Travel Books – 2008 Review

There’s nothing like a good travel book to transport you to faraway places in between adventures. I have to admit that I read a lot, travel books, fiction, non-fiction, biographies, anthologies you name it. I’m a bookaholic with no chance of recovery.

Here are some of my favorite travel books that I’ve read or rediscovered over the past year. Some new, some older, but all excellent reads. You’ll want to pick up a few of these to stoke your wanderlust as you plan your next trip.

For inspiration & sheer determination…

Back in 6 years: a journey around the planet without leaving the surface is everything, and more, that its title describes. The author, Tony Robinson-Smith, left England in 1993, and, for 6 years, circumnavigated the globe on foot, hitching rides in trucks, cars, jeeps, taking trains, cycling across continents, and in all manner of boats big and small including a traditional Indonesian prahu co-piloted by his future wife. He leaves with his backpack, a world map with his route done up in yellow highlighter and a goal to keep both feet on the ground during his adventure. Through thick and thin and near shipwrecks his perseverance is astounding.

For a laugh…

Chuck Thomson’s Smile When You’re Lying, is a hilarious, biting, cynical look at the travel writing business. Starting with his early years as an ESL teacher in the Japanese countryside right through to his editorial stints with big name publishers, we witness the evolution of a travel writer: the good, the bad and the ugly. Part memoir, part tell-all critique, this is a collection of stories that have never made it into commercial travel publications. If this is just a sample, I hope there’s a sequel!




For women travelers…

Dreaming of East, Western Women and the Exotic Allure of the Orient

by Barbara Hodgson

Beautifully illustrated with photos and engravings, Dreaming of East is a fascinating look at women who traveled to the Middle East during the 18th through to the early 20th centuries. Daring to break social conventions of the day, many of these women discovered that the East offered them freedoms unknown to them in the West at the time. The book is a fascinating look at political, social and cultural issues of those times seen through the eyes of these daring women.


Travel for a cause…

Last Chance to See, Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine

In the late 80′s, long before the eco-tourism boom, a well-known comedic writer and zoologist set off to find and write about some our planet’s most endangered species. Originally a radio series, the book was first published in 1990. Douglas Adams, of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fame, was charged with recording the trips from a non-scientific point of view and the result is a hilarious, eye-opening and touching travelogue.

Their adventure starts off in Madagascar where they go in search of the elusive aye-aye. They skip all over the world from New Zealand, to observe the kakapo, then on the Yangtze River in China to track the remaining baiji dolphins, to name just a few. Reading this book 20 odd years after the fact, I sadly realized that many of the creatures they observed are still struggling to survive, or, as in the case of the Yangtze river dolphin, have all but disappeared.

BBC Two is currently filming a tv series based on the original book and radio show hosted by Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine. A sequel, Last Chance to See – The Return, is slated for publication in October 2009.

For the travel story behind the travel story…

Only in his early thirties, Rolf Potts his already a celebrated, award winning travel writer. His latest book, Marco Polo Didn’t Go There, is a collection of 20 of his brilliant travel short stories that have appeared on the web and in print over the past 10 years. What makes book even more fascinating is the commentary track at the end of each tale. Rarely do readers get to know “the real story behind the story” like they do here. Rolf Pott’s endnotes are interesting tales in their own right and give us a rare glimpse of the crafting of a travel story and insight into the life of a travel writer. A must read for all aspiring travel writers.


Read any good travel books lately? Share your travel must-reads with us below…