A big part of any journey is logistics, starting with the preparation of a journey, the journey itself leading finally to the organization of the post-travel experience. This logistics of travel relies to a large extent of the usage of different lists. This paper discusses how different sorts of travel lists evolved, and to do this I turn to three historical types of travel list. First I briefly discuss the role of lists in early modern travel, a time before guidebooks or the modern concept of tourism. This historical account shows us how traveling and the generation of knowledge are intrinsically linked. Then, in the main part of the essay, I discuss different types
of lists in early travel guides (such as Baedeker) as crucial cultural techniques for organizing and navigation. This leads me to a brief discussion of the contemporary usage of user-generated travel lists in social media (such as TripAdvisor). What is common to these heterogeneous lists is that they are not simply neutral instruments; rather, they are logistical techniques for generating knowledge. Analyzing different types of travel lists and their intersections shows that different imaginaries of space and time emerge; notably it helps us to understand how travel lists have become tools of valuation.

EB00000003140K

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