Creative writing: Write a travel article about going to the Philippines for destination wedding

Ji Yun Park

Gruen

Writing 39B

Nov 14, 2019

RIP Proposal

For my RIP project I plan to use the genre of advertisement in a magazine. It is going to be published on “Travel Leisure Magazine”, a travel-oriented publication that explores all aspects of travelling- such as hotels, restaurants, and things to do around the area. My RIP combines literary and documentary features, such as personal experiences and infomercial contents, in order to substantially explore the locale and its culture as well as unveil an exotic and exclusive destination. The conventions of my travel writing includes short summary and factual information about the place. The short summary will be presented in the beginning of the article in order to hook the readers and provide an insight as to what will be mentioned in the article. Factual information like statistical and informative data/content will allow the audience to access to destination facts and other search fields. For example, this convention will include facts about estimated costs, country guidelines, itineraries, etc. In contrast, my travel writing will contain personal experiences through the use of conversational and colloquial tone, vivid descriptive imagery, and first-person narrative. I will be using “I” and “you” to refer to my personal experiences and employ conversational and colloquial tone to build a rapport between the writer and the reader (puts “you” in their shoes). Moreover, vivid descriptive imagery will be frequently apparent- to create a lively atmosphere and paint idealistic pictures of the destination. To further intrigue the audience and promote/ advertise this destination, vivid descriptive imagery will help me implement the “showing” technique along with five sensory images, in which it allows me to be more descriptive and persuasive. My last convention is the visual. Real pictures are vital in travel articles because they intrigue the audience and help to relay positive emotions through happy and serene visual representations. I will represent myself as an experienced traveler in the Philippines; hence someone who also wants to have a fantasy wedding of my dream. By intertwining both literary and documentary features, I will be able to assure credibility and authority. By denoting my personal experiences and systematic research, it will be evident that I have traveled to the destination and preponderantly researched the subject I am writing about.

In the meantime, millennials have been ditching tradition as of late; they want to step out of their comfort zone and find unique ways to celebrate their wedding. That said, destination weddings can be a prime opportunity for the millennials to experiment with the unconventional, but some could be skeptical about the feasibility of such a unique option. My rhetorical purpose is pursued viewers to use my travel article to plan their destination wedding and travel smarter and easier in the Philippines. The main purpose of my travel article is to convince the readers to be more explorative and steer away from conformity and traditions. Not only that, I want to promote and advertise the location itself for its amusing temporal and cultural features. My message and purpose is important because it allows the readers to create their fantasy wedding and it informs number of variables that are opened by eliminating conformity.

Having a wedding celebration abroad is undoubtedly costly. On the other hand, Travel-Leisure Magazine is also known to target people who are affluent and sophisticated and those who have travelled in the past. That said, my intended audience are engaged couples who are looking for a romantic-getaway wedding and want to explore various cultural and adventurous experiences. Since they are most likely to be experienced and educated travellers, my article provides expert intelligence and practical advice to help people travel smarter and easier. Given that destination wedding is a luxurious and exclusive way to travel, the pursued audience may want detailed information about family-oriented, romantic destinations that provide opportunities to truly interact with their guests over a longer event. Therefore, this article will focus on different pleasure-oriented activities and leisure locations as well as the pros of choosing Philippines as the destination.

I chose this audience because I do not want to limit myself from exploring different leisure activities just because of the expensive cost. I noticed that some other travel articles are devoted to showing different budget options to attract a wider range of audience. Even though my article has a narrow range of readers, I want to focus on providing meticulous infomercial guide to the outside world and the best of everything the Philippines has to offer. That said, I can engage creativity and freelance more since it hasn’t been done before. It also enhances peoples’ desire for something fresh and the ability to save money for this ideal and unique trip. Nevertheless, it also influences other readers whether they are traveling for a destination wedding or just visiting Philippines for tourism. One difficulty I may anticipate in reaching my intended audience would be that it requires a rigorous research to gain a better understanding of sophisticated and affluent tourists and find out what drives their decision making/ choice. As mentioned previously, my range of intended audience are restricted and there are several angles to look at in order to understand their personal interests. On the other hand, I assume that my unintended audience could be discouraged by the limited availability and may condemn the pampering features and unrealistic costs.

Destination Weddings have increased 400% in recent years, and millenials are also being more strategic when it comes to love, changing the norms in wedding celebration as well. In addition, some couples aren’t getting married at all- and the marriage rate is declining, or they marry at a later age. For example, US Census Bureau claims that the median age of first marriage in the US is 27 for women and 29 for men. From this continued relatability, I can see that the millenials are evolving marriage. This has a huge influence and frames my article immensely; I must draw both generalized and specific insights and recommendations to spark intrigue in the audience, thus imply that extravagant weddings are worth investing.

Bibliography

“17 Unique Wedding Destinations for Adventurous Couples.” 17 Unique Wedding Destinations for Adventurous Couples, Passportsymphony, 18 Sept. 2019, passportsymphony.com/unique-wedding-destinations/.

This website shows A list of 17 unique wedding destinations around the world. It also shows different activities couples could do during and after the wedding.

“Destination Weddings Are More Than a Trend: Azazie: Blog.” Azazie, 20 Dec. 2017, www.azazie.com/blog/why-destination-weddings-are-more-than-a-trend/

This website lists all the pros for having a destination wedding and findings about why it is becoming popular among the millennials.

ONeil, L. Peat. “Getting Started: Types of Travel Articles.” Writer's Digest, 22 June 2011, www.writersdigest.com/qp7-migration-writers-digest-conference/travel-writing-excerpt .

This website talks about different conventions of travel writing and explores various rhetorical devices that are commonly used.

Model text:

Wilson, Kimberly. “Eight Totally Unexpected Destination Wedding Ideas.” Travel + Leisure, Travel and Leisure , 16 Aug. 2016, www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/destination-weddings/unusual-wedding-destinations?slide=423377#423377.