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Late last week, World Hum debuted my newest travel essay, The Art of Writing a Story About Walking Across Andorra. Written in imperative second-person voice, this meta travel narrative uses a real experience — my hike across the tiny Pyrenean nation of Andorra — to satirize the conventions and clichés of mainstream travel writing.
As you might guess, it’s not your typical travel story — but I feel it’s the sharpest piece of travel satire I’ve produced since penning “Storming ‘The Beach’” several years ago. The subtitle reads: “He Traversed an Entire Nation in a Long Weekend. Now, Rolf Potts Shows How You Can Impress Members of the Opposite Sex and Write a Textbook-Perfect Travel Article in Eight Easy Steps.”
Read the full story online here.
January 6th, 2006 at 9:51 am
What made you choose this particular style, and for this particular piece/experience?
January 14th, 2006 at 4:15 am
Ha! Terrific story. Laughed from start to finish. I’ve worked at a traveler publisher as an editor for over two years — unfortunately, our guidebooks are v functional and have v little space to spare for this type of writing. A pity.
January 19th, 2006 at 8:55 pm
Nice article! Why go to the writing class in Paris this summer when I now have this handy outline to follow?
May 23rd, 2006 at 5:16 pm
Nice, very nice:) But Andorra it’s a little more than that. I climb mountains every week and i still have lots of moutains to climb, it’s not “work” for a long weekend. Anyway, i liked the style and the way you explore the cliches… you forgot to say that andorrans and catalans are “glued” to money:) greetings from Andorra.