GeoEx’s New Anthology: The Best of Wanderlust

By Don George | October 3, 2022

This is a special time for Geographic Expeditions. As we emerge from the travel hiatus of the past two years and treasured destinations reopen their borders, we at GeoEx are also celebrating our 40th year of sending our cherished travelers, you, around the world on trailblazing, transformative journeys.

Our adventure as a company started with pioneering trips to formerly forbidden regions of Tibet and China in 1982. Over the ensuing years, we orchestrated first journeys to other alluring, unexplored places: the Kangshung Face of Everest, South Georgia Island, the length and breadth of Bhutan, the mountains of northern Myanmar, Kilimanjaro’s Western Breach, new corners of Patagonia, and much more.

Along with these trailblazing efforts, GeoEx 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. Through the years, we infused this same sensibility into our itineraries, newsletters, and blog, Wanderlust: Literary Journeys for the Discerning Traveler.

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.

As GeoEx turns 40, we thought 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 world.

To assemble this collection, I reread the hundreds of evocative stories we have published through the years, then 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, creating a “best of Wanderlust” anthology that includes three stories that will be published in the future on our blog.

Today, I am honored and exhilarated to announce the publication of this celebratory new collection, The Best of Wanderlust: Tales of Wonder & Connection, featuring transporting stories by Pico Iyer, Isabel Allende, Tim Cahill, Anthony Sattin, Stanley Stewart, Sivani Babu, Jeff Greenwald, April Orcutt, Tahir Shah, Jessica Silber, and myself.

Now this collection embarks on its own journey into the wide world. As we send it off, we are suffused with the deepest gratitude for all the great travelers, like you, who have made our 40-year journey possible. Thank you for your decades of passion, support, trust, exuberance, and camaraderie. These truly mean the world to us.

And thank you for taking this anthology into your heart and home. We hope that you’ll savor our world-and-word commemoration, and join us for 40 more years of wanderlust celebration!