The Best American Travel Writing 2021 (The Best American Series)

COVID-19 claimed another victim as this year's crop of Best American Travel stories is disappointing. The writing is heavy on the pandemic with a touch of politics thrown in. Two stories, one about a person who decides to stay in New York during the lockdown and the other choosing to leave, were simply boring. "The Warmth of a Lost World" about Turkish baths in the East Village and elsewhere was tepid at best. Why do so many New Yorkers think they live in the center of the universe? "Mississippi: A Poem in Days" is a profanity laced screed against white people, Donald Trump, the Old South and conservative values. In another piece, the Black author, sees racism behind every tree and campfire as she travels through the Great Smoky Mountains. There are bright spots, however. "Good Bread", set in France, was my favorite followed closely by "Five Oceans, Five Deeps." It's an exciting tale of a man determined to reach the bottom of the deepest trench in all five oceans. (There are hints of what a James Bond-like villain could do by cutting undersea cables and manipulating the gold market.) "Wanderlust" is the final selection and an equally fascinating journey of travel in the Alaskan wilderness. ( For members of conservation groups and others who care about the environment, there are unsettling passages of birds being shot. ) The remaining articles are so-so, and thankfully, some mercifully short. I've been a fan of this series for years but I would advise future editors to keep politics at bay. We need escapism, not indoctrination.

Traveling may be limited during Covid but reading about it reminds me of all the great places I’m going to one day! A great compilation of essays

Every year I try to pick up and read the Best American Travel Writing and the Best American Food Writing. The articles are reliably researched and well written in these compilations. Somehow I connected more with 2021 Best Travel Writing this past couple of years. I thought the selection of essays was engaging, fascinating and I really felt an emotional the impact. Maybe it was exploring the impact of Covid, but really exceptional selections.

I read travel literature to learn about other cultures and locations. These articles are all about COVID-19 which is what I was trying to get away from. I glanced at 3 or 4 articles and will have to give it away before I try to wade thru more COVID-19 bad news.

The selections chosen for this book have very little to do with travel. They are about covid, about death, about Trump, about racism. Ms. Lakshmi is a food writer (I guess) but certainly not a travel writer, and evidently can't tell the difference. Most of these articles are depressing, which is the last thing we want to read when we look for travel literature, especially emerging from the last 2 years. Don't bother with this book.

This is a yearly read for me, and I was interested in how real, writing travelers would view 2021. Yet I was most caught by a vivid 21 century look at traveling as a minority. . .color coded or sexually diminished. The self congratulating white males made me rethink my usual 5 star ratings however.

When most people think of travel writing, they likely envision “The Top Ten Places to Visit in your Lifetime”, but that hardly captures the true scope of travel writing. Padma Lakshmi’s collection of travel essays brilliantly diversifies what the “best” travel writing means by using travel as a medium through which unique cultures, current events, and foreign places are explored.The unique cultures of these travel destinations can be experienced through a variety of ways, but many essays find similar means through they are prospected. “Senegal’s Beating Heart” by Jim Benning highlights the power of music within a population, able to bind a city together through its culture and essence. The power of music transcends language and opens “a secret passage to the heart of a country”. Complimenting this notion, Sarah Khan’s “In the City of Saints” also explores the culture of a city through music, but as well as through its fantastic historical and religious sites. The intense connection experienced through these sites paired with the delicious street food and bumbling music animates Harar into a real depiction.Other essays decide to focus on current events, specifically recent pandemics. “I Decided to Leave” by Meghan Daum examines the despair of the Coronavirus pandemic, forcing a woman to leave New York City and move to the Virginian countryside while in quarantine where she would stagnate within monotonous tasks of someone in isolation. Essays like Paul Theroux’s “A Fear-Filled Lockdown” also comments on the harm caused by pandemics, mirroring COVID to the plague and Great Depression.Other essays approaches travel writing from a different angle. Intan Paramaditha’s “On the Complicated Questions Around Writing About Travel” investigates the true meaning of travel writing and the openness, globalization, and socioeconomic impacts that are associated. Meanwhile, “A Change in Perspective” by Sarah Moss questions the reasoning behind travel and why people leave. Moss also interrogates the crises faced when travelling to new places: How should I explore? And what should I look for? These questions are at the heart of travel writing and highlight the diversity and application of the genre, certainly earning the title of “The Best American Travel Writing 2021”.