Its National Book Lovers Day; Here Are 6 Travel Books Worth Reading.
Are you looking for a book that will inspire you to hit the open road? To see the world? To quit your job and just run wild? There are so many books out there that will give you the inspiration to do these things!
There are an infinite number of travel-related books, but the ones I’ve compiled for Book Lovers Day are actual stories of travel and not just boring guides with maps and where to go.
1. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
It doesn’t get better than this when it comes to travel books. It’s a travel memoir from the perspective of Elizabeth Gilbert when she divorces her husband and decides to travel the world. She goes to Italy, Bali, and India and does a fantastic job sharing her experiences in each place, no matter how difficult.
This book also includes romance and great little cities you must travel to. This book is one of the main reasons my wife and I decided to move to Bali in 2018 and start our lives as digital nomads, which we’re still doing.
2. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
If there’s one thing I love more than anything, it’s hiking and running on amazing trails around the globe. This book is another memoir but, from the perspective of Cheryl Strayed, who divorces her husband (of course) and sets out to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. This trail is 2,650 and stretches from the California/Mexico border to the Washington/Canada border.
She does a great job explaining what led her to hike the trail, the difficulties and triumphs she faced, and where her life ended after finishing the hike. After reading this book, I was ready to start the PCT the next day! Unfortunately, my wife wasn’t on board, so it was a no-go.
3. In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
If you are looking for the god of travel writing, look no further than Bill Bryson. He’s written all the best travel books ever.
“In a Sunburned Country” is a book about Bill Bryson’s travels across Australia and the people and animals he meets. This book goes in-depth into Australian culture, how kind and witty the people are, and what an isolated yet thriving place Australia is.
If you want to travel to Australia or have an upcoming trip, you need this book. He also describes the wildlife in Australia, which will either excite you to travel here or make you rethink your travel plans.
4. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer
This is one of my favorite books of all time. It’s written by Jon Krakauer about his experience while climbing Mount Everest. It’s an incredible story about his journey and what eventually transpired in the death zone.
If you want a book about adventure that will get you fired up to do the impossible, this might not be the book for you. Don’t get me wrong, his descriptions of Nepal and the people he was climbing with are pure perfection. However, after all of his friends and climbing buddies die, it makes you want to stay home and never leave the house.
5. Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy by Frances Mayes
This is another travel classic. It’s about, you guessed it, a woman who gets divorced and decides to travel. She books a trip to Italy and impulsively buys a house.
The house is in the Tuscan countryside and is a real fixer-upper. So, she hires a team of contractors who aren’t the hardest workers, but she becomes friends with them and helps them renovate her house.
This feel-good book will make you want to move to Italy immediately. She also includes recipes in her book for great Italian food that will leave your mouth watering by the end.
6. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
This is another book by Jon Krakauer that I loved, but this one isn’t autobiographical. It’s about a guy named Christopher McCandless who hitchhikes up to Alaska, finds an abandoned bus to live in the middle of nowhere, and eventually dies from eating toxic seeds.
I won’t lie, it’s a bit frustrating to read because Christoper has no idea what he’s doing. He goes into the Alaskan wilderness to die. He has no outdoor skills, just super full of himself, and obnoxious.
If you’re into Alaska and survival living, you’ll like this book but don’t expect to like Christopher by the end.
7. Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
This book was written in 1872 by Jules Verne. It was originally written in French and has since been translated into almost every language.
It’s about a man named Phileas Fogg who bets one of his friends that he can travel around the world in 80 days. The rest of the book details his trip, the struggles, and the triumph of completing his mission.
Some major cities he travels to include Suez, Bombay, Calcutta, Hong Kong, Yokohama, San Francisco, and New York. You’ll love this book if you are interested in any of these cities or like the idea of speed-traveling the world.
8. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
Can you tell I love to hike? “A Walk in the Woods” is another book by Bill Bryson, but this one is about hiking the Appalachian Trail. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a 2,200-mile hiking trail that starts in Maine and ends in Georgia. However, Bryson only completed about 40% by the end.
It’s one of the most rugged hiking trails in the world and is known for its clouds of mosquitoes that cover your body the entire hike, rocky paths that hiking even a mile on would be considered difficult, and dangerous wildlife like bears, snakes, and coyotes.
This book was also voted the funniest book ever written because of Bryson’s hatred of hiking, Southerners, and the friend he brought along with him. If you love books about hiking as much as I do, this book must be added to your Goodreads “Want to Read” list.
9. The Odyssey by Homer
We all had to read this book in high school, but let’s be honest, did any of us actually read it? It’s much more enjoyable to go back and read as an adult who appreciates travel and the trails you face along the way.
This book was originally written in Greek in the 8th century BC and has since been translated into hundreds of languages. It’s from the perspective of the main character Odysseus, who finished fighting for 10 years in the Trojan War and now has to make the journey back to his home, which also took him 10 years!
This book is good to read if you’re looking forward to returning home from a long vacation, knowing it took Odysseus 10 years to travel a few thousand miles and that it’ll only take 10 hours. It will make you very grateful for modern travel.
10. A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines by Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Bourdain is one of the most beloved travelers in the world. When he passed in 2018, the world mourned his death, especially us travelers. If you want a great read and to remember one of the greats of travel content, look no further than “A Cook’s Tour”. It’s about Bourdain’s experience traveling the world, eating amazing dishes, and meeting incredible people.
One of the greatest things about traveling is experiencing a country’s food. The first thing I do when planning a trip is look up the area’s local dishes and if they look like something I want to try. This heavily influences whether or not I want to travel to that location. If you are like me in this sense, this book about delicious dishes from around the world will give you more places to add to your bucket list.
11. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Published in 1957 this book is about Kerouac (the author) and his friends’ journey across the US. They stop in iconic locations and focus on jazz, adventure, and a little drugs.
Remember, this book was written in the 50s, so it’s not the most politically correct book out there, but you can skip those parts and focus on the travel aspects.
They take buses to San Francisco, Denver, Pittsburgh, New York, New Orleans, and Detroit, and even cross the border to Mexico City. This book has been on many lists of the greatest novels of our time. So, if you want to read a piece of true Americana, this is the book for you.
12. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
Have you always wanted to travel to the Amazon rainforest? If not, “The Lost City of Z” will make you want to! It’s about British explorer Percy Fawcett, who vanished while looking for a lost city in the Amazon.
This book describes the journey that Percy Fawcett and his son took, and how they might have ended up dying.
This book does a great job of getting those adventure juices flowing and will 100% give you the travel bug. I’m not a huge fan of off-the-beaten-path travel, but you’ll love this book if you have an adventurous soul.
13. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
This book is interesting. It’s about an Australian man who escapes from prison and then travels to Bombay, India. This book takes place in the 1980s and is about his stay in India and the crazy things he experiences. From being robbed to living in the slums to being an extra in a few Bollywood movies, this man’s life is as crazy as it comes.
For some reason, prison books interest me. I’ve read multiple books about tourists being imprisoned in foreign countries and the things they have to go through. This book fits in with those books but is focused on evading the police, surviving, and being homeless in a country with problems.
14. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
We’ve got to end this list with yet another Bill Bryson classic, “Notes from a Small Island”. In this book, he talks about how he decides to move from the UK back to the US, but before he does, he wants one more trip around the “small island” (the UK).
Throughout the trip, he used public transport and visited all the major cities in the UK and countless other small towns. He lived in the UK from 1973 until his book was published in 1995, and then headed home to America.
If you are an Anglophile (a person obsessed with England) and want a list of great places to visit and learn about British culture, you need this book. It’s like Bill Bryson’s “Odyssey” as he leaves his 20-year-long life in the UK and returns home.
What Do You Think?
Which of these books is your favorite? Which ones are you planning on reading? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!
