2024 the best travel companies review
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(as of Nov 12, 2024 01:45:16 UTC - Details)
The year’s best travel writing, as chosen by series editor Jason Wilson and guest editor Robert Macfarlane.
Writing, reading, and dreaming about travel have surged, writes Robert MacFarlane in his introduction to the Best American Travel Writing 2020. From an existential reckoning in avalanche school, to an act of kindness at the Mexican-American border, to a moral dilemma at a Kenyan orphanage, the journeys showcased in this collection are as spiritual as they are physical. These stories provide not just remarkable entertainment, but also, as MacFarlane says, deep comfort, “carrying hope, creating connections, transporting readers to other-worlds, and imagining alternative presents and alternative futures.”
The Best American Travel 2020 includes
HEIDI JULAVITS • YIYUN LI • PAUL SALOPEK • LACY JOHNSON •
EMMANUEL IDUMA • JON MOOALLEM • EMILY RABOTEAU and others
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
Reviewer: Kindle Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Travel Writers, unimpeded by Lockdowns, Rose to the Occasion to Share Their Stories
Review: In The Best American Travel Writing 2020, the reader is presented with twenty-five travel essays. In the foreword, a reference is made to Robert MacFarlane: "In The Old Ways, Macfarlane insists that too often we only think of landscapes as affecting us when we are in them. âBut,â he writes, âthere are also the landscapes we bear with us in absentia, those places that live on in memory long after they have withdrawn in actuality, and such placesâretreated to most often when we are most remote from themâare among the most important landscapes we possess.âThis book was written when nearly the whole world's population went into lockdown due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Thus, according to the editor in the Introduction, " Peopleâs bodies are anchored, so they journey in imagination and memory. MacFarlane continues: " Travel writing was in dire need of both decolonization and redirection, and the best writers rose to the challenge by seeking not originality of destination, but originality of form and sensitivity of encounter."In "Rick Steve's Wants You to Sets You Free," Sam Anderson tells us that in Rick Steve's signature book, "Europe Through the Back Door," Steve made travel seem less like a luxury than a necessary exploration of the self, a civic responsibility, a basic courtesy to your fellow humans. Travel to Steve, Anderson tells us, is not some frivolous luxuryâit is an engine for improving humankind, for connecting people and removing their prejudices, for knocking distant cultures together to make unlikely sparks of joy and insight. In "On the Road with Thomas Merton," Fred Bahnson tells the reader that the peregrini remind us that we go on pilgrimage not to consume experience, but to be consumed; to feel again the porous borders between our inner and outer lives. Bahnson goes on to say that much more than simply an urge to travel, the geographical cure is the belief that whatever problems Iâm facing at the moment will magically disappear if only I change zip codes for a day, a month, a lifetimeâThe whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on oneâs own country as a foreign land.â - C.K. Chesterton
Reviewer: Patricia
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Somber Collection, But Inspiring Nonetheless
Review: Every time I read the reviews for The Best American Travel Writing books, there is always at least one entry lamenting that there are stories about racism, global-warming, the plight of refugees, the effects of globalization, etcâ¦The unspoken statement in these reviews, akin to Laura Ingrahamâs demand that athlete activists âshut up and dribbleâ is this: travel is something people do to escape the worldâs problems â or to deny them entirely â so why canât we just read nice stories about beautiful places and not have these issues shoved in our faces all the time?Though I love nice stories about beautiful places, Iâve been drawn to the Best American Series precisely because they forego stories like those in favor of ones with depth, power, and the capacity to bring disparate people together, to affect change. These stories donât offer a respite from the worldâs problems, but rather go right at them. And I for one am happy to take these journeys.This is a somber collection, true, but it is not bleak, or hopeless. Indeed, some of the direst situations (a group being threatened by border guards for leaving water for refugees in the desert, the effects of overtourism and the herd mentality on local economies and environments, the results of our actions, including travel, on our planet, overt racism rearing its ugly head without disguise) often produce the most moving and optimistic offerings.This is a collection for travelers, not tourists, and I donât mean that disparagingly. If you are looking for tension-free stories set in beautiful hotels and five-star restaurants, pick up a copy of Travel + Leisure. If you want to cram everything into a small backpack (heeding Rick Steveâs advice in the wonderful opening article) and meet the world and its people in all their messy, troubled, chaotic, loveable glory, this collection is for you.
Reviewer: Book Bag Lady
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Too Political
Review: Every year I look forward to the Best American Travel Writing and this year was no exception, except, I was disappointed at the left-wing slant to so many articles. There were a few gems, however. Traveling with Rick Steves and on the road with Thomas Merton turned out to be pure joy. "Who lives in Palermo is Palermo" is a heartwarming tale but the story on racism in the Grand Canyon and our National Parks didn't cut it. A word to the next guest editor: save the politics for CNN. We need to escape and "travel" even if it's only from an armchair.
Reviewer: Victoria117
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Enthralling adventures
Review: This exquisite collection of articles captures your attention and delves heroically into controversial situations through unique perspectives all while delivering transformative experiences without leaving your seat. I would buy this again in a heartbeat and think the price was a steal for the valuable content between the pages.
Reviewer: The Bay Gourmet
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Always worth the read.
Review: I have been reading this annual compilation for more than 20 years and it is always great.
Reviewer: Rick
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Some Odd Stories
Review: "Such Perfection" was the weirdest story I've ever seen in this series. The author talks about her disability and the sexual politics surrounding it....nothing to do with travel. She is in Italy for part of the story, but it has nothing to do with the story itself.
Reviewer: Kathy Condon
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Not an Easy Read, but worth it.
Review: I was given this book as a gift because I am a travel writer. Once I started reading it, it became apparent this book was not a "light" travel book. Topics and countries, their culture, and politics are often covered in depth.There was much to appreciate about this book, including learning about some of the top names in the travel writing world. Expect to be challenged, and at the same time pay attention to how you are transformed into the lands they are writing about.