As the preceding chapter demonstrated, travel abroad played a significant role in transforming May Alcott Nieriker both personally and professionally. But it likely wasn't an easy journey for her as a traveler who often was by herself, and who was female. There were no mentors to ease her path, no guidebook that specifically addressed her needs as an American art student living for months at a time in London and Paris. Aware of this literary gap, and wanting to make the path smoother for those artists (especially female) who would come after her, Alcott Nieriker took time away from her art studies to write at least five newspaper articles, a 309-page book manuscript, a 79-page guidebook, and countless letters between 1870 and 1879. All of these works deal with aspects of travel or culture in Europe, based on her own experiences. As the Alcott family member who seemed least inclined to verbally commit her thoughts onto paper, it seems rather surprising that she would have done more than write occasional letters to her family or friends.

Yet because of her transformative travel experiences and altruistic desire to help other female artists, Alcott Nieriker wrote extensively, enthusiastically, and with notable success: at least four of the newspaper articles were published, as was her guidebook, Studying Art Abroad. In this chapter I will for the first time extensively consider Alcott Nieriker's travel writing in its wide range of formats, including personal letters, newspaper articles, a “carpet-bag” literary manuscript, and a guidebook. Her content was also quite diverse, and included adventure narratives (both in natural and urban settings), description of sights, travel advice, art criticism, and commentary on women's rights. However, amid this seeming eclecticism in her travel writing, Alcott Nieriker's primary goal was consistent: to encourage and empower other middle-class women to “take heart” and travel abroad on their own in order to pursue an advanced art career. In this regard I will also consider how May Alcott Nieriker's impassioned, no-nonsense, and critically minded voice contributed to the genre of nineteenth-century American travel writing.