Gritty Globe

ABOUT GRITTY GLOBE
Gritty Globe is the brain child of a disgruntled college graduate who refused to believe that Real Life had to mean postponing traveling until she was retired. She had to learn about travel the hard way – by arriving to a foreign country, realizing she was vastly underprepared, and spending a lot of time (and money) to correct her mistakes. She didn’t want this to happen to everyone, so she started this website to serve as a meeting point for travelers in all stages, whether it’s the first step, a breath of fresh air along the way, or a happy reflection on travels past.

WHAT WE DO
Here at Gritty Globe we believe that travel is the most important thing a person can do. World travelers are notoriously intelligent, well-rounded individuals. As Mark Twain says, “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.” We highly recommend traveling – so that’s why we started this website!

Gritty Globe aims to serve as a compendium of travel information, submitted by experienced travelers themselves. We feature the hard-to-find hints, tips and advice, the raw information that comes straight from the open road (or prairie, desert, mountain range, what have you)… in other words, the real grit about this globe!

Since we pride ourselves on being a community of passionate travelers, we are always looking for more wanderlusters to join us. Here’s how you can participate:

LEARN: If you’re about to embark on a new voyage, read what others have to say. It’s always best to learn about a country for yourself by getting out there and doing it, but there are a lot of tidbits that can help you before you even get on the first connection flight.
SHARE YOUR WISDOM: Our site can’t grow without your insight. We’re hungry for more inside tips about where you’ve been and what you’ve seen, so share your knowledge! It helps us grow, and it enlightens thousands. That’s a pretty cool accomplishment for one day.
TALK ABOUT TRAVEL: We offer a lot of ways for you to share your experiences. We want to give your words and thoughts a home on the internet, because this helps promote our main goal – allowing travelers to gather the information they need for that inevitable next trip!

There’s something for everyone here, whether you’re a first timer, starting your third or fourth trip abroad, or a seasoned veteran who’s seen almost everything.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR
Anything you have to say! Check out the different sections on the website, and see where you can make a contribution. Don’t worry about repeating someone else; every traveler has a slightly different experience, and that comes across. What you say might help certain people and not others, but the ones who click with your experience will thank you for it.

We also accept longer pieces, such as journalistic-style articles, real-life stories, etc. If you've started a blog, send us the link and we'll publish it, so everyone can be alongside you as you travel the globe. If you wrote an awesome diary the last time you went abroad, we can publish that too. If you have something cool to suggest to us, we’re always open to new ideas.

We want to give a home to creative endeavors as well. Poetry or stories inspired by different parts of the world; half-fiction, half-fact creations; artwork. Squeeze your creative juices into our glass. We’re thirsty, and we need to take a long gulp. Don’t judge us by the metaphor: send whatever you’re comfortable with.

BUT WHY SHOULD I SHARE?
There are a few reasons why it’s not only a good idea, but important, to participate in Gritty Globe.

Street Cred: By submitting your wisdom, you get recognized for doing so. It establishes you as an authority in this field, because you’ve been there and done it. If you submit longer pieces, you will have a place to host your words and creativity. Getting featured on a travel website is no small thing. Watch your friends recoil in envy.

Selflessness: Travelers are a rare breed. We want to help others on similar paths. I’ve never encountered a traveler who wasn’t eager to share what they’d been through, especially if I was about to embark on their path. There is a sense of satisfaction that comes from knowing you can help others in their journeys.

Spreading the word: Aren’t we always bugging others to get out of their respective city/state/country? By highlighting your adventures, you’re showing the rest of the world that travel is not only fun, it’s necessary. You just might convince that homebody to take a step out of their homeland. In a metaphorical sense, we’re raising our swords in the quest to convert everybody into a world traveler.

DO I GET PAID?
No. It’s just not possible at this time, so if you think that your submissions, words, stories or thoughts deserve a per-word rate, then this might not be your bag. We’re looking for the stuff you’d share with the family, with other travelers, with your diary late at night. The sort of thing that hums in the open air, the material that leaks from your lips as you recount your adventures abroad.

In the future, we’d like to explore possibilities with ad revenue-sharing programs, but this is still a long way ahead.