| You may have heard a lot of new and confusing | | | | serialisations on television and in books. These first |
| terms, describing personal travel web sites, such as | | | | hand accounts including roadtrip planning help, scenic |
| Travel Diaries, Travel Journals, Travelogues and | | | | routes, and recommended sights along the way draw |
| Travel Blogs, so what the heck are they? | | | | a lot of interest for adventure-seeking travelers. |
| Well, all of these terms are used to describe the | | | | Travel literature |
| same thing; a film on travel or a lecture or notes on | | | | Travel literature is travel writing considered to have |
| travel experience. Travelogue as a web term was | | | | value as literature. Travel literature typically records |
| made popular in the late 1990s to describe personal | | | | the people, events, sights and feelings of an author |
| travel websites. Sites such as TravelPod ( allowed | | | | who is touring a foreign place for the pleasure of |
| their online members to post their travel experience. | | | | travel. An individual work is sometimes called a |
| This trend caught on and has snowballed into a | | | | travelogue or itinerary. |
| full-blown genre that is greatly enjoyed by web | | | | To be called literature the work must have a |
| savvy individuals and companies alike.These days, as | | | | coherent narrative, or insights and value, beyond a |
| "blog" has become more of a main stream term, | | | | mere logging of dates and events, such as a diary or |
| these personal travel websites have been slowly | | | | ship's log. Literature that recounts adventure, |
| adopting the term Travel Blog. It's all very confusing | | | | exploration and conquest is often grouped under |
| but the bottom line is that it's all the same. Anyone | | | | travel literature, but it also has its own genre: outdoor |
| who enjoys traveling, learning about new cultures and | | | | literature. These genres will often overlap with no |
| viewing exciting lands can write a travelogue. Some | | | | definitive boundaries. Travel literature is not to be |
| travel writers are people who travel and make their | | | | confused with travel guides which are usually a series |
| living by writing about it. Travelogues have moved on | | | | distributed by a publisher, each dealing with a |
| to new levels and now we are seeing lectures, slide | | | | particular country, city or region. These information |
| shows and even motion pictures describing travels. | | | | and publications are useful for travellers, as they |
| New web technologies have made it possible to put | | | | provide a wealth of information on hotels, |
| Travelogues digital collection into interactive form | | | | restaurants, major sights, travel tips etc. We all know |
| drawing on the cheaply available but advanced | | | | the writings of Michael Palin and the popular Lonely |
| multi-media expertise. | | | | Planet country guides. Writers of these literature are |
| History | | | | often specialists who travel and write these books |
| Since the middle ages, people have kept diary | | | | for a living. |
| entries, travelogues and stories of travelling around | | | | Accounts of personal adventure may also be |
| the globe. Exciting memoirs have been written from | | | | considered as travel literature. Fictional travelogues |
| diaries of people traveling in a variety of different | | | | make up a large proportion of travel literature. Many |
| ways in or through various countries and continents. | | | | "fictional" works of travel literature are based on |
| So travel stories and nicely slanted insights about far | | | | factual journeys. Some of the most interesting |
| flung regions and bemusing cultures have indeed been | | | | imaginary accounts and even highly fantastic journeys |
| around for a long time. Just as the early explorers of | | | | contain factual elements. |
| the new lands packed their compass and telescope | | | | Where |
| to guide them in their quest for adventure, now we | | | | As this genre becomes popular, the need for a place |
| are seeing the modern traveler trekking and climbing | | | | to submit your travelogue for other travelers to read |
| around the world with a laptop and digital camera. | | | | has become a necessity. Some sites are offering |
| For example Dom Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese | | | | free web space for travelers who would like to share |
| explorer, one of the most successful explorers in the | | | | their travel stories while they're on the road. Other |
| European Age of Discovery (1400 AD) and the | | | | sites have guidelines on how to be published on the |
| commander of the first ships to sail directly from | | | | web and learn how to be a worldwide correspondent |
| Europe to India, wrote a lot and his travels were a | | | | for travel sites, media houses and companies. |
| major break through, linking Europe with the new | | | | Some particularly fabulous or horrific experience at an |
| lands. | | | | airport,customs, immigration make useful reading. |
| Modern day travelers derive pleasure from tracing | | | | Others are advise on how best to spend your time |
| the route of the old Voyage of Discovery around | | | | at an airport when traveling. Some sites show you |
| the world. Chronicles of the on-going sailing journey | | | | how to save money and time by staying at an |
| around the globe are big hits with the media.Traveling | | | | heathrow airport hotels. |
| tips and roadside recommendations for crossing | | | | Travelogues are here to stay and soon they will be a |
| continents by car, motorcycle, or bike are exciting | | | | way of life. |