Good morning, Medium! I write to you giddy, with a coffee next to me, the first one in a week. I’m giddy because I’m starting to recover from a bad flu and it’s the first day I don’t feel like a fever-ridden zombie.

I don’t know about you, but I get so excited when I start feeling better after a sick stint. The world is full of possibilities! Look at all these things I can do without a fever and a dizzying headache! How glorious is this unrestricted airflow through my nostrils? Maybe it’s good to be ill once in a while, if only to remember what an incredible gift good health is.

I’ve spent the past week in bed. With my body achy and my eyes tired, I’ve found myself drawn to audiobooks. My Flu Week listen was Sylvia Nasar’s A Beautiful Mind, based on the troubled life of mathematician and widely regarded genius, John Nash. At 30+ hours, it’s long, and Nash’s resilient pursuit of higher learning made me feel pretty lazy as I lay in bed listening, but I really recommend it. It’s an enlightening albeit quite sad read, with a look into the manifestations of schizophrenia.

I haven’t seen the film, but I hear it’s good. I plan watch it soon, if only to point out every detail the movie got wrong to my poor partner, who sighs with the patience of a saint.

Sometimes this insufferable habit does yield interesting observations though. Such was the case with the 1945 movie adaptation of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None (formerly Ten Little Indians and before that, something I won’t write), where the movie completely changed the ending, an interesting indication of the times.

But I digress! What about you? What are you reading at the moment? Are you enjoying it?

And on to travel. Since the last newsletter in July, I’ve been to Portugal and Italy. The former, on a yoga retreat followed by a few solo days in a surfing town called Peniche (which I loved), and the latter in September, when I accompanied my retired parents on their annual trip to the south of Italy. We go just before or as beaches are starting to close, gambling with the weather but guaranteeing fewer crowds. This time we went to Taranto, which I discovered is where the tarantula gets its name (not to worry, it’s not because they swarm the area).

Around the world in a few stories

When it comes to pub news, as usual Stubborn Travel writers continue to share and delight. A BIG thank you! I’m always grateful to the writers, but particularly in the past few months, when changes at Medium have made things very unpredictable. I can only guess what the future holds, but as for the present, I’ve really loved the following stories. If you do too, please let the writers know with claps or comments — they deserve them!

🇫🇷 Paris is Just Outside Your Door, by Aaron Charles

I loved Aaron’s evocative trip to France, which shows us how a trip can keep giving far after it’s finished. It’s also a wise and thoughtful reminder that not everyone travels in the same way. Read it here.

🇳🇱 When Economical Travel Results in a Hidden Gem, by Stephanie Wilsey

Faced with high hotel prices when visiting Amsterdam, Stephanie chose to stay in the more economic Haarlem. Price aside, she was delighted with the decision. Read why here — I bet it’ll leave you itching to visit.

🇵🇹 Living the Rural Life in Portugal, by Lisa Tisdale

Travel consultant Lisa is on a year-long journey throughout Portugal. Join her for a stay in a farmhouse in Paços da Serra, where she humorously considers: how rural is too rural for a city girl? Read here.

🇮🇩 Paradise Lost: Revisiting Bali Twelve Years On, by Sarah Martin

Got Ubud, Bali on your bucket list? Sarah regretfully encourages you to think again in this tale of Bali through the years. Read about Sarah’s trip and thoughts on over-tourism here.

🌎 Five Keys to Conquering a Gap Year, by Will Butler

Last but not least, if you’re uh-ming and ah-ing around taking a gap year, recent gap year alumn Will Butler’s advice is to just go for it. Read why and his five top tips here.

Got a story that you think would suit the pub? Read the submission guidelines and send a draft here.

Want to be featured on the website?

Stubborn Travel is a Medium publication, but it’s also a website.

As you hopefully know from the publication, I use the word ‘stubborn’ with a lot of love. To me, someone stubborn is someone passionate, who yearns to do something even when it’s not easy or the odds are against them. Something like travel, hence the name of the pub and the website.

In the next few months, I’ll be launching a section on the website called Stubborn People. And I’m looking for people to feature! Existing writers for Stubborn Travel would be a perfect fit, but so would anyone who has a story that meets the Stubborn Travel guidelines.

What does a feature entail?

A feature is a page dedicated to you, so you can include whatever you’re comfortable with. I would imagine:

• The name you’d like on the feature (it can be your first name, full name, initials… whatever you’d like)
• A few lines about you
• Where you consider home
• A place you love and why
• Your favourite ways to travel
• A few photos of a trip (with or without you), with descriptions of what they are
• Backlinks to anything you’d like — your website, LinkedIn, social channels, Medium profile and/or Medium stories

If you’re up for this, let me know. Stubborn Travel writers can email me stating interest, and I’ll reply with a list of questions. You can choose which ones to answer, or go off piste and tell your story in a way that feels right to you. Non Stubborn Travel writers, please let me know interest in the comments — if your profile looks like a match, I’ll get in touch.

What I hope to capture with this section is some of the different ways that people travel. I hope to feature a real range, which together show that being stubborn about travel doesn’t mean you’re always away. Being a stubborn traveler can mean taking a long drive to search for stars, going for a night at the opera, learning a difficult language, revisiting a special place. Going somewhere completely new. Traveling through books and time. It can even mean saying no to a trip to ponder why we travel.

To me, it means feeding the hunger to stay curious.

I’d love to know: what does being a stubborn traveler mean to you?

Tips and tricks

Last but not least, here are some things I’ve found useful lately:

• Thinking: want to start journalling but don’t know how? Prompt Monster generates questions to get you started. If you’re looking for a place for your thoughts, I adore my new A Beautiful Story journal.
• Moving: Lisa Hood offers nourishing yin and yang yoga sessions, online, on demand and in person (the latter in Sitges, Spain). Her yin classes in particular really help me keep my stress demons at bay.
• Saving: Mastercard Priceless has discounts and experiences for Mastercard holders around the world. This month, I used one of four complimentary Fast Track passes at Gatwick Airport and was through in a jiffy. They also have really good free discounts for cinemas through the Cinema Society (UK).
• Unusual: did you know walking escape rooms are a thing? I tried Hidden City’s Spectre puzzle in London a few weeks ago and it was a blast. You have to love walking, though — in the end, I covered more than 10km to complete the challenge. I’ll be looking for them in my travels, it was a fun way to explore a city.

Have I rambled again? Hopefully not, but you never know what happens when the flu brain meets caffeine. If you have any thoughts, questions or feedback, please drop me a line in the comments.

Happy travels,

Jules x

PS. This is my first newsletter using Medium’s newsletter feature. Was it what you expected? If there’s anything else you’d welcome, let me know — my ears are always open! Or, if you’ve stumbled across this and want to get future newsletters — sign up here.

Long-lasting trips, unexpected gems, and the flu was originally published in Stubborn Travel on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Welcome to Stubborn Travel, a publication dedicated to sharing authentic and inspiring travel experiences. We’re on the hunt for contributions from passionate explorers with a story to tell.

If that sounds like you, we’re happy you found us. Please have a read through the following notes before applying to write. We look forward to hearing from you!

Table of Contents

1. What we look for
2. Submission examples
   ∘ City guide
   ∘ Trip reflection
   ∘ Experience
   ∘ Advice
3. Submission Guidelines
4. Tone of Voice
5. How to Submit

What we look for

As you can tell from the name, Stubborn Travel is all about the joy of travel. We’re looking for tales around unique journeys, cultural insights, travel tips, and personal stories. The aim is to inspire a love of responsible travel.

Our style is informative, thoughtful and engaging. We’re not just looking for city guides or tips for a certain location (although those are welcome, too!), but reflections on how a trip changed you.

There are endless ways to travel, and you don’t need an exotic trip to tell a good story. Consider no destination too near for a trip. If there’s introspection and content that inspires, your story has a space here.

The flow is really important for all of our pieces. Like a trip, we aim to take our readers on a journey that is clear and easy to follow. We ask writers to review structure before submitting, to ensure that a piece that flows without the reader getting stuck.

In addition to general travel, we’d love to see stories around:

• Adventure travel: perhaps you’re an avid hiker, or you travel hours to find the perfect climbing spot. You might have camped in the wilderness and discovered something, or have a great overland adventure you’d love to share.
• Sustainable travel: did you have the time of your life on a train? Wowed by a hotel with great sustainability credentials? Discovered a trip or company that gives back for every tour? If it’s to do with sustainable travel, we’d love to hear.
• A change of perspective: travel has a way of opening our eyes. Maybe a particular trip got you to understand a situation back home, or change the way you think. Long or short, we’d love to hear from you.

Peruse the examples below to see some of our pieces.

Submission examples

City guide example:

The Friend of Friend Guide to Copenhagen

Trip reflection examples:

• What It’s Like to Meet the Young, Wild and Free
• How a Traveller Changed My Outlook on Slow Travel

Experience examples:

• What is the Caledonian Sleeper Train really like?
• Hotel Envy: Old Fashioned Elegance at Edinburgh's Bonham Hotel - Stubborn Travel.

Advice example:

The 10 Commandments of Solo Travel in Latin America

Submission Guidelines

Please do review the rules below before submitting, or your work may be rejected.

1. Unpublished Content: We only accept stories that are unpublished drafts on Medium. Duplicate content is OK, but please mark where else it has appeared clearly, and follow Medium’s rules and advice around duplication.

Can I republish content from my own blog?

2. Content Length: Articles should generally be between 800 to 2000 words. This provides enough space to share your experience while keeping readers engaged.

3. Formatting: Use proper formatting, including paragraphs, subheadings, and bullet points where necessary, to make your content easy to read.

4. Images: Each submission should include at least one high-quality image related to your story. Please ensure you have the rights to use the images you submit. If in doubt, simply use images using Medium’s Unsplash library, which credits them properly. Please be creative with your searches if you use this option, to ensure images are unique and not the generic ones seen across Medium.

5. Citations: If you’re referencing specific facts, statistics, or sources, provide proper citations and links to back up your information.

6. No Promotional Content: Avoid overly promotional or spammy content. While you can mention products, services, or places, the focus of the article should be on sharing valuable information and insights, not direct promotions.

7. Grammar and Mistakes: Use a tool like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor (both which have free versions) to ensure that your story is as free of errors as possible. If a story is riddled with mistakes, it will likely get rejected.

8. Tags and Titles: Follow best practice with tags and titles to give your piece the best chance for distribution.

9. AI: Please familiarise yourself with Medium’s policy on AI-generated writing. While you can use AI tools to brainstorm, work should not be written entirely by AI. The aim of the publication is to share authentic experiences. When using an AI tool (including image creation) to assist with any part of your submission, please mention it like you would any other source.

AI-generated articles are easy to detect. Drafts suspected of AI use without mention will be rejected.

How we’re approaching AI-generated writing on Medium

Tone of Voice

Authentic: Share your personal experiences and insights. Readers are looking for genuine, relatable stories that provide a unique perspective on travel.

Engaging: Start with a captivating introduction that grabs readers’ attention and gives them a clear idea of what to expect from the article.

Clear Structure: Organise your article with a clear structure that includes an introduction, main points, and a conclusion.

Respectful: When discussing cultures or communities, be mindful and sensitive to different perspectives and practices.

Relevant: Ensure that your content is relevant to our travel-focused audience. Avoid topics that are not directly related to travel experiences.

I’ll say it again: please double-check your content for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Well-written articles enhance the reading experience, and it’s shocking how many people do not do this!

How to Submit

To be added to Stubborn Travel, please fill out the following form. If you have any trouble working on it from this page, you can also access it here. Please note that you should have an unpublished draft ready.

If the draft looks like a good fit, we’ll add you to the publication and ask that you submit the story to the publication (you’ll have the option to do so after being added). We may provide feedback or suggestions for improvement before accepting the article.

Once accepted, your article will be scheduled for publication. We aim to provide a balanced mix of content, so publication dates may vary.

We recommend engaging with readers’ comments after publication. It helps to create a sense of community and encourages meaningful discourse.

Copyright and Compensation

You retain the copyright to your work, but by submitting to Stubborn Travel, you grant us the right to publish and distribute your content on our platform. We may occasionally boost it through websites or social media.

We don’t currently offer financial compensation for submitted articles, but you can join the Medium Partner Program to make your stories eligible for payment.

There is a lot of content around the Medium Partner Program. If you have any questions, please reach out to Medium directly.

Partner Program application and enrollment

Thank you!

Thank you for considering contributing to Stubborn Travel. We look forward to reading your stories and insights!

If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments below.

Further reading:

The Writing Cooperative has some great best practice notes around style and formatting. They also offer a guide to getting starting on Medium. Both are linked below.

• The Writing Cooperative Submission Requirements and Style Guide
• How To Use Medium: A Complete Guide

Stubborn Travel: Submission Guidelines was originally published in Stubborn Travel on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.