The "guerillatraveler" notion came to William Roderick Richardson in Green's Hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan in November of 2001, two months after the World Trade Center attacks. It was a weird time. In conversation with Alyssa Banta, a New York Times photographer at the time, and a fine entrepreneurial bohemian, she and I decided that we reporters were all guerillatravelers (except maybe Geraldo Rivera). We were traveling light in dangerous circumstances.
A guerillatraveler or GT is a modern bohemian who lives an unconventional lifestyle.
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits. In this context, Bohemians can be wanderers, adventurers, or vagabonds.
This use of the word bohemian first appeared in the English language in the 19th century[ to describe the non-traditional lifestyles of marginalized and impoverished artists, writers, journalists, musicians, and actors in major European cities. Bohemians were associated with unorthodox or anti-establishment political or social viewpoints, which were often expressed through free love, frugality, and voluntary poverty.
The term Bohemianism emerged in
Francein the early 19th century when artists and creators began to concentrate in the lower-rent, lower class
gypsyneighborhoods. Bohémien was a common term for the
Romani people of France, who had reached Western Europe via
Bohemia.
Guerillatravelers go further in experiencing what is different from ordinary life.
"Some travel writers live the life of luxury laying back in five-star hotels with a Magarita at their side while they pontificate about the world. But that isn't how interesting stories are found. Getting good stories needs writers who are willing to put themselves into the firing line, quite literally in some cases. WRR is one of those writers. The self-styled "Guerilla Traveler" lives his life "on the road" and this book is a selection of postcards sent from that destination. Places as diverse as the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, a tropical island off the coast of Brazil, and an English cricket match. Other writers want to get the story. Richardson wants to be the story. Not that there is anything wrong with that, his views on the world are usually rather entertaining and he does know when to let the story take center stage. Some people will doubtless be put off by the slightly Smart Alec approach. The simple fact is that the author most probably is smarter than most of his readers . . . This is a book which you should really get your hands on. For all of its stylistic failings, it is well worth reading, even if it does take a good thirty pages to hit its stride. As you go further it gets better with the best (of the writing, the author and the stories) saved for last. "
Wik (Warsaw and Culture) magazine
"William Roderick Richardson tells it like it is. He does not write from the couch, and he does not get his ideas from the local book club or late-night television shows. He lives hard, writes hard--and is sometimes outrageous and often brilliant. But in a world full of travel writers who should probably just go back to selling insurance, it is refreshing to read someone whose last story may actually be his last story. I believe that is how it is supposed to be, and this is where Richardson undoubtedly excels."
Preston Smith, editor of Poland Monthly magazine
It's a different voice with a different message. There is a great deal of new material on guerillatraveler (more than 1 million google references) now. Follow the blog--one of the best on the Net and read entertaining as well as thought-provoking stories. High Quality writing and fresh viewpoints are guerillatraveler. Guerillatraveler goes everywhere. Why do we do it? "Because it's there" is the GT motto. Nowadays we are all "guerillatravelers," the concept which WRR originated in Green's Hotel in Peshawar in November 2001 in a most uncertain world. Would that the world were more certain now, but it hardly seems to be. A guerillatraveler travels for the sheer pleasure of it with a spirit of adventure and a sense of exciting and desire to explore the unknown. The way we live now is more precarious than ever. The future is uncertain in all of its aspects. Today we are facing unprecendented problems. Frightening events seems to be encroaching on every front. Without doubt we are headed into a new age. The crises we face in climate change, disease, resource depletion along with rapidly increasing population, terrorism, civil wars, financial disasater and ever-increasing FEAR of what the future holds. Do we know too much or too little? The coming years hold challenges beyond imagination. The choices that are made now will decide our destiny for the coming centuries. There is an unparalleled sense of urgency. Yet we have no choice but to move forward. Let our individual actions each be a part of the solution. Institutions may have taken on a life of their own, yet we still hold the key individually and through positive combination to face down and conquer our fears. The future is not out there somewhere beyond. The future is now. And we are all in that sense guerillatravelers on the cusp of the unknown. We are all in this together. WISH YOU WERE HERE published in English and Polish in the same cover with a free CD bonus track to listen to while you read. You've never read anything like this collection of GUERILLA TRAVELER adventures on the road from Afghanistan to England, from the Amazon to Petra, from eastern Europe to England and many other places. A collection of 14 stories previously published multiple times in various international papers and magazines in ten different countries.