WANT AN INTERNSHIP WITH A NETWORK JUST FOR TRAVEL ENTHUSIASTS?
Travel With Interesting People, TWIP, is an online Travel Network; This membership-based, social marketplace connects people to experiences, activities and travelers based on their travel personality, or as TWIP coined, ‘Travanality.’
According to TWIP, your Travanality is why you travel when you take away time, destination and price. It is derived from 10 unique travel traits (Altruist, Culturist, Epicurean, Imaginavo, Maverick, Purist, Soulager, Urbanite, Victor and Wayfarer), and is defined as a set of values, attitude, behavior and communication skills that you have while traveling. You can take TWIP’s proprietary behavior assessment to know who you are when away from home.
With knowing your unique Travanality, TWIP recommends the best trips, activities, people and content to help you have an experience of a lifetime. But first, you need to become a member.
WHAT IT’S ACTUALLY LIKE
The TWIP internship is virtual and remote, so you can do it from your dorm, from a plane, from wherever. “The main goal of TWIP is to help an individual grow, and hone in on their strengths and learn new ones,” Social Media Manager at TWIP Juliette Koronkiewicz said. “It’s an opportunity to prepare yourself for life after college. The work that you do for TWIP matters, and we give our interns the opportunity to have their work be seen by our large following. We don’t believe in busy work. We believe in personal growth and empowerment.” Being able to do the work from wherever creates a pretty chill environment, especially since interns set their own deadlines, too. But don’t get too relaxed. Deadlines mean business.
COOL STUFF YOU GET TO DO
All sorts of travel articles flood TWIP; articles about places people have gone, food, drinks, Travanalities and their counterparts. Interns get to write about all of these interesting aspects of travel destinations, not just “Best Beaches In Europe.” You get to find out your own Travanality and apply it to your life and your travel aspirations. Interns also get to communicate with really interesting people from all over the world, aka ‘Twippers.’ “I was able to get in touch with some very cool travelers, learn their stories and use their stories to inspire more people,” past TWIP intern Mengbi Chen said. As a journalism intern, you pitch up to five article ideas a month. Potentially, at least three of those will be chosen, and then you’ll set a deadline for each–which usually falls about a week later. The pitches are entirely up to you, but your editor at TWIP makes changes to ensure your article matches their mission.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
The TWIP journalism internship helps interns enhance their writing, editing and producing talents. “During the internship, the interns will be refining their writing skills using The Associated Press Writing Style,” Koronkiewicz said. “At TWIP we’re looking for original stories, so the interns will have to do their research and think creatively to come up with topics that are new and engaging to our target market.” TWIP’s goal for journalism interns is that they complete the internship as better journalists.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR APPLICATION
TWIP requests a resume, cover letter and writing samples. I mean, for any journalism or writing internship, you absolutely need to have writing samples. Employers get to know you before the interview through your writing. These samples don’t need to be published, but if they’re about travel or a topic relevant to TWIP–like food, because travel and food kind of go together–then you already have an extra point next to your name.
SKILLS THAT IMPRESS THEM
Social media, AP Style, communication skills, and obviously, the ability to write. Nearly every employer in the journalism and communications field seek out these four skills. If you’ve had experience pitching articles ideas, that’s good because interns have to pitch three to five articles monthly. And a lot of the hard work gets done before the writing process even begins. So strong pitches create even stronger articles. Oh, and an interest in travel is essential.
COOL PERKS
You get to write about the world and events around you that you never would’ve known about otherwise. These published articles then become excellent pieces to include in your writing portfolio. You’ll have diverse samples you wouldn’t get from local newspapers or your campus paper. But the best part? Talking to people that work with the tourism boards in other countries while sitting at home in your mismatched pajamas.
THE DEETS
- Six to nine months from when you start, not your typical semester.
- Unpaid, but students can receive college credit.
- Literally chill in your pjs while you work.
- Write three to five articles monthly
