by Don George
“Conquering Half Dome” first appeared in Salon, at www.Salon.com, on July 31, 1999. An online version remains in the Salon archives. Reprinted with permission.
“Impression: Sunrise at Uluru” originally appeared on lonelyplanet.com, May 29, 2001. Reproduced with permission from the Lonely Planet website www.lonelyplanet.com. Copyright © 2001 Lonely Planet.
“Castaway in the Galápagos” originally appeared in Islands, January/February 2004. Copyright © 2004 by Don George.
“Machu Picchu Magic” originally appeared on Gadling.com, September 15, 2010. Copyright © 2010 by Don George.
“A Pilgrim at Stinson Beach” originally appeared on Gadling.com, July 25, 2011. Copyright © 2011 by Don George.
“Japan’s Past Perfect” originally appeared in National Geographic Traveler, January/February 2012. Copyright © 2012 by Don George.
“Home for the Holidays: A Thanksgiving Pilgrimage to Connecticut” originally appeared on AOL Travel, November 27, 2013. Content © AOL Inc. Used with permission.
Part Two: Encounters
“In Love, in Greece, in the Springtime” originally appeared in the San Francisco Examiner, June 21, 1987. Reprinted courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
“A Day in the Life of Dubbo” originally appeared in the San Francisco Examiner, August 14, 1988. Reprinted courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
“A Passage to Pakistan” originally appeared in the San Francisco Examiner, July 22, 1990, July 29, 1990, and August 5, 1990. Reprinted courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
“Insights into Nice at the Musée Matisse” originally appeared in the San Francisco Examiner, August 15, 1993. Reprinted courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
“Treasures of Dubrovnik” originally appeared on lonelyplanet.com, July 17, 2001. Reproduced with permission from the Lonely Planet website www.lonelyplanet.com. Copyright © 2001 Lonely Planet.
“Letters from Jordan” originally appeared on lonelyplanet.com, September 25, 2002 and October 9, 2002. Reproduced with permission from the Lonely Planet website www.lonelyplanet.com. Copyright © 2002 Lonely Planet.
“Baja: Touched by a Whale” originally appeared on AdventureCollection.com, June 1, 2007. Copyright © 2007 by Don George.
“Building Bridges in Mostar” originally appeared on AdventureCollection.com, October 15, 2007. Copyright © 2007 by Don George.
“Into Africa” originally appeared on AdventureCollection.com, October 11, 2008, October 15, 2008, October 19, 2008, October 23, 2008, and October 27, 2008. Copyright © 2008 by Don George.
“Making Roof Tiles in Peru” originally appeared on GeoEx.com, September 24, 2012. Copyright © 2012 by Don George.
“Living-History Lessons in Berlin” originally appeared on NationalGeographic.com, August 5, 2014. Copyright © 2014 by National Geographic Society. Reproduced with permission.
Part Three: Illuminations
“At the Musée d’Orsay” originally appeared in the San Francisco Examiner, September 18, 1988. Reprinted courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
“California Epiphany” originally appeared in the San Francisco Examiner, October 16, 1988. Reprinted courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
“Japanese Wedding” originally appeared in the San Francisco Examiner, October 21, 1990. Reprinted courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
“Prambanan in the Moonlight” originally appeared in the San Francisco Examiner, April 4, 1993. Reprinted courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
“In the Pythion of Time” originally appeared in the San Francisco Examiner, June 27, 1993. Reprinted courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
“Finding Salvation in the South Seas” originally appeared in Islands, December 2005. Copyright © 2005 by Don George.
“The Intricate Weave” originally appeared on GeoEx.com, December 1, 2008. Copyright © 2008 by Don George.
“Unexpected Offerings on a Return to Bali” originally appeared on Gadling.com, November 22, 2012. Copyright © 2012 by Don George.
“Spin the Globe: El Salvador” originally appeared in AFAR, August 2013. Copyright © 2013 by Don George.
“French Connections in Saint-Paul-de-Vence” originally appeared in Northern New England Journey, August 2013. Copyright © 2013 by Don George.
“Piecing Together Puzzles in Cambodia” originally appeared on BBC Travel, January 27, 2015. Copyright © 2015 by BBC Worldwide. Reproduced with permission.
Epilogue
“Travel Writing and the Meaning of Life” originally appeared on Gadling.com, October 21, 2011. Copyright © 2011 by Don George.
About the Author
National Geographic has called Don George “a legendary travel writer and editor,” and he has been lauded as the most influential travel writer and editor of his generation. Don has been exploring new frontiers as an author, editor, and adventurer for almost four decades, and is also an acclaimed teacher, speaker, and tour leader. He has visited more than ninety countries on six continents, has published hundreds of articles in dozens of magazines and newspapers around the world, and regularly speaks and teaches at conferences, campuses, and companies from San Francisco to Singapore to London.
Don’s first job was as Travel Writer and then Travel Editor for the San Francisco Examiner. After fifteen years at the paper, he founded and edited Salon’s groundbreaking Wanderlust travel site, then became Global Travel Editor for Lonely Planet. Don is currently Editor at Large and Columnist for National Geographic Traveler, Special Features Editor for BBC Travel, and editor of GeoEx’s travel blog, Wanderlust: Literary Journeys for the Discerning Traveler.
Don literally wrote the book on travel writing, Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Writing, the bestselling travel writing guide in the world. He has also edited ten award-winning literary travel anthologies, including An Innocent Abroad, Better Than Fiction, and The Kindness of Strangers. Don has received dozens of awards for his writing and editing, including ten Lowell Thomas Awards from the Society of American Travel Writers. He is a highly sought-after keynote speaker and workshop leader, and is interviewed frequently as a travel expert. He also consults nationally and internationally on travel and social media, and hosts a popular national series of onstage conversations with prominent travel writers.
Don is co-founder and host of the award-winning San Francisco-based reading series Weekday Wanderlust, and is co-founder and chairman of the celebrated Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference.
Don grew up in Connecticut, and lived in Paris, Athens, and Tokyo before settling in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife; they have two children. He is a graduate of Princeton University and the Hollins College graduate program in creative writing. His website is www.don-george.com.