write for wanderful

sharing stories of women around the world.

Wanderful has always been about women and travel. We're taking that further with a perspective only our community can offer. Think: reported stories from the world's last matriarchies, honest gear reviews from women who actually tested it, first-person dispatches from places most travel media ignores, and profiles of women building something extraordinary in travel. Learn how to pitch us on an article concept and get it published and shared with our vast community of travel-loving women.

Such articles could:

Feature women-owned businesses around the world in travel + hospitality (like this cafe in India run by acid attack survivors or the world’s first woman-themed hotel in Washington, DC).
Highlight need-to-know phenomenal women disrupting the travel industry and making travel better for us all (like Zara Rutherford’s historic flight around the world or Wally Funk’s voyage to space).
Share practical guides or review products with a thoughtful, intersectional lens (like this article about using a menstrual cup as a fat and/or queer person).
Provide commentary on current events and issues affecting women in the world or in the travel industry, especially ones that incorporate local, on-the-ground perspectives.
Share human interest stories that reflect on being a woman in the world today and the humanity of travel.

story formats:

Six kinds of stories we want

Every pitch should fit — or creatively stretch — one of these. The best pitches know exactly which one they are.

The World Report: Inside the last matriarchies: who really runs these societies?
I Went There:I moved home to care for my aging parents. Here's what travel taught me about staying still.
What Happened Next: I posed as a tourist on a "girls' getaway" package tour to see what was really being sold.
Worth Your Money: The 20 best woman-owned hotels in the world — tested and ranked.
She Built This: The disabled adventurer redesigning what accessible travel looks like.
Actually Tested: I wore this pack for 6 months across 14 countries. Honest review.

Articles should do at least one of the below things:

Inspire a sense of awe or wonder.
Create practical value or utility for the reader.
Incorporate collaborative community storytelling, which means bringing in local opinions and voices rather than just sharing your own as an outsider.
Challenge the status quo, highlight underrepresented voices, and be gutsy in creating a world — or a travel industry — that’s better for women

Wanderful celebrates the vast experiences of all travelers. We are committed to sharing a diverse array of stories from people of all ethnicities, nationalities, racial identities, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, abilities, and more.

all wanderful contributors receive:

$250 per published article, paid upon publication
Byline on your article and your own author page
Mentions on social media to help grow your audience and following
Your work shared across our email list — reaching up to 25,000 subscribers
Admission into Wanderful's Contributors group — a direct line to pitch new ideas, first consideration for paid sponsored content, and early access to new commissions and open concepts
Opportunities to represent Wanderful on press trips

in return, we expect that our writers:

Work with us to edit your work. We want the best, and we want to bring the best out of you. Every edit we give you is done with the intention of making you a better writer. We will return articles to you for large changes, but make small tweaks on our own to expedite publishing.
Submit and edit their work on time. Our editing process is precise and our turnaround process is quick. Once you submit your fully written article for review by the agreed-upon deadline, you can expect to receive feedback from us in anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. When that happens, we expect to see a second (and sometimes third) draft quickly.

tips for writing.

Use the form below to pitch your idea/concept. Once accepted, you’ll be asked to write the thing!
Posts should be at least 1,000 words and no longer than 3,000 words.
Be authentic, honest, and real.
Write with short paragraphs and concise sentences.
Use headers to break up your text — ideally, no section of text should be longer than 300 words.
Contributors will be asked to submit images to accompany the post:
- Images must be high-resolution (minimum 1200px wide) and may be landscape or portrait.
- Contributor must have the rights to publish those images or must provide Wanderful with the information required to credit the photographer.
Write how you talk!
Show, don’t tell. Our audience is largely comprised of globally minded women and allies, which means you can assume some prior knowledge of global social issues. You don’t need to explain the definition of feminism to anyone. Just describe your story.
The online travel diary is dead. A piece that describes all the cities you visited on a trip to Italy may be pretty to read, but won’t generate significant interest. A story breaking down the best woman-owned gelato spot in every major Italian city, however, might be just the hook we need.

we do not publish:

Articles that are plagiarized or have been published elsewhere. All content is unique.
False reviews.
Excessive profanity.
Explicit content or images.
AI may be used for research, fact-checking, and organizational support. The writing itself — the voice, the scenes, the storytelling — must be original and human-authored. We run submissions through AI detection tools and will not publish stories that read as AI-generated.

story ideas: (examples, not assignments)

On-the-ground from one of the world's matriarchies — Meghalaya, the Mosuo of China, the Minangkabau of West Sumatra
The underground network helping women travelers stay safe in high-risk destinations
She built a hotel empire in East Africa. The industry still doesn't know her name.
The 15 best woman-owned boutique hotels in the world, ranked and tested by our community
What it's really like to travel while visibly pregnant — dispatches from 8 countries
The female sommeliers revolutionizing wine tourism in South America
I went undercover on a "girls' getaway" package tour. Here's the uncomfortable truth.
A walking tour of women's history in your city — the names that were erased

our voice.

some words that describe our voice:

Joyful, inspiring, understanding, confident, honest, personal, empowering, embracing, conversational, community-oriented, factual, respectful, authentic.

We tell it like it is. We use facts to back up our arguments, especially when writing about serious or controversial topics.

our audience.

Our audience ranges in age, with the majority between 25-44 years old. Though more than half are based in the United States, our readers are based all around the world.

Many of our readers are experienced travelers who travel for cultural awareness/exchange, work/study abroad, and global-mindedness, but others are brand new to travel and looking for guidance and inspiration.

Our audience is more interested in local activities than tourist attractions. Instead of “5 Things to Do in Paris,” we prefer content like “The 5 Best Drag Clubs in Paris."

submit your pitch.

we can’t wait to hear from you!

Due to the high number of pitches we receive, you will only be notified if your pitch has been rejected. Please allow us 6-8 weeks to review your pitch.