The research trip of your dreams might be closer, and more fundable, than you think!

I wish I had known about these opportunities before I plunked down a bunch of money and went traipsing all over the world to do research for my five books. My settings were not just across states; they were around the world: Austria, South Korea, England, France, Kenya, the Caribbean, Vietnam, Switzerland…you name it. But since we are a family, I am going to share what I learned, so pack your notebook for your next trip.
Many authors want to get authentic knowledge of the setting of their books. Well, that dream may no longer be a fantasy. Can you imagine boarding a plane to Oaxaca, or a train through the Scottish Highlands, or a ferry across the Aegean—and calling it work? There's good news that will keep your bank account untouched and may even grow it a bit. Authors across every genre, from literary novelists to true crime writers to travel memoirists, have discovered that travel can be not just permissible but profitable, if structured right.
Here's how to make it happen.
1. Apply for Grants and Fellowships
This is where many authors leave significant money on the table. Numerous organizations fund exactly this kind of work, travel in the service of a writing project. Here are a few worth researching:

• The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) offers Literature Fellowships that can be used to support research and travel.
• PEN America administers several grants, including the PEN/Heim Translation Fund and emergency funds that can free up bandwidth for travel.
• The Whiting Foundation and The Guggenheim Foundation both award fellowships that give writers the financial breathing room to pursue ambitious, travel-dependent projects.
• Millay Colony for the Arts is a small artist’s colony which occupies the former estate of Edna St. Vincent Millay in upstate New York, offering two-week and month-long residencies to six or seven artists between the months of May and October.
• State Arts Councils are often overlooked goldmines. Many offer residency stipends or project grants with far less competition than national programs.
• International residencies—from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Italy to the Château de Lavigny in Switzerland—cover your lodging, meals, and sometimes transportation while giving you weeks of dedicated writing time abroad.

The application process takes work, but a single successful grant can fund months of research travel. Treat applications like a writing craft in themselves.
2. Pitch Travel Publications Alongside Your Book Research
One of the smartest moves an author can make is to monetize the journey as well as the destination.
While you're researching your book in Havana or hiking Kilimanjaro, you're gathering material that travel magazines, literary journals, and digital publications will pay for. Outlets like Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, Afar, The Guardian Travel, and Longreads publish immersive, narrative-driven travel pieces—exactly the writing a literary author is positioned to produce.
The pitch is simple: you're a writer embedded in a place for an unusual reason. That specificity is the story. A novelist researching a book set in Cold War–era Prague has a more compelling angle than a generic city guide. Use it. Some publications also cover flights and accommodations in exchange for coverage, which means your research trip can pay for itself before the book is even finished.
3. Leverage Academic and Press Credentials
Libraries, archives, embassies, and cultural institutions routinely offer access—and sometimes funding—to credentialed researchers. If you have academic affiliations, even loose ones, use them. A university press ID or an affiliation with a writing program can open doors to research grants, reduced-rate residencies, and introductions to in-country experts.
Press credentials work similarly. If you can definitively demonstrate that your work will result in published articles or a book from a recognized publisher, many press offices—from national tourism boards to government cultural agencies—may offer subsidized or hosted travel. This is particularly common in countries with active literary tourism programs, including Ireland, Japan, Iceland, and much of Scandinavia.
4. Teach and Travel
Workshops, writing retreats, and conference speaking gigs frequently come with covered travel and accommodation—and many of them happen in places worth writing about. Pitch yourself as a faculty member for international writing retreats. Organizations like the Paris Writers Workshop, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference abroad programs, and various cruise line literary series pay faculty to show up and teach—then give you free time to write and explore.
Similarly, literary festivals around the world (Dublin, Edinburgh, Jaipur, Adelaide, Hay-on-Wye) invite authors for panels and readings, often covering flights and lodging. The research you do before and after your official duties is entirely yours.
5. Document Everything—It's a Tax Deduction
This one isn't glamorous, but it matters: once writing is your profession, legitimate research travel is a business expense. Keep every receipt, maintain a travel journal that ties each day to your project, and work with an accountant who understands the specific rules for self-employed writers. The IRS (and its international equivalents) recognize that authors travel as part of their craft—but valid documentation is everything.
The Mindset Shift
Ask. Apply. It does not happen without a bit of effort but think about how much greater your book could be than just doing a Google search.  So, book the trip. Then, figure out who's going to pay for it from the options above!
My next dream research: on the luxury train to The Amalfi Coast…might there be a murder?  Yours?
Tootles. Happy travels and happy writing.

We would like to hear from you. Send your comments: contact@wordeee.com