Genre
Travel & Nature: Short Stories to Read
Travel and nature lead outward – to distant places, quiet landscapes, and wonder at the world outside. On Fireside you'll find travel and nature stories by real authors who look closely where others walk past. Read the latest travel and nature stories for free.
Latest Travel & Nature stories
Rotterdam
by Pieter
Pieter defends Rotterdam against its reputation. No medieval centre, no canals — all true. But: most interesting skyline in the Netherlands, water on three sides, afternoon light. Everyone who expected nothing goes home with photographs.
Three Frites
by Paul
Belgian frites are fried twice. That's not a detail. Paul has explained this to many people. What he's learned: the frite isn't the point. Belgians are quietly certain about a few things. The third anecdote is too Belgian to explain. You'd have to be here.
48 Hours
by Lars
Lars sails alone for two days into the Sognefjord. On the second morning he stops seeing the fjord as scenery. After thirty hours the thoughts go quiet. He sells the boat in October. He should have kept it.
Before the Storm
by JeanPierre
Jean-Pierre describes the smell that comes forty minutes before a storm reaches the vineyard. He walks the rows then — not to do anything, but because it seems polite to be there.
Northern Lights
by Helga
Helga has seen the northern lights around two hundred times. Do you get used to them? Not entirely. You get used to the fact of them. But when you properly look — the green, the movement — you still have no category for it. After two hundred times, still not.
Things About Sheep
by FionaMacAllister
Fiona lists things about sheep — their blind persistence, their absurd fears, their unexpected devotion as mothers. Ends with: I still can't tell you if I like them. I'm not sure that's the point.
The Danube
by Eszter
The Danube in Budapest is wider than expected, never quite blue. It explains why Budapest is where it is. Eszter walks along it in evenings. The river moves south toward the sea, unconcerned with either bank. She finds this comforting in a way that probably says something about her.
Gerald
by ErikL
An elk has been ignoring all deterrents in Erik's territory for three years. Erik names him Gerald. The last sentence explains the resolution.
Age
by ErikL
Erik explains how to read a spruce's age from its bark. On a school forest walk a girl says exactly what he could never put into words.
The Storm
by ErikL
An autumn storm brings down a third of Erik's forest section. He walks the damage alone. A birch that held everything gives him no explanation. Three words with his wife that evening.
February
by Diane
Québec in February: tourists gone, city contracts. Icy streets, wind off the St. Lawrence. The Château Frontenac looks built for exactly this. The cold arrives with intention. Diane has missed it every summer since she was twenty — which suggests something about her she hasn't fully examined.
Frequently asked questions
What is Travel & Nature about?
Places, landscapes and the experience of being elsewhere or outdoors. Good travel and nature writing takes you to a place – with all your senses.
What makes good travel and nature writing?
Precise observation and a real feel for place. More than a diary: it conjures a landscape and the sense of being on the move.
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