Early travel writing? Free to engage in surreal tripping (5,5)
I believe the answer is:
rural rides
'early travel writing?' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.
'free to engage in surreal tripping' is the wordplay.
'free' becomes 'rid' (to be free of something is to be rid of it).
'to engage in' indicates putting letters inside.
'tripping' indicates anagramming the letters.
'surreal' is an anagram of 'rurales'.
'rid' inserted inside 'rurales' is 'RURAL RIDES'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rural rides that I've seen before include "travel book" , "Cobbett book" , "Essays" .)