I love To Share Ideas & Travels

Got a project we could work together on?

I love to share ideas and experiences, so if you have any thoughts on ways we could work together in a travel related way please get in touch. You can contact me by e-mail at mary@carryonqueen.com

CarryOnQueen.com brings together a community of READERS, WRITERS and TRAVEL COMPANIES united in adventure travel.

If you’re interested in Guest Posts, Promotional Posts, Press or PR coverage, Advertising or want to Read my Policies, please click the appropriate section at right.

Guest Posting on CarryonQueen.com

Guest Posts are designed for up and coming or established travel bloggers or writers who have something of interest to say about a particular destination and wish to showcase their travel writing and promote their personal blog or website.

If, however you are a business wishing to promote your travel product or service, please check out my Promotional Post section.

While the site primarily reflects Mary’s travel writing, guest posts are accepted since there simply isn’t enough time in the day to travel and write consistently while not being a full time nomad! To fill in some gaps, and to provide variety, I will occasionally accept guest posts if they are close to the guidelines below. Please review the guidelines, and contact me with your article proposal by email: mary@carryonqueen.com

About CarryOnQueen.com

CarryOnQueen.com aims to provide adventure travel inspiration and destination information to help readers plan their next escape. I invite guest posts that will resonate with our primary target reader. For more information about who she is, read our About section.

Benefits for Guest Posts

If you are a travel blogger or writer, a guest post published on CarryOnQueen.com may benefit you in the following ways;

  • A platform for your travel stories, experiences and photos
  • Coverage on a well regarded travel blog to help boost your readership
  • Promotion on social channels

Guidelines for Guest Posts

Generally a Guest Post that is published on CarryOnQueen.com will meet the following criteria:

  • Written by an up and coming or established travel blogger or writer with a personal blog or website.
  • The writer should have an established social media presence and be willing to promote the published article.
  • The article should be accompanied by at least 3-5 good photos taken by the author or include images with no copyright restrictions
  • Personal in tone, about a place you have personally visited and demonstrating knowledge of the destination.
  • Be adventure travel related in some capacity, and appeal to a fun-fit-female, often in her 50s who travels with friends, a partner, family or solo
  • Contain plenty of useful detail and information about the place, not too generic
  • Articles will typically be between 750-1000 words long

For Guest Posts, we allow you to link within the bio to the writer’s personal blog or website and to their social media channels. If, however you wish to promote commercial travel products and services, please read my Promotional Post page.  

You may link to the official websites of attractions that you mention or to the official tourism websites of regions or countries that you are writing about, although these should be for reader information rather than for SEO benefit. We reserve the right to edit such links and make them no-follow where appropriate. We also reserve the right to make any links no-follow if we feel appropriate in order to comply with Google guidelines.

Photos

I will generally use around 3-5 photos, so this would be the minimum requirement, but you can send more if you have them. However, if you do not have suitable photos of your own, and need to send other peoples’ photos, please ensure they are not subject to copyright restrictions.

What to do next

If you’d like to submit a Guest Post, please contact me with a short proposal for your guest post by e-mail; mary@carryonqueen.com

Please do not send me an unsolicited article but rather send an e-mail proposing the title and short outline of the article that you would like to submit for consideration. If you have written previous work, please link to a couple samples in your email.

Promotional Posting on CarryonQueen.com

The Promotional Post option is offered for travel businesses that wish to submit an article promoting their travel service, product, destination or adventure experience. In order to comply with Google guidelines any links in Promotional Posts will be no-follow. There is a charge for this service and I offer 2 options for Promotional Posts:

  • The travel company or PR agency provides an article and photos which is travel destination related and matches the guidelines below and may mention their travel website

or alternatively

  • I write an article on a topic of a destination that I have visited and the travel company or PR agency provides a short paragraph that may be added at the end of the article to promote the travel website. This option normally costs more to reflect the writing of the article

Rates for Promotional posts are quoted on a project by project basis. If you would like any other details concerning Promotional Posts, please read the details below and then contact me at mary@CarryOnQueen.com

If however, you are a travel blogger or writer wishing to submit a Guest Post, for which there is no charge, please read my Guest Post Section. Please note that in Guest posts, I only allow links to the writer’s personal and non-commercial website or blog.

What is a Promotional Post?

  • For the purposes of this blog, a Promotional Post is a travel article, illustrated by relevant photographs that is normally provided by the travel company and is published on the blog page at CarryOnQueen.com.
  • ThePromotional Post may mention and link to the sponsor’s website but in order to comply with Google guidelines any links within promotional posts will include a rel=”nofollow” tag.
  • A Promotional Post is disclosed as such by using the description “This article was brought to you by” or other similar disclosure
  • Promotional Posts are only accepted from businesses with travel related product or services, and are intended to promote travel related websites.

What is the benefit to the travel company?

  • For a one-off payment, the promotional article you provide will stay on the blog for a mimimum of 1 year and has the potential to attract traffic over an extended time frame.
  • A promotional article may offer more in depth information that is relevant to those interested in your travel destination or service than a banner ad could do.
  • A Promotional article is written in the same style as a normal article and although disclosed as a Promotional Post, may offer more value and attract more interest in the service than a typical advertisement.

How commercial can the Promotional Post be?

Promotional Posts should look similar to any other guest post with content that may be related to the travel service you wish to promote but is not overtly commercial.

What type of promotional articles are suitable for CarryOnQueen.com?

In general promotional articles accepted will fit the following criteria;

  • Articles will typically be 750-1000 words long
  • Feature adventure travel related content, and things that are unusual, off the beaten track, or interesting finds. History and culture layered in will appeal to a well educated, worldly woman.
  • Plenty of useful detail about the place, not too general or generic.
  • Appeal to the target reader: fun-fit-female, often in her 50s traveling with friends, partner, family or solo.
  • The article may incorporate a few lines at the end of the article introducing the travel company’s services e.g. This article is brought to you by X company, the specialists in X holidays in X countries.
  • We can guarantee that the article will remain live for 1 year although it may be there for longer.

What photographs do I need to provide?

  • Each promotional article needs to be illustrated by photographs provided by the travel company. Normally 3-5 photos may be used.
  • Photographs must not subject to copyright restrictions
  • Photos taken by the writer or from the travel company’s website and with permission to use are ideal

What happens once a promotional article has been submitted?

  • Once received, the article will be prepared for publication with headings, captions, tags and keywords to generate traffic and viewer interest.
  • When you make an initial inquiry, I can tell you the likely publication date of your article.
  • Once articles are published, they are promoted in the same way as any of my articles, using social media.
  • Once published I will email you the link and request payment by PayPal or Canadian based bank e-transfer.

Disclosure

Promotional Guest posts are always declared as such within the article, normally at the end of the article.

What to do next

Rates for Promotional posts vary by project. Please let me know what type of article you have in mind and the site you will be linking to. I will then get back to you to confirm the cost and content of the article and the likely publication date.

Thanks for your interest in CarryOnQueen.com

Press & Public Relations Coverage From Mary

If you’re looking to work with a travel blogger to help promote your destination, accommodation, travel service or product, read on for what we can offer at CarryOnQueen.com

A bit about CarryOnQueen.com

  • CarryOnQueen.com is a travel blog written and edited by Mary Charleson and is based on Mary’s own travel experiences and insights, along with occasional guest posts well suited for the target reader.
  • The blog is about inspirational adventure travel, exploring the destination, experiences, sights, culture and people that make a place unique.
  • The blog is aimed at fun-fit-females, many in their 50s, who adventure travel with their friends, partner, family or solo.
  • Mary is based in Vancouver, BC, Canada and many of her travels are across Canada, the US, Europe, Central and South America, Australia and New Zealand. There are many more destination on her hit list!

If you have a suggestion on how we might work together, please e-mail me at mary@carryonqueen.com

Social Media Channels

Travel writing coordinates:

Marketing business coordinates:

PR Coverage

I work hard to ensure that any travel company I work with receives a good return through articles, videos, and other content that I publish on my blog as well as through my social media channels. You can be assured that I will be professional and reliable in the coverage I provide, as well as producing inspirational travel content designed to give my readers all the ideas and information they need to plan their next trip.

I typically work with travel companies, destinations or accommodation providers on an individual basis to sponsor elements of my trips and I plan well ahead, as work and family may make it difficult for me to travel at short notice.

Here’s what I can offer

    • Destination Coverage – covering different aspects of the visit, such as food, accommodation reviews, sightseeing, activities, travel resources.
    • Accommodation Coverage – articles about hotels or accommodation
    • Attractions – individual articles about any attractions and travel experiences while drawing out themes of things to do that are enjoyable in the region.
    • Photos – Any photos taken during my stay will be publicly available on CarryOnQueen.com as well as social media pages
    • Social Media Coverage during my stay through mentions on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube channel
    • Visitor Information – my articles will typically include a visitor information section and include links to your destination or travel website and cross links to related articles.
    • Content for Destination or Company Websites – I am happy to provide articles to appear on a sponsoring organization’s website or blog.
    • Results Tracking – I can provide metrics from my content following a trip, such as views for articles (Google Analytics), videos (Youtube), Facebook views, Tweets, Instagram shares. These typically would be produced 3-6 months after the trip to cover long term traffic and video views.

Please e-mail me at mary@carryonqueen.wwwmi3-lr3.supercp.com.  I’m happy to come up with creative ideas or a proposal that is specific to your company or destination.

How else can we work together?

Due to work commitments I accept travel invitations where there is a close alignment with my travel interests or plans, and during a time I have available. This could mean I am unable to accept all invitations.

If I am unable to accommodate, I will likely suggest another travel blogger well aligned with a fun-fit-female, many in their 50’s audience.

Product Reviews

If you have a travel related product or service to review please contact me. I run travel product reviews if I believe it would be something of interest to my readers.  I would need a sample of the travel product to be provided for review purposes and also one or more to give away if possible, as this generates maximum interest in your travel product.

Accommodation Reviews

I am always happy to hear from accommodation providers who can offer a stay in return for an article about their accommodation. I prefer these to be associated with adventure travel experiences to ensure they will be of interest to my readers. Where I personally stay at an accommodation, I will typically write an article about the stay, as well as activities, and mention the accommodation on any other relevant articles from the visit and providing social media coverage.

Advertising and Promotional Post

Promotional Posts and Guest Posts at CarryOnQueen.com are considered on a case by base basis. Content must be well aligned with the audience, and the writing quality to professional standards. To discuss any other forms of promotion please feel free to contact me at mary@carryonqueen.com

Advertising On CarryonQueen.com

Thank you for your interest in advertising at CarryOnQueen.com

Why should you sponsor CarryOnQueen.com?

  • While CarryOnQueen.com is a relatively new travel blog, Mary Charleson is an established travel writer and marketing and media expert. She has posted weekly to fiveminutemarketing.com since 2008, building a global community of readers there. She is applying this same targeted readership approach to serving a community of readers, writers and travel businesses on CarryOnQueen.com
  • Mary has been published in many main stream publications (see media page) is a member of the BCTWA (BC Travel Writers Association), and has authored two books.
  • CarryOnQueen.com appeals to a fun-fit-female, many in their 50s, who want to be inspired to pursue soft adventure travel with their friends, spouse, family or solo.
  • Read more about this blog on my About Page.

If this is the kind of audience you would also like to target with travel related advertising, then please consider advertising on the site.

If you are interested in other PR opportunities and Product reviews, please read my Press and PR sections. If you have any other advertising queries or proposals, please e-mail me at mary@CarryOnQueen.com

Advertising and Prices

Banner advertising is for periods of 3 months or 6 month paid in advance. I only accept advertising that is travel related. Payment is through Paypal or a Canadian based bank e-Transfer. Please email to discuss details on size and a quote. Suggested standard sizes are rectangular 300 x 250 pixels or column style 300 x 500 pixels. mary@carryonqueen.com Cost quotes are based on site traffic over the last year as well at reach and influence of social media pages for CarryOnQueen.com on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

The CarryonQueen.com LEGAL & Policies Page

CarryOnQueen.com is a personal website edited and mainly written by Mary Charleson, with the occasional guest post. While I try to ensure that all information in my own articles is accurate at the time of writing, readers should take their own steps to verify this information where it is important to them. In the case of guest or promotional posts, the views in these articles are those of the guest writer and readers should take their own steps to verify any information that is important to them.

On this website I may from time to time accept paid advertising in the form of banner ads that normally appear in my sidebar and occasionally in other areas of my site. For more information on advertising, please read my advertising page.

I endeavour to ensure that any advertising that appears on CarryOnQueen.com is travel related. CarryOnQueen.com is not responsible for the content of external websites that may advertise or be mentioned on this site, but if you have any concerns, please let me know.

I also accept both PromotionalPosts and GuestPosts. Guest Posts are articles by other travel writers or travel bloggers and are posted free of charge on this site, and are selected for their alignment with interests of the audience, and professional writing standards. Promotional posts are articles that I have been paid to publish by commercial travel companies. Both Guest posts and Promotional posts are always disclosed as such, normally in the introduction or the conclusion of the article e.g. “This article is brought to you by…” For more information on Promotional and Guest posts, please read my Guest post page. When writing Promotional posts I go to some length to work with the travel company to ensure that the article is of high quality and offers valuable information to my readers on travel destinations or other travel related topics. The information about the advertiser with a link to their website is included in a paragraph at the end of the article, for those readers who wish to follow this up.

From time to time, I may accept both free and discounted stays in hotels or other accommodation in order to extend my travel opportunities in ways that I might not otherwise be able to afford and to enable me to write about this accommodation for the benefit of my readers. I always disclose if this has been the case at the bottom of the article, normally with some wording such as “I was hosted by…” or “I was a guest of…” I will only accept offers for places that I feel I will enjoy or my readers will be interested in, and any review offered will be honest and balanced and will not be influenced by whether or not I have paid to stay there. If nothing is mentioned in a review you can assume that I have paid for the stay myself.

If I accept free restaurant meals or free entrance to attractions for places that I feel I will enjoy and my readers will be interested in hearing about, I always disclose if this has been the case at the bottom of the article.

If I accept press trips from tourism boards or travel organizations, I will declare that my visit has been part of a press trip in articles I write subsequently on my website at the bottom of each article and wherever it is relevant. However, it would be impractical to include this in every passing mention of the destination on more general articles. Regardless of who has funded my trip, my articles will give my honest and balanced view of the places and attractions I am writing about.

In general the majority of my travel, flights, accommodation and visits to attractions are self-funded. If I do receive some sponsorship I regard this as a reward for the many unpaid hours I spend on producing travel articles and photos for the enjoyment of readers of CarryOnQueen.com and to help offset the costs of maintaining this website.

For any queries about my website or disclosure policy, please contact me at mary@carryonqueen.com

Comments policy

I welcome reader comments on articles published on CarryOnQueen.com. I particularly like comments that are well written and add valuable content or reflections on what was written. I would ask that you express your views in a respectful manner. I review all comments personally, and will delete any that are completely unrelated or spam.

Links policy

I keep a list featuring travel blogs that I enjoy and recommend on my Resources page. These are a reflection of my own personal taste, and resources that I believe my readers would find useful. These are some criteria I consider:

  • I do not normally include commercial or general travel websites, but focus on personal travel blogs or websites. If you have a commercial website you would like to promote, please check out the advertising option on my advertising page or the sponsored post options on my guest post page.
  • I normally feature blogs that are well established with regular content being posted for a year or more, or alternatively those that have a good body of quality content.
  • I am more likely to include a blog if I have a connection with the writer, either because I have met them, or because they have already connected with me through blog comments, e-mail, Twitter or Facebook.
  • I am more likely to include a blog if it covers travel themes or destinations that interest me or that are consistent with those that I cover in CarryOnQueen.com and are therefore likely to be of interest to my readers.
  • I do not link to other blogs purely for a ‘link exchange’ although I would hope that if I decide to include your blog in my resources list, you would also include CarryOnQueen.com on any similar list of travel blogs that you have on your site.

Privacy statement

Any information which you choose to make available to me such as names and email addresses will be kept 100% confidential and will be only used to contact you with my newsletter should you give me permission first. If you change your mind at any time, you are free to do so and can click unsubscribe in any email I send you.

Google Analytics does collect demographic data such as age, gender and location. This basic information is never sold and is only used purely for me to adapt my content to reflect my audience’s needs.

This website supports affiliate links and 3rd party websites may use cookies to track sales (read more about affiliate links below.)

Disclosure Policy

Occasionally I may choose to promote a product or a service that I love using myself. I will gain a small commission if you were to go on to purchase this at no additional cost to yourself. This is affiliate marketing and I will always disclose when I am using affiliate marketing on my site. The money generated from this source of income goes towards the running of this website.

Carryonqueen.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products on Amazon.com. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates.

If you feel that your blog meets all or most of the criteria and you would like me to consider you to add to my resources page, please contact me at mary@carryonqueen.com

Mary has recently combined her 20+ years of marketing experience over at FiveMinuteMarketing.com with work as a content creator here at CarryOnQueen.com – to help the hard-hit travel and tourism industry market more effectively during these challenging times. As a Certified Virtual Presenter through eSpeakers, and a CSP (Certified Speaking Professional – fewer than 12% of speakers globally hold the designation), you can be assured her presentations are professional and will help you navigate marketing – including digital platforms you own, social media, publicity and paid content, to leverage your efforts for maximum impact. She also keeps clients informed on marketing trends and changes as they apply to the travel industry. Every presentation is customized for your business or industry. View her Certified Virtual Presenter credentials and profile on eSpeakers HERE, as well as a full profile of marketing speaking topics HERE.