Press trips are a strange animal.

For the aspiring travel writer they can be a crucial money-saving and door-opening opportunity. On the other hand, many editors are distrustful of the writing that results from freebies – and some won’t publish that resulting work at all.

So what to do?

Over at the Notebook, Laura Kammermeier offers 10 great tips to get the most out of your first press trip.

And in the community, Matador member jgbrandt has followed up on Laura’s piece with a blog post about Hunter S. Thompson, story telling, and his first press trip to Grenada.

Been on a press trip yet? Have one in the works? Let us know in the comments!

Photo by Matt Riggott.