Great Narrative Travel Writing: “I just don’t see a lot of it in the travel blogosphere. Do you?”

By David Miller On November 4, 2009 · 25 Comments

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“On the travel writing front: I love great narrative travel writing, and I just don’t see a lot of it in the travel blogosphere. Do you?” -Comment made by Jim Benning on Worldhum

Image: Royblumenthal

I READ this comment last night and wondered (and am still wondering) about various things.

Who gets to be the ‘authority’ on what is considered ‘great’?

Is Trisha Miller right? Isn’t it the reader who gets ‘final say’?

What is the “travel blogosphere” exactly?

And where/how does Matador fit into that?

Why does writing, including “great narrative travel writing” seem so far behind music and art in terms of variety of form and style?

Does it have to do with the way we’re taught to ‘compose’ in school?

Is there another way we haven’t thought of already to help students at MatadorU realize new forms?

How do I define ‘great narrative travel writing’?

And if I were truly able to answer that completely, would it mean I was finished as a writer?

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What do you think is “great narrative travel writing”? Where do you find it on the “travel blogosphere”? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments.

About The Author

David Miller

David Miller is senior editor of Matador (winner of 2010 and 2011 Lowell Thomas awards for travel journalism), and BETA magazine. After living for the last two years in Patagonia, Argentina, he is returning with his wife and two young children to the Southern US. Follow him @dahveed_miller.

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http://www.paul-sullivan.com Paul Sullivan

To me the term is pretty vague. Does it relate mostly to the travel book tradition? If so, it’s hardly surprising there isn’t a lot around on the net since most internet content is geared towards more ephemeral attention spans.

Is ‘narrative’ equable to ‘subjective’? If so there’s bound to be a decline in an artform that used to be written by the privileged few (those who got to travel) for the masses (those who couldn’t) and is now written by the many (since so many of us are able to travel) for – well, also the many.

In an era where travel is so commonplace is it any wonder that the authority of travel writers is diminished?

For me the best travel writers these days are like the best music or arts writers – those who can put their experiences into words that are more compelling than the average ‘blogger’. And those who convey a real spirit of travel and adventure and aren’t merely filing that day’s / week’s copy quota.

http://matadortravel.com/travel-community/david-miller David Miller

seems like you’re taking a tough ‘stance’ bro.

i don’t feel like the form is necessarily ‘in decline’, i just think that like everything else it keeps evolving, modifying.

http://www.gobackpacking.com Dave

I read the comments on that World Hum post too. I’m not sure who defines what is great narrative travel writing (seems to me it’s the people with more experience as paid writers/editors under their belt), however to me it would be Paul Theroux’s “Dark Star Safari” which I read while in Africa last year.

But, saying that, was his actual writing that much better than what I think I could do if I took a similarly exotic and rough route through the continent? After almost 3 years of daily blogging about travel, I’m not so sure anymore.

It’s like photographs. I took 15,000 over 15 months or so, and I got some great ones with my point and click camera, but what’s special about a lot of them was the mere fact that I had the money and freedom to put myself in a position to be around the Taj Mahal or back streets of Kathmandu, not that I know how to properly capture the light at sunset on a beach in Thailand.

I think the same goes for travel writing. Travelers that put themselves in inspiring places will automatically build a following. If they can write “great travel narrative” it’s like a bonus, but ultimately the readers decide whether they’ll be back.

And I come across far too many quality travel blogs nowadays to be able to keep up with them all, let alone to read the ones popping up by the established writers/editors. Though I wish them luck!

http://joshywashington.wordpress.com Joshywashington

You make a good point ~ “Travelers that put themselves in inspiring places will automatically build a following.”
I would add that “inspiring places” must be a frame of mind. Living in downtown Seattle I sometimes walk into my rat infested alley to dredge up some inspiration. Cause I can’t be at the Taj this afternoon I must stoke my inspiration by being in my own inspired place. And I also believe they will builds a following through consistency (something you are no stranger of my friend!) and hard work.

http://www.gobackpacking.com Dave

Hey Joshy –

I completely agree.

Now that my trip is over, I blog about local stuff. I’ve been to NYC twice already and *always* get inspired up there – whether it’s the food I eat, the people-watching, or the nightlife. I come back to the DC area with more things I want to write about than I can manage.

A few weeks ago I gave a walking tour of DC to a German girl I’d met in New Zealand almost 2 years ago. I wrote a blog post about it – simple idea, right? I’ve done this walk a dozen times, but a reader actually tweeted that he was using the LP map and *my* walking tour last week!

I also like National Geographic Adventure and the occasional Sunday Wash Post Travel section for inspiration.

Adam Roy

I´ve never been hugely into the narrative format (I get a lot more out of the multi-viewpoint feature kind of article) but I see a hell of a lot more interesting stuff on the internet than I do in papers or magazines nowadays. The talent is there, but they´re so tied to the commercial end that it gets bogged down in news-you-can-use.
http://www.ephemerratic.com Lauren – Ephemerratic

I thought the more online travel writing I read the more amazing, talented writers I’d find who could craft a compelling story that revealed something unique about themselves, a place, or the experience of travel.

Instead, I’m still desperately seeking out online travel writers who have found not just a following – Sarah Palin has a following, so that in itself does not mean much – but assert a stylistic voice, a brave presence in the world, and, the ability to make me laugh, sigh, or have a moment of travel schadenfreude simply with their words.

That’s what’s missing from the majority of travel writing: the storyteller. Instead we have the list compiler, the idea regurgitator, the braggart, the proud traveler-not-tourist. None of this is bad travel blogging, but I struggle to call it travel writing without choking on my own words.

http://joshywashington.wordpress.com Joshywashington

you have me thinking about “a brave presence in the world”… what a wonderful way to put it.
Perhaps “Travel Writing” is too broad. It puts the storyteller and the regurgitator in the same box sharing a feeding dish.
Maybe the narrative element that we are trying to suss out, defend and define should be could “travel literature” …?

http://www.backpackerfiction.com Matt Loney

Well, I think Matador would be the ideal place to start. The Bounty Board has its fair share of “Top 10…”, while many great “narrative” stories get lost in the slush-pile of personal blog-posts.

I see this is starting to change, albeit slowly and I think with much trepidation.

Personally, it wasn’t the World’s Best Milkshakes-style articles that inspired me to travel. Nor do personal blog posts inspire Pulitzer-worthy journalistic effort. Perhaps Matador could start a “narrative” contest with a cash prize in order to really celebrate the up-and-coming travel writers who have their sights set on producing high-quality prose.

http://matadortravel.com/travel-community/david-miller David Miller

Hey Matt,

Thanks for the comment.

Matador actually started with narrative travel writing. Back in Spring 2007 we ran our first narrative travel writing contest. The winner was a story called Huayhuash.

Since then we’ve focused on growing from the community site outward to the network. But as it’s grown we’ve always continued to publish travel narratives at all different sites.

Oftentimes these take the shape of brief notes like we publish here at the notebook. I feel like this piece is a good example. Other times they’ve been little pieces that have run at Matador Life or Change, or really anywhere on the network.

I feel like rounding up a ‘best-of’ now. Maybe a project for later this month.

I like your idea for a new contest though. Feels like it’s time.

http://matadortravel.com/travel-community/simonemarie Simone Gorrindo

Agree about the contest — sounds like a great idea, and I think it would really spark the Matador readership of narrative writing.

It seems to me most of the Matador editors love a good narrative piece, and because of this some great pieces do get published. But they do tend to get lost quickly among the other posts. For me, the narrative has always been the form I’m most drawn to in writing and reading. But the list compiling and destination pieces attract a bigger audience — perhaps because our attention spans are short, or because we’ve become a little obsessed with the useful, prizing it over the enriching.

http://www.backpackerfiction.com Matt Loney

Well said.

Bring on that contest…

Christine

Not only is it about who defines “good” traveling writing, it is also about the fact that in and of themselves, blogging and writing for a newspaper/magazines are DIFFERENT. This is not to say that one is better than the other, but I think it undermines many of us to try and compare it apples to apples. There are similar and shared experiences, but totally different formats that demand different necessities. Most travel narratives in print media have time to take form and be crafted and re-crafted, while blogging means not only sharing one’s own experience in a succinct manner, but somehow including all of the most pertinent links available on the net to said experience, all done in a couple of hours to a day.

I had to laugh at one of the comments made by Spud Hilton. He said “And for the record, I start blogging next week. I look forward to the freedom everyone else has been enjoying.” Good luck with that freedom, Spud. You certainly don’t understand what it takes to blog about the good quality content that you are so desperately seeking.
http://www.thecandytrail.com/blog/ the candy trail …

I have been on the road, near solid since 1988 …

And have written a fair bit of interesting (maybe great) travel narrative – which is raw, honest, edgy and goes beyondf much of the typical travel blog offeriings: like … hassles in Saddam´s Iraq, Drugged Robbed in Russia, searching for diamonds in Sierra Leone, prison visit in Bolivia, travels in Yemen …

But most of my “great travel stories” I am yet to publish … (like arrested in Iraq, hitching the Sahara, horse trekking in Colombia … etc) there´s alot of madness and adventure out there … and I´m sure there are other travel narrative writers doing interesting stuff beyond the mainstream.

Take a look here (copy & paste address below):

http://www.thecandytrail.com/blog/category/yet-more-cool-stuff/crazy-travel-stories/

Mexico now; Cuba within 48 hours …

Regards – MRP
http://www.bonjourtelluride.com Maribeth Clemente

I’ve authored four guidebooks that I’ve enjoyed writing but it often felt like I was riding (or writing!) with the brake on. On my blog, http://www.bonjourcolorado.com, I’ve let myself delve into more storytelling which has been fun. Some are more original than others: the one about me riding the Greyhound bus (http://bonjourcolorado.com/2009/10/riding-the-bus/) is one of my favorites.
http://www.posatigres.com Sarah Menkedick

@ Dave – I have to disagree that it’s money, freedom, and being in an inspiring place that creates a good travel narrative. I think good travel narratives are much less about the place and the exoticism or fascination factor of it than about how good a storyteller the writer is, and how good he/she is at pulling the reader into a place and making it relevant and poignant and interesting no matter how much the reader might’ve thought he/she didn’t care about it. I would much, much rather read a story by Annie Dillard about driving across Kansas than a story by a giddy backpacker raving about some “off the beaten track” village in the Cambodian jungle. It isn’t about the destination – it’s about the way the writer gets inside of it, and the degree to which he/she can make the reader feel it and experience it in a penetrating way.

I think Lauren called out a lot of what I consider writing about travel vs. travel narrative – “the list compiler, the idea regurgitator, the braggart, the proud traveler-not-tourist.” There’s a lot of content, both online and in print, that’s simply a stack of information and opinions tied loosely to a central idea. A narrative, I’ll venture, goes deeper – there’s some transformation there. There’s a push and a tough spot and a question, maybe resolved, maybe not, but it shouldn’t be so easy that the reader says, “Ah, noted, I’m definitely going to stop by that cafe when I go to Budapest.”

@David – I think “great narrative travel writing” can also be extremely formulaic. I can see a very predictable form to it – the intro, the developing sense of place, the dilemma, the realization, the conclusion. There is definitely a particular template to “great narrative travel writing” as the people identifying “great narrative travel writing” tend to see it. That’s not always a bad thing – it does lead to some (in my opinion) excellent and captivating writing. But it also creates a very predictable, go here, see this, learn that, wrap it up, go home format for readers who like to get their travel experiences in a predictable nutshell . I think that the “blogosphere” offers some interesting potential for variation (or outright rejection and rebuilding) of that.

http://joshywashington.wordpress.com Joshywashington

Yes!
“it’s about the way the writer gets inside of it”
Not where you are but what you perceive, how you tread, and what you bring back.
I struggle lately with traveling without moving. Travel isn’t a place it is a frame of mind.

http://milesofabbie.com Abbie

I think this goes along quite well with the post yesterday, “Your Travel Writing Doesn’t Matter”, in that it seems as if it’s all about being right, being wrong, being good, being bad, and it’s really all a matter of perception…
http://carlo-alcos.com Carlo

I agree with Sarah (by disagreeing to a point with Dave). Writing a good travel narrative is more than just writing about our experiences in a place. Someone might be able to “put a reader there” by describing the scene well, but that’s not what makes good narrative. It’s the depth of the story that matters. It should make you think and reflect and be relevant to life in general. I don’t think many bloggers do this, but that’s not really the point. As you guys have already said, it’s just one aspect of travel writing, not travel writing as a whole.

Some people are interested in reading “travel literature”, some (or, apparently a LOT) like to read lists or look at pretty pictures. As I said in my comment over at WorldHum, you can’t tell the reader what they like and force them to read. You just put it out there and if it’s quality it will attract whoever wants to read it. If the goal is purely to get numbers, then you need to understand what the majority of people want and give it to them.

To the point of the question posed by Jim: I think it’s out there, and there is probably more of it than ever. The problem is there is a whole lot more of everything else too, so there is much more “noise”. To me that article seemed like an exercise at making them feel better about themselves by talking down to the “citizen bloggers”. I didn’t find it constructive.
http://www.austinbeeman.com Austin Beeman

The best Travel Writing is a form of Fiction — or maybe better a form of storytelling. Travel Narrative pulls from the best of fiction: characters, plot, situations, mood, environment. Tradition Travel Writing pulls from nonfiction and journalism with emphasis on ‘just the facts jack.’ And unfortunately blogging isn’t the best format for storytelling.
Perhaps video-blogging and life-casting is the future of travel narratives on the web.
http://www.poorpenmanship.com Erin

I tried doing a local travel blog here in Utah, and it was a flop. One, I had kind of limited myself to a local readership. Two, it was SUPER difficult to report and write quality content every day, or even every other day.

Also, I agree with Paul — “Most internet content is geared towards more ephemeral attention spans.”

Now I save my travel writing for a weekly outdoors column in a local entertainment magazine.

I think these are decent examples of narrative travel writing. But they are supported by traditional media:

http://www.inthisweek.com/view.php?id=1120225
http://www.inthisweek.com/view.php?id=1225084
http://www.inthisweek.com/view.php?id=745059
http://www.inthisweek.com/view.php?id=940866
http://mikesowden.org/feveredmutterings Mikeachim

Narrative, “I, Traveler” writing is unashamedly subjective. Everyone is an authority in having their own (hopefully informed) opinion. It’s writing that says “this is what came out of my brain at this particular time from behind these two eyes”.

I think that’s why narrative writing is so deeply embedded with the online community – it’s very much of the same ilk as blogging (and microblogging). Now that all the writing talent is moving online, narrative writing will surely flourish further – as traditional, anonymous, standing-back travel writing suffers in comparison…

One reason that I love online travel writing at the moment is that since it’s subjective, it feels more open to being called out. It’sp[otentially more fluid and receptive to constructive criticism (and arguably, more honest). It’s a dialogue. The pieces are just the beginning of the narrative journey. Ideally, anyway. If the online writing is good, it doesn’t just convey a story or useful information…it lets you join in. That’s absolute magic.

The point David makes at the top about how we’re taught to write in schools…that’s a biggie. That really needs addressing.
http://nomadneedles.wordpress.com/ Robyn

I’m not in the Matador U program (yet) so I don’t know if this book is part of the curriculum, but William Zinsser’s great book – On Writing Well : The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction – has a helpful chapter on travel writing – “Writing About Places: The Travel Article”.

Also, I just finished watching this TED video with Scott Simon (NPR) about the importance of stories. There is much that can be applied to travel writing I believe –
http://tedxmidatlantic.com/live/#ScottSimon

http://matadortravel.com/travel-community/david-miller David Miller

Thanks for those links and recommendations Robyn. I’ve read that title by Zinsser, a great read. Going to check out that TED presentation.

http://twitter.com/FearfulGirl Torre DeRoche

I wrote a narrative nonfiction book and I began a travel blog as a platform to sell my book. When I first began blogging, I wrote narrative pieces. After a few months I realized that these pieces didn’t travel far through Twitter, etc. It’s the lists, the ‘How to …’ and the inspirational posts that have legs. People go to the internet for information and inspiration, while they go to books to escape. I save the narrative nonfiction for books, while my blog posts are quick, fun, inspiring, and bite-sized.

Great Narrative Travel Writing: “I just don’t see a lot of it in the travel blogosphere. Do you?”

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