You’ll love these 16 books about travel & self-discovery
The best travel reads fuel the traveler’s desire to wander and learn more about themselves and their world. Here are 16 great books about travel and self-discovery that are currently inspiring me. They’re the perfect books for travel lovers.
If you haven’t read these books yet, I encourage you to pick one up today.
These are awesome books to inspire wanderlust. Whether you’re into reading about solo travel, travel and adventure, nonfiction travel books, or fiction travel books, you’re sure to find something on this list that you’ll love.
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Good books (I mean really good books) don’t just entertain—they broaden you, they make you think, and they take you outside yourself. Books lead you on a journey without leaving your house so to speak.
I love books that not only broaden my mental horizons but also inspire me to pack up and broaden my travel horizons. And isn’t that really what travel is about? Learning more about the world, but firsthand rather than just through others?
So whether you can’t travel for a while or are just looking for some good books to read, here are some of my top recommendations.
When you are ready to travel again, make sure you check out these best books to read on your flight.
Nonfiction travel books
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
You’ll find Eat, Pray, Love on a LOT of top travel book lists for a reason. It’s well-written and absolutely makes you want to jump up from your comfy couch and start packing.
This book made me yearn to be back in Rome. And this was not just a “oh, I’d love to go back to Rome someday,” but a deep longing to be in Rome…like a physical pain almost. I suppose that’s what good travel writing is supposed to do.
- One of the most iconic, beloved, and bestselling books of our time from the bestselling author of City of Girls and Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert
- Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love touched the world and changed countless lives, inspiring and empowering millions of readers to search for their own best selves
- Now, this beloved and iconic book returns in a beautiful 10th anniversary edition, complete with an updated introduction from the author, to launch a whole new generation of fans
The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner
Eric Weiner’s The Geography of Bliss was my introduction to great travel writing. I read this on the recommendation of my mother (thanks, Mom!) who read it when she was in a Borders bookstore book club (remember Borders??).
Weiner, a former NPR foreign correspondent, covers thousands and thousands of miles in search of what it is that makes people happy and makes some surprising discoveries along the way. This book inspired my desire to travel to Iceland long before it was such a hot travel destination. Unfortunately, I have yet to make it to Iceland, but I’ll get there someday.
- Now a new series on Peacock with Rainn Wilson, THE GEOGRAPHY OF BLISS is part travel memoir, part humor, and part twisted self-help guide that takes the viewer across the globe to investigate not what happiness is, but WHERE it is
- Are people in Switzerland happier because it is the most democratic country in the world? Do citizens of Qatar, awash in petrodollars, find joy in all that cash? Is the King of Bhutan a visionary for his initiative to calculate Gross National Happiness? Why is Asheville, North Carolina so damn happy? In a unique mix of travel, psychology, science and humor, Eric Weiner answers those questions and many others, offering travelers of all moods some interesting new ideas for sunnier destinations and dispositions
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
I have to admit that before I picked up Bill Bryson’s In a Sunburned Country, Australia was not really near the top of my travel bucket list. This book changed all that for me. Now, I can’t wait to see Australia for myself.
If you’ve never read any Bill Bryson before, this book is a great place to start. And if you have any kind of sense of humor at all, you will laugh out loud.
Bryson’s descriptions of the places he visits, the people he meets, and how he describes all the terrible and dangerous ways one can die in Australia still make me chuckle when I think about them.
- Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out
- This time in Australia
- His previous excursion along the Appalachian Trail resulted in the sublime national bestseller A Walk in the Woods
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
Think of this as the East Coast version of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild. Just kidding. It’s not that.
Bryson’s classic book about walking the Appalachian Trail (or parts of it), A Walk in the Woods, should really be required reading for American travelers…just because.
I think I had somehow gotten it into my head that the Appalachian Trail, while really really long, was somehow easy to walk. Yeah, I don’t think that anymore. You probably won’t catch me gearing up and heading out on the trail anytime soon, at least partly because this book made Bryson’s experiences on the Trail come quite alive for me.
- NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The classic chronicle of a “terribly misguided and terribly funny” (The Washington Post) hike of the Appalachian Trail, from the author of A Short History of Nearly Everything and The Body “The best way of escaping into nature
- ”—The New York Times Back in America after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine
- The AT offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes—and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Into the Wild is the story of Chris McCandless, who cut ties with his family and took off. Later found dead by a party of moose hunters, this book demonstrates that “striking out on your own” when you really have no idea what you’re doing can and often does have deadly consequences. This is definitely the dark side of going solo and in search of yourself.
- NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt
- McKinley
- Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
If you need more from Krakauer (and who doesn’t need more of that great writing?), then Into Thin Air should also be on your “to-be-read” list. Considered one of the greatest adventure travel books of all time, Into Thin Air tells the story of Jon Krakauer’s experience as a part of a Mt. Everest expedition in May 1996…the deadliest season ever.
Harrowing is the best way to describe this book. I couldn’t put it down.
- #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt
- Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more—including Krakauer’s—in guilt-ridden disarray
- “A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
Frances Mayes’ surprise bestseller about buying and fixing up a Tuscan villa so she could live in Italy part-time while on breaks from her university teaching job should be in every wanderluster’s “to be read” pile. This book was on the New York Times best-seller list for more than two and a half years.
I never read a book that made me want to pick up and move to another country (in this case, Italy) more than Under the Tuscan Sun. Well, Eat Pray Love did also. A lot. Okay, this one is a close second, then.
I think it’s important to point out that the movie Under the Tuscan Sun bears little resemblance to the actual book. So, if you enjoyed the movie, you may be a little surprised if you pick up the book.
- #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The beloved memoir of self-discovery set against the spectacular Tuscan countryside that inspired the major motion picture starring Diane Lane—now in a twentieth-anniversary edition featuring a new afterword “This beautifully written memoir about taking chances, living in Italy, loving a house and, always, the pleasures of food, would make a perfect gift for a loved one
- But it’s so delicious, read it first yourself
- ”—USA Today For more Frances Mayes, including a tour of her now iconic Cortona home, Bramasole, watch PBS’s Dream of Italy: Tuscan Sun Special! More than twenty years ago, Frances Mayes—widely published poet, gourmet cook, and travel writer—introduced readers to a wondrous new world when she bought and restored an abandoned Tuscan villa called Bramasole
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Wild is the story of how Cheryl Strayed took off to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, from the Mojave Desert to Washington State…with no hiking experience. Distraught at the death of her mother (her father left when she was a young child), Strayed set off on an epic journey to find healing for her grief.
- #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again
- A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the CenturyAt twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything
- In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Published posthumously, A Moveable Feast is the memoir of young Ernest Hemingway’s time in Paris as a writer following World War I. It includes his personal memories and stories and features other notable Lost Generation figures like F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and Ford Maddox Ford.
I picked up my copy at Shakespeare and Company on my trip to Paris. I love how the cover of my copy has a photo of Hemingway standing out in front of the original Shakespeare and Company shop.
The Absolute Best Books to Read Before Your Trip to Paris
- Ernest Hemingway’s classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s, now available in a restored edition, includes the original manuscript along with insightful recollections and unfinished sketches
- Published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway’s most enduring works
- Since Hemingway’s personal papers were released in 1979, scholars have examined the changes made to the text before publication
My Life in France by Julia Child
When Julia Child arrived in Paris in 1948 with her husband Paul (who had been sent there by the U.S. State Department), she didn’t know anything about the culture or language. But soon, she was engaging in the culture…and as a result, she discovered her hidden talent for cooking.
My Life in France is the story of Child’s willingness to try new things and stretch herself led directly to her changing the face of cooking in America. Child’s autobiography was used as part of the basis for the film Julie & Julia.
- NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Julia’s story of her transformative years in France in her own words is “captivating
- her marvelously distinctive voice is present on every page
- ” (San Francisco Chronicle)
Fiction travel books
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” — Bilbo Baggins
Not every travel book is a memoir. The ultimate in travel quest literature has to be J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Bilbo’s and Frodo’s journeys changed them forever in ways they could never have imagined if they had stayed quietly at home in their hobbit hole in Hobbiton.
Yes, these are two distinct books, but I don’t think anyone should read one without the other. Tolkien’s books also have the advantage of being great for younger readers as well as adults.
- “In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit
- ” So begins one of the most beloved and delightful tales in the English language
- Set in the imaginary world of Middle-earth, at once a classic myth and a modern fairy tale, J
- Immerse yourself in Middle-earth with J
- R
- R
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
I credit (blame?) this book for fueling my desire to see Florence, Italy, on my first international trip. A Room with a View starts out telling the story of Lucy Honeychurch on a trip to Italy with her spinster cousin Charlotte. While in Florence, Lucy and Charlotte get to know the other English tourists visiting Florence at the same time…and those relationships continue once they return home.
It’s considered one of the finest 20th-century novels in the English language.
In this case, I think the Merchant Ivory film with Helena Bonham Carter and Maggie Smith is an excellent adaptation of a lovely book. Oh, and Daniel Day-Lewis is great, too. (When is he not?)
- Unlock A Room With a ViewEmbark on an unforgettable journey with E
- M
- Forster’s beloved classic, now enriched with more than 700 annotations by author and educator Erica Abbett
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
Around the World in 80 Days (published in 1873) tells the adventure story of Phileas Fogg and his valet as they make their way literally around the world to win a bet. Fogg bets half of his fortune that he can make his way around the world by rail, steamer, and such in just 80 days.
Of course, the two men have many adventures along the way. It’s a great read. By the way, I’ve yet to see a good film adaptation of this wonderful book.
- Around the World in Eighty Days (1873) relates the hair-raising journey made as a wager by the Victorian gentleman Phileas Fogg, who succeeds – but only just! – in circling the globe within eighty days
- The dour Fogg’s obsession with his timetable is complemented by the dynamism and versatility of his French manservant, Passepartout, whose talent for getting into scrapes brings colour and suspense to the race against time
- Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863) was Verne’s first novel
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
On the Road is a classic of beat literature but not a fun read. Nope. But it is essential reading if you’re into travel and American lit…which, fortunately, I am.
On the Road is a fictionalized account of Kerouac’s American road trip travels with Neal Cassady, another major fixture of the Beat Generation. On the Road cemented Kerouac’s standing as THE voice of the Beats.
- The legendary 1951 scroll draft of On the Road, published word for word as Kerouac originally composed it Though Jack Kerouac began thinking about the novel that was to become On the Road as early as 1947, it was not until three weeks in April 1951, in an apartment on West Twentieth Street in Manhattan, that he wrote the first full draft that was satisfactory to him
- Typed out as one long, single-spaced paragraph on eight long sheets of tracing paper that he later taped together to form a 120 foot scroll, this document is among the most significant, celebrated, and provocative artifacts in contemporary American literary history
- It represents the first full expression of Kerouac’s revolutionary aesthetic, the identifiable point at which his thematic vision and narrative voice came together in a sustained burst of creative energy
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift did not intend for Gulliver’s Travels to be merely entertaining, though it definitely is. This book follows Lemuel Gulliver as he explores fantastical lands like Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Luggnagg, and Glubbdubdrib. Considered a masterwork of satire, Gulliver’s Travels often appears on lists of the greatest books of all time.
- Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift, is a classic adventure story that follows the journey of Lemuel Gulliver
- Gulliver’s encounters with the inhabitants of strange lands take him to places beyond his wildest imaginings, and lead to a series of misadventures
- Along the way, he meets some of the most imaginative and fantastical creatures ever written
The bottom line
Reading about travel may not be as good as actually traveling, but a good book can be wonderfully transporting…if you let it. So when you can’t travel, what could be better than a book?
More posts about travel and books
- The best books about the South you should read
- Books about Paris to read before your visit
- Good books to read on an airplane
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