best american travel writing 2023

The Best Books of 2023

A Smithsonian magazine special report

The Ten Best Books About Travel of 2023

Take a trip without leaving home with these adventurous reads from this year

Laura Kiniry

Travel Correspondent

It’s often said that travel is all about the journey, whether it’s planning a remote island holiday or setting out on the adventure of a lifetime across the Arctic Ocean. But it can be almost as thrilling to roam the world from the comfort of our homes. Just take our pick of 2023 travel books, which include everything from humor-fueled essay collections and thought-provoking narratives to tomes brimming with full-page colorful photographs and tips on finding the most welcoming LGBTQ+ spots around the globe. They all share the uncanny ability to transport readers through time and space without ever having to open the front door.

Whether it’s a deep delve into a Balkan landscape of healing plants and foraging, or a more than 2,000-mile road trip through America’s racial history, here are ten travel books that are more than worthy of this year’s holiday wish lists.

Driving the Green Book: A Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance by Alvin Hall

From 1936 to 1967, the Green Book served as an annual travel guide for African Americans, helping them to identify welcoming hotels, restaurants, gas stations and other businesses across the United States during the Jim Crow era. Compiled by Black New York City postman Victor Hugo Green , this essential reference publication included places like Manhattan’s Hotel Theresa , once considered the “Waldorf of Harlem,” and the Moulin Rouge Hotel in Las Vegas, frequented by celebrities like Harry Belafonte and Ella Fitzgerald during its five-month stint in 1955.

Award-winning broadcaster Alvin Hall first learned about the Green Book in 2015, and he was immediately intrigued. Several years later, he and a friend, activist Janée Woods Weber , set out on a 2,000-plus-mile cross-country road trip from Detroit to New Orleans, visiting many of the establishments once featured in the guide’s pages. (Harlem’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has a nearly complete collection of the Green Book , which Hall utilized.) Along the way, Hall also gathered memories from some of the guide’s last surviving users.

The result, Driving the Green Book: a Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance , is a poignant 288-page journey along America’s open roads, delving into the country’s racial past, detailing the Green Book ’s life-saving history and bringing it all together in one remarkable read.

Driving the Green Book: A Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance

Join award-winning broadcaster Alvin Hall on a journey through America’s haunted racial past, with the legendary Green Book as your guide.

The Last Ride of the Pony Express: My 2,000-Mile Horseback Journey Into the Old West by Will Grant

In 2019, American journalist Will Grant embarked on a five-month, 2,000 mile journey on horseback from Missouri to California. His goal: to follow the historic route of the Pony Express , a legendary frontier mail system operating between April 1860 and October 1861, which used a series of horse-mounted riders and relay stations to deliver mail from one end to the other in just ten days. Although the express service went bankrupt after only 18 months, it remains an iconic symbol of America’s Old West.

Grant chronicles his 142-day adventure in The Last Ride of the Pony Express , a first-person narrative describing his trip across the Great Plains of Nebraska and the sagebrush steppe of Wyoming in the company of his two horses, Badger and Chicken Fry. While Grant reflects on the West’s modernization over time, it’s his vivid descriptions of the communities and local residents—including ranchers, farmers and migrant sheep herders—along the way that make the book a real page-turner.

The Last Ride of the Pony Express: My 2,000-mile Horseback Journey into the Old West

The Last Ride of the Pony Express is a tale of adventure by a horseman who defies most modern conveniences, and is an unforgettable narrative that will forever change how you see the West, the Pony Express, and America as a whole.

Unforgettable Journeys Europe: Discover the Joys of Slow Travel

The latest in the Unforgettable Journeys series by DK Eyewitness, a publisher of nonfiction books known for its visual travel guides, Unforgettable Journeys Europe highlights the notion that travel really is all about the “getting there.” This inspirational tome details 150 of Europe’s best slow adventures, such as kayaking through Lithuania and crossing the Arctic Circle by train.

The bucket list is organized by modes of transportation, with sections titled “By Bike” and “By Rail,” for example. Illustrations, photos, maps and plenty of practical information (including start and end points for trails, difficulty ratings and website links) are then spread throughout the text, making the book as much colorful reference as it is inspiring read. In the “On Foot” chapter, there’s a description of Scotland’s Fife Pilgrim Way , a 56-mile trek along an ancient pilgrim route with cathedral and countryside views. Along with details on what to see during the multiday hike, the book features a selection of highlighted tips, like what to do (pick wild berries while passing through Clatto Reservoir ) and how to splurge (dinner and an overnight stay at the cozy, Michelin-starred Peat Inn ) en route.

Unforgettable Journeys Europe: Discover the Joys of Slow Travel (Dk Eyewitness)

Inspirational travel book covering 150 of Europe's most incredible journeys, including routes on foot and by bike, road, rail and water.

Elixir: In the Valley at the End of Time by Kapka Kassabova

After a decade of living in the Scottish Highlands, native Bulgarian Kapka Kassabova returned to her roots in southwestern Bulgaria’s remote Mesta Valley, a rural region known for its array of wild crops and their vast medicinal properties. Over several seasons (Kassabova’s move occurred at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic), the poet and writer set out to study the deep relationship between the area’s people and plants, as well as with the land itself. Her resulting text—with chapters like “Pine Syrup,” “Honey Sellers” and “Shepherd’s Superfood”—is an autobiographical exploration of one of the globe’s lesser-known corners, one brimming with forages, healers and a wealth of folk traditions.

“ Elixir is the vibrant, beautiful story of a singular, remarkable place,” writes Foreword book reviewer Catherine Thureson. “It issues a call to reclaim the physical, emotional and spiritual connection between humanity and the natural world.”

Elixir: In the Valley at the End of Time

In Elixir , in a wild river valley and amid the three mountains that define it, Kapka Kassabova seeks out the deep connection between people, plants, and place.

The Life Cycle by Kate Rawles

British writer and cyclist Kate Rawles has a penchant for raising awareness about environmental challenges through her own adventures—and inspiring action in the process. In 2006, Rawles cycled 4,553 miles from Texas to Alaska , interviewing Americans about climate change along the way. Her latest endeavor—an 8,288-mile, 13-month journey across the length of the Andes Mountains on a self-built bamboo bicycle she nicknamed “Woody”—is the basis for her new book, The Life Cycle .

During this largely solo endeavor in 2017 and 2018, the author crossed some of the planet’s most diverse ecosystems, including South America’s Atacama Desert and the Bolivian salt flats. Simultaneously, she found herself witnessing the devastating effects of extreme biodiversity loss caused by industries such as logging and gold mining, and met with activists and communities working to regenerate these habitats—sharing their concerns and insight throughout the narrative.

The Life Cycle: 8,000 Miles in the Andes by Bamboo Bike

Pedalling hard for thirteen months, eco adventurer Kate Rawles cycled the length of the Andes on an eccentric bicycle she built herself. The Life Cycle charts her mission to find out why biodiversity is so important, what's happening to it, and what can be done to protect it.

Unravelling the Silk Road by Chris Aslan

An extremely well-researched story of three ancient trade routes that helped define a continent, Chris Aslan’s Unravelling the Silk Road “merges trauma with textiles to track the past and present experiences of the people of Central Asia,” writes author Clare Hunter . He explores the roles played by wool, a textile used by the region’s nomads for both yurts and clothing; silk, a commodity that was once more valuable than gold; and cotton, the cause of Russian and then Soviet colonization, since it provided cheap material for the global superpower.

Turkish-born Aslan interweaves his own personal experiences (the author once picked cotton with locals and worked with nomadic yak herders in Central Asia’s Pamir Mountains) with the history of each route and its impact on the lives of local residents ​​ —as well as the region itself. Aslan also examines how political and cultural changes are affecting new trade routes and the people who depend on them.

Unravelling the Silk Road: Travels and Textiles in Central Asia

Veteran traveler and textile expert Chris Aslan explores the Silk, Wool and Cotton Roads of Central Asia.

The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise​​ by Pico Iyer

British-born essayist and acclaimed writer Pico Iyer is no stranger to travel journalism. The author—whose childhood was divided among English, Indian and U.S. cultures—is known for works like 1989’s Video Night in Kathmandu , a stark look at modern Asia, and The Global Soul , a 2001 collection of essays on finding home in a world of international airports and shopping malls. For more than 40 years, Iyer has traveled the globe, reflecting on the planet and our role within it.

“After years of travel, I’d begun to wonder what kind of paradise can ever be found in a world of unceasing conflict,” writes Iyer in his latest book, The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise , “and whether the very search for it might not simply aggravate our differences.” The result is a retrospective look at his own travels and encounters—from North Korea’s capital city of Pyongyang to Jerusalem’s Ethiopian chapels—through the idea of “paradise,” what it means and whether it exists.

The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise

Traveling from Iran to North Korea, from the Dalai Lama’s Himalayas to the ghostly temples of Japan, Pico Iyer brings together a lifetime of explorations to upend our ideas of utopia and ask how we might find peace in the midst of difficulty and suffering.

The Pride Atlas: 500 Iconic Destinations for Queer Travelers by Maartje Hensen

Big, bold and colorful, The Pride Atlas is a valuable resource for LGBTQ+ folks and their allies, as well as a perfect coffee table topper. Compiled by queer author and photographer Maartje Hensen , its 400 pages are brimming with eye-catching photos and practical information, such as websites like Meetup and Couchsurfing that are useful for connecting with similarly minded locals and travelers, and resources regarding laws and cultural attitudes worldwide.

At the heart of the book are 500 destinations from around the globe, each one of them highlighting a way of engaging with LGBTQ+ culture. You’ll find drag shows, Pride parades, campsites, microbrew pubs and other places, from San Francisco’s Transgender District to Haircuts for Anyone , an inclusive and affirmative hair salon in Montreal that charges by sliding scale.

“Hopefully,” writes Hensen, “ The Pride Atlas expands your horizons and inspires you to go out into the world, to (un)learn from others … because, like gender, the world doesn’t fit into binary.” Indeed.

The Pride Atlas: 500 Iconic Destinations for Queer Travelers

Combining immersive photography with expertly researched travel writing, this is the ultimate guidebook for LGBTQ+ travelers—whether you're planning your next getaway, daydreaming from the comfort of your armchair, or seeking to learn about queer culture in other parts of the world.

Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel by Shahnaz Habib

An enlightening and entertaining debut essay collection by a U.S.-based Indian Muslim author, Airplane Mode brings a unique and under-represented perspective to the world of travel. Shahnaz Habib approaches such topics as the origins of passports, colonial modes of thinking about travel—like safaris and pilgrimages—and terms like “pseudiscovery,” which she uses to describe an explorer’s claim of discovering something that’s existed for thousands of years, with both wit and curiosity, incorporating her own personal narratives to boot.

Perhaps Annabel Abbs, author of Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women , says it best in her praise for Airplane Mode, which has been long-listed for the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence . She calls it “a fascinating, wide-ranging and insightful travelogue that poses some of the biggest questions of all: Who gets to travel, and what is it that makes us so keen to travel in the first place?”

Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel

This witty personal and cultural history of travel from the perspective of a Third World-raised woman of color, Airplane Mode , asks: what does it mean to be a joyous traveler when we live in the ruins of colonialism, capitalism and climate change?

Oh My Mother!: A Memoir in Nine Adventures by Connie Wang

The closest Chinese expression to “Oh, my god” is wode ma ya , which literally translates to “Oh, my mother.” It’s a declaration of astonishment, as well as the title for journalist Connie Wang ’s humorous and heartfelt book, Oh My Mother!: A Memoir in Nine Adventures . Wang details the complicated relationship between herself and her stubborn and “wildly opinionated” mother, Qing Li, across nine essays, taking readers from time-share properties in Cancun and Aruba to a Magic Mike strip show in Las Vegas. “This is our memoir—a long personal essay, if you will—and it was forged through shared fact-checking,” Wang writes in the book. “Qing was the first person to read each chapter as it was written, and she is this book’s first editor.” According to Kirkus Reviews , the author “drives to the heart of how a daughter comes to know her mother as someone with a life beyond motherhood.”

Oh My Mother!: A Memoir in Nine Adventures

A dazzling mother-daughter adventure around the world in pursuit of self-discovery, a family reckoning, and Asian American defiance

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Laura Kiniry | READ MORE

Laura Kiniry is a San Francisco-based freelance writer specializing in food, drink, and travel. She contributes to a variety of outlets including American Way , O-The Oprah Magazine , BBC.com , and numerous AAA pubs.

• Great Stories
• Learn about the Solas Awards for the best travel stories of the year
• Read some of the best travel writing today
• Here's how to enter the competition for cash awards and publication
• Discover new writers and great reads with Travelers’ Tales books

Award Winners 2023

Seventeenth Annual Solas Awards Winners

Announced March 15, 2023

Grand Prize for Best Travel Story of the Year

Gold ($1000) The Weight of Paradise by Cherene Sherrard

Silver ($750) Ambush on the Cumberland Plateau by Brian Reisinger

Bronze ($500) To the Young Mom on Flight 1122 by Pier Nirandara

___________________________________________________________

Category Award Winners

Adventure Travel The best story of high adventure, danger, or physical challenge Gold: Enduring the Promised Land by Shoshi Parks Silver: The Hotel Ricardo by Taylor Jennings Bronze: Getting Naked with a Dragon in Finland by Kristin Fellows

Animal Encounter The best account of meeting snakes, elephants, rhinos, gorillas, birds, or other creatures Gold: Pteropods in the Balance by Laine Gonzales Silver: Finding the Sea Wolf in Asturias, Spain by Beebe Bahrami Bronze: Meating the Goat by Lisa VanderVeen

Bad Trip The best account of when things go wrong, or the shadow side of a culture or individual Gold: The Cauldron of Calamities by Masha Nordbye Silver: The Ride by Heather Williams Bronze: The Mistakes I Made on My First Trip to Japan by Rebecca Copeland

Cruise Story The best account of a trip on the water in any vessel, from the smallest kayak to the largest ship Gold: Crushing Christmas with the Coast Guard: Icebreaking in Antarctica by Gillian Clare Kendall Silver: Beyond the Lid of the World by Amanda Castleman Bronze: Oceans Apart by Terry Ward

Culture and Ideas The best story or essay about how art, history, currents events, fashion, or music affected a traveler or a trip Gold: The Creative Cauldron of the Caucasus by Masha Nordbye Silver: Freak Shows and Farces at the Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota by Tim Leffel Bronze: Roots in Motion by Megan Taylor Morrison

Destination Story The best story about a place that captures its essence and reveals its attractions, making the reader want to go there Gold: Time Passage by Alenka Vrecek Silver: Sightseeing along the Fourth Coast by Darcy R. Fryer Bronze: Being Kuna by Marina C. Doyle-Brown

Doing Good or the Kindness of Strangers The most inspiring tale of aid, comfort, philanthropy, or caring for others in faraway places, or of being the recipient of a stranger’s largesse Gold: A Magic Itinerary from a Stranger in Morocco by Tim Leffel Silver: Babeldaob or Bust by Laine Gonzales Bronze: My First Train Ride by Norma Pontrelli

Elder Travel The best story from a traveler 65 years of age or older Gold: Where Is Their Tibet? by Mary Ann Littrell Silver: Lost in Pari s by Judy Lynn Guilliams-Tapia Bronze: From the Back of the Van by Rhonda Wiley-Jones

Family Travel The best story about traveling with family of all generations, including grandparents, parents, children, cousins, siblings or journeying to discover roots Gold: Lines of Duty by Lauren Napier Silver: Golden Silence by Emma Morrell Bronze: Beyond the Vanishing Point: Traveling the Map of Memory by Rebecca Copeland

Funny Travel The funniest account of a misadventure or an essay about how the world can make us laugh at ourselves and those around us Gold: Letting Go of Hungary by Ying-Ann (Annie) Chen Silver: How the Swiss Make You Say Bad Words by Ben Ren Bronze: Procession of the What-the-Fuck by Jeyn Jack

Love Story The best account of love or romance on the road Gold: Ghosts in the Black Forest by Marianne Rogoff Silver: Honeymoon at the Garbage Dump by Lisa Boice Bronze: Pancakes in Sarajevo by Kristin Amico

Men’s Travel The best account by a man of a testosterone-fueled encounter or experience on the road Gold: My Father Not Yet My Father by Bo Smolka Silver: F rom Farm to Glass in the Finger Lakes of New York by Tim Leffel Bronze: A Long Century by Yefim Somin

Most Unforgettable Character The story that best captures how one individual or group of people affected a traveler in a meaningful way Gold: The Treatment of Dead Enemies by Laurie McAndish King Silver: Best of Times with Bobo by Linda Ballou Bronze: The Resort Cowboy and the Magic Hoof by Karen Wertheim

Travel and the Environment The best story about ecology, development, or environmental issues as they affect travel Gold: The Last Days of Butterfly Town by Alec Scott Silver: Down in the Mine by MJ Pramik Bronze: The New Stars of Community-Based Tourism in Mexico: Melipona Honeybees by Tim Leffel

Travel and Food The best story where food or drink plays a role in introducing the traveler to a foreign culture or new friends Gold: The Roadside Café by Pier Nirandara Silver: The Chocolate Connection by Carla Villoria Bronze: Food for Thought by MJ Pramik

Travel and Healing The best story about visits with shamans, healers, holy men and women, or holy sites in search of a cure for illness or psychological malady Gold: In the Garden of the Fox by Anne Sigmon Silver: Reconciliation by Rosie Cohan Bronze: Only the Stones Remain by Rebecca Deurlein

Travel Memoir The best story that draws heavily on the writer’s past to make a point or reveal the lessons of a lifetime Gold: On Her Britannic Majesty’s Service by Dianne Cheseldine Silver: Finding Valentina by Melinda Misuraca Bronze: Okavango Odyssey by Daniel Stantus

Travel and Shopping The best account of a shopping, bargaining, or haggling experience in a market, bazaar, outlet, or mall, anywhere in the world Gold: Negotiating with Nomads by Mike Bernhardt Silver: Shopping for Salvation in Nicaragua by Tiffany Hawk Bronze: Chindogu and the Origin of the Selfie Stick by Laurie McAndish King

Travel and Sports The best account of a sports activity while traveling, such as climbing, rafting, sailing, trekking, swimming, kayaking, canoeing, fishing, skiing, baseball, Frisbee, polo, basketball Gold: The New Ascensionists by Kang-Chun Cheng Silver: Buoyant Wonder by Elaine Jonel Masters Bronze: Encounter at Hadrian’s Wall by Connard Hogan

Travel and Transformation The best story about the inner journey or pilgrimage, whether religious, mystical, psychological, or emotional Gold: My Posthumous Ally by Gary Singh Silver: Sicily, Through a Dark Lens by Camille Cusumano Bronze: Virgin Encounter by Ingrid Truemper

Women’s Travel The best account by a woman of an encounter or experience on the road Gold: Summer at Nrityagram Village by Sumitra Mattai Silver: Ashram Dharma by Lenore Greiner Bronze: Picasso’s Paris Pigeons by Margaret Hooker Wagner

Honorable Mention

Metamorphosis in La Guácima by Laurie McAndish King Let Go by Kimberley Lovato The Baby, the Prostitute, and Me by Teri Murrison The Trip of a Lifetime by Julie Pesano Good Gut Hunting by Yefim Somin Lunigiana: The Land of the Moons by George Tonelli

Padma Lakshmi

The best american travel writing, "the beauty of good writing is that it transports the reader inside another person’s experience in some other physical place and culture, at its best, evokes a palpable feeling of being in a specific moment in time and space.” - padma lakshmi.

The essays in this year’s Best American Travel Writing are an antidote to the isolation of the year 2020, giving us views into experiences unlike our own and taking us on journeys we could not take ourselves. From the lively music of West Africa, to the rich culinary traditions of Muslims in Northwest China, to the thrill of a hunt in Alaska, this collection is a treasure trove of diverse places and cultures, providing the comfort, excitement, and joy of feeling elsewhere.

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Nonfiction Books » Travel

The best travel writing of 2024, recommended by shafik meghji.

WINNER Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year

A Stranger in Your Own City: Travels in the Middle East's Long War by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad

Every spring, the judges of the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards draw up a shortlist for the title of the 'travel book of the year.' The 2024 shortlist highlights six fascinating recent travelogues that wrestle with political and environmental issues, and explore the contrast between the outsider and the insider gaze.

Interview by Cal Flyn , Deputy Editor

The Britannias: An Archipelago’s Tale by Alice Albinia

The Gathering Place: A Winter Pilgrimage Through Changing Times by Mary Colwell

The Granite Kingdom: A Cornish Journey

Wounded Tigris: A River Journey Through the Cradle of Civilisation by Leon McCarron

High Caucasus: A Mountain Quest in Russia’s Haunted Hinterland by Tom Parfitt

1 A Stranger in Your Own City: Travels in the Middle East's Long War by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad

2 the britannias: an archipelago’s tale by alice albinia, 3 the gathering place: a winter pilgrimage through changing times by mary colwell, 4 the granite kingdom: a cornish journey, 5 wounded tigris: a river journey through the cradle of civilisation by leon mccarron, 6 high caucasus: a mountain quest in russia’s haunted hinterland by tom parfitt.

A s a judge for the 2024 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards you’re in an excellent position to advise us on whether it has been a good year for travel books.

What does it mean to an author, to be shortlisted for an award like this?

Obviously, it’s very gratifying. While awards aren’t everything, of course, it was a real joy for me last year to be shortlisted. My book, Crossed Off the Map , came from a tiny independent publisher, Latin America Bureau, so it was a big achievement from that point of view, too.

And on a personal level, I’ve been going to Stanfords bookshop all my life. Before I became a travel writer, my backpacking trips around India, Southeast Asia and South America started by looking through the guidebooks, travel literature and maps in Stanfords. When my first book came out, it was such a joy to see it on the shelves there.

“Travel writing is…a capacious genre. There are lots of different elements you can bring in”

Well, let’s have a look at them. We can start with A Stranger in Your Own City: Travels in the Middle East’s Long War by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. He’s an award-winning Iraqi reporter; that makes for an unusual spin on ‘travel writing.’

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad reported extensively for The Guardian and The Washington Post after the US invasion of Iraq and I remember reading his dispatches at the time and in the years since. Published on the 20th anniversary of the invasion, his book combines journalism, memoir and travel writing to tell the stories of the people caught up in the maelstrom as, to quote the author, ‘their world fragmented.’

One of the things about this book that really stood out to me was how it gives, vitally, an Iraqi-centred account. I felt that I was getting a 360º perspective of the situation, rather than stereotypes. It’s a powerful book.

Travel writing tends to be written from an outsider’s gaze, but as this book’s title suggests, his home place has changed so much it now feels foreign.

I think it reflects his sense of seeing his country change so dramatically over such a short period of time to the extent that he can feel lost in places that were once familiar. In many ways, he was perfectly placed to navigate what is obviously an incredibly difficult and dangerous situation, somethinng that he has experienced first hand.

Our next book brings us a little closer to home—well, perhaps not for all of our readers. This is Alice Albinia’s The Britannias: An Archipelago’s Tale, which focuses on Britain’s islands.

The Britannias journeys from Neolithic ruins in Orkney, across the Isle of Wight, Iona, the Channel Islands and even Bermuda to present-day Thanet and Westminster, exploring the topography, stories, legends, ancient sites and forgotten characters of the British Isles. One of the things that stood out is that Alice Albinia goes beyond the well-worn, male-focused view of the past and highlights female histories that have been overlooked or shut down.

I’d enjoyed her previous book, Empires of the Indus , so was particularly keen to read this one. From a writer’s point of view, she does an incredible amount of research and uses a huge array of sources: myths, poetry, Roman literature, newspapers, plus first-hand interviews and her own travels.

Right. And it too gestures towards this idea that travel might be within a nation one knows well.

Shall we look at Mary Colwell’s new book The Gathering Place: A Winter Pilgrimage Through Changing Times next? Why did it make the 2024 shortlist of the best travel books?

Several of the books on the shortlist are centred around walks or hikes, including The Gathering Place , which traces Mary Colwell’s 500-mile solo pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago. The author notes that this pilgrimage in particular, and pilgrimages in general, have always drawn people during times of strife and upheaval. Fittingly, she walked the Camino during the autumn/winter of 2020, still at the height of the pandemic.

I’ve read travel books written about the same period that either ignore or underplay the pandemic. In The Gathering Place , it’s present throughout and Colwell does a great job of finding parallels with plagues and epidemics from the past. This adds a rich texture to her journey, as she delves into the history, stories and characters associated with the Camino. She also blends in diary entries from her previous travels, while painting perceptive portraits of her fellow pilgrims.

She has a poetic touch and her enthusiasm for the subject really shines through.

I’ve noticed a trend in hiking memoirs in recent years. But I suppose journeys on foot have always served as a useful narrative thread for travel writing.

Let’s move on to The Granite Kingdom: A Cornish Journey by Tim Hannigan. Another British travel narrative.

Yes, and another walk. In this book, author Tim Hannigan hikes across Cornwall—where he was born and brought up—while examining its history, landscape and people. I really enjoyed his exploration of Cornish identity and, by extension, English and British identities, too. Another stand-out element is that he subverts cliches and tropes, which is always important for travel writers to do. There’s a particularly enlightening section on the subject of ‘Cornish wreckers’, for example.

Right. I’ve been interested in that subject since I read Bella Bathurst’s The Wreckers a few years back.

Hannigan is an experienced travel writer, and I really enjoyed how he turned the traveller’s gaze on his own homeland. His book feels like a very modern, self-aware piece of travel literature.

Perhaps we could look at Wounded Tigris next? Why did this travel book by Leon McCarron make the 2024 shortlist?

It was fascinating to read this book alongside A Stranger in Your Own City— they make excellent companion pieces. Wounded Tigris is a river journey along the length of the Tigris, from its source in the Turkish mountains, across northern Syria and through Iraq.

The author, Leon McCarron, is a writer and filmmaker who was based in Iraq at the time of the research. In many ways, it’s a classic-style travelogue: it has a well-paced narrative and McCarron is an empathetic writer who paints vivid and sympathetic portraits of the people he meets, as well as the river’s historical, cultural, political and economic significance. He also emphasised the immense environmental challenges it faces—it’s good to see a piece of travel writing fully engaging with the climate emergency. This is another book that will stay with you.

One theme that seems to be arising from this list is that travel writing seems to be increasingly politically engaged. Is that something you would agree with? 

Yes. I think the idea of the travel writer as some kind of impartial ‘observer’ who is completely objective about the places he or she sees is thankfully being consigned to the past. Travel writers are on the frontlines of many of the touchstone issues of the 21st century. I’ve certainly found that in my own experience of writing about Latin America. In terms of the climate crisis, you have to wilfully ignore it for it not to be foregrounded in your work.

In Wounded Tigris , it’s very much at the forefront and McCarron clearly outlines the human impact. He shows that this is not something to think about in the future: this is happening to people now, and has been happening to them for many years.

Perhaps that might lead us nicely into a discussion of Tom Parfitt’s High Caucasus: A Mountain Quest in Russia’s Haunted Hinterland.

So this is another hike, and I think the longest one on the shortlist—a dramatic 1000-mile hike through the mountainous north Caucasus, passing through seven Russian republics from the Black Sea to the Caspian. One of the key elements of this book is that Tom Parfitt, a longtime newspaper correspondent in Moscow, deftly weaves in his own experiences, including the trauma of covering the 2004 Beslan school siege in which more than 300 hostages died.

On the hike he also explores the region’s landscapes, peoples, cultures and extremely turbulent history. It was a journey he did some years ago, but the book feels very topical as there are obviously some striking parallels with the current situation in Ukraine.

As an author, he also has a crisp, engaging writing style, which I really enjoyed.

I find my appetite for and understanding of books is always amplified by my presence in the place where they are set.

Whenever I travel for work or pleasure, I always like to read local literature and travel writing about that place. It gives a different insight into the culture and history of the places you are experiencing.

I was lucky enough to read High Caucasus while I was travelling through the Georgian side of the Caucasus and I had a much richer experience as a result.

Right, it helps me understand what I’m looking at or experiencing. Perhaps I could close our conversation by asking whether, having read so many travel books recently, you are feeling optimistic about the state of travel writing in 2024?

Absolutely. The ‘death’ of travel writing has become its own trope, wheeled out every few years. But it’s one of the oldest forms of writing and there is always going to be a need for it. The books on this shortlist, and many others that have been released in recent years, show that travel writing is in a good state of health. And there are plenty of books coming out soon that I’m excited about too.

In recent years, we have started to see a diversification of travel writing. There are more authors from a broader range of backgrounds, and they are helping to reinvigorate the genre by bringing fresh perspectives and covering places, cultures and histories that have been overlooked or even actively suppressed.

One thing I love about travel writing is that it is a capacious genre. There are lots of different elements you can bring into it, whatever topic you want to cover or style you want to use. This year’s shortlists—not just for the Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year, but also the Viking Award for Fiction with a Sense of Place and the Children’s Travel Book of the Year—really illustrate that. So, yes, I’m very positive about the future of travel writing.

March 20, 2024

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Shafik Meghji

Shafik  Meghji is an award-winning travel writer, journalist, and author of  Crossed Off the Map: Travels in Bolivia , which was shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year 2023. Based in London, he has co-authored more than 45 guidebooks and writes for BBC Travel, National Geographic Traveller and Wanderlust , among others.

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Best Travel Writing of 2023

These are the best travel books of 2023. Feed your wanderlust and get inspired for your next adventure with Tertulia's list of this year's best travel books that cover a range of experiences and destinations. Whether you're looking for a sensual soujourn to Sardinia, a pilgrimage to sacred spaces or a great American road trip, we've got you covered.

The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise

“Iyer’s meditation on paradise... is much more than a diary of his country-spanning travels," writes Elle’s Lauren Puckett-Pope in her warm endorsement of the latest from a beloved novelist and essayist. "It’s a work of philosophy, probing the scientific and the spiritual to understand why the most beautiful places often become such sources of pain, and how paradise might be re-discovered."

Hardcover , 2023

Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel

Holly Hebert wrote glowingly of this Andrew Carnegie Medal of Excellence longlister in Library Journal: “With a sharp wit, the book unearths travel truths with a humorous bent that delivers several laugh out loud moments… Fans of travel writing, history, and travel writing itself will find this quick read a delightful, eye-opening one that fuels more insatiable wanderlust.”

In Sardinia: An Unexpected Journey in Italy

If books about traveling in Italy are your cup of tea (or espresso), then this is the title for you. Writing for the Washington Independent Review of Books, journalist Darrell Delamaide was filled with praise for this book which seeks to rewrite the unflattering narrative around the Mediterranean’s second largest island. Delamaide lauded the book as "a successful and well-written blend of history, travel, art, literature, and culture... [and] a rich account of a complex region."  

In the Shadow of the Mountain: A Memoir of Courage

In this memoir, the technologist and mountaineer Vasquez-Lavado recounts her transformative journey from Silicon Valley to Mount Everest's summit alongside a group of young female survivors, highlighting the challenges, moments of healing, and the unyielding spirit of resilience which propelled her to the peak.

Paperback , 2023

National Dish: Around the World in Search of Food, History, and the Meaning of Home

Von Bremzen, the acclaimed international food writer and award-winning author of Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking, delves into the intertwined histories and futures of six iconic global cuisines, revealing how countries shape their dishes and vice versa. In the New York Times, professor Irina Dumitrescu described it as “a fast-paced, entertaining travelogue, peppered with compact history lessons that reveal the surprising ways dishes become iconic.” 

Kinfolk Wilderness

Kinfolk Wilderness stands out among books for travelers by blending vibrant photography, reflections on land stewardship, and unique itineraries from five continents, encouraging a profound connection with nature. Emphasizing travel as a mindset, this guide offers entrancing glimpses into the European countryside, hiking trails in Iraqi Kurdistan, and stargazing in California's deserts, ultimately enriching our appreciation for both distant landscapes and the familiarity of home.

Call You When I Land: A Memoir

Part memoir, part travelogue this book from the founder of the feminist travel magazine, Unearth Women, recounts the life-changing journey that led Vargas to abandon a promising advertising career in order to pursue a new life on the road. Forbes' Lois Alter Mark wrote glowingly, "A good travel memoir will inspire you to start researching destinations and planning your dream trip. Call You When I Land will motivate you to actually buy the tickets."

What Really Happens in Vegas: True Stories of the People Who Make Vegas, Vegas

This book provides an insightful glimpse into the lives of those who call Vegas their home and whose labor is essential to making Sin City everything that it is. Kirkus praises the book's "zippy profiles of success and struggle on a variety of socioeconomic levels" and says, "Readers will gain a dynamic sense of how the city channels extraordinary flows of money and hope through its complex infrastructure, nourishing seductive promises amid sparkling eclecticism."

Unforgettable Journeys Europe: Discover the Joys of Slow Travel

This collection of 150 iconic and lesser known scenic journeys through Europe, comes complete with stunning photographs and routes mapped out and organized by various modes of transportation, to help you make your wildest travel fantasies a reality.

Site Lines: Lost New York, 1954-2022

This collection of more than 100 watercolor and ink paintings, accompanied by observations and analysis, from lifelong New Yorker, Jill Gill, traces the transformation of the architectural landscape of America’s cultural capital over the course of nearly 50 years.

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Here are the guest editors (and covers!) for the Best American Series 2023.

Do you like the Best American series? Of course you do! Each book in the annual series showcases of best short fiction and nonfiction in a given year, from short stories to essays, science and nature writing, to food writing. Each volume’s series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites, and a special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the very best pieces for the anthology.

We’re excited to announce the guest editors and the brand new covers for the Best American 2023 series, which will be published by Mariner on October 17, 2023:

The Best American Short Stories 2023 Guest Editor: Min Jin Lee Series Editor: Heidi Pitlor

Min Jin Lee  is the author of the novels  Free Food for Millionaires  and  Pachinko , a finalist for the National Book Award, and runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. In 2022, Lee received the Manhae Grand Prize for Literature, the Bucheon Diaspora Literary Award, and the Samsung Happiness for Tomorrow Award for Creativity from South Korea. She is the recipient of fellowships in Fiction from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Lee is an inductee of the New York Foundation for the Arts Hall of Fame and the New York State Writers Hall of Fame. She is a Writer-in-Residence at Amherst College and serves as a trustee of PEN America and a director of the Authors Guild. She is at work on her third novel,  American Hagwon  and a nonfiction work,  Name Recognition .

The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 Guest Editor: Lisa Unger Series Editor: Steph Cha

Lisa Unger  is the  New York Times  and internationally bestselling author of twenty novels, including her latest  Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six . With books published in thirty-three languages and millions of copies sold worldwide, she is regarded as a master of suspense Unger’s critically acclaimed novels have been featured on “Best Book” lists from the  Today Show ,  Good Morning America ,  Entertainment Weekly ,  People ,  Amazon ,  Goodre ads ,  L.A. Times ,  The Boston Globe ,  Sun Sentinel ,  Tampa Bay Times  and many others. She has been nominated for, or won, numerous awards including the Strand Critics, Audie, Hammett, Macavity, ITW Thriller, and Goodreads Choice. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations, an honor held by only a few authors, including Agatha Christie. Lisa is the current co-President of the International Thriller Writers organization. She lives on the west coast of Florida with her family.

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023 Guest Editor: R.F. Kuang Series Editor: John Joseph Adams

R. F. Kuang  is the award-winning, #1  New York Times  bestselling author of the  Poppy War  trilogy and  Babel: An Arcane History,  as well as the just released  Yellowface.  She has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford; she is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale.

The Best American Essays 2023 Guest Editor: Vivian Gornick Series Editor: Robert Atwan

Vivian Gornick  is a writer and critic whose work has received two National Book Critics Circle Award nominations. Growing up in the Bronx among communists and socialists, Gornick became a legendary writer for  Village Voice , chronicling the emergence of the feminist movement in the 1970s, and a respected literary critic. Her works include the memoirs Fierce Attachments—ranked the best memoir of the last fifty years by the  New York Times— The Odd Woman and the City , Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader , as well as the classic text on writing, The Situation and the Story .

The Best American Food Writing 2023 Guest Editor: Mark Bittman Series Editor: Silvia Killingsworth

Mark Bittman , a leading voice in global food culture and policy for more than three decades, is the author of the  How to Cook Everything  series, and  Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food from Sustainable to Suicidal , which The  New York Times  called “epic and engrossing.” Bittman spent three decades at the  Times , where he created “The Minimalist,” was the Sunday Magazine’s lead food writer, and became the country’s first weekly opinion writer at a major publication to concentrate on food. Bittman is currently the editor-in-chief of  The Bittman Project , which sponsors a newsletter, website, and the podcast “Food, with Mark Bittman.” He is a on the faculty of Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, and lives in Philipstown, New York, with his partner Kathleen Finlay.

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023 Guest Editor: Carl Zimmer Series Editor: Jaime Green

Carl Zimmer  writes the Matter column for  The New York Times.  He is the author of fourteen books, including  Life’s Edge  and  She Has Her Mother’s Laugh , both of which were finalists for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. Zimmer has written for magazines including  The Atlantic, National Geographic, Time,  and  Scientific American.  He has won the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science Journalism Award three times and is a two-time winner of the National Academies Communication Award. Zimmer is professor adjunct at Yale University.

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9 Books to Spark Your Wanderlust in 2023

Armchair travel. We’ve all indulged in it via daydreams and  Parts Unknown,  with weekly trips to  The White Lotus and afternoons spent leafing through the pages of this very magazine. But our editors, avid readers that they are, know that the most transportive (and transformative) stationary adventure is often to kick back with a good book. And we read a lot of those in 2022—from immersive  travel writing  that challenges the reader to breezy beach reads designed to be read on the sand. Here, we’ve rounded up the fiction and non-fiction books that sparked our wanderlust over the past year. Whether you are an accomplished bookworm yourself, or have simply resolved to crack even just one book in the New Year, we’ve got you covered.

All products and listings featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you purchase something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri

My lack of familiarity with Italy’s modern literature, combined with my interest in novelist Jhumpa Lahiri’s immersion in the country’s language and literary traditions, motivated me to order this collection of 40 tales from 20th-century Italian writers, which Lahiri edited. The Pulitzer Prize winner curated a super sharp collection from authors who were both known to me (Italo Calvino, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa) and those unfamiliar (I enjoyed discovering Natalia Ginzburg), translating many of them herself, to telegraph an Italy you don’t see through travel: The dusty backroads of  Sicily in the early 1900s; hardscrabble towns beyond  Florence ; male and female protagonists struggling through banal life choices. More than a varied journey that jumps between eras and places in an often-overlooked Italy, this collection demonstrates the power of fiction to enlighten audiences on cultures and histories that are not their own (nearly half of the stories had never been translated before), mostly thanks to the stewardship of Lahiri herself. — Erin Florio , executive editor

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

“It’s nothing to come to Europe … It doesn't seem to me one needs so many reasons for that. It is something to stay at home; this is much more important.” I found a weathered and water-damaged copy of this masterpiece sitting alone on a  Brooklyn stoop this spring and began devouring it immediately—it is by far the longest and most difficult spontaneous read I’ve ever embarked on, and my found edition quickly became mine as I underlined passages more than I did not. Protagonist Isabel Archer is a young American woman, one less in control of her own desires than she is aware, visiting distant relatives in England. Her aunt takes her as a companion on a tour of Europe, and as she traipses from  Paris to  Florence  Archer makes a suitor out of just about every man she encounters. Firmly declining proposal after marriage proposal, Isabel is determined  to accomplish the abstract and impossible: to know everything about the world and about herself before she can marry. What better way to do so than to travel?— Charlie Hobbs , editorial assistant

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

I was already planning a trip to  Savannah when I picked up the non-fiction novel by journalist John Berendt, which is a page-turning murder mystery and a human interest masterpiece all in one. But it inspired me to make sure I experienced all the smallest nooks and crannies of Georgia’s oldest city—from subterranean antique shops to Flannery O’Connor’s historic childhood home, the Spanish-moss-strewn cemeteries, and an beloved drag show (yes, Club One) that lived up to the hype. Berendt lived the remote-work life, well before we all caught on to it, in order to live out his dream of transplanting to Savannah in the 1980s. The Southern Gothic tale that unfolds shortly after his arrival is one that strings together the small community’s dark past and its many eccentric personalities to paint a colorful picture of a Low Country gem that you can only experience through its people. — Shannon McMahon , editor, destinations

Bluets by Maggie Nelson

In her poetic prose, Maggie Nelson writes a personal exploration of her encounters with the color blue in life and love, and misery and pain. Catching sight of fragments of blue in my own life, Nelson has inspired me to count the colors in all my adventures. Navigating and experiencing travel through the lens of color opens up new and exciting emotions, connections, and realizations. I now find myself asking questions like: Which other city have I seen with this palette before? What does the color of this food remind me of? I jot down my answers and it becomes a story of its own. — Jessica Chapel, editorial assistant

Less Is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer

I fell for the somewhat hapless, super awkward, but rather relatable Arthur Less in Andrew Sean Greer's Pulitzer Prize-winning 2017 novel  Less during a jaunt around Europe, not unlike the protagonist. This fall, Less entered my life once again with Greer's sequel  Less is Lost . The novel—at times laugh-out-loud funny, deeply heart warming, and an apt portrayal of the current state of America—sees Less once again on a journey; this time on an unexpected  road trip across the United States where he finds himself in unpredictable situation after unpredictable situation. From beginning to end, I found myself armchair traveling through Greer's metaphors and vivid-yet-quirky descriptions from California to New Mexico to Georgia. I was ultimately left with an optimistic view of humanity—and an itch to rent a camper van, grab my dog, and get lost. — Scott Bay , associate editor

Lizzie and Dante by Mary Bly

This summer, when it seemed like everyone was traipsing around Europe, I was reading  Lizzie & Dante , a delicious rom-com about a woman who vacations at a seaside resort on Elba, an island off the  coast of Italy . The titular character, Lizzie (a Shakespeare scholar, because of course), meets a handsome Italian chef and his precocious daughter, and romance ensues. There are yachts,  secret ocean coves, and mouthwatering accounts of a crabby chef’s set menu that’ll have you ready to plan a trip to Elba (or at the very least, make a reservation at a very expensive Italian restaurant). The main character is on holiday with her best friend and his movie star boyfriend, giving it a touch of  The White Lotus  energy, but with far more likable characters. — Madison Flager , senior commerce editor

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

This year, I revisited a book I was assigned in high school when it caught my eye on a shelf in New York 's McNally Jackson Nolita, showcased with a group of “eerie” titles in the month of October. In the 1966 novel  Wide Sargasso Sea , Dominican-British author Jean Rhys gives the infamous madwoman in the attic from  Jane Eyre a story, and a life. The feminist, post-colonial prequel is set in the Caribbean, part one in  Jamaica during the protagonist’s childhood, and part two in Dominica during her toxic honeymoon with Mr. Rochester. The descriptions of these islands are at once beautiful and haunting. Take, for example: “The road climbed upward. On one side the wall of green, on the other a steep drop to the ravine below. We pulled up and looked at the hills, the mountains, and the blue-green sea. There was a soft warm wind blowing but I understand why the porter had called it a wild place. Not only wild but menacing. Those hills would close in on you.” These locations are not romanticized—they’re integral to the story Rhys tells about race, power, and assimilation—and in that way, this read will prompt your interest in them in more ways than one. — Alex Erdekian , travel bookings editor

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

I was utterly transported by the epic sweep of this beautiful, terribly sad historical novel about the Korean experience in  Japan over the course of the 20th century. (I read it right around the time Apple TV+ released its miniseries based on the book, and while I know many people who have enjoyed the screen version, this might be a case where the book hit me so hard I’ll never want to see the adaptation.) The vividly wrought locales are essential to Lee’s storytelling, especially the spartan but pristine world of Yeongdo, a fishing village on a tiny island off the coast of Busan more than a hundred years ago, and the rough-and-tumble milieu of Osaka at mid-century, with its squalid Korean ghetto, crowded markets, and illicit pachinko parlors. There are also gripping forays into Tokyo, Nagano, and the Japanese countryside. I found it to be such an illuminating portrayal of the fraught interlaced history of these two wonderful countries, and a reminder of how deeply I want to spend time in both. — Jesse Ashlock , deputy global editorial director and head of editorial content, U.S.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

I read Madeline Miller’s  Circe years ago, and was blown away by how she brings Greek mythology to life in a totally fresh format. I finally got around to reading her debut novel,  The Song of Achilles  (2011), about that Achilles—and  that heel—this year, and it reminded me just how transportive mythology can be. It inspired me to buy a book on Sicilian mythology  while on the island over the summer , and my 2023 resolution is to read up on local stories before future trips. (Currently accepting recommendations of books tied to Kenyan and Peruvian folklore for my winter travels.) — Megan Spurrell , senior editor

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The Masterclasses 2023: 10 travel writing tips from our experts

From establishing a niche to tackling writer’s block, the autumn series of The Masterclasses saw 12 of the UK’s leading travel journalists share the tips and tricks behind their success.

The Masterclasses by National Geographic Traveller (UK) returned in September 2023 with a brand-new series of insightful, hour-long online sessions curated for aspiring travel writers and photographers.  

Leaving no stone unturned, the expert panel of travel writers explored everything from penning that all-important opening line to forming good relationships with editors. Throughout the three sessions, they shared a wealth of inside knowledge — offering up advice that will prove invaluable to anyone hoping to make travel writing a full-time career.  

These are their 10 top tips on getting your story published, navigating the industry and using structure to elevate your travel writing.  

1. Know your reader

“I would say the number one mistake freelance writers make when pitching is they don’t understand the audience of the title. The best thing you can do if you’re really interested in writing for a publication is to go out and buy yourself the magazine and familiarise yourself with the content, the tone and the kinds of things that the readership might find of interest.”   — Alicia Miller, Pitching and getting published  

2. Be patient

“If you’re really interested in something, then there will be an audience out there for that story. It’s just about finding the right home for it. Don’t get discouraged — and believe in your idea! Because if you find it interesting, other people will too.” — Daniel Stables, Pitching and getting published  

3. Win over commissioning editors

“When I first started freelancing, editors didn’t know who I was. One way of showcasing my knowledge was deeply researching a destination and including a taste of that in the pitch. Make it concise, but also show that you have knowledge about the destination. If I was working with a new editor for the first time, I would always include links to previous work, or somehow demonstrate my expertise in the subject.” — Qin Xie, Pitching and getting published

4. Utilise social media

“Dinosaurs like me may absolutely despise it, but the reality is that if you’re a travel writer and you have no presence on social media, you have no presence.” — Tharik Hussain, How to be a savvy travel writer in 2023  

5. Know today’s travel writing landscape  

“Perhaps 10 years ago, 20 years ago, travel writing came from a person’s appreciation of a destination. Now what we’re looking at is trying to capitalise on what other people in the big internet landscape are looking for… Travel writing is kind of evolving away from being that destination-led 'this was my experience, and this is how you can recreate it' and it’s turning to using travel as a sort of lifestyle trend.” — Cathy Adams, How to be a savvy travel writer in 2023  

6. Find a niche  

“Editors, increasingly, are looking for people either based in a destination or people who know a place really well and really understand the culture. And so, a couple of benefits of having a niche are that it helps editors find you: they can remember what your patch is. And then, on a personal level, I find it really satisfying to find those stories that take you to the deeper levels of a destination. You have to have a really genuine passion for the place because it’s a bit like writing a book: you still have to find it interesting after 50,000 words.” —   Zoey Goto, How to be a savvy travel writer in 2023  

7. Find the right working environment

“Usually, I’ll find some travel writing from a writer I really like, and I’ll kind of read over their pieces just to get in the right frame of mind. I’ll usually listen to some quite amped-up music — usually the same playlist I use for running — because it kind of gets you in the mood to do things. For actual writing, I’m a big fan of white noise. Having narrowed it down over several years, I think my favourite type of white noise is the tumble dryer; there’s a whole tumble dryer playlist on Spotify that I am really dedicated to.” — Georgia Stephens, How to structure your storytelling  

8. Write as though talking to a friend

“You don’t have to use highfalutin prose to make an intro work. Often, it’s the simple stuff. Good journalism is a bit like talking to a friend. Just tell me what’s happening… And in the same way that your friends wouldn’t when you tell them about your travels, [the reader] won’t listen to more than two sentences of description. With the greatest of respect, no one cares.” — James Stewart, How to structure your storytelling  

9. Make the most of quotes

“Quotes are a way to deliver information to your reader from a different perspective — and it’s so much more powerful coming from someone else other than you. It’s definitely important to use quotes, especially when you’re writing about communities that you may not be a part of. Allowing people to tell their stories in their own words as much as possible, is so important.” — Katherine Gallardo, How to structure your storytelling  

10. Don't be afraid of writer's block

“As someone who has come to this relatively recently, I would say that even the best writers struggle to write sometimes. Everybody gets writer’s block, even published authors. Just don’t beat yourself up. If it’s not coming, it’s not coming. Just come back to it another day.” — Georgia Stephens, How to structure your storytelling  

Related Topics

• ADVENTURE TRAVEL
• TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE
• STORYTELLING

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Best American Travel Writing 2020 (The Best American Series ®) Paperback – November 3, 2020

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• Part of series The Best American: Travel Writing
• Print length 336 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Best American Paper
• Publication date November 3, 2020
• Dimensions 5.5 x 0.84 x 8.25 inches
• ISBN-10 0358362032
• ISBN-13 978-0358362036
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About the author.

JASON WILSON,  series editor, is the author of Godforsaken Grapes, Boozehound, and The Cider Revival. He is the creator of the newsletter and podcast Everyday Drinking. Wilson has been the series editor of The Best American Travel Writing since its inception in 2000. His work can be found at jasonwilson.com.

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Best American Paper (November 3, 2020)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0358362032
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0358362036
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.2 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.84 x 8.25 inches
• #1,100 in American Fiction Anthologies
• #1,426 in Travel Writing Reference
• #2,421 in Travelogues & Travel Essays

About the author

Robert macfarlane.

Robert Macfarlane is the author of prize-winning and bestselling books about landscape, nature, people and place, including Mountains of the Mind: A History of a Fascination (2003), The Wild Places (2007), The Old Ways (2012), Holloway (2013, with Stanley Donwood and Dan Richards), Landmarks (2015), The Lost Words: A Spell Book (with the artist Jackie Morris, 2017) and Underland: A Deep Time Journey (2019). His work has been translated into many languages, won prizes around the world, and his books have been widely adapted for film, television, stage and radio. He has collaborated with artists, film-makers, actors, photographers and musicians, including Hauschka, Willem Dafoe, Karine Polwart and Stanley Donwood. In 2017 he was awarded the EM Forster Prize for Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

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Become a Travel Writer: The Best Books on Travel Writing

Do you want to become a travel writer? The job sounds alluring, doesn’t it?

The following books are the best travel writing books currently available. They cover topics ranging from craft to careers, from pitching to press-trips, and from blogging to breaking into the business. The books cover much of the same information, but each one offers a unique perspective to help you better understand the realities of travel writing in the early 21 st century.

If you’re looking for resources on how to write a travel book, check out our free Travel Book Guidebook .

The Travel Writing Tribe by Tim Hannigan

We’re not including Tim’s book on this list because he’s a friend of the show . The book stands on its own. Tim plunges headfirst into critical debates in travel writing today, neatly packaged into a narrative quest to interview some of Britain’s greatest travel writers.

A Sense of Place: Great Travel Writers Talk About Their Craft, Lives, and Inspiration by Michael Shapiro

What better way to learn than from the masters? Not so much a how-to guide than the stories and advice of successful authors, A Sense of Place is a who’s-who list of the world’s greatest travel writers interviewed by Michael Shapiro. Among the writers Michel interviewed are Jan Morris, Bill Bryson, Pico Iyer , and Paul Theroux (the two latter authors I interviewed on the Travel Writing World podcast).

How to Be a Travel Writer by Don George

Don George is one of the most revered travel writers today. A writer for more than 40 years, editor for some of the top travel magazines, and founder of one of the best travel writing conferences , Don knows a thing or two about the business. In How to Be a Travel Writer , Don George distilled his more in-depth guide to travel writing (see below) and updated it for the new media landscape. 

Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Writing  by Don George

This is the second Don George book on the list. While his other book is billed as an “updated version,” Don’s Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Writing (2013) dives much deeper into discussions on the art and craft of travel writing. It might be a good idea to read both books.

A Field Guide for Immersion Writing by Robin Hemley

Robin Hemley is a prolific writer, professor of English at the University of Iowa, and former director of the Nonfiction Writing Program. This handy (and snarky) book will help you think about injecting yourself into your stories, be they memoir, journalistic, or travel-related. It is also handy in helping you conceptualize various forms of travel books and stories. Highly recommended and unlike any other book on this page.

The Six-Figure Travel Writing Road Map: A Step-by-Step Guide to Pitching Your Way to Better Pay  by Gabi Logan

Gabi Logan is the founder of the helpful website “Dream of Travel Writing,” which includes a magazine database designed to help travel writers pitch articles to editors. Her book, The Six-Figure Travel Writing Road Map , instructs would-be travel writers on how to cultivate the mindset of a travel writer, get clips in magazines, pitch to editors, and establish an online presence. 

The Travel Writer’s Way: Turn Your Travels into Stories by Jonathan Lorie

The most recent book on this list and perhaps one of the prettiest, Jonathan Lorie’s The Travel Writer’s Way is also one of the most in-depth when it comes to the craft of travel writing. Like a good teacher, he gives assignments to help you sharpen your travel writing skills.

Travel Writing (The New Critical Idiom)  by Carl Thompson

Less of a how-to guide on travel writing than an academic and critical treatment of the genre, Carl Thompson’s Travel Writing will help you understand the nature, problems, and history of travel writing. A must-read! 

Travel Writing 2.0 by Tim Leffel

Last updated in 2016, Tim Leffel’s Travel Writing 2.0 is one of the best as it relates to leveraging online and digital opportunities in the new media landscape. It is also packed full of down-to-earth advice on making a career out of travel writing. Listen to Tim Leffel talk about travel writing in a Travel Writing World podcast interview.

Have you read any of these books? Which ones are your favorites? Also, if we missed any other obvious books on the subject, please let us know in the comments.

Last Updated on 19 May 2021 by Travel Writing World

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Travel Writing World

With an emphasis on travel books and long-form travel literature, host Jeremy Bassetti talks with the world’s most inspiring travel writers about their work and about the business and craft of travel writing in this award-winning podcast and website. In addition to the podcast, the site also features travel writer profiles, book reviews, and articles.

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Thank you Jeremy, great newsletter, packed full of useful information! I also enjoyed your interview about the demise of the best American travel writing book, the way you guys interacted was very engaging.

Dear Pat, thank you for listening to the podcast and for subscribing to the newsletter. I hope you (and your memoir) are doing well.

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