Echoes of the world: a quest to the world of travel writing by grasping the essence beyond this window to the world All about travel writing, what it has to offer, how it grants a new understanding of the world

Malaz Dhirar

Good writing is like a windowpane, an old saying that means writing allows people to share an author’s experience simply reading. This naturally applies for travel writing, where authors reveal their experiences in various parts of the world and their different cultures, customs and beliefs. It’s non-fiction because writers have to travel to experience new places. 

Travel writing started out as little more than descriptions of routes for travel. In fact the first travel writer may have been the Greek traveler Pausinias, whose detailed description of Greece is the oldest guidebook ever written. Now it has transformed into writing with the writers as the protagonists at the heart of the story (1). 

Benefits of travel writing

There are a number of styles to travel writing, like quirky lists and roundups which provide reasons for people to visit a country. Or short city guides and reviews that try to summarize all that there is in a place in a concise way. What they all have in common are their benefits. 

Travel writing at its most optimum takes people to the subject of the article, making it easy to imagine themselves in the writer’s shoes. Readers experience other parts of the world from the comfort of their very home, serving not only as a way to inspire a desire for traveling but fostering empathy and curiosity about the world. It broadens horizons and is also a great way to relax and unwind by providing a means of escaping everyday to a different place and time, lowering stress and possibly even negativity in the process. Another thing to note is that travel writing can provide much useful advice for people to practice in foreign land, allowing them to know the dos and don’ts in the places they visit (2)(3).  

Travel writing and broadening horizons

People tend to fear what they don’t know. Many stories in the news can be demoralizing if not downright frightening, while they do report facts, that doesn’t mean it’s the complete truth. In that same vein, traveling can be an intimidating experience. Leaving all a person knew behind to a new, uncharted land is not easy. But simply staying away and letting the fear win is much worse. 

Travel writing is a gateway to the world, getting people to be more open-minded about the numerous places out there. This also creates cultural tolerance due to the knowledge readers gain thanks to travel writing. Its vivid imagery and description as well as all the details involved opens up various possibilities people never knew of before. The new perspective gained from travel writing also increases creativity by introducing people to cultures and concepts they may never have known before. Also, perhaps an unexpected one, it is a reminder of what a person has. It’s easy to take what’s always been there for granted but travel writing gives a glimpse of how things could’ve been different by allowing a glimpse of the world without them, emphasizing their true worth (4)(5)(6). 

Travel writing can be a window to the outside world, demonstrating much of its mystery and wonder. A form of non-fiction that truly lets the imagination soar, it can become a bountiful adventure waiting to be told.