Atlas of the Unexpected

"Travis Elborough writes about a wide range of subjects with originality, learning and charm. Atlas of the Unexpected...is seductively beautiful: an inspiring, dream-inducing guide to almost four dozen "haphazard discoveries, chance places and unimaginable destinations"..." David Kynaston, New Statesman best books of 2018 -- David Kynaston * New Statesman * "British author Travis Elborough's new Atlas of the Unexpected: Haphazard Discoveries, Chance Places and Unimaginable Destinations features dozens of locations with potential to excite the interest of even the most jaded traveller....the writer's nose for detail and knack for storytelling make for first-class armchair travel." * South China Morning Post *

Described as 'one of the country's finest pop culture historians', Travis Elborough is an acclaimed author and social commentator who lives in London. His work delves into the ephemera of retro culture as well as the history of London, geography, and a broad range of other subjects. His Atlas of Vanishing Places won the Illustrated Book of the Year at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards in 2020, and he has also written The Bus We Loved, a passionate love letter to the Routemaster bus which defined London transport for more than 50 years. His other works include A Traveller's Year, A London Year, The Long-Player Goodbye, Being A Writer and A Walk in the Park: The Life and Times of a People's Institution. Travis is a regular contributor to Radio 4 and the Guardian, and has penned articles on all aspects of travel and culture, from pirates in the Caribbean to donkeys at the British seaside. He has written for the Times, Sunday Times, New Statesman, BBC History Magazine and Kinfolk among others, and is a visiting lecturer at the University of Westminster, where he teaches creative writing.

Accidental Discoveries Madeira Archipelago, Atlantic Ocean Derinkuyu Underground City, Cappadocia, Turkey Vaseline,Titusville, Pennsylvania, USA The Dead Sea Scrolls, Qumran, Israel Cahokia Mounds, Illinois, USA Pompeii, Naples, Italy Fly Geyser, Nevada, USA Galapagos Island, Pacific Ocean Strange Roots Georgia Colony, Savannah, Georgia, USA Chemainus, Vancouver Island, Canada Buzludzha Monument, Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa Freshkills Park, New York City, USA Fort House, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland Chess City, Elista, Kalmykia, Russia Fordlandia, Para, Brazil Gibsonton, Florida, USA Nowa Huta, Krakow, Poland Haphazard Destinations Neft Daslari, Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan Manshiyat Naser, Cairo, Egypt Caleta Tortel, Capitan Prat Province, Chile Jaisalmer Fort, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India Just Room Enough Island, St Lawrence River, New York, USA Spiegelhalter Jewellers, London, UK Monemvasia, Laconia, Greece Uros Floating Islands, Lake Titicaca, Puno, Peru Cliff of Bandiagara, Mopti, Mali Korowai Tree Houses, Kia, Indonesia Cavernous Locations Lascaux Caves, Montignac, France Xuankong Si, Shanxi Province, China Matmata Village, Matmata, Tunisia Shell Grotto, Margate, Kent, England Coober Pedy, South Australia Movile Cave, Constanta County, Romania The Petrifying Well, Knareborough, Yorkshire, UK Aogashima, Philippine Sea, Japan Serendipitous Spaces Zhangye Danxia Landform, Gansu, China Slope Point, South Island, New Zealand Glass Beach, Fort Bragg, California, USA Lake Hillier, Western Australia Gruner See, Styria, Austria Cat Island, Tashirojima, Japan Grand Tsingy, Melaky, Madagascar Hitachi Seaside Park, Hitachinaka, Ibaraki, Japan Canfranc Station, Canfranc, Spain