Writing — Travel & Photography

Ongoing Story Prompts on Globetrotters, For Your Writing Pleasure

Join the fun with these popular topics for story ideas

Wanted to create a go-to place for travel writing story prompts. Some of these are derived from past monthly challenges here at Globetrotters while others were began by some of our smart, talented and lovely writers.

The whole idea behind this post was actually spurred by Linda Ng, who loves to provide us with nice impromptu writing prompts, like this golden nugget:

By the way, I also listed a bunch of travel story ideas in a recent article for The Writing Cooperative, so do check that out if you’re brainstorming story ideas:

Of course, don’t forget about participating in our current monthly challenges or our Writer Spotlight Stories series.

Past monthly challenges

Even though these challenges are over, they can still be used as story prompts. I’ve included an example for each. Please do not use the monthly challenge tag as these are indeed expired:

• Gratitude for travel. Example: Keith Kelley’s “My Wife’s Life Was Saved by Miracles in Italy”
• Tell us about your road trip. Example: Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages’s “A Short Road Trip Ugandan Style. It’s always an adventure in Africa!”
• The best place I’ve been. Example: Adrienne Beaumont 🇦🇺’s “North Korea — The Best Place I’ve Been”
• Where I’d take my partner to. Example: Anne Bonfert’s “Japan is Where I’d Take My Partner To”
• Celebrations around the world (weddings, birthdays, cultural celebrations, etc.) Example: Kade "Kuma" Maijala’s “I Was the Best Man in a Chinese Wedding”
• Water: Tell us about your connection and/or travel adventures to oceans, lakes, rivers, etc. Example: JoAnn Ryan’s “This is My ‘Waterworld’: How Some of My Favorite Travel Photos Help Me Appreciate Water”
• An offshoot to water is waterfalls: Example: Elvie Lins’s “Hidden Waterfalls in Cotabato: Asik Asik Falls” (Who doesn’t love waterfall photography?)
• Write about your hometown as a tourist. Example: Gerald Sturgill’s “Sacramento, California: My Golden Hometown”
• Spooky places. Example: JoAnn Ryan’s “A Dispirited Visit to the Lopinot Plantation Featured on Ghost Hunters”
• Floral beauty. Example: Anne Bonfert’s “Floral Beauty in the Desert”
• Colors of the world. Example: Scott-Ryan Abt’s “The Greenest of all the Greens Known to Human and Animal’
• Terrains of the world (seas, oceans, deserts, etc.). Example: Michael Rhodes’s “Coastal Terrain — Where Land Meets The Sea”

Other Ongoing Popular Prompts

These prompts, some albeit unintentional, have been quite popular and have either received many direct responses or indirectly spawned similar stories. In some cases, these stories have generated a lot of views!

Paying homage to the original posters is highly recommended. Always nice to do a mention or two of previous articles in your own story. 🙂

Using “story prompt response” or some other similar verbiage in the subtitle of your own story is suggested but not necessary.

• Favorite souvenirs. Example: Linda Ng’s “Here Are 5 Of My Favourite Souvenirs”
• Airplane window photography. Example: Barb Dalton’s “Planet Earth, Through an Airplane Window”
• Reasons to move/not move to a certain place. Example: Margo Hatcher’s “6 Reasons Not to Move to Ireland”
• My travel bucket list. Example: Linda Ng’s “Visiting These 7 Places Would Make Me So Happy”
• I got lost! Example: Adrienne Beaumont 🇦🇺’s: “LOST!. Have you ever been lost?”
• Lost or stolen items — bags, luggage, money, ID cards, etc. Example: Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages’s “Don’t Pack All of Your Valuables in One Bag”
• A tick list for your own country. Example: Malky McEwan’s “A Challenge for All Globetrotters — Create a Tick List for Your Own Country”
• Favorite snacks or other food from your travels. Example: JoAnn Ryan’s “Do What Tastes Right — My Favorite TT Snacks”
• A to Z travel destinations. Example: Sam Millichap’s “A to Z: Armchair Travel of My Favourite Destinations”
• Thrilling questions. Example: Linda Ng’s “10 Thrilling Questions For All The Travellers Out There ✈️”
• Most beautiful photo collections. Example: Elizabeth Dawber’s “My Top 10 Most Beautiful Snapshots From 2-Years Globetrotting”
• Most scenic views. Example: Kevin Shay’s “Most Scenic Views in America. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder…”
• Weirdest places. Example: Anne Bonfert’s “The Weirdest Places I Stayed At. From castles to beach camps
• Photo collections of a city (or other travel photo collection). Example: Kenny Minker’s “How many photos does it take to portray a city?”

A last suggestion is to read through stories in the publication, often just reading is a great trigger to spur your own writing. 🙂

Happy writing to everyone!