Translation Services: Traveling and Translating

To travel: to go from one place to another; to translate: to turn from one language into another Traveling and language have, according to me, always walked arm in arm. There is no real traveling without communicating in another language. No real need to learn another language if not for traveling.Some of you could object: I am learning another language in order to understand a book, for example. But isn't mind journeying a sort of traveling?To make a long story short: let me tell you the reasons why I decide to specialize in "tourism translation services".Translation services in the field of tourism involves anything really from brochures to websites, marketing campaigns, pamphlets, questionnaires related to airlines, tour operators, travel agencies, travel guides... you name it.I always thought that committing part of my life to discovering new places was really crucial. Traveling opens your mind. So does translating. But you have to select a destination. You can't continue roaming about. Initially it is a good idea. You should experience as much as you can. But once you have found your traveling style, you'll feel at ease only when holding onto it. And the same holds true for translating. Check this out: the first translation task I was offered was a type of data sheet about a new revolutionary sort of vacuum cleaner. Not the most attractive or exciting experience. But I was walking on air. I thought I could add that extra bite even to something so specialized. Obviously I was amiss. Blissful ingenuousness! Since then I have carried on and on consenting to all kind of job offers, until I found my soul match: tourism translation services. Uniting my two profound passions and get money for it? Grand!It is for sure not completely plain sailing as it sounds, but it is of the essence to believe in what you do. I have never believed in vacuums or gas pipes. It's more of a guy thing, maybe. Or for folks more down to earth than I am. In any case, to get a reliable and smooth translation you have to know what you are talking about. And I know about travel and tourism. The terms, the feeling that has to shine trough it, I have been there, done that, so I know what I am writing about.Therefore, if you would like to become a prosperous translator, firstly you have to side with either the "artists" or the "technicians". You can't be both. It's practically unworkable. Next step is to pin it down, till you discover what you are truly proficient at.Most people in this line of work consider "tourism translation services" as an unspecialized and easy field to get into. Nothing further from reality. Sure, the vocabulary could appear more understandable at first. But to pull in the reader's attention is much more of a challenge. Creativeness plays a main part into it. Generally speaking it is quite easy to be updated about new technical terms. On the other hand, to follow the marketing and communication trends requires a constant effort to read and pull out new catchy keywords, sentences need to be mixed up and shaken otherwise it sounds boring and dull. Not an option when engaging in something as bubbly as tourism translation services.To cut the cackle: a technical sentence can be translated possibly in maximum four or five ways. A tourism related sentence can have up to twenty. As I mentioned previously I love traveling. And so far the best way of doing it by sitting on my desk is to get as many tourism translation jobs related as I can. Tourism is a constantly growing business. So are translation services in this field as a result.