An aspiring travel writer will need the following skills:
If you want to just publish a few copies for your friends and family, look into a print-on-demand service like '''Lulu''' [http://www.lulu.com]. They will even sell your book online for you, and who knows? Maybe you ''are'' the one in a million that makes it.
Dedicated '''travel magazines''' run the gamut from high-end glossies like ''Travel + Leisure'' [http://www.travelandleisure.com] and ''Conde Nast Traveler'' [http://cntraveler.com] to backpacker operations like ''Farang'' [http://www.farangonline.com/]. Instead of aiming for the big names or the all-purpose titles, which probably already have better writers than you going to more interesting places than you, aim a step below at smaller, regional, more targeted magazines: ''AsiaSpa'' [http://www.asiaspa.com] is for travelers in Asia interested in spas, ''Ski Canada'' [http://www.skicanadamag.com] is for travelers in Canada who like skiing, etc. The obvious downside is that, as in trade magazines (see below), you'll need more than a passing familiarity with the special interest in question. '''
'''Online travel magazines''' are another option for breaking into travel writing. Websites can include everything from highlighting worldwide locations like Brave New Traveler [http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/] to articles focusing on particular story angles such as 52 Perfect Days (www.52perfectdays.com) [http://www.52perfectdays.com/home] where all articles are written based on how to spend a perfect day or evening.
'''Online travel blog-a-zines''' websties have a completely independent and still professional approach to several topics about travelling such as destinations, resources, news, etc. For instance, Travel Generation [http://travelgeneration.com] is aimed to the backpackers niche.
'''In-flight magazines''', found for free in every major airline's seat pocket, are also all about travel writing. However, their function is to get people interested and drive up sales, so articles ''have'' to be enticing and gloss over bad points. The upside is that, if hired, you can expect to get free tickets to your destination (you're limited to where the airline flies, of course), free accommodation from advertisers (you'll be expected to write a glowing review) and, if you're lucky, free elephant treks, river rafting or whatever is the expensive, touristy thing to do at your destination (ditto). The magazine will pay you freelance writer rates, and all other expenses come out of your pocket.
'''Trade magazines''' focus on entirely different industries from travel, but as people like to keep abreast of what's happening elsewhere in the world, they're often interested in travel reports. The range of these is incredible: the ''Masonry Magazine'' [http://www.masonrymagazine.com] runs a regular feature called "Masonry Around the Nation", reporting on what kind of interesting buildings have been built from bricks. The flip sides, though, are that they're not going to pay for you to travel and that you need to be familiar with the industry in question (or good enough at interviews to be able to fake it).
'''Newspapers''' often have travel sections and they may be interested in freelance work, especially if you can work in an angle that somehow relates to the home city. Again, local newspapers are easier (and pay less).