When editor Lavinia Spalding started reading submissions for Volume 12 of The Best Women’s Travel Writing (BWTW), forthcoming in October 2020, she couldn’t know that a pandemic was on its way, one that would claim hundreds of thousands of lives and make travel problematic, if not impossible. She also couldn’t anticipate the cultural upheaval and worldwide protests sparked by George Floyd’s death. Travel isn’t exempt from this moment of reckoning. It is inherently political, and moving freely and safely around the world is a privilege not afforded to all.