One of the most important things that travel writers need to be aware of when traveling – and sharing their experiences – is intercultural sensitivity. Take, for instance, a case of extreme cultural differences and values. A writer could slant the article in several ways – one that is ethnocentric and value-laden, while at the other end of the spectrum, one that is completely culture-free and just reports facts. However, neither option is a good one for either the writer or the readers.

Good travel writing takes you into a place, a culture, into the space where people live. Excellent travel writing takes you beyond that, into an authentic experience of sights, sounds, feelings, and the essence of culture. To write in this way, a travel writer must truly live the concept of intercultural sensitivity.

How is this possible? Intercultural sensitivity is not putting aside your own values, mores, and beliefs. It is accepting that there is a great deal of difference in the world, and adapting and integrating yourself into cultures within their own context. This integration, called ethnorelativism, means that you have internalized many different cultural frames of reference and are able to understand and adapt to whatever the world throws your way.

Becoming an interculturally sensitive, ethnorelative writer, then, can take years and a great willingness to learn and understand other cultures. What if you don’t have years to spend in Malaysia, or Kenya? There are still ways to be in the world that can help you make meaning of intercultural experiences, and convey that meaning and essence of cultures in your travel writing.

Here are some tips for intercultural sensitivity in travel writing:

1. Be alert and aware of cultural differences.
2. Don’t judge cultural differences – look at behavior, celebrations, food, and mores in their own cultural context.
3. Research as much as you can about what you’re writing about. Whether it is a local religious festival or a special village celebration, history and culture inform everything. Write from a position of knowledge, and enhance that knowledge with the details that you see, smell, taste, feel, and hear.
4. Include the viewpoints of locals. Ask why things are being done, celebrated, created the way that they are. You might be surprised – and get that extra angle that makes your story rise above the crowd.
5. Enjoy yourself! There’s nothing more exciting and personally enriching than travel. Soaking in the essence of where you are – whether in the next town or the next continent – will inform your writing. So will joy – readers know when the writer loves a subject. Show your enjoyment and understanding of culture and travel, and it will shine through.

Jessie Voigts, PhD, is the Publisher of WanderingEducators.com, a travel site for global educators.