Travel Writing

The best travel writing transports readers to other countries, offering insights into the history, culture and society of exotic places and revealing new aspects of familiar destinations. The romanticism of travel is one of the fundamental reasons people read travel writing, and the possibilities for adventure, mystery and personal renewal when travelling are all fundamental tropes of the genre. Indeed, these tropes are so common they have become clichés, but the finest travel writers manage to transcend them. With its mixture of first-person perspective, reportage, and cultural commentary, as well as its incredibly broad remit, it is far more difficult than it may first appear to come up with quality travel writing. What works and what doesn’t work depends on many factors, as the best travel essays and books make apparent.

Travel writing is an ancient genre of literature, although the original practitioners would not have considered themselves travel writers. They were chronicling the boundaries of the known world, or reporting on life on the fringes of their culture. Texts such as the Roman author Pausanias' Description of Greece in the 2nd century CE were works of cultural reportage, which painted a forensic picture of a country for the benefit of those back home. The genre was popular in medieval China, where it often included topographical information about the far-flung regions of the Chinese empire. It was also interwoven with the idea of pilgrimage, which is evident in works such as Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, a record of a Buddhist monk’s journey from China to India. In Western Europe travel writing blossomed during the 19th century, partly due to the widespread obsession with exploration and empire. The most famous authors of this period were often travel writers, although the genre occasionally overlapped with records of battles, anthropology or naturalism.  

In the 20^th century travel writing came into its own as a separate genre of literature, particularly as more people, mainly from developed countries, started to embark on their own travels. The growth of the guide book industry, where a more prosaic overview of a given country could be found, allowed the genre of travel writing to expand stylistically, and venture into more journalistic, humorous and even novelistic territory. Many of the most famous 20^th century travel writers were actually novelists, including Graham Greene, Paul Theroux, Bruce Chatwin, Paul Bowles and Pearl S. Buck, whilst novelists such as Hemingway and D. H. Lawrence did occasional pieces of travel writing. As the genre developed over the course of that century, it moved away from the imperialistic and patronising tone of previous Western writers, and towards a more nuanced portrayal of cultures around the world.

So what makes a great piece of travel writing? The best travel writing surprises and enthrals in equal measure, and requires a deft hand to ensure that the writer’s observations are not too laboured or too general. Travel writer Andy Pietrasik recommends focusing ‘on something specific – a detail, an observation, or a meeting – that can then be used to make a wider point about the location’. This allows for more flexibility in terms of structure, since as Pietrasik states, a straightforward chronological narrative can be a ‘predictable and clunky device’. A linear chronological narrative can, despite the best intentions, sometimes appear as nothing more than a series of diary entries. This is emphasised by Mike Carter, a freelance travel writer, who says that, ‘a good technique is to drop the reader into the middle of the action. Think about a stand-out encounter in your journey, something exhilarating, frightening, funny, or just plain odd.’ Playing with time and highlighting the unexpected can keep travel writing interesting, whilst avoiding the mundane and the boring – which is part of every travel experience – is also key. Equally important, in this globalised age, is the question of what there is to say that is new about most destinations. As renowned writer Pico Iyer affirms, ‘Always begin by asking yourself what you have to bring to the Taj Mahal or the Grand Canyon or Venice that no one has brought before. What is particular about your experience and background and interests that will allow you to see and describe things that most of the rest of us could never see?'

A further characteristic of the best travel writing is research. If a writer is culturally or politically ignorant about their topic it becomes immediately apparent. The best travel writing avoids this through undertaking comprehensive research and ensuring that where a writer is unable to fill a gap in his or her knowledge, local expertise is used. As travel writing expert Vicky Baker suggests, ‘travel writing doesn't begin the moment your fingers hit the keyboard. Do your research; consider changing your itinerary to visit somewhere that makes a better story; and, most importantly, talk to people.’ This is evident in classic works such as Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger, which traces his exploration of the Empty Quarter, a barren and desolate part of the Arabian Desert populated only by nomads. For writer Tahir Shah, this book was transformative, he states; “As I came to the last page, I knew that the course of my life had been altered.’ What sets Thesiger’s work apart, and what Tahir Shah found so appealing about it, is the wealth of knowledge that Thesiger brings to the description of a place so few visit, which was informed by his time with the Bedouin of Rub' al Khali. Shah calls Thesiger’s work ‘a treasury of wisdom’. Like all of the best travel writing, it combines erudition with curiosity, and expands the boundaries of the reader’s world.