WRITING | TRAVEL

Wander Off the Beaten Path and Read These Travel Writers

Five of my favorite Medium travel writers and why

I love reading travel articles on Medium. People have been to so many interesting places, and some are both excellent wordsmiths and photographers.

Every morning while I’m eating breakfast, I go to my favorite travel publications and open up tabs on my iPad, saving the stories that I will relish throughout the day.

As a travel writer myself, I appreciate stories told from a personal perspective. A good travel story relates the author’s experience in a place, conveying their joy, wonder, and even fear.

Photos are a must if I’m to step into the author’s shoes and get a feel for a place. I’ve added so many destinations to my bucket list just from reading travel writers on Medium!

The following five writers feature prominently in my reading. Let me tell you more about them and why I like them so much.

Tim Ward, Mature Flâneur

I cannot get enough of this man’s writing. Tim and his wife, Teresa, are masters of slow travel. The art of the flâneur, according to Tim, is to wander without purpose, observing society.

Flâneuring is the opposite of doing nothing. It’s giving yourself permission to take your time and discover truths about the world and yourself.

I wish I had the opportunity to flâne just as Tim does! Right now, I’ll have to settle for reading his stories — which is not a bad trade-off.

Tim is a masterful writer and has taken his Medium readers on journeys through Portugal, France, Italy, Norway, and now Mongolia and New Zealand.

Whenever his articles come out, I gobble them up. I can’t wait until Tim’s book, Mature Flâneur, is released on July 28!

Here’s an adventurous story by Tim that I especially adore:

Anne Bonfert

Anne is one of the editors of the fantastic travel publication, Globetrotters. She’s a skydiving instructor who has written about her travels throughout Europe and Africa.

Anne takes beautiful photographs and writes stunning prose. I love how descriptive she is, letting her readers in on the awe of what she saw and felt:

The lake was shining crystal clear between the steep cliffs of the surrounding peaks. I could see to the ground. And yet, the snowfield leading into the water made it clear that this lake was cold. Freezing cold. And yet, I couldn’t think of anything else but to jump in.

Currently, I’m enjoying Anne’s series about hiking through the Alps. I’ve never seen these trails from ground level before, and Anne’s experiences have kindled a desperate urge in me to hike there, too.

Check out Anne’s story about hiking to (and swimming in!) a cold Alpine lake:

Erika Burkhalter

Erika posts some of the most stunning photos I’ve ever seen. Her writing is beautiful and poetic:

The sweep of color summons to my mind an image of the Goddess painting the very earth with the richest of pigments.

Erika posts across a wide variety of publications, with articles ranging from two-minute reads that I can easily digest to longform accounts of her travels.

I love her stories about the animal and plant life in her native California. With 49K followers, it’s clear that other people love her, too!

Look at the spectacular photos in her article about Haleakala Crater. Just… wow:

Araci Almeida

Araci is cut from her own cloth. A woman in her thirties living in rural Portugal, she writes about her experiences in her home country, as well as her past travels in Italy, France, and Brazil.

Araci’s writing style is greatly reflective. Not many travel articles meditate on the inner worlds of the mind and the wider human experience, and I love that about her.

When I first discovered Araci, I made a list in my Medium library of all her articles that I enjoyed. It’s up to over 150!

Here Araci writes about visiting the Algarve as a child. “Life was good without us knowing it. That’s how happiness almost always is.”

Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages

Jillian and her partner, Chris, travel the world painting murals for hostels and anyone else who wants them. Not only are these murals bright and beautiful, they provide Jill and Chris with free lodging when they travel. Jill believes in the barter system and trades her artistic services for free accommodation.

Her writing and photographs make me want to travel by way of my artistic talents, too — if I had artistic talents!

Amazingly, Jill and Chris didn’t know how to paint murals when they got their first commission. They learned by doing, completely their mural of a parrot in the jungle for a hostel in Costa Rica.

Jill and Chris also get free accommodation by house sitting around the world. I never even knew this was a travel option, and now I want to try it myself.

Here is Jill’s article about the first mural she ever painted:

Seriously, check out these authors. They’ll open your soul to the beauty of the world and let you experience the joy of discovery along with them.

That, after all, is what great travel writing is all about.

Special Bonus

Parasol Publications’ editor extraordinaire, Darren Weir, is a fantastic travel writer! I’ve read articles of his that span from Africa, India, and Asia to his own hometown of Toronto.

Darren’s a master of the photo essay, weaving in his glorious images with action-packed prose. One story that I’ve read recently chronicles his hike up Mount Kilimanjaro, pushing through illness and self-doubt to reach the summit.

We had already exhausted all of our energy reserves. We were cold, tired, sore, and all feeling the effects of the altitude — but we all continued.

Check out Darren’s Kilimanjaro article here:

Thanks for reading! If you’re interested, here is one of my own travel articles: