A travelogue once published is unbounded and may reach places of varied culture and interests, every piece of work must be compiled keeping in mind its flexibility in terms of wider acceptance or readership base.
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Author: Dr. David Domingo
Writing for travel may indeed be fun but on the contrary it is ridden with its own drawbacks. However I’ve noticed after going through quite a handful of travelogues that a successful writer is always the one who calls spade a spade and a knight a knight by being tacit in every sense of forms. The essence of writing on destinations of importance include a thorough knowledge about facts related to the concerned place, its culture, geography, climate and or for that matter anything that might be of amusement to those who have an insatiable appetite to explore.
Travel writing must essentially begin with geographical features of a place followed by its Historic importance; if there is any. It may then proceed to accommodation available and deal almost with objectivity the facilities provided and last but not the least the cost of putting up at any resorts. Food forms an inseparable part of any destination which must be catered to with great concern. Since a travelogue once published is unbounded and may reach places of varied culture and interests, every piece of work must be compiled keeping in mind its flexibility in terms of wider acceptance or readership base.
A traveler of today is not just an individual who takes to travelling for only recreational purpose, He/She may have business purpose, excursions through his office or any other reason which might have compelled him to visit. For example we must never forget India has been a destination for our neighbouring countries to avail medical facilities that have attained high level of standards. Or for that matter Indian villages offer a plethora of craftware to cater to the Third World that values handwork. By all means a travelogue would be a reader’s delight if it offers some extra inputs regarding interesting facts about places that are lesser known than those that have already acquired a place on the world map.
A good travelogue must maintain a healthy balance of the past, the present and the future. The most important thing that may make a travelogue obsolete is its conformity to the present and the future. Travelogues do confirm to certain standards of reporting, for example fares between or to and fro some important destinations. This must be done by keeping in mind the rates of exchange which may be tabulated at the end of the book and the year to which they adhere to or for that matter some acronyms that might cause annoyance to those who are unaware of the terminologies of the land. A British tourist might not know what a VAT or its computation after he finishes his meal at Paharganj in Delhi and is duped or mistakenly overcharged by according to law by the restaurant owner. Or if the same lad is taken for a ride after a TUK TUK ride (auto) by being shown a phoney tariff chart by the auto wala.
Last but not the least a Travelogue must stick to the age old factor of being presentable. By this I mean paper quality, illustrations in the form of maps, photographs, etc must be well laid complimenting the context being discussed.
The world is changing at a fast pace and seems just a click away. By sitting at our home or while journeying across facts and figures could be at our fingertips. Hence we as writers of this very important document that not only is a reflection of our culture and heritage but also our innate Indianism must take every possible measure to experience certain aspects of our avenues before penning them down. A Travelogue is like a beacon, a torch to those who are treading the unknown. Let there be light.
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