travel books

10 Best Travel Books to Inspire the Wanderer in You

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Do you love reading travel books? Well, we’ve listed here ten of the best travel books to spark your inner wanderlust.

Books have this ability to transport you to places without moving your feet, to experience and feel thousands of emotions just by reading. 

Before travel, books were my key to the world outside my safe little bubble. It was like my peephole to foreign places, countries, and cultures that I can’t physically visit as a child.

Now that I can travel and see this world with my own two feet and two eyes, certain novels never failed to sway me to travel again. Rereading them ignites my wanderlust again and again and again.

If you are looking for some great reads, here is my current list of the best travel books to inspire you to pack up and go.

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The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Alchemist follows the story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy, who travels from Spain to Egypt in search of a treasure. However, on his adventure, he learns about the meaning of life and finds himself instead.

One of the most read books in recent history, the Alchemist teaches valuable lessons behind the entertaining stories. It inspires courage, chasing your dreams, and finding yourself.

The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton

The Art of Travel is a philosophical look at the ubiquitous but peculiar activity of traveling for pleasure with thoughts on airports, landscapes, museums, holiday romances, photographs, and exotic carpets. It dares to ask what the point of travel might be and suggests how we could be less miserable on our journeys.

This book serves as a reminder of the how and why of travel, to never lose sight of the purpose of travel. Bringing the book of The Art of Travel is like having a travel companion that pokes you and tells you to open your eyes and see.

The Cat Who Went to Paris by Peter Gethers

Follow one of the most traveled felines, Norton, and the cat-hater Peter Gethers as their adventures to Paris, Fire Island, and in the subways of Manhattan took on the color of legend and mutual love.

This book proves that sometimes all it takes is personality and paws to survive many common travel situations. And if you need a bit of convincing of the life-changing world of travel, then this book is undoubtedly for you.

Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

Rolf spent ten years on the road and documents it in his book, Vagabonding. He gives the readers a thoughtful and interesting look at long term travel based on his personal experiences. He provides the necessary information on travel essentials like financing travel time and adjusting to life on the road.

Vagabonding refers to the act of taking time off from your normal life for an extended time to discover and experience the world on your terms. For people who are interested in traveling long-time but thinks they don’t have enough money or time, grab this book. It might change your mindset towards money and travel as it did for us.

Travel as Transformation by Gregory V. Diehl

Travel as Transformation takes you with Diehl on his journey from living in a van on the streets of San Diego, to growing chocolate with indigenous tribes in Central America, to teaching in the Middle East and volunteering in Africa.

Learn how travel can influence your perception of yourself through Diehl’s worldly and unconventional travels. Dive into this book if you are looking for inspiration on finding yourself through travel.

How Not to Travel the World by Lauren Juliff

Before traveling, Lauren Juliff has no life experience, no common sense, and had never eaten rice. In other words, she lived a somewhat sheltered life. Follow her adventures in the book How Not to Travel the World as she documents how over the space of a year, she was scammed and assaulted, lost teeth, and swallowed a cockroach – the fears of every first-time traveler.

Learn how to overcome your fear and anxiety and experience the world of travel through Lauren’s misadventures on How Not to Travel the World.

Finding Gobi by Dion Leonard

Finding Gobi follows Dion Leonard as he participates in a 150-mile race across China’s Gobi Desert where he found a stray dog who kept up with him step for step. Over the course of the race, Dion becomes very attached to the stray and ends up calling her Gobi.

People who love their felines and travel will surely relate to this book. It represents the incredible connection between a human and a dog, the resilience whatever come both your ways and proving once again, that dog really is man’s best friend.

 

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

In this autobiography, Elizabeth Gilbert writes about her travels around the world after an existential crisis, a nasty divorce, and a love affair that didn’t end well. First, she went to Italy for the food (eat), to India for meditation and yoga (pray), and last to Indonesia where she meets someone (love).

Travel can be seen as stepping out of your comfort zone, taking a chance, or discovering what you want in life. These are what this book is all about –traveling, healing, and all the in-betweens.

How to Travel the World on $50 a Day by Matt Kepnes

How to Travel the World on $50 a Day reveals how to travel without breaking your bank. In his book, Matt Kepnes aka Nomadic Matt reveals his tips, tricks, and secrets to comfortable budget travel based on his experiences traveling the world without giving up the comforts he enjoys.

For those thinking of traveling to a foreign land on a limited budget, grab this book and find out how far $50 can take you.

Love With a Chance of Drowning by Torre DeRoche

A book written by travel blogger Torre DeRoche, Love with a Chance of Drowning is about her adventures with her boyfriend across the Pacific Ocean despite her morbid fear of deep water. Think joy, love, courage, dolphins, whale, islands and the most beautiful scenery.

Read this, and surely you want to experience the magic of the sea and go on an adventure yourself.

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Books about travel can undoubtedly inspire us to go off far off lands and have the adventure of our life. I hope these travel books inspire you to travel and feed your wanderlust.


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