The Best Women’s Travel Writing Series

The Best Women's Travel Writing series has long been an essential destination for travel enthusiasts, and much of its heart and vision belongs to Lavinia Spalding, the series editor whose keen eye for powerful storytelling has shaped the collection into the celebrated institution it is today. As Spalding writes in her introduction to the newest volume, "In times of turmoil and despair, it becomes more vital to pay attention to how much there is to live for, and travel for, and stand up for, and the stories in this volume shine light on this." Her editorial vision has made this series a defining voice in travel literature, consistently elevating the experiences and perspectives of female travel writers from every corner of the globe.

Published by Travelers' Tales, a respected name in travel literature with over 100 titles to their credit, the series goes far beyond traditional travelogues. These are deeply personal accounts of growth, challenge, and connection, told by both emerging voices and some of the most acclaimed writers working today.

The Best Women's Travel Writing, Volume 13 — the newest and most anticipated installment in this award-winning series — invites readers to join twenty-seven inspiring and thoughtful writers as they traverse the planet, crisscrossing all seven continents and exploring the ways travel can illuminate, heal, inform, and transform a life. This volume features an extraordinary lineup of contributors, including Roxane Gay, Susan Orlean, Ann Hood, Faith Adiele, and Pier Nirandara, alongside a rich roster of fresh and compelling voices.

The essays probe themes as diverse as their locations, immersing readers in experiences of kindness, adventure, nature, friendship, strength, marriage, motherhood, spirituality, the environment, belonging, healing, history, identity, romance, and resilience. This wide-ranging collection deepens our appreciation for other cultures while affirming that travel can be a profound gateway to connection, self-awareness, and an expanded worldview, exactly what The Best Women's Travel Writing has always promised to deliver.

In Volume 13, readers will embrace contradictions on the late-night tango floors of Argentina, splash toward a sexual awakening in the depths of a French swimming pool, and hike the ups and downs of an active volcano — and a marriage — in Sicily. They'll learn to surf and face cultural stereotypes in Hawaii, experience a different relationship with grief during Day of the Dead in Mexico, uncover the nuances of hair braiding in Nigeria and Morocco, and explore the joys and challenges of motherhood in Qatar's singing sand dunes. And much more.

For readers who fall in love with Volume 13, the earlier books in the collection are an absolute joy to explore. Each volume is its own world; a distinct gathering of female travel writers, destinations, and stories that reflect the moment in which it was written. From the vivid pages of Volume 12, which carries readers from the icy slopes of Kilimanjaro to the vibrant streets of Cuba, to the earliest entries in the series, there is a quiet pleasure in working your way through the collection and discovering how richly and consistently women's travel writing has grown and evolved. Taken together, the volumes form a kind of global tapestry — endlessly varied, deeply human, and always worth revisiting.

Some of the very best in travel writing comes in the form of travel essays. Please feel free to check out other recommendations from Travelreads on the best travel writing collections.