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The Best Travel Stories of 2013

Bornholm travel

I launched Perceptive Travel webzine in 2006 and the blog soon after. It’s won a slew of “best travel writing” awards and gotten stories into travel writing anthologies. Each month the webzine publishes interesting narratives from wandering authors as well as reviews of new travel books and world music albums.

In the first month of the year Judith Fein returned with a story about Public Art in the Azores—the islands way off the coast of Portugal. Guidebook author Jessica Lee went exploring the desert of Southern Algeria with the Tuareg people and discovered why a simple piece of cloth is ideal Desert Wear in the Sahara. James Dorsey and his companion delivered some medical supplies in rural China and during the thank-you banquet he finds the rumors are true: they’ll eat just about any Creepy Crawlies in China.

William Caverlee checked out some interesting new travel books and Graham Reid ran down some world music from four continents.

castle Slovakia

In the February issue of Perceptive Travel, we announced our prize for “Best Travel Journalism Site” in the annual awards from the North American Travel Journalists Association. We got the Bronze this time, but first was National Geographic Traveler’s website and I think theirs is actually produced in a real office with a water cooler. (Two of our stories won prizes too.)

Chris Epting had a story on where the Rolling Stones spent their early years while touring around the U.S. David Lee Drotar found the dark side in Costa Rica, looking at what all that tourism and real estate development is doing to howler monkey habitats. I’ve got a piece on a place few people seem to visit, but should get onto their radar: the eastern half of Slovakia.

Susan Griffith highlighted new and noteworthy travel books, including a biography of legendary travel writer and adventurer Redmond O’Hanlon. Laurence Mitchell was back to spin some new world music albums worth checking out from troubled Mali; Persia via India; and Bollywood and Havana via Canada.

In March, Vera Marie Badertscher made her debut with a Tennessee trip to check out the progression of Moonshine in the Smoky Mountains. Darrin DuFord returned with a quest to find seal meat in Montreal, while Luke Armstrong found a day of futility at a Kenyan soccer match with the Prime Minister in attendance.

William Caverlee highlighted new and noteworthy travel books, from the Silk Road to the Appalachian Trail. Graham Reid was back to spin some new world music albums worth checking out from Senegal, Turkey, Portugal, and the world of Samba.

If you take a hit of the April issue, you might reach enlightenment. Or at least be entertained.

We started with a story about an archaeological site in Panama where the caretakers believe it’s really a place the aliens visited way back when. See What to Do About Barriles?

James Dorsey was back with another tale of stumbling into a village in Africa and finding himself the instant elder. He wants to buy a souvenir pipe. They just want him to smoke khat with them. So it’s time for Passing the Pipe in Ethiopia.

Anja Mutic makes her debut with a tale about her first trip to India—and therefore her first impressions—being part of a luxury travel press trip designed to only show the edited version of the country. See India of Light and Darkness.

See the April travel book reviews from Susan Griffith and the April world music reviews from Laurence Mitchell.

Panama travel

I kicked May off with a piece on getting to the roots of good coffee by visiting farms where the beans are grown. Come along for the ride to Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia in Alert in the Americas.

On Ontario’s remote Moose Factory Island, where the Cree First Nation is cautiously courting tourism, Carolyn Heller learned that there’s more to see than the “sights.” See Going Where No Roads Go in Ontario.

Lea Aschkenas headed into the Amazon jungle of Ecuador and fought discomfort and insects to appreciate the teeming life around her.

Graham Reid checked out some new and noteworthy world music: Afro-soul, Indo-jazz, desert blues, and “Autotune goes to Africa.” Travel book reviews from William Caverlee included Encounters from a Kayak, Food Lover’s Guide to the World, and On This Earth, A Shadow Falls.

The June issue saw the return of great author Rory MacLean, drinking for a month solid in a country that would stump a Jeopardy panel: Transnistria. Camille Cusumano was taken aback by a strange man in a public bathing pool in Hawaii who is engulfed by visions and shakes. See An Apocalyptic Vision on the Hippy Side of Hawaii.

Michael Buckley visited Sri Lanka, a country once shunned because of a long-running civil war, and learned that it has the oldest nature reserve in the world. Safari tourism in Sri Lanka is still a mixed bag, but you’re sure to catch plenty of colorful birds and lumbering elephants.

As usual, we also dove into new travel books worth reading, from an idyllic Greek island to the slums of Rio. We also ran down new world music worth spinning, from several continents.

living abroad in the countryside of Portugal

How do you hide a giant lake? Let a water hyacinth run wild, leaving once-blue Lake Victoria in Kenya covered by a carpet of green. Luke Armstrong walked the banks in our July issue, looking for answers in Victoria: The Lake That Wasn’t There.

Clearing out invasive plants is hard enough, but what about clearing out old explosives that have sat in the ground for decades? James Dorsey went out with CNN Hero Ak Ira for a sweaty day of minesweeping in the tropical heat: Soldier and Savior in the Cambodian Minefields.

I spent a blissful week pedaling around the Alentejo region of Portugal this past May, seeing the hills ablaze with color and drinking wine that came from the vineyards we passed. See Wildflowers & Wine: Biking Through Castle Country in Rural Portugal

As usual we highlighted some travel books worth checking out, including Dizzy in Karachi from one of our former award-winning contributors. Graham Reid circled the globe virtual with four new world music albums that came out recently, including a Psychedelic Bollywood anthology.

In August, Professor Samuel Jay Keyser of MIT gave us an odd slice of history about two strange characters adorning the cathedral next to Lake Como in Italy. 

The banana booms and busts in the Americas were especially dramatic in Bocas Town of Panama, once the wealthy center of the action for the sprawling United Fruit Company. Now? It’s back to its natural state of overgrowth and decay. See The Fruit of Empire in the Banana Republics.

Gillian Kendall says don’t believe what you read about smiling locals happy to welcome tourists to their idyllic shores. The local critters in Florida may not be so happy to see them either. See Off the Beaten Path With a Wayward Bat. Plus we had another round of book reviews and music reviews. 

Ethiopia travelSeptember’s issue featured what may be the most unusual travel story you’ll read all year: James Dorsey’s tale of being pinched, kicked, and punched to get photos of the Mursi tribespeople of Ethiopia—while also being hit up for hard currency. Mercy Mursi!

Michael Buckley previously brought us a story on diving with whale sharks in the Philippines. This time he ventured further south to go diving in Timor-Leste, where everyone asked him what charity he works for and his dives are all missing something: big fish.

Judith Fein had a serious distrust of nature when leaving her home in the city, but Ted Turner changed her mind. Well, his 593,000-acre Vermejo Park Ranch did anyway.

As always we ran down some interesting new travel books worth reading or at least knowing about and we’ve featured four world music albums that might catch your interest.

Canada's first capital

In October we traveled to Massachusetts, Ontario, and Uganda, plus we reviewed some noteworthy books and world music.

Becky Garrison checked out her ancestry by visiting the tourist town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, the place where the Mayflower ended its voyage and a good portion of the people on it ended up dying. Her family tree survived and it turns out those branches also extend to George W. Bush. See Exploring My Pilgrim Past at Plymouth.

I headed a bit west of there to Kingston, Ontario. This is a small city with plenty of claims to fame, with its hometown hero being on a national banknote. But you’ve probably never heard of it, eh? See In Canada’s Forgotten First Capital.

Luke Armstrong swore he was not spending any more money on bulky musical instruments…until he saw a goatskin harp for $25 in a Kampala market. But then he had to get it past the pocket-lining Egypt Air manager. See our Goat Skin Harp Uganda story.

swimming with manta rays

In the November issue of Perceptive Travel (when we were crowned with another “best travel writing” award), we journeyed to Japan, the Maldives, and the Peruvian Amazon.

We were happy to have Edward Readicker-Henderson back, spinning a tale that’s strange even by our off-kilter standards, looking back through a warped lens on his time teaching English in Japan. See Osaka in the End.

Michael Buckley has swum with whale sharks and gone paragliding with hawks in Nepal. This time he went Freediving with Manta Rays

James Dorsey has visited all kinds of people who find ways to connect to the world beyond ours. This time he visited a remote village in the Amazon jungle to find the female Shaman of San Regis.

Then we ran down some interesting new travel books you might want to put on your wish list (via William Caverlee) and some notable new world music albums you might find intriguing (via Graham Reid).

In the last issue of the year for Perceptive Travel, I welcomed a neighbor to the ranks and welcomed back a writer who hasn’t appeared for many years. My friend Tony Cohan lives a ten-minute walk from me in Guanajuato, based here after being partly responsible for the expat boom in San Miguel down the road. Back from Bornholm Island, he wrote a story on a part of Denmark that’s quite unknown and has a bit of edge to it. Denmark al Dente.

Robert Reid set off for rural France to walk in the shoes of Robert Louis Stevenson when he wrote the book Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes. There’s a signposted trail to guide travelers trying to find themselves or the meaning of travel. See How to Accept Your Donkey.

Last January I joined the crowds in a much higher tax bracket than me to ski the three elite resorts of Park City, Utah, with a break for snowshoeing, bobsledding, and whiskey. See From Miners to Movie Stars in Park City.

Gillian Kendall took the reins this time on the travel book reviews, with one on chocolate, one on the global making of a coat, and a tame account of tales from a guidebook writer. Laurence Mitchell broke down some new world music albums and notable reissues, from jungle cumbia to Cuban klezmer to Roma rock.

That’s it for the year. Check the home page anytime though for the best travel stories on the internet each month. 

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