Guest Editor Traveling Popular Travel Experience Book Sites

Each year, publisher Houghton Mifflin publishes an "anthology" (a collection of small pieces written by many different people) called "The Best American Travel Writing" and each year has a guest editor who writes the introduction. Many of these guest editors are famous American "travel writers" (people who write about their travels and other cultures).

In 2000, Bill Bryson was the guest editor. He has written many "humorous" (funny) books about his travels, including The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America and A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail.

Paul Theroux was the anthology's guest editor in 2001. His best-known novel, The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia, "recounts" (describes) his experience as he traveled across Asia by train for four months.

Frances Mayes, who was the anthology's guest editor in 2002, wrote a very popular book called Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy. That book is a "memoir" (a book about someone's life and experiences), but also an example of travel writing, because it talks about her experience buying and living in an Italian "villa" (house).

The guest editor in 2006, Tim Cahill, is the "founding" (original; present when an organization or business begins) editor of Outside magazine and he often writes for National Geographic Adventure magazine. People enjoy reading his "tales" (stories) of "adventure travel" (very exciting and possibly dangerous types of travel). For example, he drove from Argentina to Alaska in "just under" (slightly less than) 24 days - more quickly than anyone else had ever done.

Author Bill Buford was the guest editor in 2010. Much of his work focuses on food and travel. For example, his article Extreme Chocolate: The Quest (Search) for the Perfect Bean describes his experience traveling with the founder of Dagoba Chocolates.