About the Staying Native Do It Like a Local™ Blog

Staying Native helps travelers experience their destination like a local. We do this in part by sharing insight from locals and travelers in our Do It Like a Local™ blog. The focus of our content is recommendations on how to travel, stay, eat and play like a local.

Types of Blog Submission

Our typical submissions fall into one of three categories; travel stories, photessays and lists.

1. Travel stories

These blogs are short stories between 200 –300 words about unique travel experiences and are submitted with three to five unique photos.

2. Photoessays

These blogs feature eight to 20 photographs preceded by a short introduction. Each photo has a captions to help the reader follow the visual story. All photos must be landscape oriented (horizontal) and submitted at 620px wide.

3. Lists

These types of blogs along with photoessays tend to be the most popular. Titles are usually the ‘best’ or ‘most' (exciting, unique, underated, etc.). The number of items on your list is completely up to you. Get your creative juices flowing.

Blog Submission Acceptance

All submissions will be reviewed by the Blog Editor.  In keeping with style of the blog, modifications to blog content may be made at the editor’s discretion.

Successful submissions will be notified prior to being posted.

Blog Submission Guidelines

This is a community blog and many of our contributors aren’t professionals, however, we do try to maintain a degree of consistency. We ask that all contributors follow these guidelines, which will ensure that our readers will see similar grammar, spelling, and style in every blog post.

Style

This is an informative blog written in a casual-yet-well-informed style.  Our focus is on authentic, local travel stories.  

Spelling

Do It Like a Local™ blog follows Canadian spelling conventions. Please check the spelling of your submission to ensure before you submit it. Our editor will appreciate it.

Using Numbers in Your Writing

Numbers in titles should always be written as numerals (e.g. 5) rather than spelled out as numbers (five) to make them easier to scan.

In the body of posts, one through nine must be spelled out as numbers, and any nubmer greater than 10 should use numerals, such as one, two, …nine, 10, 11, 12…100… and so on.

Web Writing Best Practices

Keep paragraphs short. Feel free to write one-sentence paragraphs, and try to limit them to four or five sentences at the most.

Use subtitles every few paragraphs. This helps to organize posts and enables readers to find specific information more easily.

Bullet points and numbered lists are recommended, wherever possible.

You may link within your blog post to authoritative outside websites and to related pages and posts on your own website.  Any links deemed to be spam, for advertising or other such purposes will either be removed or result in rejection of your work.

Photo Guidelines

All photos should be well composed, landscape oriented (horizontal) and 620px wide. By using photos in your submission you confirm that they are yours for the using. Photos from free photo sites, photo sharing sites and those used without the permission of the owner are not accepted.

Photo Sizes Required

Blog banner photo      620px x 134px
Blog feature photo      620px x 414px
Blog content photo     620px x up to 500px