The Best Women's Travel Writing 2011: True Stories from Around the World [Paperback]

Lavinia Spalding (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2011 | Series: Best Women's Travel Writing

Since publishing A Woman’s World in 1995, Travelers’ Tales has been the recognized leader in women’s travel literature, and with the launch of the annual series The Best Travel Writing in 2004, the obvious next step was an annual collection of the best women’s travel writing of the year. This title is the seventh in an annual series—The Best Women’s Travel Writing—that presents inspiring and uplifting adventures from women who have traveled to the ends of the earth to discover new places, peoples, and facets of themselves. The common threads are a woman’s perspective and compelling storytelling to make the reader laugh, weep, wish she were there, or be glad she wasn’t.

In The Best Women's Travel Writing 2011, readers

Have lunch with a mobster in Japan and drinks with an IRA member in Ireland
Learn the secrets of flamenco in Spain and the magic of samba in Brazil
Deliver a trophy for best testicles in a small town in rural Serbia
Fall in love while riding a camel through the Syrian Desert
Ski a first descent of over 5,000 feet in Northern India
Discover the joy of getting naked in South Korea
Leave it all behind to slop pigs on a farm in Ecuador...and much more.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lavinia Spalding is the author of Writing Away: A Creative Guide to Awakening the Journal-Writing Traveler, and coauthor of With a Measure of Grace: The Story and Recipes of a Small Town Restaurant. She has kept travel journals throughout thirty countries on five continents. Although her inextinguishable wanderlust prevents her from ever really staying put, she currently lives in San Francisco.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Travelers' Tales (May 10, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1609520122
• ISBN-13: 978-1609520120
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.9 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #282,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A very entertaining collection ! July 8, 2011

By Dstress

Format:Paperback

I found this collection of short stories to be truly fun and inspiring. From wacky adventures in Mexico to some tense filled moments in a seedy part of Japan, there's something here for everyone. You don't just have to be a woman to enjoy this book..

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring and touching tales from the road May 26, 2011

By Kimberley Lovato

Format:Paperback

I've always a lover of travel and a lover of a good story, and this collection of 30+ tales from women writers around the world braids the two together into a sometimes humorous sometimes poignant anthology. From editor Lavinia Spaulding's introduction recounting of when she first identified herself as a a traveler, I was hooked. The stories left me searching my own travel memories as well as yearning to book my next trip. An excellent and compelling collection to take with you on your next journey or to enjoy bedside.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Book Club Read! August 20, 2011

By OC Reader

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I chose this book for our August Book Club and everyone LOVED it. We all agreed that the stories were inspiring, thought provoking, emotional (several made us tear up), funny and insightful. Some stories spoke to everything that was good in human nature while others tugged at our heart strings. The flow of the stories was like a good play list - just the right mix! Everyone agreed that it made us all want to go back out and travel some more in the short weeks we had left of the summer. A wonderful read!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars All who wander are not lost! November 24, 2011

By Linda Ballou VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Having read all of the Best Women fiction published by Traveler's Tales since the year 2000 I have acquired an overview. Last years 2010 collection seemed top-heavy on stories of expats who became a part of the societies they were exploring. This collection seems more inclined toward travel memoir like a story that reflects upon a situation rooted in an incident during WWII, and a failed love affair during a stint in the Peace Corp many years prior. My favorite story set in Costa Rica is written by Bridget Crocker who demonstrates courage and paddling expertise on a maiden voyage down a mean river. She begins this journey in emotional crisis, but remembers that she is strong, self reliant capable and fully engaged in life when it comes time to turn on survival skills. Several of the stories share the culture shock of young volunteers who are out to do help in regions where the grinding poverty and hardship endured by the average middle class American is simply unimaginable. I was especially taken by a story by Carol Reichert, a CEO of a large company and married mother of young children, who leaves it all behind for just a while to master the art of flamenco dancing. She reminds us that the dance is all there is.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect subway/beach/snowed-in/waiting-room book November 22, 2011

By AK_girl

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have never cared for short stories, so I have never bought a "Best of {insert genre here} of {insert date here}" type of book before. But, as a woman who loves to travel, I found that this was a perfect book to carry around with me for those times when I found myself with a little time to kill. Something about the honesty and theme of these stories really sold me on the short-story format for this book. The stories don't tell you about places to go so much as tell about the experience of living and traveling away from home. I really related to many of the writers and their stories, and I even found a couple of new writers that I would like to read more from. I know that that is the purpose of this type of book, but this is the first one that I could actually appreciate for that reason. I'm looking forward to reading The Best of Women's Travel Writing from other years, as well. In the meantime, I am passing my copy around to other women that I know will be inspired and entertained by these stories.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Travel the World from your Couch August 23, 2011

By Kristy Conway

Format:Kindle Edition

My book club recently selected this book, and I spent several weeks putting off starting it. I don't care for short stories and am often left wanting after completing them. However, I LOVED this collection and felt very fulfilled after reading the book! Each story offered a tale of love, personal insight, adventure, hilarity, poignancy, or simply reminded me of my humanity. The stories were touching, inspiring, and rekindled my own love of adventure and travel. I, surprisingly and thoroughly, enjoyed this book as did my book club. It was a wonderful choice for a very lively discussion!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very out of the way destinations February 2, 2013

By Barbara Bennett

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I found the book engaging and often inspiring. I love to travel and could relate to some of the stories. Many of the destinations were beyond my comfort zone as the travelers penetrated deep into poverty-stricken areas with little or no tourism infrastructure. But then this was a way I could experience those destinations.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Eclectic and Eye-opening Collection April 16, 2012

By S. Rogers VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I usually travel at this time every year, but when an illness kept me home I opted for the next best thing: arm chair travel via The Best Women's Travel Writing 2011. It's an eclectic and eye-opening collection of short stories from all around the globe - covering adventures, romances, wars, poverty, and some incredibly unique customs you might not encounter on your own typical vacation. Standouts include a young American's experiences in Cold War Moscow, an educator's parent-teacher conference in a Korean bath house, a college student's introduction to the Tokyo underground, an inside look at the World Testicle Cooking Championship in the Balkans (for real), and an incredibly moving account of an American soldier's relationship with a young orphan in WWII Normandy. I laughed, I cried, and I learned a lot about places I've yet to visit. Some are definitely better than others, but it's an interesting and entertaining book - and a great way to live vicariously through some very gutsy women!