I give up. After eight years of building In The Know Traveler and our other five travel sites. I give up. Well, not entirely… just giving up control.

For the last eight years I have had to do it all, although I do have a few people who helped me greatly. I love what I do and ITKT's mission of providing inspiration to the international traveler to experience cultural exchange first-hand for a more compassionate and understanding world is still a noble goal, which will continue.

It is just that when I started ITKT, I hoped it would evolve into a project that would make more of a difference, something, which had greater community something more action-oriented, something that worked more globally like NGO. Unfortunately, between writing, editing, traveling, developing web sites, attending travel shows and receiving hundreds of emails a day my focus shifted from the sheer crush of work. The good news is that I have honed practical experience in most aspects of the travel industry and ITKT sites have grown into a respected brand name over the last eight years.

I never wanted to become like a million corporations that look to use writers without appreciating their efforts or giving them something valuable in return for their time and effort. Still most travel sites don’t pay their writers anything. In that way, ITKT has been one of the very few sites that has always paid its writers and to this day, I have rarely paid myself anything at all (fortunately, I have a terrific day job) because promoting travel and its importance is largely a labor of love. I have rarely used the kindness of others preferring to work extra long hours, but sometimes you just have to ask for help to grow.

After continuous requests by friends and colleagues and a little soul-searching, I am happy to open ITKT's doors to all walks of passionate travelers. In exchange I will teach you what I know. I am looking to develop a team to help me expand In The Know Traveler to what it was intended, a socially conscious brand with a goal of bringing the world closer together and maybe help create a few more clean water wells in Laos. I believe that fifty people moving in the same direction can change the world "“ and I can show you how.

If you want to travel and participate in media events? Molto bene. You want to work on developing tourism to a specific region or country? Bueno. Work on sales and marketing? Great. Write stories about places you love? Bon. Create videos? Wondebar. Help make online changes to ITKT? Fantastisch！ I can help you in most anyway you want as a traveler, writer or editor. This includes resume entries and Letters of Assignment for possible press trips, and hotel or restaurant reviews.

And yes, ITKT writers have traveled all over the world on press trips to more than 40 countries bringing back the stories that inspire travel.

If you are guessing this is not a paying gig in this crummy economy, you are right. So if you are looking to support a family and pay bills this is not the opportunity for you. However, if you are looking to promote travel, write, edit, develop new SEO strategies and Internet skills. I can help you especially if you are a student, need a fulfilling hobby or just want to be part of a great growing company, let's talk!

At the same time, this is not a school. I am not charging for my expertise as other sites do "“ I am not a corporation and looking to impress shareholders. I am writing this sitting in my apartment in Los Angeles wearing shorts and a T-shirt "“ it's really hot "“ looking to impress travelers, editors and budding writers. I am offering the opportunity to work with someone who already has established sites with a solid web presence and giving you the ability to make an immediate impact.

Why do you want to work with ITKT?

You get to learn from a travel industry expert and Internet stud (a friend said I should write this, but I am blushing reading it), who can teach you how to handle every aspect of the travel writing industry including:
Working with travel industry partners, how to get press trips, handling media events around the world, build an online presence, learn how to use SEO, social media, web site development, PHP, plug-ins, resume building, writing and editing, travel photography, video pre- and post-production, and concentrate on areas you are most interested with advancement opportunities within the In The Know Traveler system.

All of the experience will be hands on in a real world environment on six well-established, industry-respected sites. This is not for a diploma. This is the chance for real work experience where your feedback may create lasting change on the sites and put you in line to write the stories, get published and learn about being a professional travel writer.

As I have been told by several travel industry friends, "Even though this is a great opportunity, you have to tell them that this is work. Otherwise you're just going to get way too many responses. Too many people love travel." This is true. Really, I am looking for some people who have the time and interest and know that this really is work. However there are also perks.

While I intend to give as much leeway to allow everyone to explore elements of travel that will be most beneficial to them, everyone can expect to learn a little WordPress (and will have separate log-ins and email accounts), correspond with the travel community, read and evaluate submissions, and write and edit. This, of course, is in addition whatever specific focus, which may be applicable to your passion, such as: Staff Writer, Editor, SEO Coordinator, Graphic Designer, Blogger, Marketing, or other useful and needed skills.

I plan to keep my requests of people's time at a minimum. I am thinking around five hours a week. However, more will be available for those needing college credits and those who want to do more. Here are our sites:
http://intheknowtraveler.com, http://usa.intheknowtraveler.com, http://photo.intheknowtraveler.com, http://travelwritelive.com, http://intheknowhotels.com, and http://intheknowbride.com

And if you only want to write about your travel experiences check out ITKT's submission guidelines (http://www.intheknowtraveler.com/about-us/submission-guidelines), we are always looking for new stories and fantastic voices and we always pay for our stories.

If this sounds appealing to you. Do get in touch with me. I would love to hear from you, devin [at] intheknowtraveler [dot] com.

Devin Galaudet is the Editor of In The Know Traveler, an online travel magazine dedicated to international travel and cultural exchange. He also shares his insider information as a working travel writer on his personal blog Travel. Write. Live.. Before travel, he has survived careers in antiques, construction, film and professional card playing. When Devin is not traveling or writing, he lives in Los Angeles with his pixie-like twelve-year-old daughter and his compulsive book buying habit.