Can anybody recommend books in genre ‘Travel’.
Can anybody recommend books in genre ‘Travel’. I haven’t read any so far. Would appreciate some suggestions.
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Can anybody recommend books in genre ‘Travel’. I haven’t read any so far. Would appreciate some suggestions.
Are you thinking like Bill Bryson stuff?
Bill Bryson is an excellent starting point! I always have to be careful to put down my book before sipping from a beverage. You never know when he’s going to make you laugh out loud!
I am open to anything related to travel. Do suggest other books as well. Thanks.
I adore Bill Bryson’s books! Even if they do make me look like a mad woman on the train as I desperately try to just not burst out laughing all the time.
@Crysta worth reading then.
Absolutely. The “Bill Bryson Collector’s Edition” might be a good place to start. Lots of short stories and articles he’s written pulled into one book. I have so far loved every book of his I’ve read but I think that one would give you the best sense of if you’ll feel the same.
Yeah, this is a pretty broad topic — are you looking for a specific area, personal experience type stuff, humor writing about travel… that will help. Travel-related books are some of my favorites!
Personal experience type would be great. I would like to know your favourites.
The Roads to Sata: A 2000 Mile Walk Through Japan by Alan Booth. This was written in the late 70s but I just read it recently and found it interesting. It’s the diary of a man from England who walked from the northern part of Japan to the south. He had spent a good part of his life there and he spoke the language but some of the Japanese couldn’t believe he actually understood it. This was interesting and informative.
Live from Jordan: Letters Home from My Journey Through the Middle East by Benjamin Orbach. This book made the Middle East come alive to me. He visits several countries and gets to know the families and their struggles. He doesn’t oversimplify the issues there but he explains some of the reasons — displaced populations and how some people can’t get jobs even though they want to work. The majority of the people he met during his travels were compassionate and hospitable and I enjoyed reading about the different regions.
For lighter travel reading, I liked Backpacked: A Reluctant Trip Across Central America by Catherine Ryan Howard. You may want to read the reviews first to see what you think. Some people didn’t like it. I thought for light reading it was funny and interesting, but it’s been a few years since I’ve read it so I don’t remember it all.
If you like graphic novels, any of the books by Guy Delile are some of my favorites. He writes thoughtful observations about his travels. He is an animator and so his work has taken him to North Korea, China, Burma, and Jerusalem. One of my favorites was Burma Chronicles — he had his wife and young children with him, and he commented on how nobody paid much attention to him and he felt invisible unless he was taking his infant son for a walk and then everyone would talk to the infant, but still ignore him.
A Moveable Feast: Life-Changing Food Adventures From Around the World by Don George.
Any of the books by Maarten J. Troost. I first read The Sex Lives of Cannibals (which, by the way, does not talk about sex — just the year or so that he spent on an atoll in the middle of the ocean, which is really not glamorous at all) He’s very funny and has a way of telling a story.
Lastly, Oaxaca Journal by Oliver Sacks, one of my favorite writers. He was a scientist as well, and this journal is written in such a way that it feels like letters from a friend. It’s about his ten day trip to Mexico to learn about ferns, and I found it very interesting.
Hope I didn’t overwhelm you!
@Mycala not at all.. Thanks for taking time to post so many valuable suggestions. Appreciate it a lot.. ❤️
The Motorcycle Diaries
Book by Che Guevara
Long way down by Ewan McGregor and Charley boorman
Thanks for the reminder about the Motorcycle Diaries! I’ve been meaning to read that for a while.
@Mycala you’re welcome
Yes. I have read Motorcycle Diaries. I even included it in readings for my class. It’s an experience really. Thanks for the other recommendation.
@Trupti my pleasure…
Without Reservations: the Travels of An Independent Woman by Alice Steinbach.
Blue Latitudes was good. The author retraced captain cooks travels
Thanks a lot.. ?
Loved Blue Latitudes! (And Bill Bryson, as mentioned above)
Blue Highways by William Least Moon.
Oh, this is a good one
Thanks.. I will check it out.
As a snarky read, “Roadside America” is a favorite. It’s a real travel guide to weird, obscure tourist traps. The first edition (1986) is funnier and snarkier than the revised edition (which doesn’t have color either).
http://roadsideamerica.com/ is an indispensable travel resource btw
Thanks for the recommendation and the website as well.
Otherwise, I liked PJ O’Rourke’s “Holidays in Hell,” a collection of essays about going to areas of political unrest.
This seems really interesting. Thanks a lot.
The Geography of Bliss and anything by J. Maarten Troost
Thanks., ?
Yearly, Best American Travel essays.. you’ll possibly find familiar writers and likely new ones ..
Paul Theroux, Bill Bryson, and of course Bruce Chatwin
This is really helpful. Thanks.
Check out Paul Theroux’s books.
Thanks. I will for sure. ?
There’s quite a lot of travelling in American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I loved that one!
Yes. It’s on my TBR. Thanks.
Under the Tuscan Sun
Good suggestion. That was a fun read!
I have seen the movie.. Loved it. I bet the book will be great as well. Thanks.
I was just going to recommend this! It’s a great foodie book, too. I was not a fan of the movie.
@Keisla maybe you read the book first. ?
@Trupti yes!
Definitely read the book first!
@Therese unfortunately when I watched the movie I had no idea that it was based on a book.. ☹️
@Trupti I have had that happen to me occasionally, too. Haha!
the Reluctant Tuscan by Phil Doran. DEtour de France by Michael Simkins.. ADventures on the High Teas by Stuart Maconie. 500 Mile Walkies by Mark Wallington. tall Man in a Low Land by Harry Pearson. the Last Grain Race by Eric Newby. I’m Not Eating Any of that Foreign Muck by Brian Thacker. Solomon Time by Wil Randall.
Wow.. Thanks a ton..
Loved the Last Grain Race.
Undress Me In The Temple Of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman
Title sounds intriguing.. Thanks.
I’m enjoying this.
The Travels of Marco Polo
Around Ireland with a fridge and some of Tony Hawks other books are fun
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Read it few years ago. It was good.
Bill Bryson
J. Maarten Troost
For sure! <3 Which was your favorite?
Mycala Worley Torn Between The Sex Lives of Cannibals and Lost on Planet China, though I also liked Getting Stoned with Savages, and Headhunters on My Doorstep. All different, but definitely Troost.
I’ve heard good things about the China book, but haven’t read it yet. Well, if it’s up there at the top of the list for you with Sex Lives than I bet I’ll like that one just as well, too! Thanks for your input!
@Sallie wow!! The books do seem interesting from the titles. Thanks again.
@Trupti Welcome!
@Mycala Welcome! Hope you enjoy.
An oldie-On the Road with Charles Kuralt
What kind of travel? Cruising, adventure, vagabonding, budget?
Any kind of travel story will do.
Cruising the Mediterranean by Al @Lockwood.
I have been enjoying all of the books on walking the Camino lately. Try the one by Shirley MacLaine. Currently I am reading “An Awakening Walk” by Jennifer Johnson.
Thanks. ?
A Million Steps
In 2012, Kurt Koontz, a retired sales executive, set out to walk the 490 miles of the much-traveled Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route in Spain.
Oooo shiny! Thank you! I love books about walking. About 15 years ago I read one about a guy who walked from the southernmost part of South America to the northernmost part of North America. It took him seven years. Ever since then I grab every book on this I can find!
Another one I absolutely adored.
OMG! It’s not too late for me! 😀
Paul Thoreaux
One of the best was “The Walk” a five book series by Richard Paul Evans. He has now started a second series about walking Highway 66.
A Voyage Long And Strange
I just finished one that I really enjoyed called Educating Alice: adventures of a curious woman by Alice Steinbach. She wrote a couple of others that I added to my TBR list.
Travels with Charlie by John Steinbeck
Colin Thubron
River Horse or Blue Highways, both by William Least Heat Moon.
Also good are Walking the Bible and Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths, both by Bruce Feiler.
The Vacationers by Emma Straub
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Mutant message down under
Anything by Bill Bryson
Any of Paul Theroux’s travel books.
Thanks a lot everyone..
YSKOV
Check out the authors Frances Mays and Bill Bryson.
Best American Travel Writing (an annual) … anything by Paul Theroux … I liked Kingdom by the Sea, almost anything by Bill Bryson, esp. A Walk in the Woods; any novel, short story collection, or non-fiction that focuses upon the geographical setting: Poisonwood Bible by Kingsolver and The Thornbirds by McCullough, are great; also Massie’s Nicholas and Alexandra, McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove, almost anything by William Faulkner or James Michener … the resources here are practically endless.
Thanks for the recommendations and perspective. ?
@Trupti …You are welcome, and I forgot the best of them: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig — a book on travel, philosophy and practically everything else.
@Louisa wow!! Thanks for reminding me of this book. I have it and I actually started reading it in 2016 in my advanced stage of pregnancy. After my son’s birth forgot about it completely. This is going to be my next read as soon as I complete A Gentleman in Moscow. Thanks a ton. ❤️❤️
Travel adventure book. Countries are South Africa and London
https://expertvagabond.com/best-travel-books/ These look really good. Are you wanting travel guides or books about people traveling?
I recommend this.. Countries are Chile, Bolivia, Colombia
A.A. Gill does travel writing – give him a go!