Walking through Paris streets on Bastille Day.
Crispin argues that travel writing is no longer about these "outer territories", but the discovery of "inner ones", and that long-form prose travel writing now takes shape of any other memoir (a la Eat, Pray, Love). Without being critical of neither the old-school travel writers and the new-school travel writers, I agree with Crispin that traveling (and the writing inspired by doing so) should be about the balance of the human being's place in the world both physically and figuratively. Traveling is about the discovery of truth and beauty through the exploration of unexplored, unfamiliar landscapes. It's about adventure as much as it is about learning. It is more than parties on sandy beaches or standing next to the Eiffel Tower ; it's about how the world works and how we fit into it. It's okay for traveling to be self-centered; the blurred lines appear when the writing to reflect the travel is completely self-centered and much less about the discovery through travel itself.
I used to think that my favorite travel writer, also an author of fiction, is Ernest Hemingway; problem is, because he's such an existentialist, his descriptions of the travel part are hardly attractive: "Simple exchange of values. You give them money. They give you a stuffed dog." While I am, probably will forever be, moved by Hemingway's style of writing and the stories his prose tells, I don't think I'll be looking to him for travel advice. Just as I won't be looking to Elizabeth Girlbert's Eat, Pray, Love for guidance on travel because let's face it, stories of internal discovery like that are in fact, personal, and have little to do with traveling. I hardly would consider that actual travel writing.
Travel writing in it's purest forms may ironically come from journalists who are (supposed) to keep their words as true to fact as possible. What do you think travel writing should be?
