Lavinia Spalding is the author of Writing Away: A Creative Guide to Awakening the Journal-Writing Traveler, and coauthor of With a Measure of Grace: The Story and Recipes of a Small Town Restaurant. Her work has also appeared in such publications as Sunset Magazine, Yoga Journal, Inkwell, and Post Road Magazine. She grew up in New Hampshire and Flagstaff, Arizona and graduated from the University of Arizona creative writing program. She has kept travel journals throughout thirty countries on five continents, and is the editor of The Best Women's Travel Writing 2011 and The Best Women's Travel Writing 2012.

Introduction by Lavinia Spalding

1. Barren in the Andes - Laura Resau - Ecuador

2. Blot Out - Colleen Kinder - Egypt [first appeared in Creative Nonfiction]

3. The Saffron Rabbit - Amber Kelly-Anderson - Spain

4. Mucking About - Meera Subramanian- India - [first appeared on Gadling.com]

5. Frogging Quintana - Natalie Baszile - Louisiana

6. Remember this Night - Katherine Jamieson - Guyana

7. Dreams from my Father - Apricot Anderson Irving - Haiti - [first appeared in MORE]

8. Half-Baked Decisions - Sarah Katin - Thailand/Vietnam/Laos

9. Connie Britton's Hair - Marcia DeSanctis - Rwanda

10. Trust - Amanda Jones - South Africa

11. Business or Pleasure - Rachel Levin - Canada

12. The Revolution - Sara Menkedick - Mexico [first appeared in Vela Magazine (online)]

13. The Codeine of Jordan - J.S. Brown - Jordan - [first appeared in Bellevue Literary Review]

14. The Black Bitch - Jill Paris - Scotland - [first appeared on Gadling.com]

15. The Women's Sitting Room - Angie Chuang - Afghanistan

16. Eight Million Miles - Jocelyn Edelstein-Brazil

17. The Best Show in Town - Lauren Quinn - Cambodia - [first appeared in Vela]

18. Yanet's Vintage Emporium - Julia Cooke - Cuba - [first appeared in the Paris Review]

19. Fill in the Blanks - Abbie Kozolchyk - Suriname/Paraguay/Guyana/French Guiana

20. In the KISS Navy - Elmo Keep - The Ocean/Bahamas - [first appeared in Men's Style Magazine]

21. To Russia with Love - Deborah Copaken Kogan- Russia - [first appeared in MORE magazine]

22. The Road to Wounded Knee - Jenna Scatena - South Dakota

23. We Wait for the Sun - Carol Beddo - Ethiopia

24. Are you Ready to Walk? - Erin Van Rheenan - Scotland - [first appeared in the L.A. Times]

25. Discovery - Rachel Friedman - Australia - [first appeared in Creative Nonfiction]

26. The Rice Man Cometh - Laura Fraser- Italy - [first appeared in Real Eats]

27. City of Light-Kimberley Lovato - France - [first appeared on Gadling.com]

28. Who Made this Grave - Molly Beer - Mexico - [first appeared in Vela]

Since publishing the original edition of A Woman's World in 1995, Travelers' Tales has been the recognized national leader in women's travel literature, and with the launch of the annual series The Best Travel Writing in 2004, the obvious next step was an annual collection of the best women's travel writing of the year. This title is the ninth in that series-The Best Women's Travel Writing-presenting stimulating, inspiring, and uplifting adventures from women who have traveled to the ends of the earth to discover new places, peoples, and facets of themselves. The common threads connecting these stories are a female perspective and fresh, compelling storytelling to make the reader laugh, weep, wish she were there, or be glad she wasn't. The points of view and perspectives are global, and themes are as eclectic as in all of our books, including stories that encompass spiritual growth, hilarity and misadventure, high adventure, romance, solo journeys, stories of service to humanity, family travel, and encounters with exotic cuisine.