Studies in Travel Writing

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Traces of empire: travel and Jean-Paul Kauffmann's allegories of confinement

Anxious journeys: twenty-first-century travel writing in german, constructing the self and “discovering” india: abala basu’s travelogues for children, experientiality and evidentiality: a linguistic analysis of the expression of sensory perception in travel journalism, notes on contributors, stepping westward: writing the highland tour c.1720–1830, “each race in its proper sphere”: understanding ottoman nation, race, and class in the travel narratives of demetra vaka brown (1877–1946) and leila ahmed (1940–), railway experiences of poles and serbs in china before 1949: an analysis of travel writings about the middle kingdom, bookshop tours of britain, “too much time”: time, women and “elsewhere” in elizabeth bowen’s a time in rome, export citation format, share document.

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Travel Writing

Introduction, introductory works.

  • Theoretical Approaches
  • Reference Works and Resources
  • Single-Author Studies
  • Early Modern Exploration and Conquest
  • The Grand Tour
  • The Home Tour
  • Romanticism
  • Transatlantic, 19th Century
  • The Age of Empire
  • Between the World Wars
  • Travel Writing after 1945
  • Postcolonial Travel Writing
  • Travel Writers on Travel Writing

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  • Irish Travel Writing
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  • Urban Literature

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Travel Writing by Alasdair Pettinger LAST REVIEWED: 26 July 2018 LAST MODIFIED: 31 July 2019 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199846719-0119

A minimal definition of travel writing might be any account of a journey or description of a place that is based on firsthand experience. As such, it may be found in many different kinds of text: diaries, letters, postcards, newspaper and magazine articles, blogs, essays, official reports, promotional brochures, and ethnographies, as well as travel books. Travel writing is often distinguished from guidebooks on the one hand and imaginative fiction, drama, and poetry on the other, but the term may sometimes include them, especially when discussing writings from before the 19th century, when such distinctions would have carried less weight with authors and readers. While it has long served as a vital source material by historians and biographers, travel writing rarely, even in those cultural histories documenting the “images” of or “attitudes” toward “other” races or nationalities that proliferated in the 1960s and 1970s, attracted the kind of close critical attention commonly given to literary fiction until the 1980s, coinciding with several related developments. First, there was an increasingly politicized self-questioning within literary studies and anthropology, combined with an interdisciplinary theoretical sophistication. Second, beyond the academy, there was a surge in popularity of literary travel writing, associated with authors such as Bruce Chatwin, Jonathan Raban, Paul Theroux, Colin Thubron, and others, promoted especially in the English-speaking world by Granta magazine. Within two decades, travel-writing studies could claim to be an academic discipline in its own right, with dedicated journals, textbooks, research centers, and conferences. If most of the influential early studies were dominated by anglophone critics studying anglophone texts, the field has since broadened significantly. Nevertheless, many studies of travel writing, without announcing it in their titles, continue to be largely concerned with English-speaking authors, often British. The reasons for restricting their scope in this way are rarely explicitly addressed; it is as if this is a default position for the scholars concerned rather than because “British and Irish travel writing” is a coherent object of study as such. As in many other fields, “British” is often used when “English” would be more accurate, and “English” sometimes silently includes texts that might be better described as Scottish, Welsh, or Irish.

The growth of travel-writing studies as an academic discipline has generated a number of general introductions to the subject aimed at students, typically offering a combination of historical overviews and discussions of key topics such as genre, techniques of representation, narrative organization, the relationship with the reader, and the treatment of race, nation, and gender. Blanton 1997 , Gannier 2001 , and Thompson 2011 provide the most-approachable introductions, while Hulme and Youngs 2002 , Youngs 2013 , Thompson 2015 , and Das and Youngs 2019 survey the field in more depth and reflect its shifting preoccupations. Most of these works acknowledge the difficulty in defining “travel writing.” Borm 2004 makes a case for a broad definition that includes fictional as well as nonfictional writing, but the decision made in Youngs 2013 to restrict it to “predominantly factual, first-person prose accounts that have been undertaken by the author-narrator” (p. 3) is more typical.

Blanton, Casey. Travel Writing: The Self and the World . Studies in Literary Themes and Genres 15. New York: Twayne, 1997.

Short historical overview, focusing on “the modern travel book,” with close readings of texts by James Boswell, Mary Kingsley, Graham Greene, Peter Matthiessen, V. S. Naipaul, Bruce Chatwin, Paul Theroux, and Roland Barthes. Includes useful list of recommended titles and a survey of critical scholarship.

Borm, Jan. “Defining Travel: On the Travel Book, Travel Writing and Terminology.” In Perspectives on Travel Writing . Edited by Glenn Hooper and Tim Youngs, 13–26. Studies in European Cultural Transition 19. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2004.

Argues for a broad definition of “travel writing” (or “travel literature”) to include “texts both predominantly fictional and non-fictional whose main theme is travel” (p. 13), while restricting the terms “travel book” or “travelogue” to predominantly nonfictional narratives.

Das, Nandini, and Tim Youngs, eds. The Cambridge History of Travel Writing . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2019.

The thirty-six essays here collectively showcase the latest scholarship on the genre, exhibiting historical depth and a truly global reach, extending well beyond North American and Western European authors. Includes sections that examine writings about different kinds of places, analyze a wide range of literary forms, and profile a selection of critical approaches.

Gannier, Odile. La littérature de voyage . Thèmes & Études. Paris: Ellipses, 2001.

Short introduction, drawing on mainly francophone examples but tackling general issues such as the definition of travel writing, the relationship between author and reader, representation, language, and tourism.

Hulme, Peter, and Tim Youngs, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing . Cambridge Companions to Literature. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Fifteen essays by leading scholars in the field, arranged in three sections dealing with particular historical periods, key geographical regions, and general topics (gender, ethnography, and theory). Includes useful chronology and extensive guide to further reading.

Thompson, Carl. Travel Writing . New Critical Idiom. New York: Routledge, 2011.

DOI: 10.4324/9780203816240

A concise introduction that offers a broad historical overview and discussions of major topics such as the definition of the genre, authority and veracity, representation of the self and the other, and gender. Close readings of a small group of texts by representative authors from William Dampier to Bill Bryson.

Thompson, Carl, ed. The Routledge Companion to Travel Writing . Routledge Literature Companions. London: Routledge, 2015.

Forty-two essays that approach the subject from a wide range of historical, geographical, theoretical, thematic, and stylistic perspectives. Especially important for its coverage of themes (ethics, corporeality) and subgenres (guidebooks, blogs, dark tourism) that are relatively new areas of interest to travel-writing scholars.

Youngs, Tim. The Cambridge Introduction to Travel Writing . Cambridge Introductions to Literature. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

An impressive condensation of a wide range of scholarship, illustrated by insightful readings of representative primary texts from the Middle Ages to the early 21st century. Reflects more-recent trends with its attention to travel writers of non-European descent and closes by identifying some emerging developments that are likely to be important in the coming decades.

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Studies in Travel Writing

studies in travel writing

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Postcolonial Travel Writing pp 1–16 Cite as

Introduction

Reading Postcolonial Travel Writing

  • Justin D. Edwards &
  • Rune Graulund  

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5 Citations

In the field of postcolonial studies, travel writing has often been demonized. Critics have, at times, aligned travel narratives with other textual practices associated with colonial expansion – mapping, botany, ethnography, journalism and so on – to suggest that travel writing disseminated discourses of difference that were then used to justify colonial projects. The literary critic David Spurr (1993), for instance, writes that such texts perpetuated ‘the rhetoric of empire’ by offering information to colonial administrators about what was happening in Kenya or Canada or Kashmir, while also depicting the colony for a general readership. Within this context, travel writing allowed Europeans to conceive of areas outside of Europe as being under their control, as an extension of land through ownership. Other critics have supported Spurr by arguing that travel writing contributed to the construction of modern conceptions of identity. Douglas Ivison (2003) writes that:

  • Literary Critic
  • Cultural Critique
  • Colonial Administrator
  • Colonial Expansion
  • Postcolonial Study

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Works Cited and Consulted

Abu-Lughod, Janet (1989) Before European Hegemony: The World System AD 1250–1350 . Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin (1989) The Empire Writes Back . London: Routledge.

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Behdad, A. (1994) Belated Travellers: Orientalism in the Age of Colonial Dissolution . Durham: Duke University Press.

Boddy, Kasia (1999) ‘The European Journey in Postwar American Fiction and Film’ in Jas Elsner and Joan-Pau Rubiés (eds) Voyages and Visions: Towards a Cultural History of Travel . London: Reaktion Books, 232–51.

Brah, Avtar (1996) Cartographies of Desire: Contesting Identities . London: Routledge.

Carr, Helen (2002) ‘Modernism and Travel (1880–1940)’ in Peter Hulme and Tim Youngs (eds) The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 70–86.

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Clark, Steve (ed.) (1999) Travel Writing and Empire: Postcolonial Theory in Transit . London: Zed Books.

Clifford, James (1997) Routes: Travel and Translation in the Late Twentieth Century . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Clifford, James (1991) ‘The Transit Lounge of Culture’ Times Literary Supplement 3, May, 7–8.

Fussell, Paul (1980) Abroad: British Literary Travelling Between the Wars . New York: Oxford University Press.

Ghosh, Amitav (1992) In an Antique Land . London: Granta.

Ghosh, Amitav (2006) ‘Foreword’ in Tabish Khair, Martin Leer, Justin D. Edwards and Hanna Ziadeh (eds) Other Routes: 1500 Years of African and Asian Travel Writing . Oxford: Signal Books, ix–xii.

Grewal, Inderpal (1996) Home and Harem: Nation, Gender, Empire, and the Cultures of Travel . Durham: Duke University Press.

Gupta, Suman (2009) Globalization and Literature . Cambridge: Polity Press.

Hardt, Michael and Antonio Negri (2000) Empire . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Hardt, Michael and Antonio Negri (2004) Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire . New York: Penguin.

Holland, Patrick and Graham Huggan (1998) Tourists with Typewriters: Contemporary Reflections on Contemporary Travel Writing . Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Huggan, Graham (2008) Interdisciplinary Measures: Literature and the Future of Postcolonial Studies. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.

Hulme, Peter and Tim Youngs (2002) The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ivison, Douglas (2003) ‘Travel Writing at the End of Empire: A Pom Named Bruce and the Mad White Giant’, English Studies in Canada 29 (3–4): 200–1.

Iyer, Pico (2000) The Global Soul: Jetlag, Shopping Malls and the Search for Home . London: Bloomsbury.

Khair, Tabish (2006) ‘Introduction’ in Tabish Khair, Martin Leer, Justin D. Edwards and Hanna Ziadeh (eds) Other Routes: 1500 Years of African and Asian Travel Writing . Oxford: Signal Books, 1–27.

Korte, Barbara (2000) English Travel Writing from Pilgrimages to Postcolonial Explorations . Basingstoke: Macmillan – now Palgrave Macmillan.

Krishnaswamy, Revathi (2008) ‘Postcolonial and Globalization Studies: Connections, Conflicts, Complicities’ in Revathi Krishnaswamy and John C. Hawley (eds) The Postcolonial and the Global . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2–21.

Massey, Doreen (2005) For Space . London: Sage.

Mills, Sara (1991) Discourses of Difference: An Analysis of Women’s Travel Writing and Colonialism . London: Routledge.

Phillips, Caryl (2000) A New World Order. London: Vintage.

Pratt, Mary Louise (1992) Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation . New York: Routledge.

Rofel, Lisa (2002) ‘Modernity’s Masculine Fantasies’ in Bruce Knauft (ed.) Critically Modern: Alternatives, Alterities, Anthropologies . Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 176–86.

Spurr, David (1993) The Rhetoric of Empire: Colonial Discourse in Journalism, Travel Writing and Imperial Administration . Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

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© 2011 Justin D. Edwards and Rune Graulund

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Edwards, J., Graulund, R. (2011). Introduction. In: Edwards, J., Graulund, R. (eds) Postcolonial Travel Writing. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230294769_1

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230294769_1

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Study travel writing in Italy or France

Article by Artika Casini Photos courtesy of Michael McCamley September 22, 2023

UD Professor Michael McCamley shares insight and expertise on studying abroad

To learn the art of travel writing, one must travel. 

At the University of Delaware, Professor Michael McCamley leads courses in travel writing and introduction to rhetoric and writing studies, taught mostly in Rome and Florence, Italy, but occasionally in France.

“I hope that, by the time the students fly back home, they have developed a sense of awe and wonder at how beautifully diverse the world and its people are,” said McCamley. “If nothing else, I hope the experience fosters a wanderlust that lasts their entire lives.”

Here, the associate professor of English and director of the first-year writing program shares some lessons learned from his time teaching abroad. 

What’s the difference between teaching material in Delaware vs. abroad?

Studying abroad brings the material to life in a way studying at home in Delaware cannot.

Fill in the blank. Students who choose this study abroad experience tend to be…

Intrepid. They adapt easily to unplanned incidents and unfamiliar cultures.

What’s your advice to anyone traveling to Italy for the first time?

Slow down and savor everything. Italy is a country of beauty — the art, the architecture, the countryside; there’s a reason why everyone wants to move to Tuscany. And, of course, you have to eat as much of the most delicious food in the world as you can!

UD students visit Tuscany.

What has Italy taught you?  

You do not have to “earn” the right to enjoy the pleasures of life. They are meant to be enjoyed without guilt.

Any obscure pieces of trivia about Italy that you love sharing at parties?

Italy, as a unified country, is younger than the United States.

What’s something from Italy that you’d love to see America adopt?

  • An intense reverence for the arts and humanities.
  • Work to live, not live to work.
  • Every meal can be a celebration.

Do you do anything differently now, as a result of your time spent abroad? 

In Italy, it’s usually easier to walk everywhere than drive, so I am always looking for ways to walk to places rather than using my car. It’s healthier, and walking forces you to notice things you might not have noticed otherwise.

What’s your most memorable study abroad story? 

When I was leading a study in Paris, we took the Métro to the Eiffel Tower. Most of the trip was underground, but when the train emerged, the Eiffel Tower loomed right before us. I loved hearing all of my students gasp in unison at the sight of it.

Blue Hens visit the Spanish Steps, the longest and widest steps in Europe and an important Roman landmark.

Study abroad

Students who would like to learn more and explore study abroad options for the 2024 Winter Session and beyond should contact UD’s  Center for Global Programs and Services , which can provide information about the application process, scholarships and financing. Please also visit the  UD Abroad Blog  for student perspectives on the study abroad experience.

From Delaware to the World

2023 marks the  100-year anniversary of study abroad , pioneered at the University of Delaware in 1923 when UD language professor and World War I veteran Raymond Kirkbride took eight students to France for their junior year.  Today, UD boasts more than 100 study abroad programs in 40-plus countries and has an international student population that hails from over 100 countries. For more, visit  udel.edu/studyabroad100 .  

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clever Journey

Mastering the Art of Travel Writing: Tips for Students

D o you love writing and traveling? Do you dream about seeing the world and discovering hidden gems in every country you go to? Then you might have considered becoming a travel writer. Even though this is one of the dream jobs many students have, it comes with challenges too. Mastering the art of travel writing is not hard, but you have to put in a lot of dedication, effort, and time. This is a captivating genre that allows you to share your experiences, observations, and adventures from your journey . Writing about travel is what you, as a student, might aspire to.

So, you are probably looking for some tips and tricks on how to get started. What is travel writing? Are there more types of travel writing? Learn more about some travel writing tips that can enhance your craft and help you create engaging stories. While some spots can inspire you to write fascinating posts, you can take matters into your own hands and improve your skill.

Immerse Yourself in Traveling

Well, you cannot be a travel writer if you are not traveling. This is why it is essential to travel extensively. Explore distinct places , cultures, and landscapes. Get to know the locals, talk with them and find out more about the local traditions and social norms. Every country is different from another one. And even though some beliefs or lifestyles might be similar, there are so many things that tell them apart. And you can learn more about this by traveling and talking with locals too.

However, as a student, you have academic responsibilities too. Getting an education in school is not only about attending classes or what notes you take during teaching but about writing essays and assignments too. And traveling around the world is time-consuming, which might make you fall behind your deadlines. Thankfully, there are essay writers for hire, essay writers that are skilled and professional and can help you complete your assignments. Getting some much-needed help will help you follow your passion and travel around the world . This way, you will gather experiences you can write about.

Maintain a Travel Journal

To write a travel short story or an article for your blog, you need to travel. But you also need to observe the peculiarities of every place you go to. You may not have time every day to write an article, but there is a solution. You could maintain a travel journal. Have it with you everywhere you go.

Write down your thoughts, impressions, and experiences while they are still fresh in your mind. This way, you make sure you do not forget anything worth mentioning. When you will sit down and write your articles later, this journal will be an invaluable resource.

Take Photos

If you want to become a travel writer, you have to write, of course. But photos can add more value to your travel stories or articles. So, whenever you can, aim to capture high-quality photos . Learn more about the art of photography to complement your words with images.

Read Widely

Besides practicing the art of writing more and traveling around the world, you could hone these skills by reading too. It is known that reading helps you expand your vocabulary as you learn new words that will help you convey the message effectively.

But, reading what other travel writers have published will help you learn more about writing techniques. How do they tell a story? How do they hook you and capture your attention? Reading widely does not mean that you will end up copying others. It just serves as a source of inspiration that will help you develop your unique voice.

Honesty and Authenticity

Many students who are aspiring to become travel writers think that they only have to share positive experiences from their travels. Indeed, when you discover new places and cultures, everything you see might be through some pink lens.

However, readers appreciate honesty and authenticity. So, help them see your experience through your eyes. Do not be afraid to share the parts of the trip that were not as pleasant. This will help them have a clear idea of what to expect from specific places. They are looking for genuine insights.

What to Keep in Mind?

Writing about traveling and trips around the world is an art. To excel in this craft, not only do you need to improve your writing skills, but also gain as much traveling experience as you can. For those who might not have the time or expertise, there are paper writers for hire who specialize in travel content. However, do not forget that travel writing is a journey in itself. Embrace the process, keep practicing, and let your passion for exploration and storytelling shine through your words.

Clever Journey | Travel Gear Reviews, Packing Tips, Travel Advice

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The Oxford Handbook of Hellenic Studies

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29 Travel and Travel Writing

Maria Pretzler is Lecturer in Ancient History at Swansea University.

  • Published: 18 September 2012
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Greek travellers tried to take their city with them: travel is typically conducted as a civic act, one justified and defined by one's tie to the city: trade, for example, or martial aggression, or colonization. This article discusses the range of travel experiences reflected in surviving literature. The study of ancient travel focuses on the process of travelling, on individual travellers' movements and their reactions to particular journeys and places. The evidence is therefore mainly literary, with valuable additions from epigraphic sources. The remains of sites that were particularly attractive to ancient travellers, depictions of their means of transport, shipwrecks, and traces of ancient roads can add further information. Greek travel literature had a strong influence on early modern geography and ethnography, and it still has an impact on how people understand the Greek world.

G reeks liked to think about their world by tracing colonists' movements from the old motherland to distant Mediterranean shores: they considered mobility as a crucial factor in defining what, and who, was essentially Greek. Myth and epic poetry set the scene by depicting an earlier age of travellers, be it the Achaeans on their overseas campaign against Troy and then on their tortuous journeys to return home, or adventurous heroes such as Heracles or Jason and the many founders of Greek cities everywhere. For us, the Odyssey in particular provides a wide range of responses to the experience of travelling overseas in the crucial period when Greek colonization began to shape the ancient Mediterranean as we know it. In Odysseus' tales we encounter a variety of travellers engaged in friendships, diplomacy, and marriage outside their own community, and many people risking adventures for gain through trade, piracy, war, or increased knowledge. Others were forced to leave their home, either displaced as slaves or seeking refuge after conflict. Odysseus, always longing to go home to Ithaca while experiencing both the benefits and the horrors of a long overseas journey, shows how the image of the traveller could be reconciled with that other crucial aspect of Greek identity, a close and lasting connection to one's polis. Many did, however, not return home: by the end of the archaic period we find hundreds of colonies, new poleis, around the coasts of the Mediterranean, and some Greeks sought opportunities well beyond the regions settled by colonists.

It is possible to document complex and dense connections between places and regions around the ancient Mediterranean and beyond (Horden and Purcell 2000 ), but most of the evidence for high levels of connectivity in the ancient world does not provide information about the actual process of travelling. The general and vague information derived from imported objects found on archaeological sites suggests the movements of people without offering much insight into the mode or direction of particular journeys. Nevertheless, the general observation that travel was not an exceptional activity in the ancient world should inform our approach to ancient texts dealing with travel experiences. The study of ancient travel focuses on the process of travelling, on individual travellers' movements and their reactions to particular journeys and places. The evidence is therefore mainly literary, with valuable additions from epigraphic sources. The remains of sites which were particularly attractive to ancient travellers, depictions of their means of transport, shipwrecks, and traces of ancient roads can add further information.

Much of what we know about ancient travel concerns the small, eloquent elite that generally dominated the ancient literary record. Throughout antiquity travel was a part of life for wealthy individuals who were involved in the affairs of their community. They were particularly active in maintaining contacts beyond their community, from the elaborate guest-friendships of the Homeric epics to embassies to the emperor in the Roman period. Throughout antiquity, members of the elite relied on widespread contacts which could include acquaintances who were not Greek. Travelling as we see it in most ancient texts was expensive, because eminent people travelled in grand style, with numerous attendants and considerable luggage (Casson 1994 : 176–8). Early Christian texts, particularly the Gospels, Acts, and some of St Paul's epistles, look beyond the small, wealthy elite and offer a different cultural perspective, but this valuable source-material has yet to be fully integrated with classical scholarship.

Information about the activities and routines of ancient travel has to be pieced together from disparate references in ancient texts, and the bulk of the evidence dates from the Roman period (Casson 1974 ; Camassa and Fasce 1991 ; André and Baslez 1993 ). The preferred mode of long-distance travel was by ship: not only was sea travel faster and more comfortable (e.g. Pliny, Epistles 10.17a; Casson 1974 : 67–8, 178–82), but few important Greek sites were located far from the sea. Journeys on land probably often meant walking, even for long distances, although wealthy travellers would use carriages. Mainland Greece at least had a dense road network suitable for vehicles which reached even remote, mountainous locations. Many of these roads date back to the archaic or early classical period and they were in use until the end of antiquity (Pikoulas 2007 ; Pritchett 1980 : 143–96). These practical aspects of ancient travel are rarely the focus of modern research, but they are crucial for our understanding of how ancient travellers interpreted their surroundings. The slow pace of ancient journeys facilitated intensive encounters with landscapes, sites, and local people, while ancient travellers were often less interested in the wider context of their location. Geographical overviews and accurate maps of large regions seem to have remained the domain of scholarly experts, while many travellers may have adopted a view which organizes the landscape along particular routes without paying much attention to a ‘global’ perspective (cf. the Peutinger Table and Pausanias, with Snodgrass 1987 : 81–6).

Trade, war, and the search for opportunities may have accounted for a majority of individual journeys in antiquity (Purcell 1996 ), but these activities are rarely at the centre of attention. Journeys made for the sake of travelling, usually for the spiritual and intellectual benefit of a particular individual, account for much of the information about travel experiences that can be found in ancient texts, and modern scholarship reflects this emphasis on what we might call ‘cultural travel’. Early Greek travellers were often engaged in new discoveries, encountering unknown regions and strange cultures. The exploration by Greeks of regions around the western Mediterranean and the Black Sea may be reflected in the epic tradition, particularly the Odyssey , although it came too early to leave credible traces in the literary record. Areas beyond the Mediterranean remained largely unknown well into the Hellenistic period. The Atlantic coasts of both Europe and Africa were occasionally visited by explorers who recorded their observations, for example Hanno and Pytheas of Massalia (Carpenter 1966 ). Egypt and the Middle East had always been more accessible to the Greeks, not least because there they encountered highly developed cultures that were much older than their own.

By the end of the archaic period Greeks had travelled widely and extended the boundaries of their known world: from Egypt they had reached the upper Nile Valley and brought news of regions further south, and, from the sixth century, knowledge about distant regions of the East as far as India could be obtained through good connections with the Persians. Herodotus criticizes the theories about the shape of the earth inferred from such information by the geographical theorists of sixth-century Ionia, but he also testifies to the usefulness of maps created in this period and he includes geographical information about distant regions in his own work (Herodotus 4.39, 5.49; Harrison 2007 ). Alexander's conquests in the East and the expansion of the Roman empire, especially in western Europe, provided the Greeks with opportunities to reach hitherto unknown regions and to obtain more detailed geographical information (Polybius 3.59; Clarke 1999 ). The edges of the earth, however, remained a matter of legends about unusual peoples and cultures and wondrous natural phenomena (Hartog 1988 : 12–33; Romm 1992 ). All surviving ancient explorers' tales have been subjected to intense scrutiny to match them to actual regions and cultures. Recent scholarly attention, however, has been focused on the particularly Greek perspective on alien cultures which often describes strange people in terms of stark contrasts with what was familiar to the writer and his audience. In fact, authors dealing with ‘barbarians’ often seem more concerned with exploring their own culture than with giving an accurate picture of a distant region and its people. (Hartog 1988 : 212–59).

Most ancient travellers stayed within the familiar confines of the Mediterranean, but there was plenty of scope for ‘cultural’ travel in the Greek world and among its immediate neighbours. Educated Greeks would embark on sightseeing tours to visit famous places, for example a number of historical sites in mainland Greece, including Athens, Olympia, Delphi, and perhaps Sparta, some of the cultural centres of Asia Minor such as Ephesus or Pergamon, and Ilium as the main location of the Trojan War. Egypt, with its spectacular ancient sites (Casson 1974 : 253–61), was also an attractive destination. These sightseeing activities are sometimes described as ancient tourism, but this term is rather misleading because it invites analogies with the seasonal mass movements of today. The Grand Tours of wealthy Europeans of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries would be a more appropriate analogy (see Cohen 1992 ). Most visitors were particularly interested in ancient monuments with historical connections, artworks by famous artists, and sights that could be classified as curiosities. In most places with important historical monuments a visitor could employ professional tourist-guides to explain the sights, and wealthy travellers could apparently rely on members of the local elite to provide a tour appropriate for refined tastes and educated interests (as Plutarch does in his work On the Pythia's Prophecies ; and cf. Jones 2001 ).

In recent years ancient pilgrimage has attracted particular interest (Hunt 1984 ; Dillon 1997 ; Elsner 1997 ; Elsner and Rutherford 2005 : esp. 1–30). The applicability of this term to the activities of ancient travellers is contentious (Morinis 1992 : 1–28; Scullion 2005 : 121–30), but valuable interpretations of ancient texts have emerged from this line of enquiry. Throughout antiquity many sanctuaries saw large numbers of visitors, and some festivals could attract considerable crowds. Many people undertook such visits on their own initiative, but states also maintained regular official links with specific sanctuaries beyond their borders. The concept of pilgrimage invites new enquiries into the function and meaning of such journeys, especially as a means of defining identities and collective memories. Pilgrimage can also be a useful category in assessing ancient attitudes to historical sites. After all, the classical texts played a dominant role in the lives of educated Greeks and determined their approach to places that were in some way linked to the literary tradition. Historical sites, such as important battle-fields or places that played a crucial role in the Homeric epics, allowed visitors to explore localities with which they were intimately familiar from their reading since childhood, and which were part of a common Greek consciousness. Visits to such places could therefore have a profound effect which cannot easily be distinguished from a spiritual or religious experience (Hunt 1984 ). This approach to spiritual, cultural, and emotional aspects of pagan visits to significant places also allows a new evaluation of Christian pilgrimage in late antiquity (e.g. Egeria), by considering it in the context of earlier, pre-Christian traditions (Hunt 1982 ; Holum 1990 ).

Travelling was seen as an important source of knowledge and wisdom, and it was closely linked to the ideals of Greek culture and education ( paideia ) (Pretzler 2007 b ). A traveller could learn by seeing and experiencing different places and civilizations for himself, and he might gain access to information which was not available in Greece. The Greeks were aware that some civilizations were far more ancient than their own, and they assumed that in some countries, for example Egypt, Mesopotamia, or India, travellers might be able to acquire considerable knowledge, particularly about the remote past. There were many legends about the extensive journeys of famous sages such as Solon or Pythagoras, echoed by later traditions about the adventures of Apollonius of Tyana, or Dio Chrysostom's claims about his own wanderings while he was in exile (Hartog 2001 : 5, 90–1, 108–16, 199–209). In the Roman period, many aspiring young men from all over the Roman world travelled to acquire a Greek education: they would move to one of the leading cultural centres such as Pergamon, Athens, or Smyrna to study with a distinguished sophist. Prominent intellectuals could enhance their reputation by travelling to give lecture tours and to compete with their peers (Anderson 1993 : 2–30). Educated Greeks were therefore expected to be acquainted with famous cities and sites, and such personal knowledge influenced intellectual debates and texts. Experience gained through travelling became particularly important to enhance the credibility of arguments and reports. Authors often stress that they have personally seen places or witnessed events they are describing, and such claims of autopsia became a standard literary topos, particularly in historical and geographical works (e.g. Thucydides 1.1; Strabo 2.5.11; Polybius 3.4; Nenci 1953 ; Lanzillotta 1988 ; Jacob 1991 : 91–4).

While travelling and travel experiences play a crucial role in many ancient texts, there is no clearly defined genre of Greek travel literature. Modern examples of the genre often offer an insight into personal experiences on a journey, and they reflect reactions to strange landscapes, places, and people (Campbell 2002 ). Few ancient texts cover any of these aspects extensively, and a study of literary responses to travel experiences needs to include texts which touch upon the subject although they belong to different genres. There is no comprehensive modern study of Greek travel writing, and the re-evaluation of relevant texts as travel literature is a relatively recent phenomenon (e.g. Elsner 2001 ; Hutton 2005 ; Roy 2007 ); much work remains to be done in this field. As far as we can tell, the expectations of ancient readers of travel texts differed considerably from those of their modern counterparts. Few ancient writers provide a clear sense of the topography of a place, and they rarely attempt to create a comprehensive image of a location that would allow readers to visualize what the traveller has seen. In fact, ancient travel writers are usually very selective about what to report: particular features of a landscape are usually only mentioned if they represent a curiosity or if they are relevant to the author's aims, for example sporadic topographical details in a historian's account of a battle. Detailed descriptions of objects were the subject of rhetorical exercises ( ekphrasis ), and landscape descriptions play a particular role in pastoral poetry, but they rarely take up much space in ancient travel accounts (Bartsch 1989 : 7–10; Pretzler 2007 a : 57–63, 105–17).

Ancient travel writing (in the widest sense) can be roughly divided into two categories: on the one hand there are accounts of particular journeys, and on the other hard there are texts which present facts about places or cultures without discussing the process of travelling. The tradition of such ‘factual’ geographical texts was traced back to the ‘Catalogue of Ships’ in the Iliad (2.484–760; cf. 2.815–77), which provides a list of Greek cities and tribes in a roughly geographical order. The earliest geographical texts probably took the form of periploi (e.g. ps. -Scylax), essentially seafarers' logs describing coastlines with important places and landmarks, or stadiasmoi which listed paces and distances along overland routes (Giesinger 1937 ; Janni 1984 : 120–30). Hecataeus' Periodos Gēs developed this genre further by combining a periplous -style description of the world with a scientific discussion of the shape of the earth and the layout of the continents. Later geographers continued to rely on verbal descriptions of coastlines and regional topographies which were never fully superseded by maps (Janni 1984 : 15–19; Jacob 1991 : 35–63). As Strabo shows, geographical works could include information about the landscape, history, and culture of particular places. Texts dealing with particular regions, for example local histories (e.g. Atthidography, Arrian's Bithyniaca ), could go into more detail and would usually rely on an intimate knowledge of landscape, monuments, and local traditions.

Most descriptions of regions and sites were probably mainly interested in historical monuments, religious sites, and significant artworks, not unlike the ‘cultural’ travel-guides of today (Bischoff 1937 ; Hutton 2005 : 247–63). Only two such works survive, Lucian's On the Syrian Goddess , a description of the sanctuary of Atargatis in Hierapolis which is clearly not meant entirely seriously (Lightfoot 2003 ), and Pausanias' Periēgēsis Hellados , ten books describing the Peloponnese and a part of central Greece which represent the longest extant ancient travel text (Habicht 1985 ; Alcock, Elsner, and Cherry 2001 ; Hutton 2005 ; Pretzler 2007 a ). Pausanias, a Greek from Asia Minor carried out extensive research between about 160 and 180 ce , but he rarely refers to his own travel experiences, probably in order to maintain his credibility as an objective observer. Pausanias shows little interest in the life of contemporary communities or the natural landscape. Instead, he focuses on sites with a historical or religious significance, and he provides detailed information about the symbolic and cultural interpretations that Greeks could attach to the landscape. The Periēgēsis follows a long ethnographic tradition, and particularly Herodotus, but instead of reflecting on his own identity by contrasting it with the strange customs of barbarians, Pausanias applies his observations to the heartlands of the Greek world, and he presents an intensive study of the history and state of Greek culture in his own time. A fragment of an early Hellenistic description of Greece by Heraclides Criticus offers a very different view of the landscape of Attica and Boeotia (Pfister 1951 ; Arenz 2006 ). He adopts an often humorous and somewhat flippant tone to comment on the customs and character of contemporary people and on general conditions for a traveller. Heraclides also records his impressions of the landscape and the general appearance of the cities on his route: his approach to the landscape remains unique among the preserved ancient Greek travel texts.

It seems that authors who described places without discussing a particular journey found it easier to assert their credibility. Accounts of individual journeys had a long tradition, but such stories rarely allowed clear distinctions between fact and fiction. Heated discussions about the veracity of tales about distant regions show that ancient readers were aware of this problem, but their conclusions about particular texts often do not agree with modern opinions (e.g. Strabo 1.2.2–19; Romm 1992 : 184–93; Prontera 1993 ). Fictional travel accounts should therefore be included in any study of ancient travel literature because they add to the range of possible literary responses to travel experiences, even if they may not provide factual information about ‘real’ places or journeys. Greek travel writing begins with a fictional tale, namely the Odyssey , with its stories about monsters and incredible events (Jacob 1991 : 24–30; Hartog 2001 ). What is more, its main narrator, Odysseus, is clearly an unreliable reporter who tells untrue stories (‘Cretan tales’) about himself and his adventures, and the epic demonstrates how a traveller can construct false tales which will stand up to scrutiny. Odysseus therefore was a hard act to follow: in his wake no traveller reporting adventures in distant lands could be without suspicion, and many did indeed feel free to add fantastic details to their accounts. The earliest explorers' accounts usually took the form of a periplous which would include some details about specific adventures and discoveries (e.g. Hanno, Pytheas of Massalia). In the Roman period, Arrian revisited the genre and demonstrated its potential complexities: he reports his activities as governor of Cappadocia in a Periplous of the Black Sea , which also allows him to explore his own position as a Greek with multiple identities (Stadter 1980 : 32–41; Hutton 2005 : 266–71; Pretzler 2007 b : 135–6).

Few ancient travel accounts deal with emotional responses to a journey or the transforming impact of the experience on an individual's character, knowledge, or spiritual state. Aristides' Sacred Tales are unique in presenting the authors' personal perspective on his activities, including many journeys, in the pursuit of health and a special relationship with Asclepius (Behr 1968 : 116–28). Most texts dealing with such personal experiences are fictional, and can take the form of extensive accounts, for examples a trip to India in Philostratus' Life of Apollonius , or the Greek novels that usually send their main characters on convoluted journeys before they can settle down to live happily ever after (Morgan 2007 ; Rohde 1960 : 178–310). Some travel authors make no attempt to disguise the fact that their stories are invented, and this can lead to fresh perspectives on the experience of travel. For example, Apuleius' Golden Ass (cf. Lucian, Ass ) takes the opportunity to consider a journey from the point of view of a beast of burden, and it describes a spiritual transformation which turns the main character into a devout follower of Isis. The story also provides a rare chance to observe various travellers who are not members of the elite (Schlam 1992 ; Millar 1981 ). Lucian's fantastic stories ( Lovers of Lies, True Histories ) and other examples of ancient fiction can be seen as a humorous exploration of the many devices employed by travel writers to make their accounts believable (Ní Mheallaigh 2008 ).

Travel accounts could recover some credibility in the context of historiography: after all, Herodotus' Enquiries ( Historiai ) involved extensive travelling around the eastern Mediterranean, and autopsy remained crucial to enhance a historian's authority. Some journeys were themselves historical events, for example long military campaigns, and they inspired a new kind of travel account which owed much to historiography but could also follow some of the conventions of ancient adventurers' tales. Xenophon's Anabasis is the most extensive personal account of a specific journey that survives from antiquity, although the author never admits that he is in fact one of the main characters in the story. Xenophon includes specific information about distances, topography, flora, fauna, and local people, and he gives the impression that decades after the events he can draw on detailed memories, perhaps even a travelogue (Cawkwell 2004 ; Roy 2007 ). His perspective, however, is not that of an explorer whose main aim it is to describe a foreign region, but that of a historian who includes details about landscape and people when they are relevant to the events described. Alexander's conquests inspired a number of participants to write accounts which probably took the form of historical accounts in the mould of Xenophon's Anabasis (Pearson 1960 ). In the East, Alexander's military operations turned into a journey of exploration, and his scientific staff gathered reliable, factual information about areas which had hitherto been almost unknown to the Greeks (Strabo 1.2.1; 2.1.6). Well-founded knowledge could, however, be superseded by fantasy: if Strabo (2.1.9) is anything to go by, realistic reports about India did not have a lasting impact and were soon replaced by the old traditions about an exotic land full of strange wonders (Seel 1961 ; Romm 1992 : 94–109). Alexander's campaign became itself the subject of the Alexander Romance , which reinterpreted historical events in the tradition of myths and fictional adventure stories: in ancient travel writing, imagination could sometimes be stronger than reality.

Like Odysseus, Greek travellers are often unreliable witnesses of places and events they have seen, but their tales offer great insights into ancient perceptions of the world. Greek travel literature had a strong influence on early modern geography and ethnography, and it still has an impact on how we understand the Greek world. Since the Renaissance, western travellers who set out to discover the eastern Mediterranean relied on ancient texts to guide them to classical sites and to help them interpret the historical landscape. They also drew on similarities between the reactions of travellers in the Roman period and their own feelings about ancient sites and the loss of Greek culture. Ultimately, our understanding of antiquity owes much to ancient travellers who contributed their observations and interpretations to the definition of Greek culture and identity. The reception of ancient travel literature, especially of major texts such as Strabo or Pausanias, deserves attention, not least in the context of the development of our own disciplines, namely Classics, Ancient History, and Classical Archaeology.

Suggested Reading

The classic account of many facets of ancient travel in English is Casson (1994) . Casson gathers the ancient evidence to describe the activities and aims of ancient travellers, and his work offers a useful introduction to the subject. André and Baslez (1993) cover similar ground, but in addition to gathering and digesting the sources their work also reflects more recent developments in the study of ancient travel, and they offer more discussion of the cultural and intellectual context of their material. Two collections of articles on travel and travel writing, namely Camassa and Fasce (1991) and Adams and Roy (2007) , provide a good insight into a variety of lines of enquiry that have influenced the study of ancient travel in recent years.

Ancient travel writing has mainly been covered in works about specific authors. Recently the study of Pausanias in particular has led to further investigations of travel and travel writing. Pretzler (2007 a ) offers a general discussion of ancient travel, travel literature, and attitudes to geography and landscapes. Hutton (2005) analyses methods of travel writing, with a particular emphasis on the geographical structure of texts that deal with landscapes. Alcock, Cherry, and Elsner (2001) presents a wide range of approaches, including a number of papers discussing the reception of Pausanias.

Travel to distant places and the role the edges of the known world played in the imagination has been at the centre of stimulating discussion in recent years. Carpenter (1966) provides a basic overview of ancient explorers and their discoveries on the margins of the oikoumenē . Ideas about distant regions are discussed in Romm (1992) , and Hartog (1988 and 2001 ) contributes many valuable insights. Pilgrimage is another special aspect of travelling that has recently attracted a good deal of scholarly attention: much progress has been made in the analysis of pilgrimage in an ancient pagan as well as an early Christian context. Elsner and Rutherford (2005) is a collection of conference papers which offer a good overview of recent debates.

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Environmental writer Laurie King and bestselling author Miriam Lancewood have gathered a collection of original non-fiction stories, illustrations and poems examining the human connection with nature, penned by travellers, wildlife lovers and adventurers from across the globe. Take a walk across the desert with American explorer Angela Maxwell, discover how hermit Gregory Smith survived for 10 years in an Australian forest and learn how activist David Malana set up a surf school for people of colour in California. These bold stories aim to inspire you to find your wild animal soul and rethink your relationship with nature. £14.99, Watkins Publishing.

5. Vagabond

For anyone who loved Laure Lee’s As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning , this tale of one man’s 761-mile hike across the Iberian Peninsula should appeal. Mark Eveleigh brings the pioneering spirit of adventure previously seen in his travel books on Southeast Asian to the back roads of Spain. The author spent five weeks walking from Gibraltar to Punta de Estaca de Bares in the country’s northernmost tip, taking in blistering sun-beaten planes, grey stone villages hung with mist and vast chains of mountains, in homage to the disappearing lifestyle of the vagabundo , as well as a celebration of rural Spain and its remote communities. £10.99, Summersdale.

6. Globetrotting: Writers Walk the World

Take a literary stroll, from the streets of London to the pilgrim paths of Japan, the jungles of Ghana and beyond. Author Duncan Minshull brings together writing from explorers and adventurers, scientists and missionaries, pleasure-seekers and literary drifters in a new collection of over 50 travelogues that aims to answer the question: why explore on foot? Spanning seven continents, stories date back to as early as the 1500s, and take in lesser-known writers along with the likes of Herman Melville, Edith Wharton, Mark Twain, Isabella Bird and William Boyd. £15.99, Notting Hill Editions.

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IMAGES

  1. The Routledge Research Companion to Travel Writing

    studies in travel writing

  2. Interview with Autumn Richardson and Richard Skelton: Studies in Travel

    studies in travel writing

  3. Travel Writing

    studies in travel writing

  4. 7 Best Ways to Improve Your Travel Writing Skills

    studies in travel writing

  5. Engage KS3 students with travel writing tasks

    studies in travel writing

  6. Travel Writing (500 Words)

    studies in travel writing

VIDEO

  1. Travel Writing

COMMENTS

  1. Studies in Travel Writing

    Founded in 1997 by Tim Youngs, Studies in Travel Writing is an international, refereed journal dedicated to research on travel texts and to scholarly approaches to them.

  2. Studies in Travel Writing

    Studies in Travel Writing Site currently under reconstruction. Selected content is being transferred elsewhere. Studies in Travel Writing (journal, with details of current and past issues; and submission guidelines) Centre for Travel Writing Studies at Nottingham Trent University, including its monthly Snapshot Traveller newsletter

  3. Routledge Research in Travel Writing

    Routledge Research in Travel Writing extends the rapidly developing, interdisciplinary field of travel writing studies. The series was edited by Peter Hulme and Tim Youngs, two of the world's leading scholars in the subject, from its inception until 2023.

  4. Studies in Travel Writing

    Studies in Travel Writing | Founded in 1997 by Tim Youngs, Studies in Travel Writing is an international, refereed journal dedicated to research on travel texts and to scholarly approaches to them.

  5. Studies in Travel Writing

    Studies in Travel Writing . 10.1080/13645145.2021.1973722 . 2021 . pp. 1-16. Author (s): Ann Catherine Hoag. Download Full-text. Load More ... Find the latest published papers in Studies in Travel Writing + Top authors, related hot topics, the most cited papers, and related journals.

  6. Keywords for Travel Writing Studies

    By Paul Smethurst, University of Hong Kong where he taught travel writing, theory and contemporary fiction. By Richard Phillips, University of Sheffield. By Mary-Ann Constantine, University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. By Joanna Price, Liverpool John Moores University. By Aedín Ní Loingsigh, University of Stirling.

  7. The Cambridge Introduction to Travel Writing

    Studies in Travel Writing 9, 1 (March 2005), 37-63. Youngs , Tim 'Making it Move: The Aboriginal in the Whitefella's Artifact'. In Kuehn , Julia and Smethurst , Paul , eds., Travel Writing, Form, and Empire: The Poetics and Politics of Mobility .

  8. Travel Writing

    Introductory Works. The growth of travel-writing studies as an academic discipline has generated a number of general introductions to the subject aimed at students, typically offering a combination of historical overviews and discussions of key topics such as genre, techniques of representation, narrative organization, the relationship with the reader, and the treatment of race, nation, and ...

  9. Keywords for Travel Writing Studies: A Critical Glossary on JSTOR

    Keywords for Travel Writing Studies: A Critical Glossary is a collaborative and cross disciplinary response to what might be described as the 'obility turn' in the Arts and Humanities (Greenblatt 2010), as well as in the social sciences more generally (Sheller 2011).

  10. New Directions in Travel Writing Studies

    "New Directions is thus an important contribution to the burgeoning field of travel writing studies … . It will surely become a basic (re)source in travel writing studies that I recommend to those who have already ventured into the field and are familiar with the basic tenets and approaches, and to those who are encountering the opportunities offered by the study of the genre and are ...

  11. Studies in Travel Writing

    Scope. Founded in 1997 by Tim Youngs, Studies in Travel Writing is an international, refereed journal dedicated to research on travel texts and to scholarly approaches to them. Unrestricted by period or region of study, the journal allows for specific contexts of travel writing to be established and for the application of a range of scholarly ...

  12. Postcolonial Travel Writing: Critical Explorations

    'Postcolonial Travel Writing: Critical Explorations is an important study of central contemporary writers and their postcolonial travel text. With an impressive line-up of experts in the field, including scholars and travel writers, the collection embarks on the very timely project not only to offer close, theory-informed readings of significant travelogues, but also to revisit the use and ...

  13. PDF Introduction: Reading Postcolonial Travel Writing

    Postcolonial Travel Writing Justin D. Edwards and Rune Graulund 1. Critical Borders In the field of postcolonial studies, travel writing has often been demonized. Critics have, at times, aligned travel narratives with other textual practices associated with colonial expansion - mapping, botany,

  14. Keywords for Travel Writing Studies : A Critical Glossary

    Travel writing has become a significant field of academic study across the humanities and social sciences, yet it is only in recent decades that it has been recognised as a serious area of...

  15. (PDF) Travel Writing Studies

    Heather Lusty Hu Ying Martin As Curator of Experiments at the Royal Society of London, Robert Hooke (1635-1703) was too busy to have been considered a 'geological traveller'. Yet he made...

  16. Study travel writing in Italy or France

    To learn the art of travel writing, one must travel. At the University of Delaware, Professor Michael McCamley leads courses in travel writing and introduction to rhetoric and writing studies, taught mostly in Rome and Florence, Italy, but occasionally in France. "I hope that, by the time the students fly back home, they have developed a ...

  17. Mastering the Art of Travel Writing: Tips for Students

    Mastering the art of travel writing is not hard, but you have to put in a lot of dedication, effort, and time. This is a captivating genre that allows you to share your experiences, observations ...

  18. Travel and Travel Writing

    Two collections of articles on travel and travel writing, namely Camassa and Fasce (1991) and Adams and Roy (2007), provide a good insight into a variety of lines of enquiry that have influenced the study of ancient travel in recent years. Ancient travel writing has mainly been covered in works about specific authors.

  19. 6 of the best travel books to read in 2024

    From epic travelogues and nature writing to a pioneering travel publisher's memoir, these titles will inspire adventure this year. By Sarah Barrell. Published February 16, 2024.