Classic Travel Tales

"Exploring Tahiti" by Charles Darwin, 1835

"Before we laid ourselves down to sleep, the elder Tahitian fell on his knees, and with closed eyes repeated a long prayer in his native tongue."

Oct 11

Richard Henry Dana’s story "Exploring San Diego," 1835

In 1834 Richard Henry Dana Jr. left his studies at Harvard to serve two years as a common sailor—"before the mast"—sailing from Boston, around Cape…

Oct 4

September 2025

"The Fisher-Folk of Taranto" by novelist George Gissing, 1897

"When Plato visited the Schools of Taras, he saw the same brown-legged figures, in much the same garb, gathering their sea-harvest."

Sep 27

"Glorious Denver" by Englishwoman Isabella L. Bird, 1873

"There were ... hundreds of Indians on their small ponies, the men wearing buckskin suits sewn with beads, and red blankets, with faces painted…

Sep 20

“The Pope Serves Dinner” by Charles Dickens, 1845

“One Englishman seemed to have embarked the whole energy of his nature in the determination to discover whether there was any mustard.”

Sep 13

1

“Impressing the Locals” by Charles Darwin, 1832

“Washing my face in the morning caused much speculation at the village of Las Minas.”

Sep 6

August 2025

Richard Henry Dana's story "A Flogging," 1834

In 1834 Richard Henry Dana Jr. left his studies at Harvard College to serve two years as a common sailor—"before the mast"—sailing around Cape Horn to…

Aug 30

"Chamonix, France" by Mark Twain, 1878-1879

"Never did a mountain seem so close; its big sides seemed at one’s very elbow, and its majestic dome ... seemed to be almost over one’s head."

Aug 23

1

"At Peace in the Pacific" by Jack London, 1907

"Time could not have dragged with such wonderful seascapes and cloudscapes—dawns that were like burning imperial cities under rainbows that arched…

Aug 16

2

Robert Louis Stevenson's story "La Fère of Cursed Memory," 1876

In 1876 Robert Louis Stevenson and a friend canoed through Belgium and France, staying in inns in villages along the way.

Aug 9

2

"Crotone, Italy" by novelist George Gissing, 1897

"There was but one vehicle at the station, a shabby, creaking, mud-plastered sort of coach, into which I bundled together with two travellers."

Aug 2

July 2025

"An Awkward Moment" by Nellie Bly, 1889

"The waiter smiled and bowed and translated. I knew he would, and that is why I said it all. Then the little man’s pride melted away, and a smile…

Jul 26