Tales Told By Travelers

A million years ago the first human to walk over a hill—and come back—told stories about what he found there. Years went by and people learned to write and draw, and they drew trip reports on cave walls and sent letters to THE SPECTATOR. Those old stories can be hard to find now, but they're still fun to read, and they tell us many things we might otherwise forget. So TravelHistory.org takes you traveling, around the world and back into the past. We present stories of romantic adventure, exploration, people in distant lands—and vacation. Maybe we said, already, that these stories are part of our history, but they've been forgotten in the decades since they were published—lost to view and inaccessible to readers—for whom they are as fascinating now as they were when they first came out. We scan and photograph old magazines and books, and we convert them to HTML and put them up on the web for you to read. We don't charge for this. Click on "Quick Example" in the left column to see just how cool it can be. Click on the illustrations to download clearer versions (bigger files! may take time!). We've put things into different categories; these are explained below. Choose one, and up will come a descriptive list of the articles and features we've got in that category. Or you can just click on one of the links in the upper right of this page, and go directly to one of our newer pieces. You'll see, immediately, how it works—web pages that are set up and laid out like the original pages in the magazine or book they came from, with the original illustrations. You can print out pages or illustrations, use them on your computer, paste them into greeting cards, or link to them. If you click on an illustration your computer will download a higher-resolution version of it. Some of the detail in these old photographs and drawings is just amazing! Check them out. [Warning! Some of these are very big and will take a long time to download through a slow modem.] We have advertisers you should visit, and a little online store were we can supply you with things you need (or at least things you want) when you're traveling—or just thinking about traveling. Quick Start Guide It's easy. Pick a category from the column on the left, and pick an article. Or click one of the links on the right. The article will open up at its first page. If there's more than one page, there will be a "NEXT PAGE" link at the bottom of the first page. If you click an illustration a higher-quality version will generally appear. Some articles have "Notes" or "Links" pages that you can read to find out more about the subject or the author. Check out our "Historic Travel Ads" category, just for fun. Shop at our online travel store, and/or visit our advertisers. We don't charge for anything on this site, so we depend on the generosity of strangers. Just for fun, we publish old travel ads, brochures, guides, maps, and other elements of travel nostalgia that will help you remember your travels—even if you've never actually been there. Let's go! Your categories are EXPLORATION, ADVENTURE, VACATION, PEOPLE AND PLACES, ROUTES AND GUIDES, HISTORIC TRAVEL ADS, and SPECIAL PROJECTS. Have a great trip!