Now, A Travel Writer. Next, A Travelling Writer?
I find writing travel pieces to be so much fun, thus I decided to try writing for online travel portals thus I started contributing to a couple, for now. Besides that, encouraged by my sisters, I stated participating in contests held by tourism promotional boards too, particularly from South Korea.
To be honest, I am having such a great time! I know thus far I am just writing those simple guides and experiences but of course I hope to better myself and writer more in-depth articles, such as those in Aramco World, Kyoto Journal and the likes. But for the time being, these are what I have, and I hope to continually improved.
1. "My Happiest Memory in Seoul"
A month ago, I found out that my writing won one of the grad prizes in the "My Happiest Memory in Seoul" contest organized by Visit Korea. I was on the way back to KL actually, after a week of work, and were not yet passed the Gombak toll booth when I found out from the Visit Seoul's announcement page.
Actually, I almost didn't participate.
My sister @hasrameli was the person who first drew my attention to@seoulevent1's My Happiest Memory in Seoul Contest.
I didn't really think of participating initially but as the closing date drew nearer, I decided to submit one anyway. After all, if one didn't try, one wouldn't even stand a chance, right?
So before leaving on my annual Japan trip on Aug 25th, I wrote down the account of my hike to N Seoul Tower. It surprisingly took me only a day. I submitted it without too rigorous editing (hence the typos and some compounded, repetitive sentences), flew to Japan, returned after the closing date and anxiously checking the website for the results announcement.
The it came. I remember not feeling too anxious when scrolling down the page. I have never been very "lucky" at competitions so while I did hope for something, I didn't put too much of a hope.
Then I saw the last name for the grand prize winner.
That looks familiar, I thought. I counted the asterisks and they matched with the name I submitted my article under. It was a long name so I couldn't be mistaken.
Then it hit me.
I won. My article will be published in The Korea Times!
Alhamdulillah!
The result announcement is here, while my writing can be read here.
2. "Have Halal, Will Travel"
I actually applied for a full time position at HHWT but wasn't successful. Still, they were nice enough to offer me to freelance with them, which I immediately agreed to. Writing is what I love to do, travel writing is something I always do anyway. So why not getting paid doing what I love - so that it doesn't feel like work?
For the time being, I am contracted to write four articles. Two have been published on HHWT's website: the 1st one is based on a subject dear to me (coffee shops in Tokyo), while the 2nd pushed me out of my comfort zone a bit. The 3rd one, which is currently being checked by the editorial, challenged me even further. I was surprised to find that I truly enjoyed researching and writing about travel subjects that I hadn't even thought before!
3. Zafigo
While HHWT caters mainly for Muslim travellers, Zafigo seeks to make travelling better and safer for women, particularly Asian women. Thus, I am happy to be able to share and contribute this little guide:
My journey is still long. To be honest, at this point, I don't even know where things will take me. While I will let things take their due courses, I know eventually I want to be dispatching good writings from the road.
Inshaallah.
Big dreams never hurt.
To be honest, I am having such a great time! I know thus far I am just writing those simple guides and experiences but of course I hope to better myself and writer more in-depth articles, such as those in Aramco World, Kyoto Journal and the likes. But for the time being, these are what I have, and I hope to continually improved.
1. "My Happiest Memory in Seoul"
A month ago, I found out that my writing won one of the grad prizes in the "My Happiest Memory in Seoul" contest organized by Visit Korea. I was on the way back to KL actually, after a week of work, and were not yet passed the Gombak toll booth when I found out from the Visit Seoul's announcement page.
Actually, I almost didn't participate.
My sister @hasrameli was the person who first drew my attention to@seoulevent1's My Happiest Memory in Seoul Contest.
I didn't really think of participating initially but as the closing date drew nearer, I decided to submit one anyway. After all, if one didn't try, one wouldn't even stand a chance, right?
So before leaving on my annual Japan trip on Aug 25th, I wrote down the account of my hike to N Seoul Tower. It surprisingly took me only a day. I submitted it without too rigorous editing (hence the typos and some compounded, repetitive sentences), flew to Japan, returned after the closing date and anxiously checking the website for the results announcement.
The it came. I remember not feeling too anxious when scrolling down the page. I have never been very "lucky" at competitions so while I did hope for something, I didn't put too much of a hope.
Then I saw the last name for the grand prize winner.
That looks familiar, I thought. I counted the asterisks and they matched with the name I submitted my article under. It was a long name so I couldn't be mistaken.
Then it hit me.
I won. My article will be published in The Korea Times!
Alhamdulillah!
The result announcement is here, while my writing can be read here.
2. "Have Halal, Will Travel"
I actually applied for a full time position at HHWT but wasn't successful. Still, they were nice enough to offer me to freelance with them, which I immediately agreed to. Writing is what I love to do, travel writing is something I always do anyway. So why not getting paid doing what I love - so that it doesn't feel like work?
For the time being, I am contracted to write four articles. Two have been published on HHWT's website: the 1st one is based on a subject dear to me (coffee shops in Tokyo), while the 2nd pushed me out of my comfort zone a bit. The 3rd one, which is currently being checked by the editorial, challenged me even further. I was surprised to find that I truly enjoyed researching and writing about travel subjects that I hadn't even thought before!
3. Zafigo
While HHWT caters mainly for Muslim travellers, Zafigo seeks to make travelling better and safer for women, particularly Asian women. Thus, I am happy to be able to share and contribute this little guide:
My journey is still long. To be honest, at this point, I don't even know where things will take me. While I will let things take their due courses, I know eventually I want to be dispatching good writings from the road.
Inshaallah.
Big dreams never hurt.
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