The Best Travel Stories from World Hum
Best Travel Stories: Which stories do book editors think are the best travel stories from World Hum? These World Hum essays have appeared in "The Best American Travel Writing" and "Best Travel Writing" anthologies.
03.12.09 | 12:39 PM ET
We think all of the travel stories we publish qualify as the internet’s best travel stories, but we’ll concede we just might be biased.
The stories listed below were judged the best travel stories by others, namely Jason Wilson and the guest editors of Houghton Mifflin’s annual The Best American Travel Writing anthology, and the editors of Travelers’ Tales’ annual The Best Travel Writing anthology. Herewith, their take on World Hum’s best travel stories:
On the Occasional Importance of a Ceiling Fan
Travelers’ Tales’ The Best Travel Writing 2009
Emily Stone knew well the kind of moment she was experiencing in Puerto Rico: the guy, the Cuba libres, the accelerated intimacy. It was perfectly safe, she told herself, as long as she knew when to get out.
Hope and Squalor at Chungking Mansion
The Best American Travel Writing 2008
Karl Taro Greenfeld explores Hong Kong’s notorious black-market bazaar and budget accommodations, and one possible over-populated, multi-ethnic future for us all
Where the Roads Diverged
The Best American Travel Writing 2008
After searching all her life, Catherine Watson felt she’d found home on Easter Island. Then she heard a whisper in her ear: Be careful what you wish for.
The Woman in the Keffiyeh
The Best American Travel Writing 2008
In southernmost Turkey, women are known as the forbidden ones. So when a beautiful local invited Jeffrey Tayler for a ride on her horse-drawn cart and unmasked herself, he tried not to look. But he failed.
The Lost World of Nigeria
Notable selection, The Best American Travel Writing 2008
The Eredo once formed a boundary between the real and spirit worlds, and could easily contain Manhattan. Frank Bures goes in search of one of the planet’s forgotten architectural wonders.
A Brief and Awkward Tour of the End of the Earth
The Best American Travel Writing 2007
Jason Anthony was working as a U.S. Antarctic Program fuels operator when he was called to remote Vostok Station. It was a trip he would lie to take.
Lust in Translation
Notable selection, The Best American Travel Writing 2007
When the phone rang in his hotel room in Xian, China, Jim Benning expected to face a frustrating language barrier. He never could have imagined a woman with a sultry voice cooing at the other end.
The Places We Find Ourselves
Notable selection, The Best American Travel Writing 2007
Her official title was faculty sponsor. But in the confusion of post-Katrina New Orleans, Kristin Van Tassel realized the slippery nature of the roles we all play.
Unlocking Beirut
Notable selection, The Best American Travel Writing 2007
When Catherine Watson left Lebanon’s capital city in the 1960s, she carried home the key to her former apartment. Forty years later, she returned with her prized souvenir and found it could still open doors.
Smackdown in Tijuana
Travelers’ Tales’ The Best Travel Writing 2007
The teeming border city has a bad reputation. But in a rickety arena on a Friday night, Jim Benning discovers the forces of good still have a chance against the forces of evil, at least in swan-diving, chair-slamming lucha libre Mexican wrestling.
The Joy of Steam
The Best American Travel Writing 2006
Tony Perrottet went for a simple scrub down at the oldest bath house in Istanbul and discovered a link to the ancient Roman Empire
A Million Years of Memory
Travelers’ Tales’ The Best Travel Writing 2006
In the Galapagos, Bill Belleville immerses himself in an environment that’s part dream, part cradle of evolution
The Burden of War
Notable selection, The Best American Travel Writing 2005
Wendy Knight went to Sudan in search of compelling war stories. Then her own personal battle began.
Signs of Confusion
Notable selection, The Best American Travel Writing 2005
Bad translations abound. In a Thai restaurant, Rolf Potts struggles to make sense of them.
Test Day
The Best American Travel Writing 2004
Frank Bures administers an English exam to his students in Tanzania, where life is hard and giving up isn’t an option
Sandbags in the Archipelago
The Best American Travel Writing 2004
On a remote South Pacific island, Heather Eliot meets a man and explores the fine line between fantasy and reality.
Morning, Not Smart
Notable selection, The Best American Travel Writing 2004
She coped with the slamming car doors and the fumes from the gas station next door. But Thai pop gave Katherine LeRoy a hot heart.
Power Trip
The Best American Travel Writing 2003
Grab your 3-D glasses! Pin that name tag to your jacket! Now get on the bus with American art student Emily Maloney for a class excursion to a Japanese nuclear plant.
War Zones for Idiots
Notable selection, The Best American Travel Writing 2003
The “World Series of Journalism” had begun in Afghanistan, and Tom Bissell didn’t have to qualify to play. He just had to show up.
Innocence Abroad
Notable selection, The Best American Travel Writing 2003
When the Taiwanese police hauled him in, Drew Forsyth experienced one of a traveler’s worst nightmares: He went to jail for a crime he didn’t commit.
Islam’s Bloody Celebration
Notable selection, The Best American Travel Writing 2002
At the Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice in Jordan, Rolf Potts unearths the quirky, intimate face of an Islamic world you won’t find on the evening news