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I checked out the list of winners of the 2009–2010 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition and had fun reading the award-winning articles. A few of them stood out to me, and I’ll share them here. Part of the reason I like them is that they’re not just about travel.

“A Village or a Zoo?” by Amit R. Paley, The Washington Post – This controversial article touches on the intersection of human rights and tourism. The writer only spent a day in the village and can’t come to any definite conclusions, and I like that he left it up in the air.

“The Reluctant Cruisers” by Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune – I think if I went on a cruise, I would have the same reaction. I love that one of the winners in the Marine Travel category of the competition is actually anti-cruising.

Photo by adactio

“Behind the Scenes in Monument Valley” by Tony Perrottet, Smithsonian – This piece explains the history of the first U.S. national park run by an indigenous group—an important milestone, since Native Americans were originally pushed out of many areas of the West to create parks.

I also plan to read two books on the list soon (Travel as a Political Act and Frommer’s 500 Places Where You Can Make a Difference) and review them here.