Dustin Woods is an award-winning writer who has been crafting travel content related to cars, boats, and motorcycles for over two decades. His inspired adventures often explore the historical and geographical significance of the locations he visits, as well as the culinary and cultural highlights.
What got you into travel journalism?
I have always loved exploring and have a naturally curious mind. From the time I started riding a bicycle, I would drive my parents mad by venturing beyond my assigned perimeter because I wanted to see what else was out there.
I was writing reviews of cars and motorcycles for various outlets and was always looking for new locations to visit, capture images and gather driving impressions. I started filing additional features beyond the reviews themselves without realizing that there was an entire industry dedicated to it. I would pay for travel out of my own pocket and subsidize the costs by crafting editorial content.
What’s the most challenging part of being a travel journalist?
The perpetually changing media landscape and the disparity between the number of hours committed versus the compensation received. Spell check, smartphones, and AI have resulted in less value for skills and talent. Advertising revenue has dwindled, decimating the number of magazines in publication. Rates have stagnated, declined or disappeared altogether while the cost of living has skyrocketed. When you consider the hours spent pitching, researching, travelling, writing, shooting, editing, submitting, and invoicing—the numbers don’t add up.
Travel writers need to be passionate about the process and the life experiences they gain rather than the compensation they receive.
What is the most rewarding aspect of travel journalism?
Having incredible life experiences that you would be very unlikely to enjoy firsthand otherwise. I have seen, heard, smelled, and felt things that few, if any, of my friends and family have been fortunate enough to experience themselves. Given my upbringing and financial status, my abilities as a writer and photographer have allowed me opportunities I never would have had in my lifetime otherwise.
What is something you wish people knew about travel journalism?
Being on assignment is not the same as being on vacation. People see the glamor of fun experiences or exotic destinations through Instagram reels and TikTok posts, but those are a very small part of the equation. Creating regular content requires juggling multiple projects simultaneously with many stakeholders and moving pieces to coordinate.
How have your cross-cultural experiences shaped your point of view of the world?
In my opinion, Mark Twain expressed it better than anyone else when he said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
Many people live insular lives based on routine in small social circles among people who share similar experiences and views. Breaking out of your own paradigm cracks open your worldview to realize there are other ways to live and be happy. That there is great beauty in this world, geographically and culturally, that many people never experience.
Seeing how other people live can make us recognize how fortunate we are in some ways but how misaligned our priorities are in others. I’ve recognized that the people who live in harmony
with nature and each other are often the happiest, while those who prioritize material wealth, status, and access to technology are often the least fulfilled.
What have you enjoyed most about being a NATJA member?
I have enjoyed learning more about the industry and seeing content shared by other writers, as well as seeing story assignments being proposed. I look forward to further immersing myself in the community.
