| Editor's Note:
Welcome to the online version of GRAND TOUR: The Journal of Travel Literature Before embarking on a journey with one of our essayists, let me tell you a little about our magazine. GRAND TOUR was launched in print in January, 1996 as an alternative to the traditional, mainstream, service-oriented travel magazines. We wanted to focus on classic travel literature and we wanted to create our magazine as an homage to the TRAVEL WRITER. But what is travel literature? Well, that's tough to pin down. Is it autobiography? Reporting? Memoir? History? Anthropology? Perhaps it is all and none of these. What we believe separates travel literature from other travel accounts is the writer's unmistakable voice--a human voice that transcends mere description of a place and finally results in an often-breathtaking universal truth. So, in essence, what GRAND TOUR gives readers is some of the best contemporary nonfiction you'll find anywhere. Our contributors include journalists, essayists, novelists, and poets who've won awards like the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year. Their work has been collected in anthologies like Best American Essays. Writers like Annie Dillard, Paul Fussell, Caryl Rivers, Ted Conover, Peter Ho Davies, Chelsea Cain, Peter Chilson, Donald Morrill, and William Ecenbarger. As you'll see, GRAND TOUR doesn't read like your run-of-the-mill magazine. We're not a slick guide you eventually toss in the garbage. We won't tell you where to find the "50 best beaches" or how to beat the slots in Vegas. We don't try to lure you away to the "newest, hippest" spot. GRAND TOUR is evocative, fresh, and smart. We also happen to publish some of the best travel writing anywhere. In fact, in last year's Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards, our writers took home five awards...more than any other travel magazine. No wonder we were described by the Washington Post as a "new home for the best sort of travel writing." Now that we're online, we intend to give readers a sample of the type of pieces we run in the print version of GRAND TOUR. We'll update this site once a month, adding new essays and stories. Also next month, look for newsy Dispatches from writers around the world Our next issue comes out in April and it will be our BIGGEST EVER--over 180 pages. Beginning in March, we'll tease you with excerpts of what's coming next! We also want to remind you that our partner, Geographia,
is hosting this web site. After you read our evocative essays, be sure
to visit Geographia's Destination Guide for more travel information from
all over the world.
- Jason Wilson
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