Travel Ho

Travel writing seems to be taking off. Perhaps it is that we have enough of a shared world yet still enough variance to make observations compelling. Or it could simply be the power of meeting strangers. One meets strangers all the time, in today’s urban conglomerations, whether that be Des Moines, Huntington Beach, CA, or Huntington Station, NY. Yet we take little interest in these people, and they in us, less. Our shared experiences are too great, too close, too uninteresting. Travel and the world still seems different, not nearly as much as even 50 years ago, but great variance in sights, smells, customs, sounds, cityscapes, even genetics.

I should like to post in the near future some travel writings that involve travel for work. These journeys, where I do not control the timetable, destination, or even cuisine, still allow me observational platforms, and, at times, provide opportunities to engage - socially, culturally - that would not be possible were I a tourist.

That's my plan. And perhaps one allure of New York City, unlike orange county or Fort Worth is that it is possible still to be surprised in the city, to go a handful of blocks and actually travel.

All this was kicked off by VS Prichett, a master of english travel writing, and stoked by Pico Ayer's 2004 Best American Travel Writing