We all travel. Even if we’re not embarking on international adventures, we’re constantly leaving and returning home; relocating for school or work; moving between language and culture; taking roots journeys or road trips; living nomadically, whether intentional or forced; following our family as they im/migrate or change class; setting out on pilgrimages or spiritual quests. The popular genre of travel literature is equally complex, blending dramatic storytelling and meditative reflection, food and philosophy, factual reportage and subjective memoir, casual observation and specialized knowledge, lyrical description, and incisive portraits of people and place. In this introduction to the form, we will read and discuss classic and contemporary travelogues from around the world, try our hands at travel writing, and engage with hot topics, like the challenge of “seeing” and how mass tourism, privilege and identity complicate travel.

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