THANK YOU for your interest in contributing to Trip Reports. This site hosts a large and growing collection of multi-day backcountry adventures, written by real people about their real adventures.
How It Works
Send us your pitch. Using the form at the bottom of the page, tell us about the route you completed. Currently, we accept backpacking, canoeing and kayaking routes.
Write your trip report. Once we have confirmed your route, write your report. Please use the template provided and refer to example trip reports on the site. Be thorough and ensure everything is as accurate as possible. First and foremost, the report should be informative. You can also add your personality with trip tips and anecdotes – be creative!
Send your trip report. Send your trip report to [email protected] so we can review it. We’ll check things like clarity, accuracy and consistency. We may come back to you with questions if anything is missing or unclear. The better you follow the template, the less likely we’ll need to bother you with questions!
See it published and get paid! We’ll send your payment either by E-transfer (Canadian) or PayPal (international) within 48 hours of your trip report being ready.
Submit Your Pitch
Trip Report Compensation
Compensation is determined based on the length of the trip, the location, the level of detail in the report and adherence to the template*. After you submit your pitch, I’ll give you a quote for your report so you know what to expect before you start writing.
New rates are effective for Trip Report Pitches received starting September 16th.
| Trip Duration | Compensation Range (CAD) | Typical Report Length |
| 1 night | $100 – $150 | 1500 words + 8 photos |
| 2 – 3 nights | $125 – $175 | 2000 words + 10 photos |
| 4 – 5 nights | $150 – $200 | 2500 words + 12 photos |
| 6 – 7 nights | $175 – $250 | 3000 words + 14 photos |
| 8+ nights | Determined on a case-by-case basis, up to $500 | >3000 words + 14 photos |
| Multiple Reports Bonus | $100 bonus after every 5 reports | N/A |
*NEW: Part of the reason I’ve increased the rates and moved to a range is to reward writers who provide a high level of detail and adhere to the template. In the past, I’ve sometimes received reports that don’t have photos, are missing important information or require significant back-and-forth with the writer to get the report to the quality my members expect from me.*
Number of Days: The number of nights excludes “Rest Days” (where you stay at the same site for more than one night) unless there was a specific activity done on the rest day that is a core part of the trip (e.g., full-day hike to a lookout point). I also typically exclude prep days (e.g., driving up the night before and camping at the access point). You can definitely include these details, but in general, I won’t count this as a full trip day.
I’m a professional guide or professional writer/photographer – can I contribute? Yes, you can definitely contribute! Many of the trip reports on the site were written by people just like you – please send your pitch! That said, I cannot match the rates offered by magazines or other publications, since this site is 100% member-supported. Occasionally, I will do higher rates than what is above if the writer is contributing lots of high-quality photos, committing to writing multiple reports or writing about a hard-to-access location. Send me a pitch to inquire!
Tips to Write the Best Trip Report Possible
Explore reports on the site to understand what makes a good report. If you’re not a Trip Reports member, I very much encourage you to sign up (members typically earn 30% more than non-members). But if you don’t want to join, here are some example reports you can reference.
The #1 reason I have to go back to writers and ask them to redo sections of their report is because they missed stuff in their route. Sometimes I’ll read a report and go “Wait, how did they get from X Lake to Y Lake? There are two other lakes in between and multiple portages!”
To maintain the quality of reports my readers expect from this site, I read through every single report in detail, checking maps to ensure every segment is covered. Ensure your report covers each step of your route, and include distances for portages if applicable.
And you don’t need to write a paragraph for every detail. “Next up was a short and easy 40 m portage onto Alice Lake” can be enough!
Permit information is one of the most important parts of a trip report because your reader may be so inspired by your report, they want to do the route themselves so they need to know how!
There is a section in the template for Permits & Reservations. Ensure you outline what is required (e.g., reservation by site vs by lake) and any tips (do they need to be booked far in advance?). Please include a link to the booking portal if reservations can be made online.
In the past, I’ve had writers only realize after writing their report that they don’t have any photos from the trip! Photos are an important component of the trip report because they help the reader visualize the area and conditions.
Since I’ve increased compensation, I’m now requiring a minimum of 6 photos per trip report, though ideally there would be more than that (if you just want to send me a link to your album, I can pick out the photos for you).
And you don’t need to be a professional photographer – phone pics are great! Just ensure they aren’t blurry / fuzzy.
Thank You So Much for Contributing!
