Well written travel books like these have helped inspire my own personal travel goals over the years — and will continue to do so.

Through these stories, it shows you how profoundly travel can influence your perception of yourself. Diehl has spent the best part of 10 years exploring the world in countries many Westerners couldn’t even place on a map. The journey helps him find who he really is and what freedom means. This book is a wonderful combination of travel tales, science, data and psychology, mixed in with some of Erics famous sense of humour. In his search for answers, he will teach you the key takeaways from the world’s happiest nations. Along with all the challenges and wonder they experience on the trip, the book takes you on a beautiful, romantic and deeply personal journey of self-discovery. It’s very entertaining and funny, I couldn’t put it down. Chasing dreams is always scary, but usually worth it. For the mystery novel fans out there, The Lost City Of The Monkey God is a fascinating medical mystery, based on a pioneering adventure into the world’s densest jungle. It is believed that this particular jungle holds immense wealth inside, but you will have to find it. The only problem is, Indigenous tribes who fled there have warned that anyone who finds the sacred city will die. The key takeaway from this book is that proper research and planning, along with a willingness to see a culture for what it really is, can save you a fortune. Oh, and don’t hesitate to bargain – just be respectful when you do so.Rachel Friedman’s coming-of-age memoir reminds us to live for the moment. In an effort to prolong “adulting”, the straight-laced good girl surprises everyone when she books a trip to Ireland on a whim. Encouraged by an adventurous Australian, she continues to discover more about herself as she takes a year-long journey that spans three continents.

It won’t tell you exactly how to do it, but gives you ideas and confidence to figure it out for yourself. Many long-term travelers have been inspired by what Rolf talks about, including Tim Ferriss. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to travel more, but thinks they don’t have enough money or time. The thought that exotic travel has to break the bank is an assumption as sad as it is untrue, and long-time travel writer Tim Leffel proves it in The World’s Cheapest Destinations. Active storytelling and honest facts on not only where to go but how to travel once you get there. Learn how to become an expert traveler with my top travel tips to help you save money, stay safe, and more.Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is the first of a hugely popular series of books, which I would recommend to any travel lover. But you don’t have to take my word for it, the first book alone sold around 16 million copies and has been translated into 35 languages. It was love at first sight when Frances Mayes saw Bramasole, an abandoned 200-year-old Tuscan farmhouse. A memoir was born as she bought and restored the villa nestled in five overgrown acres. She brings you right along with her as she tells about the pleasures of her adventure and inspires you to embark on your own unique journey. On The Road is a classic American travel book. It’s the semi-autobiographical story of Sal Paradise (based on Kerouac himself) & Dean Moriarty’s cross-country hitchhiking and train-hopping journey across rural America in the 1940’s.

She does a solid job of discussing the emotional steps involved in her process too. I don’t know how Lauren gets into so many crazy situations on her travels, but they make for a very entertaining read! You have quite some of my favourites listed here. Love EAT PRAY LOVE, Alchemist, Holy cow and seven years of Tibet :) Love With A Chance Of Drowning is the travel memoir of Torre, who reluctantly leaves her corporate lifestyle to live on a sailboat with a man she just met, and their adventure across the South Pacific together. I’ve split the list up into two sections. My favorite travel stories/novels, and the most useful books about how to travel the world. verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ Reading can really take you anywhere, and there’s nothing better than a good book to pass the time on a long flight, road trip, or train ride. So we have compiled a list of some of the best travel books that will keep you company on your journey around the world. In A Sunburned Country follows Bill’s hilarious journey through the sunbaked deserts and endless coastlines of Australia, trying not to get killed by the deadly wildlife. It’s full of fun & interesting facts about the country. Microadventures is an uplifting and original concept evolved out of the travel blogosphere and into a catchy book. Instead of pushing his readers to drop everything and hit the road full-time, Humphreys champions the weekend warrior and after-work types with this one. Written in a rambling diary style, and a bit hard to follow at times, Kerouac takes to the road looking for adventure, sex, drugs, and mischief. A great read for those who would like to escape the real world for a while and just go where the wind blows them. In the summer of 2009, Alain de Botton was appointed as Heathrow’s Writer-in-Residence. Given unprecedented access, de Botton took a hard look at the place where many of us spend hours, but never really take the time to see. He spoke with everyone from travelers to senior executives to the airport chaplain to airline staff. Out of those conversations and his own observations, he compiled an insightful look into the magical and the mundane that creates the life of an airport and the people in it.

Norton accompanies Gethers on filmmaking trips and helps convince the love of his life that he is the one. After years of adventuring the three settle in New York, Norton is one of the city’s most well-traveled felines. Well, that’s it for now. I hope you got some good ideas for travel books to read in 2020! I’ll keep updating this list every year with fresh options. ★ Enjoy This Post? Pin It! Imagine a compilation of the most incredible storytellers and travel photographers all in one book! National Geographic have gathered the best trips from their writers and brought them together to create a journey around the globe. World Travel: An Irreverent Guide’ is a collection of Bourdain’s journeys, injected with his famous frank and honest tone of voice. The book also includes essays written by his friends and family that will bring you even deeper into his stories.Orphaned and raised by English expats, Eliza Sommers grew up in Valparaiso, Chile in the 1840’s. With the help of a friend, Sommers stows away in a ship to follow her lover to California during the Gold Rush of 1849. She finds a life of independence as she meets and begins traveling with a caravan of prostitutes. Chosen for Oprah’s Book Club, we see how her search for love gradually turns into a quest for personal freedom. You get to feel what traveling through 1870’s Europe was like, including the landscape, religion, and the people. Robert & his donkey don’t get along at first, but through trial and error they learn to become travel companions.