Afar aims to make a positive impact on the world through high-quality storytelling that inspires, enriches, and empowers travelers who care. In everything we do, our brand values lead the way: We aim to be inclusive, authentic, empathetic, curious, intelligent, and joyful in our approach to travel.
Afar Magazine publishes a range of reported features, personal essays, photo essays, and shorter middle-of-the-book pieces. Instead of more traditional aspirational lifestyle travel stories, we tell the stories of places and the people who live there. Our rate starts at $1/word.
Afar.com publishes stories in the following categories: travel news, intel, destination inspiration, cruise, commerce, features & essays, and hotels, all aligned around the belief that travel can be a powerful force for good. Most of our stories are commissioned based on our current needs, rather than accepted via cold pitch. Our rate starts at $0.50/word.
The best way to understand our requirements is to familiarize yourself with our coverage. Prior to pitching any ideas, please take the time to read our articles in Afar magazine and on afar.com.
All pitches should include:
- A synopsis of the story you’d like to report and write, with specifics including—but not limited to—any potential characters and sources, relevant news pegs, and estimated word count
- A brief bio and relevant clips that outline why you’re the right writer for the story you’re pitching
- Headline and dek possibilities
Although we aim to respond individually to each pitch, we regret that sometimes we are unable to. If you have not heard back from us in two weeks or your story has a timely hook, please feel free to follow up once.
Magazine Pitch Guidelines
The print magazine is published four times a year, and thus we only have room to green-light a limited number of stories.
For feature stories, photo essays, and personal essays: We are looking for richly reported stories that evoke a sense of place, inspire wanderlust, and ideally teach the reader something new about the world. Feature stories typically run 1,500–2,500 words, though we are open to considering stories that are shorter or longer.
How to pitch
- Please send pitches for feature stories to Katherine LaGrave at klagrave@afar.com.
- Please send pitches for photo essays to Michelle Heimerman at mheimerman@afar.com.
Digital Pitch Guidelines
Travel News
When it comes to air, cruise, hotel, and destination news coverage at Afar, we are looking for stories that offer color and context to a new product, policy, or issue relevant for travelers. In our news stories, we include industry analysts, executives, travel experts, or travel associations that can weigh in on any given topic or debate. We also tackle larger issues, whether they revolve around sustainability, legislation, design, accessibility, inclusion, or health and safety. We look to embrace both the positive change as well as the pain points. Trends are key, too, but we aren’t simply looking to cover a trend—we want to explore how it affects travelers who care.
To pitch a travel news story, email Michelle Baran at mbaran@afar.com.
Intel
Afar’s intel coverage empowers travelers to make their travels easier and more rewarding. In addition to publishing our favorite travel tips and hacks, we also answer questions about air and train travel, visas and passports, cultural etiquette, booking trends, climate change, and more.
To pitch an intel story, send an email to Lyndsey Matthews at lmatthews@afar.com outlining why your story will help readers travel smarter or lessen their footprint along the way.
Destination Inspiration
Afar’s deeply reported service journalism meets travelers at every step of their travel planning journey—from dreaming to booking. We offer highly curated perspectives on where to go next: timely, off the beaten path, and with unexpected angles. Areas of focus include geographic roundups with a thematic focus (beaches and islands, history/arts and culture, outdoor adventure, EV travel, family travel).
To pitch a destination inspiration story, please email Tim Chester at tchester@afar.com.
Cruise
Our cruise focus is on ships and sailings that have a smaller footprint, visit lesser-known ports, and/or offer a deeper look at a destination. Our cruise coverage is curated for an audience that is looking to get away from overtouristed locales and have meaningful travel experiences, whether on land or by sea. We cover everything from cruise news (including new ship launches and itineraries) and roundups that offer the Afar take on the best cruises in the world, to first-person reviews of ships and itineraries that help our readers find the right cruise for their needs.
To pitch a cruise story, email Michelle Baran at mbaran@afar.com.
Commerce
Afar’s commerce coverage serves every aspect of a traveler’s trip, including the best gear to buy, as well as which vacation rentals to try, credit cards to get, and loyalty programs to join. But we won’t tell you about every brand out there. Instead, we focus on the brands we believe in, allowing travelers who care to spend their money wisely.
To pitch a travel gear story or review, send an email to Lyndsey Matthews at lmatthews@afar.com telling us why Afar should cover this brand/product.
Features and Essays
Afar’s features and essays enrich, inform, educate, and spark conversation. As well as diving into unplumbed places and parts of the travel experience, Afar’s features and essays expand the definition of what makes a travel story. We are interested in ambitious works about the natural world, profiles of fascinating people and collectives, scientific oddities, deep dives into subcultures, compelling takes on industry trends, and the never-before-told tales behind some of the world’s most storied places.
To pitch a digital feature story or essay, please send an email to Katherine LaGrave at klagrave@afar.com.
Hotels
Afar reports on the world’s most extraordinary hotels and accommodations that enrich on-the-ground experiences for travelers—while also helping travelers leave a positive impact on the communities and places they’re visiting. Our reviews focus on luxury, premium, and boutique hotels. We also publish hotel news, trend stories, and timely interviews with hospitality leaders.
To pitch a hotel story, please email Jennifer Flowers at jennifer@afar.com.
Sponsored Content
Sponsored Afar stories generally fall into one of two categories: articles and itineraries. Both integrate the advertising partner within the content itself and should have distinct angles that are broad enough to appeal to readers while also differentiating the sponsor from competitors.
If you’re interested in being considered for sponsored content assignments, please send a short bio and clips to Ami Kealoha at akealoha@afar.com.