What is a Travel/Place Essay?
A travel/place essay takes travel or a place as its point of origin. The essay is probably not simply about a place or a journey, but rather is about what one may discover about people or life on that journey or in that place.
People are often defined by the places they grow up in or choose to call home. There is something about landscape that is more than just sky and earth.
A travel essay needs to include some details of a journey, a vacation, a trip. But what else do you want to say. Would an essay about a family vacation to Disney World be interesting? If it is just like everyone else's family vacation to Disney World, then probably no. What is it about your topic that makes it not just a travel diary. A travel diary is simply a record of what you did each day.
A essay about place begins with an author's recognition that some aspect of a particular place is worth writing about. Most of us have special or meaningful places in our lives. But again, a essay about place goes beyond just describing the place.