Thursday, October 12, 2006

 

To teach an alternative travel writers class at The Loft

Recieved confirmation this morning from the Loft in Minneapolis (www.loft.org) that my alternative travel writing class proposal was accepted and I'm scheduled to teach next spring.

Tuesdays, March 13-April 17 from 9:30-11:30 am

Here's an overview of the class. Please help me spread the word!

Overview: Alternative Travel Writing with Deborah McLaren

Learn what it takes to be an alternative travel writer, from pre-trip research and note taking to selective observation. Discuss story ideas; create structure for your story; and turn recollections into a draft travel piece. Be prepared to write in class: choose a past trip or a familiar travel destination for your topic; bring notes, travel guidebooks, photos, postcards, journals, promotion material, clippings, and any other source materials. Be prepared to discuss ethics in travel writing as well as various forms of “alternative travel,” such as ecotourism, voluntourism, cross-cultural exchanges, off-the-beaten path. The program is fast paced: lots of reporting, writing, rewriting, and first-hand experience, and then writing about it. Each student is expected to produce at least one draft by the course’s end.

Through readings, written assignments and individual critiques, students will gain a practical grasp of these techniques.

Alternative travel writers introduce readers to places where they can experience something that is not mass-marketed and often promotes locally grown food and products, activities such as hiking and biking, birding, art events, touring farms and wineries, etc. What types of corresponding photographs or artwork, such as maps, can help promote your piece?

Comments:
Is "alternative travel" that which consists of non-tourist type experiences? Or least not a part of an organized tour? By avoiding organized tours I have usually cut my costs in half and have had the advantage of taking my time at some spectacular sites. These have been my trips in the past 10 years:
Rome--staying at The Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement.
London--staying at a hostel next to Soho.
France--this one with my wife exploring shrines in the south.
Amsterdam-staying on a houseboat.
Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel--staying at Ecce Homo Guest House--average $32 per night. Learned about the Freedom Theatre.
New Mexico--camping out
Mexico City--staying at a Quaker Hostel
Kyoto, Japan--staying a week at the Tour Club--$21 per night
Hong Kong and Macau--mountaintop hostel in Hong Kong
Boston, USA--to the International Lions Convention 2006. Low cost B&B's.
Chicago, USA--with my blind baseball team--connected to Lions.
For info if you wish, I'm Dennis Stern dennisstern@comcast.net
 
Absolutely - especially those that make person-to-person connections.
 
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