Travel Literature is a record of the events, sights and personal feelings which a traveller experiences as he or she goes from place to place. In some cases it is the result of a prolonged stay in one city or area. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue.

Background

Most major bookstores have a significant collection, showing its continuing popularity. Some of the most famous figures in English literature have made significant contributions to this field.

Some classics of travel literature when first published offered new, strange and sometimes sensationalized accounts of completely alien cultures and civilizations. These often became standard texts on a region for many years afterwards. Marco Polo's work comes to mind.

Later as more people visited the area and it became generally known, travel was akin to tourism and a new type of work emerged.

Travel literature is not to be confused with with travel guides, usually a series put out by a publisher, each dealing with a particular country, city or region. These are good in themselves and useful for travellers, as they provide a wealth of information on hotels, restaurants, major sights, travel tips etc. The writers are often specialists who travel and write these books for a living.

The best of travel literature is read for the enjoyment of sharing the reactions of a cultured person to an interesting place. It is akin to hearing an interesting person tell a good story about their life experiences.Travel writers have a greater scope for their writing than most, as travel can be the occasion for humour, character sketches, an opportunity to compare cultures or religions or to reflect on history or the human condition. Persons of broad learning are at a significant advantage here and it is often done by a mature writer who may be somewhat "written out" in his or her customary field. But, younger writers tend to have more adventures.

Types

Some great travel writers are specialists in the field. The Americans Paul Theroux, and William Least Heat-Moon, the Welsh author, Jan Morris, and the Englishman, Eric Newby, come to mind though Morris is also known as an historian and Theroux as a novelist. These are people who travel and make their livings by writing about it.

There is a point too where travel literature interesects with essay writing as in V. S. Naipaul's "India, A Wounded Civilization", when a trip becomes the occasion for extended observations on a nation and people. Rebecca West's work on Yugoslavia, "Black Lamb & Grey Falcon" is another example.

Travel and nature writing merge in many of the works of Gerald Durrell, Ivan T .Sanderson and Sally Carrighar. These are basically naturalists who write to support their great passion. This is an often delightful combination that brings in a somewhat different readership, perhaps those who also watch nature programs on TV. Both Durrell and Sanderson have the gift of humour. Charles Darwin wrote his famous account of the journey of HMS Beagle at the intersection of science, natural history and travel.

Tales of exploration and conquest are where travel, biography and history come together. Julius Caesar, Marco Polo, Richard Francis Burton, Ibn Battuta and Ernest Shackleton are examples of writers in this sub type.

Adventure writing and travel literature come together in the works of such persons as Captain Joshua Slocum, Wilfred Thesiger and Laurens van der Post, though some would say that the latter two are among the last of the explorers.

Literary travel writing occurs when an author famous in another field travels and writes about his or her experiences. Examples of such writers are Samuel Johnson, Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Hilaire Belloc, Rebecca West, D.H. Lawrence, Evelyn Waugh and John Steinbeck.

Examples

Julius Caesar " The Gallic Wars'' "The" classic of conquest literature

Samuel Johnson " A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland" The great lexicographer and his friend, James Boswell visit Scotland in 1773. Literary

Captain Joshua Slocum "Sailing Alone Around the World" A 53 year old Nova Scotia mariner is first to do this in 1895-98. Adventure

D.H. Lawrence "The Sea and Sardinia" Still in print. Literary

Ernest Shackleton "South" A classic of polar exploration

Rebecca West "Black Lamb & Grey Falcon" An 1,150 page look at Yugoslavia in 1937 by the pro Serb West. Facinating, if less than objective, account of this land before the tragedies of World War Two and the 1990's wars. Travel/Literary/Essay

Ivan T .Sanderson "AnimalTreasure"and "Caribbean Treasure" During the 1930's, the jungles of Africa and a visit to the remaining wild spots along the Caribbean including Netherlands Guiana by a naturalist. Hard to find treasures

Patrick Leigh Fermor : "A Time Of Gifts" A journey by an 18 year old in 1933/4 overland from the Hook of Holland to Hungary. Rewritten from long lost notes when he was old. Adventure/Literary

Evelyn Waugh "When the Going Was Good"--With Waugh around the Mediterranean, to Ethiopia, across Africa and through the jungles of South America, in the late 1920's and 1930's. Literary

Wilfred Thesiger "Arabian Sands" Another classic of adventure. Since he travelled so much, Thesiger's biography, " The Life of My Choice" also rates as a great travel book. Thesiger"s travels took him to Ethiopia, Arabia, French West Africa and the Sudan. He was an explorer/adventurer, soldier and British colonial official.

Laurens van der Post "The Lost World of the Kalahari" Auberon Waugh described van der Post as the person in whose company he'd most like to spend an evening. The book by this South African soldier/explorer/writer suggests why. Exploration/adventure/nature

John Steinbeck "Travels With Charley"-A classic American road book (Charley is a poodle) Literary

Gerald Durrell "Fillets of Plaice" One of many combining natural observations, humour, storytelling and travel.

Sally Carrighar People are not present in these stories of nature. Her Classics include "One Day at Teton Marsh", "Icebound Summer'", "The Twilight Seas"

Eric Newby "A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush" Popular English travel writer

William Least Heat-Moon "Blue Highways" An American Classic by an author well known for travel writing

Robert Louis Stevenson "Travels With A Donkey in the Cevennes" Another classic set in France Literary

Hilaire Belloc "The Path To Rome" A ramble by foot from central France to Rome in 1902. Adventure/Literary

Jan Morris "Trieste" Author of many works, especially about cities Travel

Gordon Sinclair "Khyber Caravan" A somewhat curmudgeonly account of 1934 travels in British India by a later famous Canadian journalist and television personality

Paul Theroux "The Great Railway Bazar" Perhaps, Theroux's most popular travel work.