Bryson Bill - The Best American Travel Writing 2016

Copyright 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Introduction copyright 2016 by Bill Bryson

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ISSN 1530-1516

ISBN 978-0-544-81209-3

e ISBN 978-0-544-81216-1
v1.0816

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White Guy in a Djellaba by Michael Chabon. First published in Bon Apptit, May 2015. Copyright 2015 by Michael Chabon. All rights reserved. Reprinted by arrangement with Mary Evans Inc.

How Can We Find More People Like You? by Sara Corbett. First published in the New York Times Magazine, February 22, 2015. Copyright 2015 by Sara Corbett. Reprinted by permission of Sara Corbett.

The Actual Hollister by Dave Eggers. First published in The New Yorker, July 20, 2015. Copyright 2015 by Dave Eggers. Reprinted by permission of Dave Eggers and The New Yorker.

Rotten Ice: Traveling by Dogsled in the Melting Arctic by Gretel Ehrlich. First published in Harpers Magazine,Small caps April 2015. Copyright 2015 by Harpers Magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduced from the April issue by special permission.

Off Diamond Head by William Finnegan. First published in The New Yorker, June 1, 2015. Copyright 2015 by William Finnegan. Reprinted by permission of William Finnegan.

Climb Every Mountain by Alice Gregory. First published in T Magazine, November 15, 2015. Copyright 2015 by Alice Gregory. Reprinted by permission of Alice Gregory.

The Foreign Spell by Pico Iyer. First published in Laphams Quarterly, Winter 2015. Copyright 2015 by Pico Iyer. Reprinted by permission of Laphams Quarterly.

The Marlboro Men of Chernivtsi by Andrew W. Jones. First published in the Morning News, February 10, 2015. Copyright 2015 by Andrew W. Jones. Reprinted by permission of Andrew W. Jones.

Whats Left Behind by Kea Krause. First published in the Believer, Fall 2015. Copyright 2015 by Kea Krause. Reprinted by permission of Kea Krause.

Hiding from Animals by Helen Macdonald. First published in the New York Times Magazine, July 19, 2015. Copyright 2015 by the New York Times. All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the copyright laws of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this content without express written permission is prohibited.

About Face by Patricia Marx. First published in The New Yorker, March 23, 2015. Copyright 2015 by Patricia Marx. Reprinted by permission of Patricia Marx.

A Cave with a View by D. T. Max. First published in The New Yorker, April 27, 2015. Copyright 2015 by D. T. Max. Reprinted by permission of D. T. Max.

Born to Travel by Freda Moon. First published in AFAR, November/December 2015. Copyright 2015 by Freda Moon. Reprinted by permission of Freda Moon.

The Reddest Carpet by Mitch Moxley. First published in GQ, March 2015. Copyright 2015 by Mitch Moxley. Reprinted by permission of Mitch Moxley.

Growing Old with the Inuit by Justin Nobel. First published in Nowhere, April 2015. Copyright 2015 by Justin Nobel. Reprinted by permission of the author.

The Green Heaven by Stephanie Pearson. First published in Outside, February 2015. Copyright 2015 by Stephanie Pearson. Reprinted by permission of Stephanie Pearson.

Darwins Forgotten World by Tony Perrottet. First published in Smithsonian, January 2015. Copyright 2015 by Tony Perrottet. Reprinted by permission of Smithsonian magazine.

Little Things That Kill You by Steven Rinella. First published in Outside, July 2015. Copyright 2015 by Steven Rinella. Reprinted by permission of Outside magazine/Steven Rinella.

Swiss Dream by David Rowell. First published in the Washington Post Magazine, March 22, 2015. Copyright 2015 by the Washington Post. Reprinted by permission of the Washington Post. Lyrics from Swiss Lady are reprinted by kind permission of Peter Reber, songwriter, and Edition Taurus, music publisher.

Peak Havana by Patrick Symmes. First published in Outside, October 2015. Copyright 2015 by Patrick Symmes. Reprinted by permission of Patrick Symmes.

Fyodors Guide by Jeffrey Tayler. First published in the Atlantic, January/February 2015. Copyright 2015 by Jeffrey Tayler. Reprinted by permission of Jeffrey Tayler.

Return of the Mockingbird by Paul Theroux. First published in Smithsonian, July 2015. Copyright 2015 by Paul Theroux. Reprinted by permission of the Wylie Agency, LLC.

Invisible and Insidious by William T. Vollmann. First published in Harpers Magazine, March 2015. Copyright 2015 by William T. Vollmann. Reprinted by permission of William T. Vollmann.

In Another Country by Thomas Chatterton Williams. First published in Smithsonian Journeys Quarterly, Paris issue, Spring 2015. Copyright 2015 by Thomas Chatterton Williams. Reprinted by permission of Thomas Chatterton Williams.

When I first lived in Italy, and for years afterward, it seemed that many Italians could not pronounce my first name correctly. Even to this day, when I introduce myself as Jason to a non-English-speaking Italian, theres a strong chance he or she will reply, Jackson? Actually, for a long time what many people said was, Jackson? Like Michael Jackson? And they would often raise an eyebrow, and smirk. Some would nod their heads expectantly, as if they were waiting for me to say, Yes, yes. Youve unmasked me. I am actually not a short white guy from New Jersey, but rather I am the King of Pop. Please, allow me to moonwalk for you. In the years since he passed away, the Michael Jackson confusion doesnt happen so much anymore. But until only the past few years, whenever I booked hotel or car rentals, or made dinner reservations, or told my phone number to someone as they typed it into a phone, it was still a 6040 chance that I would be identified as Jackson Wilson.

One night about a decade ago, my friend Daniella and several of her cousins took me to a pizzeria in a village in the province of Cremona. We were looking at a huge chalkboard full of pizza choices. Everyone ordered, and I was taking a little too long with my decision-making, and so they began to fuss in that endearing Italian way. What? You dont see anything you like? Do you need a translation? Should we order for you? Finally, Daniella said, a tad impatiently, If you dont see a pizza you like, theyll make any pizza you want. The waiter, also impatiently, reiterated this.

At that moment, for some reason, my eye lighted on the word Gorgonzola and then the word pear flittered into my brain. Gorgonzola and pears. That sounded good. It didnt seem any stranger than the Hawaii pizza or the Texas BBQ pizza on the chalkboard. And so I verbalized this: May I have my pizza with Gorgonzola and pear?