Atlas of the Unexpected

Described as 'one of the country's finest pop culture historians', Travis Elborough is an acclaimed author and social commentator who lives in London. His work delves into the ephemera of retro culture as well as the history of London, geography, and a broad range of other subjects. His Atlas of Vanishing Places won the Illustrated Book of the Year at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards in 2020, and he has also written The Bus We Loved, a passionate love letter to the Routemaster bus which defined London transport for more than 50 years. His other works include A Traveller’s Year, A London Year, The Long-Player Goodbye, Being A Writer and A Walk in the Park: The Life and Times of a People’s Institution. Travis is a regular contributor to Radio 4 and the Guardian, and has penned articles on all aspects of travel and culture, from pirates in the Caribbean to donkeys at the British seaside. He has written for the Times, Sunday Times, New Statesman, BBC History Magazine and Kinfolk among others, and is a visiting lecturer at the University of Westminster, where he teaches creative writing.

Accidental Discoveries



Madeira Archipelago, Atlantic Ocean
Derinkuyu Underground City, Cappadocia, Turkey
Vaseline,Titusville, Pennsylvania, USA
The Dead Sea Scrolls, Qumran, Israel
Cahokia Mounds, Illinois, USA
Pompeii, Naples, Italy
Fly Geyser, Nevada, USA
Galápagos Island, Pacific Ocean

 
Strange Roots



Georgia Colony, Savannah, Georgia, USA
Chemainus, Vancouver Island, Canada
Buzludzha Monument, Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria
Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa
Freshkills Park, New York City, USA
Fort House, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland
Chess City, Elista, Kalmykia, Russia
Fordlândia, Pará, Brazil
Gibsonton, Florida, USA
Nowa Huta, Kraków, Poland

 
Haphazard Destinations



Neft Daşları, Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan
Manshiyat Naser, Cairo, Egypt
Caleta Tortel, Capitán Prat Province, Chile
Jaisalmer Fort, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India
Just Room Enough Island, St Lawrence River, New York, USA
Spiegelhalter Jewellers, London, UK
Monemvasia, Laconia, Greece
Uros Floating Islands, Lake Titicaca, Puno, Peru
Cliff of Bandiagara, Mopti, Mali
Korowai Tree Houses, Kia, Indonesia


Cavernous Locations

Lascaux Caves, Montignac, France
Xuankong Si, Shanxi Province, China
Matmata Village, Matmata, Tunisia
Shell Grotto, Margate, Kent, England
Coober Pedy, South Australia
Movile Cave, Constanța County, Romania
The Petrifying Well, Knareborough, Yorkshire, UK
Aogashima, Philippine Sea, Japan

 
Serendipitous Spaces



Zhangye Danxia Landform, Gansu, China
Slope Point, South Island, New Zealand
Glass Beach, Fort Bragg, California, USA
Lake Hillier, Western Australia
Grüner See, Styria, Austria
Cat Island, Tashirojima, Japan
Grand Tsingy, Melaky, Madagascar
Hitachi Seaside Park, Hitachinaka, Ibaraki, Japan
Canfranc Station, Canfranc, Spain