Although I will admit that traveling makes me a little more anxious than normal, it seems to give me a creative boost in my writing. Last year I was inspired to write a fantasy piece about what it would be like to travel with Jason Bourne in Europe.

Last fall a road trip from Springfield (IL) to Atlanta with my longtime friend Steve provided me opportunity to think about what kind of guide I could be myself.

The result is an “Historical Guide to Guides” which appears on the homepage of the Tropics of Meta (ToM) website. The piece is part ode and part caveat to the different types of tour guides you may encounter the next time you travel.

(I pleased that this is my 11th essay for ToM and now I have graduated to Senior Writer status. It’s a pleasure writing for the encouraging editors and the discriminating readers of ToM.)