Travel Writing Genre Writing Portfolio

By Mattie Solomon

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Reflection on Practice…………………………………………………………………………………...……...………..3

Introduction to the Texts..……………………………………………………………………………….....…………..5

Meeting the Genre……………………………………………………………………………………………….………... 8

“36 Hours in Kathmandu”………………………………………………………………………..…......…..9

Adapting the Genre ………………………………………………………………………………………...……..……..11

“4 Hours in London”…………………………………………………………………………….….………....11

Subverting the Genre……………………………………………………………………………………….…………....17

“36 Hours in Silver Spring”……………………………………………………………………..………....18

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 One way of understanding the kinds of limitations and struggles of the genre I studied in

my Genre Research Article, was by actually writing and testing out the various voices and

rhetorical techniques found in travel writing. In my research, I pointed to the ways in which

travel writers in T​he New York Times​ column rhetorically distance themselves from the places

that they are writing about. Their audience is introduced to a destination through their point of

view, and specifically through their western viewpoint. While writing these various pieces, I

adhered to that kind of writer/audience relationship as well as subverting it. I believe that this

portfolio not only reflects the kinds of things I pointed to in my research, but also challenged my

own assumptions relating to my research. After doing this detailed and intensive research, I

became very critical of the genre. This kind of intense criticism worked to distance myself from a

genre that I have genuinely loved for a very long time. While it is important to understand the

ways in which genre performs, it is also important to practice and therefore challenge those

assumptions that are seemingly carried out through the genre.

I wanted to embody both a visitor and the local for the excerpts in this portfolio. When I

worked to adhere to the genre, I took on an almost dramatized version of the

othering language that I accounted for in my research. By doing this, I felt as though the

purposeful placement of the kind of othering language I observed in ​The New York Times

column became hyperbolic. At times I worried as though I was being too obvious with this kind

of language and wondered if it sounded true to the genre. This kind of reflection allowed me to

realize the ways that writers can implicitly adhere to the genre’s expectations. Rather than going

through a checklist of points, sometimes the language that seeps into all of these pieces is

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emblematic of a cultural effect.

Then in the texts that I subverted, I wanted to take on the voice of a local in order to

make the texts feel real and authentic to the place. I really enjoyed getting a chance to try out

this voice and in doing so, I noticed the various times that I subconsciously still distanced myself

from the place. Even when I wrote about my home town, Silver Spring, I found it difficult to

exist from the point of view of a local, while still attempting to write a travel piece. Much of what

is assumed in a travel piece is that there is someone who is traveling to a place that is not their

home, and they are therefore writing about it from that kind of cultural distance. This is what is

largely at stake in a travel piece, and this is what was interesting when attempting to subvert the

voice of the articles. I found it difficult because of the inherent quality of travel writing being

about one traveling to a certain location. From writing all of these pieces, I came to understand

that travel writing does not have to be a cut and dry genre, instead it have layers of cultural and

rhetorical implications which ultimately affect each text, each audience, and each location

differently

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 The following texts are representative of the kinds of concerns that I have with the genre

of travel writing. I fear that as we become closer and closer to different cultures through

technology and modern transportation, we become further apart from the less physical

boundaries that are created. I specifically wanted to understand how travel writing articles that

are meant for a western audience create a power imbalance between the cultures they are

writing for versus the cultures they are writing about. From my research, I came away

understanding not only the language they use to create this distance, but also the ways in which

this rhetorically constructed distance affects the relationship between the intended audience and

the cultures that are the subject of these travel articles. The sample texts I include in this

portfolio work to meet the things that I discovered with ​The New York Times​ “36 Hours”

column, adapt to a more literary travel writing narrative, and subvert the kinds of problematic

structures they gold.

In order to meet the norms of this genre, I really wanted to focus in this portfolio on

​ rticle, but also mimic

articles that very closely mimic not only the style of ​The New York Times a

the rhetorical distancing between the western and non-western world that is exhibited in these

articles. The three article title and subheadings I provided for this portion of the portfolio are

“36 Hours in Kathmandu,” “36 Hours in Cape Town,” and “36 Hours in Tulum, Mexico.” In

order to meet the genre, I specifically chose countries that are not in the western world but are

places that those in the western world often like to travel to. Here, I wanted to represent places

that an American audience would not find strange to travel to.

For the subheadings, you can see the way I mimic the language used in ​The New York

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Times ​article when it comes to othering adjectives such as ​authentic a
​ nd ​different. I​ also utilize

language that separates the traveler from the place and the people such as “your own journey,”

and “what ​we ​have become used to seeing.” Later on, I provided a longer excerpt from the article

“36 Hours in Kathmandu,” which provides a more developed example. I wanted to show off the

ways that a literal physical distance from the destination and the local people gives off a

particularly colonial image of travel. In this example, the travel writer recommends walking

away from society and “defeating” it by way of hiking.

With the excerpt in this portfolio that adapts the genre, I was specifically interested in

looking at the ways the language used in ​The New York Times ​column could be extended to a

more literary version of the travel writing genre. I think the sort of otherness that is evident in

these articles is in no way limited to this specific column, so in the short adaptation, I wanted to

explore what a distanced narrative could look like in the form of literary travel narrative. This

piece is more focused on an individual's journey rather than speaking directly to an audience

and this is what allows it to slightly differ from ​The New York Times ​column. One of the things I

think this adaptation asks is “what does it mean for a personal narrative to have this distance?”

In a lot of ways, I think this example justifies the rhetorical distancing when it is placed within

an individual's journey or experience. A traveler can feel apart from the culture, that is natural,

but what becomes problematic with larger publishers when they attempt this kind of a voice

with travel writing is that they are inherently attempting to sell you on a specific place. In my

piece, “4 Hours in London,” there is not selling-point, or marketing lens. Instead it is focused on

the experience of me as an individual. Although it still includes a lot of othering aspects, it does

not boast this hierarchy in any way. What this adaptation proves is the ways in which various

sub-genres of Travel Writing perform in different ways, and it is interesting to therefore look at

the different ways in which each create a problematic distance between the audience and the

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location.

For the subverted examples of the genre, I wanted to explore what travel writing would

look like when written from the voice of a local. This runs very perpendicular to the kinds of

articles that are normally found in the genre because travel writing implies a sort of journey

away from comfort or away from one's home. The three articles titles and subheadings that work

to subvert the genre are “36 Hours in Silver Spring,” “36 Hours in Fanø, Denmark,” and “36

Hours in Trinidad.” For these I really wanted to show ways in which these travel articles could

have a dominant local voice rather than just coming from the perspective of the travel writer.

The “36 Hours in Silver Spring” excerpt came

from my own experience as someone who grew up in that town. What is interesting in this

example specifically are the ways in which I mimicked the kind of language and overall style of

The New York Times ​article. This piece demonstrates the ways in which a local persona can still

comment on and recommend travel itineraries for those interested in going to a specific place.

In some ways, this subversion represents how the recommendation of a local can be even

stronger than those by a professional travel writer. The subversion of these three excerpts come

from the fact that they are written with the dominant voice of a local. Giving the power to the

local and providing a platform for them to speak on behalf of their home disrupts this othering

narrative and disrupts the separation between the audience and the voice of the people from

that location.

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36 Hours in Kathmandu (excerpt below)

Make sure to check out everything that Kathmandu has to offer just before you head out on

your own trekking journey to one of the many nearby climbs.

36 Hours in Tulum, Mexico

Tulum is the secret sister town of Cancun, which has become more well known as its sort of

“hippie-culture” attracts a different kind of tourist. Try out the authentic food scene, visit the

historic Mayan ruins, and follow along as you explore Mexico’s less traveled path.

36 Hours in Cape Town

Welcome to a city that’s urban development will surprise you as it is ever so seamlessly

blended into the astonishing natural surroundings of what we have become used to seeing in

South Africa.

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 ​36 Hours in Kathmandu

Make sure to check out everything that Kathmandu has to offer you just before you

head of on your own trekking journey to any nearby climb.

Saturday

1.) Breakfast with a view

As you prepare for your ascent to one of the many great peaks that Nepal has to offer,

get your bearings in this old city and take in the land you are about to defeat. The day

before your climb, grab some breakfast to-go from Mike’s Breakfast. Here they serve

up American and Mexican style breakfast food and rather than eating that in the

restaurant that is crowded with visitors and locals, head out on a journey to begin to

discover the area. A light option for the morning is the four hundred step hike to the

Swayambhu Temple, or the Monkey Temple. Once you reach this first small discovery,

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 you will be in awe of the landscape that spreads out before you. If you do this on a

clear day, the entire Kathmandu valley becomes visible in one panoramic picture. As

you sit there by yourself, take note of the distance of you and the town just from this

small hike. Imagine what it is like at higher peaks!

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4 Hours in London (excerpt below)

​A subway system unlike anything in America. How a DC Metro expert got lost in a place

where the only reference was a different kind of football.

4 Hours in London

A subway system unlike anything in America. How a DC Metro expert got lost in a

place where the only reference was a different kind of football.

Friday

I checked the blinding fluorescent screen of my phone and stared in disbelief as the

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 time ticked and ticked away. As each minute passed, the weight of my fatigue weighed

on my shoulders more and more. It was 1:30 in the morning, and I was still not where

I needed to be, that is, if I even really knew where that place was. I took my attention

away from the jumbled colored lines zigzagging across a map of the London

Underground, just to take a quick break from my stress. I knew somewhere on the

map there was a path to my unknown destination, but as the lines blurred in and out

of my focus, so too did my reasons for traveling in the first place. People rushed by me

with intense purpose, while I stood there still and without a plan. There I was, alone

and lost in a city that had only known my face for less than three hours.

I was in London in order to meet my best friend who was studying abroad there, but

for the first hours after stepping off the plane, I was a stranger to everything. Growing

up in a city with a metro, I thought I would be able to navigate London’s equivalence

with relative ease. I have traveled alone and am usually pretty capable of finding my

way around…or at least I thought I was. But for some reason, what was supposed to be

quick 40-minute train ride, turned into a much longer stress and anxiety filled saga.

Trying to recall much of this night is hard, but what stands out are some moments

where tension and confusion peaked during my journey through a maze that I felt like

I had no map for.

STANSTED AIRPORT 11:35 PM

I purchased my overly priced train ticket from a stand, which had no human

presence within it, so I was not sure if what I printed out was even what I needed for

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 my trip. Walking onto the platform with the ironically entitled “Express” trains, I

showed my ticket to a man who unquestionably directed me to platform 3. I stepped

onto the train and saw an electric sign that read, “Train departure to Liverpool Station

estimation- 11:45.” I found this odd because the destination on my ticket read

“Tottenham Hale,” instead. I quickly got off the train in order to check with the man

who so assuredly directed me to this specific train. He then bluntly stated, “No more

trains to that destination. You have to transfer to the Underground.”

Going on the London Underground was not in my original plan, so at this

moment panic started to rush inside me. I hear the last call for the train, which was

my only option, and ran back on board.

The doors shut, and then I was stuck. Stuck on a train, which was going to take me to

the wrong place. Stuck without a plan or any clarity on what to do next. Stuck in

London, a city I had never been to before. I took out my phone and tried to decipher

the map of the London Underground on my small pocket-sized screen.

STANSTED EXPRESS 12:50 AM

After getting off the train in the wrong place in London, I bought a

transportation card, determined to find my way. I walk down one of the many levels of

stairs that led me to a never-ending labyrinth of platforms and walkways until I found

a physical map of the Underground. There I stand for what felt like an eternity. I

looked around me to find that no one else looked even remotely as confused as I was

in that moment. Besides, who would choose to take the Underground for the first time

so close to one in the morning?

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 Eventually I decided on a route, except that while I walked towards it, I heard

from someone that that line was closed because it was so late.

Shit. New plan.

LONDON UNDERGROUND ​1:20 ​AM

While in the depths of the Underground, my phone told me that I have no

service, so in the next ten or so minutes, I ran up and down sets of escalators just to

try and get one bar back on my phone. I needed to get in contact with my friend

because at this point I was already forty minutes late from when I was originally

supposed to see her. I just needed to get in contact, but with each step my heart rate

raised, and my breath quickened. Each body on the escalator was almost glued to their

standing position. I rushed by these human statues without any care of my own, or

anyone else’s personal space. Up then down. Down then up, and back again.

There was really no help to be found, and I was desperate for some sort of

expert transit opinion. Still out of breath, I walk up to a man putting up tape

surrounding construction. I tried desperately to grab the stocky middle-aged man’s

attention, but to no avail. Eventually I just blurt out, “Hi I need to get to St. Pancras

station, how do I do that?” The man retorted back something under his breath, and

forgetting I was in London for a second, I was genuinely confused by his accent. I

heard the words come out but had no context to understand him. After multiple

clarifications and attempts to gain his attention, I have a vague sense of what to do

next.

1:45 ​AM

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 At a transfer station I ran to the nearest map just to double and triple check

that I was on the right track, however, while standing there, the lateness of the night

began to set in. I was suddenly aware of how alone I was, and how frankly scared I

was. I was after all a young girl in a new city at definitively late hour.

Just as this crept into my awareness, I noticed out of the corner of my eye an

older gentleman mumbling and walking towards me. As I turned my head, I noticed

how infant like his steps were, and the glossy film that covered his eyes. He looked as

though any more sudden movements would make him puke right then and there. This

was my cue to make it out of there.

2:10 ​AM

After transferring two times already, all that was standing in my way was this

one last train ride. I reached the platform and saw that there was no estimated time of

arrival for the next train. Determined to get on this train, this fact didn’t seem to faze

me. A girl next to me gave up, let out a grunt, and walked to a different platform. I was

still standing. This was the last train, and I was going to get on it!

2:15 ​AM

The estimated time of the next train is 20 minutes. I could wait.

2:20 ​AM

A​ll around me were young British people coming home at the tail end of their

night. With beer and smoke on their breath, their slurred words pass by my

headphones, which I purposefully put on in order to calm me down. Out of my

selective hearing, I could not help but notice the quintessentially British phrases that

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 leapt off their tongues. “Mates…cheers…cheeky,” It was all a little surreal.

As each lingering minute passed, all I could focus on was the stifling heat of the

station. The platform was packed with people awaiting their train, and all of us felt the

similar lethargic feeling after waiting forever for this train. The claustrophobic air

made it hard to imagine that just above us was the cool night air. So close yet

seemingly in another world to me in this late hour.

2:45 ​AM

I bolted out of the train, and up the escalator once I reached my final

destination. When I made it outside of the Underground, I felt like a huge weight had

been lifted off of me. I finally made it. I saw my friend standing around the corner. I

had not seen her in almost 2 months, and I was surprised with my own excitement

upon seeing her in real life. In an almost movie-like and comical way we both ran and

hugged one another. I do not know if I was happier to see her or if I was happier just

to be out of the torture I was just in, but either way, I was in London with my best

friend, and I could finally forget about everything.

We exchanged the classic “I missed you,” and the “How have you been,” and

then she asked me, “Why didn’t you just take an Uber?”

Then I replied, “of course, well that would have been too easy!” We both

laughed and just like that all of what I had just gone through was put into the past.

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36 Hours in Silver Spring (excerpt below)

This Maryland suburb is home to everyone, and it seems that its ranking as the third most

diverse city in the country makes it a pretty cool place to explore when you want to get away

from D.C.

36 Hours in Fanø

An island that seems to come straight from a fairy tale and yes, it’s real! Sitting down with the

woman who runs a farm in Fanø, Denmark.

36 Hours in Trinidad

How to visit Trinidad in 36 hours not from me, but from someone who has spent almost half of

their life growing up in the country known for more than just its annual Carnival festival.

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 36 Hours in Silver Spring

This Maryland suburb is home to everyone, and it seems that its ranking as the third

most diverse city in the country makes it a pretty cool place to explore when you

want to get away from D.C.

Friday

1.) A Local Taste of Ethiopian Coffee

When you want to take a break from exploring this Maryland suburb, one way to get

an inside look at the lives of working people in the area is to pop into a café. By trying

out some of the great cafes that stray from the corporate café image, you get quite a

literal taste of some of the diverse local culture available in this city. One of these

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 amazing spots is Kaldi’s Social House. Located right off of Georgia avenue, this place

becomes an unexpected and energetic gathering of students, friends and colleagues.

Sit down and get comfortable, because at this café, it will be hard to sit alone without

someone by you tricking up a conversation. It’s about community, and it’s about

coffee. All the coffee from Kaldi’s is sourced from Ethiopia, since that is where is

owner and founder emigrated from. He states that in Ethiopia, drinking coffee is a

way of life,​ “​It is a means for people to sit, talk, share, and socialize…it is a means for

people to get together. That’s why it was essential that Kaldi's being a space for

gathering and socializing.”

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