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SHORT SUMMARY OF TRAVEL WRITING


Purpose of travel writing

Writing and travel have always been intimately connected. Travel writing celebrates the differences in manner and customs around the world. It helps the reader to understand other people and places. And it helps the readers plan their own trips and avoid costy mistakes while travelling



Travel writing during Classic and Medieval times

The traveller’s tale is as old as fiction itself: one of the very earliest extant stories, composed in Egypt during the Twelfth Dynasty. A thousand years ago the ‘Odysseia’ (Odysey) from 8B.C. by Homer recounted Greek hero Odysseus’ long journey home after the fall of Troy. And the Latin work ‘Commentariide bello Gallico‘ by Julius Caesar reported his journey during the Gallic War. Greek writer Xenophone wrote ‘Anabasis’ (431-355 BC), about the expedition of a Persian prince against his brother, King Artaxerxes II and the Greek troops travels through Asia back home to Greece.


Discovering new worlds

After the crusades, new stories and information reached the people and they started to realize that there was a whole other world outside their own. There came a shift in stories type, as there was much curiosity about explorations and voyages to unknown destinations. Because travel was a necessity at those times, most travel stories were purely intended to inform people about the different nature and culture of inhabitants met and the best ways in which to approach them. There were also a lot of military explorations that informed more about strategic issues.

A well-known travel writer in those times was Marco Polo, who wrote (or let someone else write) about a Venetian traveller on his way to China and the Mongol Empire in the work ‘Il milione‘ (‘The million’, 1298). This work is seen as a truthful report of things, complemented with (not always correct) information he collected through hearsay.


Travel writing in Middle Ages

It may be assumed that in 1336, someone did a bit more than just dotting down facts about his destination. Italian poet and humanist Petrarch described his experiences about climbing mount Ventoux and more importantly his satisfaction about reaching the top. He also wrote about his travel companions and even related his experience to his own moral development in life, as were it a pilgrimage. More and more people after Petrarch found a new interest in writing about their travels in a more personal way

Moroccan world traveller ‘Ibn Battuta’ wrote in 1355 the work ‘Rihla’ (The Journey), with an original title that translates as: ‘A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling’. Halfway through the 15th century, ‘Gilles le Bouvier’ wrote in a book his opinion about why people should travel and write about it: ‘Because many people of diverse nations and countries delight and take please, as I have done in times past, in seeing the world and things therein, and also because many wish to know without going there, and others wish to see, go and travel, I have begun this little book.’


Famous travel writing

In the 18th century, travel writing was known under the name ‘Book of Travels’. Usually these were maritime journals and the people devoured them. James Cook’s diaries (1784) reached the status of a modern day international best-seller.Along with true stories, imaginary travel stories started to appear. Many of them were actually based on factual journeys. You might have heard of Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkeness‘, Daniel Defoe’s ‘Robinson Crusoe’, Jonathan Swift’s ‘Gulliver’s pTravels’ or Jules Vernes, ‘The journey around the world in 80 days’.

Charles Darwin wrote his famous account of the journey of the HMS Beagle in the 19th century. It was a work at the intersection of science, natural history and travel. Other famous authors from his time, that also wrote travel stories where: Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Dickens and Mark Twain.


Modern day travel writing

Travel writing in current times is quite a broad theme. From journal-type stories to literary works in which style and structure are more important. Some of the most popular travel writers from the 20th and 21st century are  Bill Bryson, Paul Theroux, Pico Iyer, Tim Cahill, Stanley Stewart, Kira Salak, Douglas Adams, Anthony Sattin, RyszardKapuscinski, Bruce Chatwin and Rory MacLean.


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