For the past ten years, Rolf Potts has taken his keen postmodern travel sensibility into the far reaches of five continents as a travel writer for such prestigious publications as National Geographic Traveler, Salon.com, and The New York Times Magazine. This book documents his boldest, funniest, and most revealing journeys—from getting stranded without water in the Libyan Desert, to crashing the set of a Leonardo DiCaprio movie in Thailand, to learning the secrets of Tantric sex in a dubious Indian ashram.

Marco Polo Didn't Go There is more than just an entertaining journey into fascinating corners of the world. It is a unique window into travel writing, with each chapter containing a "commentary track"—humorous endnotes that reveal the ragged edges behind the experience and creation of each tale. Offbeat and insightful, this book is an engrossing read for students of travel writing as well as armchair wanderers.

"Potts encourages us to think about travel in a way that has been almost lost." —Tim Cahill

"Rolf is one of the sharpest minds among the new generation of travelwriters." —Rick Steves

About the Author

Rolf Potts has reported from more than sixty countries for the likes of Slate.com, National Geographic Traveler, Outside, Condé Nast Traveler, and National Public Radio. His adventures have taken him across six continents, and include piloting a fishing boat 900 miles down the Laotian Mekong, hitchhiking across Eastern Europe, traversing Israel on foot, bicycling across Burma, and driving a Land Rover from Sunnyvale, California to Ushuaia, Argentina. He has won four Lowell Thomas Awards for travel writing, and his essays have appeared in more than twenty literary anthologies. Though he rarely stays in one place for more than a few weeks or months, Potts feels somewhat at home in Bangkok, Cairo, Paris, New Orleans, and north-central Kansas, where he keeps a small farmhouse on thirty acres near his family.

About Travelers' Tales

Travelers' Tales publishes the best in travel, humor, and spiritual writing from world-famous authors and emerging writers. Celebrating 14 years in publishing, the series has won many awards for excellence, including three Lowell Thomas Awards for Best Travel Book, and multiple best book awards from the Independent Publishers Association, ForeWord Magazine, and the Benjamin Franklin Awards.

Travelers' Tales...the Power of a Good Story