The Best of Wanderlust (A GeoEx eBook)

The Best of Wanderlust

GeoEx at 40: Adventures in the Word & the World

world. To assemble this collection, I had the wonderful task of rereading the hundreds of stories we have published through the years. What a splendid and sentimental journey that was! With so many transporting stories, it was nearly impossible to narrow the selection, but finally, I chose eight pieces that cover the world of GeoEx, from our Tibetan roots to our Patagonian peaks, and that span the literary spectrum, from meditative essay to misadventure tale. To honor our pioneering heritage, we also commissioned new pieces, so that our “best of Wanderlust ” anthology includes three stories that will be published in the future on our blog. Our collection begins with Pico Iyer’s reflections on the meaning of adventure, a radiant rumination that sets the tone and context for the stories that follow. Tim Cahill celebrates the similarities—and differences—that define his two most- loved places. Jessica Silber leads us on a quest into the Congo, where we learn that sometimes what we seek is prelude to even larger discoveries. I journey on a quest of a different kind in Kyoto, along a winding pathway lit and led by the kindness of strangers. Jeff Greenwald and April Orcutt take us back to our Himalayan origins, with two tales that illustrate how the traveler’s table can be unexpectedly turned. Isabel Allende recounts an unforgettably unsettling, and ultimately inspiring, encounter in India, and Tahir Shah relates an equally unforgettable, world-widening odyssey in Morocco. Finally, in our three not-yet-published pieces, Sivani Babu illuminates the unanticipated, life-enhancing angles of Antarctica, Anthony Sattin evokes the time-spanning, and little-touted, archaeological treasures of western Turkey, and Stanley Stewart transports us back to the beginnings of the human journey in Tanzania.

northern Myanmar, Kilimanjaro’s Western Breach, snow leopard haunts in Ladakh, new corners of Patagonia, and much more. (There’s a full list of our historic “firsts” here.) The company also pioneered a conscientious approach to travel, ensuring that every trip was crafted and undertaken with respect, humility, appreciation, and an absolute commitment to be stewards of the planet, preserving and sustaining the peoples and places visited. GeoEx became renowned for building bridges of goodwill, connection, and understanding wherever they went, and their explorations often led to enduring and transforming relationships. Along with these trailblazing efforts, the company also pioneered a new way of presenting itself, producing an annual catalog that combined artful, eye-catching photography with literary writing of the highest quality. These lovingly curated catalogs became cherished keepsakes, displayed on coffee tables alongside glossy art books and favored magazines. The same literary elan that distinguishes the catalog has infused GeoEx’s blog, Wanderlust: Literary Journeys for the Discerning Traveler , since its creation in 2007. In its 15 years, Wanderlust has published many of the finest writers of our age, from Jan Morris and Simon Winchester to Francine Prose and Richard Ford, and it has won numerous awards in the Society of American Travel Writers annual travel journalism competition, the only adventure travel company blog to be so honored. ~~ With all this in mind, we thought that this year, as GeoEx turns 40, a grand and fitting gift to commemorate this milestone would be another pioneering effort: an eBook showcasing some of the finest stories and essays we have published on the Wanderlust blog, pieces that celebrate, as GeoEx has always celebrated, the wonders of the word and the

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