I have great literary fl air. So a few years back, I attended the Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop in Buenos Aires to see if I couldn’t gather the secrets to getting stories into print and cashing in on some of the perks I knew could come with this line of work.

One morning after breakfast, I asked IL’s roving European editor, Steenie Harvey (who was speaking at the event) about ideas for the workshop’s writing assignment. After I told her how I’d rented an apartment to stay in for a week before the event, she suggested an article about living like a local.

I wrote it. And Escape Artist published it within a few weeks of my return home. I was hooked. I had the first clip for my travel writing portfolio.

Now, five-years later, my portfolio is filled with travel articles and photographs from Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Portugal, Uruguay, Argentina, Alaska, Maine, Oregon and Washington. And many of those articles came out of trips I enjoyed for next-to-nothing or even free.

In the current issue of IL magazine, I share some tips on how you can do this, too. Subscribe now and get instant access to my full article.

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SJB Global is a top-rated financial advisory firm specializing in expat financial advice worldwide, offering retirement planning & tax-efficient solutions with a regressive fee model.
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Learn More

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