Dear writer,

Welcome. You made it.

Here, you'll find the culmination of over a decade of us working hard to help travel writers like you break through and bring your stories to the world.

In the welcome section, you'll find some important words on AI, as well as a handful of Essential Skill Guides. These aren't comprehensive lessons like the workshops; they are short, punchy pieces of inspiration designed to help get your creativity flowing and form a picture of what editors are looking for in travel writing today.

Screenshot of just the start of one of four Essential Skills Guides waiting for you in your student area now. These are fun, practical, and full of real world examples to explore.

I highly recommend you read these lessons before beginning work on your story that you will submit for feedback and to unlock your certification. Of particular importance will be the guide to story structure. When a story doesn't pass muster at Intrepid Times, it's often because it's not really a story. The guide and the examples shown will help you begin to get a sense of what a good travel story really looks like.

Throughout four intense workshops, we'll develop a travel story together. At the end, you will submit this story for feedback, have time to make edits based on our recommendations, and then send that story for certification consideration. If you've followed the lessons and implemented the feedback, you'll pass, and we'll award your certification to you here on this platform. It's a piece of news and an achievement you'll want to share with the world. Should you still need a helping hand, we'll let you know and give you clear guidance so you can try again. Instructions for how to take these steps are contained in the appropriate lessons in your learning area.

We understand from past courses that you may have a story already written that you want to submit for feedback. While how you use this course is up to you, we strongly recommend starting from a blank page and choosing a new story to work on throughout the course. A good travel story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Check out the Travel Writing Checklist in your bonus section to run through a list of ingredients that all good travel stories should have.

If you're feeling stuck for inspiration, don't worry. The first live workshop will help give you clarity and confidence as you form an idea of the story we want to work on together. I will emphasize that Intrepid Times, alongside most other narrative travel writing publications - and you can find a list of such publications in your bonus section - we look for stories of specific experiences. This means rather than reflecting on a year you spent abroad or a six-month-long trip, zoom in on one moment, one day. Ask yourself what you learned from this moment. And then pull it into a story structure. Ask yourself, how are you different at the end of this experience versus how you were at the beginning? If you can answer that, you already have a structure for a travel story in place. And if you can't, don't worry. The lessons together will give you confidence, so soon you'll start seeing meaningful travel stories across the whole breadth of your experience.

The workshops will help you tell a good story, and they'll also help you understand how to make all of your experiences relevant for today's readers. It can be tricky getting a story from five, ten, or 25 years ago published today, but there are ways of doing so, and we'll explore those together. You'll also learn professional practice, how to pitch and work with editors so they pay attention to your work and see you as a professional partner they're eager to collaborate with.

I'm looking forward to meeting you at the first workshop. If you can't make it live, the full recording and notes of each workshop will be added to your learning area. But if you can be there in person, even better. I love the insightful questions students always ask, and it's helpful to get to know you and your experience and goals as well.

Between now and the first workshop, enjoy the Essential Skills Guides, the bonus materials, and brainstorming the story you want to work on. And if you have any questions or need a helping hand, I'm just an email away at editor@intrepidtimes.com. So your email doesn't get lost amidst the busy submissions of the day, pop the phrase [Certification] just like that in your email subject line.

It's a privilege to welcome you here, and I look forward to discovering your story,

Nathan James Thomas

Intrepid Times founding editor

Steps to take now:

• Join our private WhatsApp group, introduce yourself and become part of the conversation - you'll find the invitation link in your bonus area
• Explore the Essential Skills Guides in your welcome area
• Read the Travel Writing Checklist in the bonus section
• Read stories on Intrepid Times having read these guides, and start noticing things you missed before
• Think about the story you want to work on in this course. Focus on specific experiences, snapshots of moments rather than broad sweeps of time.
• You may want to start jotting down ideas and even writing the first paragraph based on the guidance in the Essential Skills Guide, but don't worry if you're feeling stuck at this early stage

Coming soon:

• During the first workshop, you'll get clarity on how to confidently move forward with the story you will submit for feedback and certification
• This guidance will also be in the recording and in the notes we will share
• Zoom details will be uploaded under the workshop section in your student area 48 hours before the event. Recording and notes will be uploaded within 48 hours after the event.