Why do I travel? Why does anyone of us travel? Bill Bryson poses these questions in his introduction to The Best American Travel Writing 2016, and though he admits, "I wasn't at all sure I knew the answer," they are questions worthy of examination. While the various contributors to this collection all travel for different reasons, one thing is for certain--they come back with stories. Whether traversing the Arctic by dogsled, attending a surreal film festival in North Korea, or strolling the streets of a fast-changing Havana, their insights into the world and the human condition...

He stayed out of the spotlight, but Leafs fans know J.P. Bickell cast a long shadow.

A self-made mining magnate and the man who kept the Maple Leafs in Toronto and financed Maple Leaf Gardens, J.P. Bickell lived an extraordinary and purposeful life. As one of the most important industrialists in Canadian history, Bickell left his mark on communities across the nation. He was a cornerstone of the Toronto Maple Leafs, which awards the J.P. Bickell Memorial Award in his honour to recognize outstanding service to the organization. He was also a giant of Canadian industry, and one...

-The Best American Travel Writing has been the gold standard for short-form travel writing from newspapers, magazines, and the Internet since its inception.- --New York Times Book Review

Everyone travels for different reasons, but whatever those reasons are, one thing is certain--they come back with stories. Each year, the best of those stories are collected in The Best American Travel Writing, curated by one of the top writers in the field, and each year they -open a window onto the strange, seedy and beautiful world, offering readers glimpses into...