An Interview with Nate Cavalieri
The Lonely Planet Guide Author Describes Travel Writing as a Career
Sep 18, 2008
Nate Cavelieri has worn many hats, but when he turned his professional interest from music to travel writing, his career really took off. He has written Lonely Planet Guides for Chicago and California, and is currently writing the Guide for Puerto Rico. Lonely Planet Publications are a popular series of guidebooks; this "steady gig" is quite an accomplishment for Nate. Suite101 talked with him about travel writing.
Suite101: How did you get interested in travel writing as a career?
Nate Cavalieri: Well, I was working as a music writer for a long time and basically I burned out - I wanted to try to apply the analytical skill that I'd picked up writing about music to other areas I was interested in: Food & drink, literature, and travel. Through some friends I met a writer for Lonely Planet - Danny Palmerlee - who wrote a book I'd used on a recent trip to Baja Mexico. When we got talking I started to think, "I can do this..." so I went through the application process. Which, by the way, was not fun! That's how I got started with travel writing.
Suite101: As an experienced traveler and author of Lonely Planet Guides to Chicago and California, how do you pick your recommended destinations and activities in each city/state?
NC: I think the important thing when approaching the book is trying to separate your personal opinion from what you think would best benefit someone who is using the guide. For instance, in an upcoming guide to California I wrote about Sacramento, where I live, but in the book I had to think of how Sacramento would be seem through the eyes of someone who picked up that book - not necessarily my own favorite destinations in the city. Ironically, these kinds of decisions can actually be easier when you are in a more unfamiliar environment. When I wrote the Chicago book, for instance, the main tourist attractions - Pizzario Uno, Navy Pier and the like - were something that could be explored with the genuine perspective of a traveler.
Suite101: Are there any tips you'd like to share with someone just getting started as a travel writer?
NC: Yes! Write down EVERYTHING. It's essential to be able to write on a level that's deeper than what a person can get from a Google search. Google won't tell you how a place smells, or the kind or rush it is to jump from a granite cliff into a river. These are the things that you have for a small moment as you are experiencing them, and then you loose them quickly after. By writing everything down all the time - even just a word or two - you can make the experience a real thing when it's time to sit down and write about it. ...My girlfriend has learned to put up with me nodding along in a half-distracted way while writing down some detail which will likely never be used. I think a HUGE misconception is that travel writing is fun. Your hosts will take you to their favorite place and have this look in their eye like, 'You're going to write about this, right?" And, [I can't speak for everyone but] I collect everything, every silly tourist brochure ever. I've mailed some stuff home to myself before.
Suite101: How do you suggest that a new or aspiring travel writer can best break into the field?
NC: I think the best way is for writers to explore an area that they know well, and write about it. This can mean on a blog, for a local newspaper, anywhere. For example, if you live in Atlanta, write about it, so you can approach an editor and say "See, this is what I can do." Of course, due to the economy in the United States, regional travel is big right now. When the economy goes South, people don't jet to Greece, they do day trips.
This is true: Vacations that involve air travel are seen as much more extravagant during troubled economic times. An aspiring travel writer needn't despair, though; as Nate points out, getting started can be as simple as looking in one's own backyard (and writing about it)! Lonely Planet Guides' Nate Cavalieri is smart, personable, and well-traveled. No small wonder he's found success as a travel writer.
