Have you ever noticed that the best
travel writers never really considered themselves as such? Look at anybody’s list of favorites and
you’ll see names like Kerouac, Bowles, Matthiessen, etc. quite often, along
with names like Theroux and Iyer, writers who certainly consider themselves
travel writers, but not exclusively.
You’ll
only rarely if ever see a guidebook writer.
But there is a historical tradition which goes back directly to Marco
Polo and Ibn Battutah , and even Tacitus and Herodotus, before them.
Have you ever noticed that the best
travel writers never really considered themselves as such? Look at anybody’s list of favorites and
you’ll see names like Kerouac, Bowles, Matthiessen, etc. quite often, along
with names like Theroux and Iyer, writers who certainly consider themselves
travel writers, but not exclusively. You’ll
only rarely if ever see a guidebook writer.
But there is a historical tradition which goes back directly to Marco
Polo and Ibn Battutah , and even Tacitus and Herodotus, before them. 
