When traveling abroad, see the sights, eat the food, take pictures—but don’t forget to read the stories! We’ve selected nine works from our archives to help you dive into literary depictions of some of this summer’s top travel destinations.
Italy
Luigi Pirandello’s “The Jar” tells a hilarious tale of the antics surrounding a broken olive oil jar.
Image: The Colosseum in Rome, Italy. Photo by Dennis van den Worm. Unsplash.
France
An oddball Parisian professor searches for the friend he claims to have murdered in Andre Kaminski’s “The Man in the Travel Trailer.”
Image: Paris, France. Photo by Xavier Nohet. Unsplash.
Spain
Wander in the most beautiful town on the Biscayan Coast in an excerpt from Manuel de Lope’s Iberia.
Image: Market in Barcelona, Spain. Photo by Ja Ma. Unsplash.
Greece
If you want to get to know a city, ask a cab driver to share his stories—as in this excerpt from Ioanna Karystiani’s Suit in the Soil.
Image: Fira, Greece. Photo by Chris Lawton. Unsplash.
Canada
Are you the kind of traveller who spends too much time exploring local bookstores? Lazer Lederhendler shares his favorite bookstore in Canada.
Image: Moraine Lake, Canada. Photo by Ezra Jeffrey. Unsplash.
Ireland
In Juan José Delaney’s “The Two Coins,” a young man corresponds with a woman in Ireland in an attempt to remain connected to his mother’s home country.
Image: Dingle, Ireland. Photo by Ian Schneider. Unsplash.
Cuba
In Eduardo del Llano’s “Swimming Upstream,” a patient proves to his doctor that he’s a real “game-changer.”
Image: Havana, Cuba. Photo by Conor Luddy. Unsplash.
Colombia
An all-transvestite soccer team takes the field in Alberto Salcedo Ramos’s “Queens Football.”
Image: La Chorrera, Colombia. Photo by Dan Gold. Unsplash.
Germany
A German teenager tries to hide his crush in Ronald M. Schernikau’s “Small-town Novella.”
Image: Berlin, Germany. Photo by Fré Sonneveld. Unsplash.
And if the only traveling you’re in the mood for is of the armchair variety, all of these and the rest of the archives work for that, too.