25 Travel Books in Time for the Holidays

Posted on December 15, 2014 by lesleycarter

With a travel book in hand, you can experience a new culture or a new land while seeing it through the eyes of another. The only thing better would be to experience it for yourself. Until you can explore the vast corners of this world, here’s a list of 25 travel books, in no particular order, to take you there. With Amazon’s quick shipping options, you could have a few new stocking suffers in time for Christmas.

1. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
2. Tracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback by Robyn Davidson
3. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
4. The Beach by Alex Garland
5. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
6. Travels With Casey by Benoit Denizet-Lewis
7. Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
8. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe by Christopher McDougall
9. In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
10. The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner
11. Once In A Lifetime Trips by Chris Santella
12. Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks
13. The Longest Way Home by Andrew McCarthy
14. The World Atlas of Beer: The Essential Guide to the Beers of the World by Tim Webb
15. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
16. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
17. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
18. The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost by Rachel Friedman
19. Unlikely Destinations: The Lonely Planet Story by Tony Wheeler
20. World’s Best Travel Experiences: 400 Extraordinary Places by National Geographic
21. Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2015 by Lonely Planet
22. Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? by Thomas Kohnstamm
23. Four Corners: Into the Heart of New Guinea-One Woman’s Solo Journey by Kira Salak
24. Into the Wild by John Krakauer
25. World’s Best Cities: Celebrating 220 Great Destinations by National Geographic

Which of your favorites have I missed? Please share and bring us to new lands.

39 thoughts on “25 Travel Books in Time for the Holidays”

smmartwerkz on December 15, 2014 at 12:51 pm said:

Great list, here are some favorite additions… Kingdom by the Sea by Paul Theroux, Lost Horizon by James Hilton, Seven Year in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer, oh, how the written word inspires.

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- lesleycarter on December 17, 2014 at 9:02 am said:
  
  Others have recommended Seven Years in Tibet as well. It’s a movie too, right? Regardless, I haven’t experienced either. Maybe I’ll add that to my own Christmas list. 🙂
  
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bucketlistandbarefoot on December 15, 2014 at 12:53 pm said:

shared

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shawn on December 15, 2014 at 1:01 pm said:

Great list! Thanks for sharing it! I tweeted it! I always love a little inspiration as I start looking for places to go over the next couple of years!

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- lesleycarter on December 17, 2014 at 9:03 am said:
  
  Do you have a current list or an up-coming trip planned for 2015? What tops your list?
  
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  - shawn on December 17, 2014 at 12:58 pm said:
    
    Heading thru the Panama Canal and Machu Pichu
    
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bucketlistandbarefoot on December 15, 2014 at 1:07 pm said:

Super excited for when mine comes out!

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A. Blake on December 15, 2014 at 1:14 pm said:

Read on my friend and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

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Let's CUT the Crap! on December 15, 2014 at 1:38 pm said:

Fantastic list. I’ve only read three out of the 25. ❤

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- lesleycarter on December 17, 2014 at 9:03 am said:
  
  Which ones have you read?
  
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  - Let's CUT the Crap! on December 17, 2014 at 4:42 pm said:
    
    They are:
    #3 Wild
    #16 Eat, Pray, Love
    #24 Into the Wild
    
    I have a lotta catchi’ up to do. 🙂
    
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catbirdinchina on December 15, 2014 at 1:44 pm said:

I love this list! I would also add The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton. Also, Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck.

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- lesleycarter on December 17, 2014 at 9:04 am said:
  
  Travels with Charley is about a dog/pet, right?
  
  I haven’t heard of The Art of Travel though. I’ll go look into it now.
  
  Thanks for the suggestions.
  
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  - catbirdinchina on December 17, 2014 at 2:30 pm said:
    
    Lesley, Travels withh Charley is a road trip book about John Steinbeck’s trip across the USA with his gentleman-poodle Charley along as a companion. Charley adds a lot to the story, as he’s got quite a qurky personality, but the story is at heart a road trip story. It’s very well written, funny and charming. I had always heard it’s one of the great road trip books and it certainly lived up to its reputation. As for the Art of Travel, all i can say is that it’s my favorite book about travel. Alain de Botton is a kind of philospoher and he shares some really great insigjts.
    
    Oh, i just thought of another great book: The Lady and the Monk, about Pico Iyer’s year in Kyoto. 🙂
    
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Ray Laskowitz on December 15, 2014 at 4:39 pm said:

You might consider adding anything by Paul Theroux, Pico Iyer and V.S. Naipaul to this list.

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- lesleycarter on December 17, 2014 at 9:05 am said:
  
  Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll go and look into it now. 🙂
  
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Ben Pastore on December 15, 2014 at 4:41 pm said:

Enjoyed your list. I have a book coming out hopefully in the Spring. Any chance you’d be interested in an advanced reading copy for review?

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- lesleycarter on December 17, 2014 at 9:05 am said:
  
  I’d love to hear more about it at least, Ben.
  
  My email is [email protected] if you’d like to share more 🙂
  
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  - Ben Pastore on December 17, 2014 at 9:11 am said:
    
    Thanks Lesley. I won’t bother you with it now. When it’s ready I’ll contact you. In the meantime I look forward to reading more about your adventures
    
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cityoftheweek on December 15, 2014 at 10:51 pm said:

Bookmarked this. Thanks, great list 🙂

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di @ life of di. on December 16, 2014 at 1:21 am said:

Great list here! I’ve read several of these and actually just picked up ‘Geography of Bliss’ from the library. I also want to read ‘In A Sunburned Country’ – Bill Bryson books are always so entertaining! One of my favorite travel books is actually a graphic nobel called ‘French Milk’. It’s über-charming and worth the read!

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- lesleycarter on December 17, 2014 at 9:06 am said:
  
  I haven’t heard of French Milk but I will check it out. Thanks for the tip.
  
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Sai on December 16, 2014 at 3:59 am said:

very nice!

http://latinaindubai.wordpress.com

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Packing my Suitcase on December 16, 2014 at 5:30 am said:

Amazing list… I still have lots of them to read 😀 on the list!

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- lesleycarter on December 17, 2014 at 9:07 am said:
  
  Do you have a list of books you’d like to read? What are some of your top picks? Although I love travel books, my favorites are by Mitch Albom. Have you read any of his?
  
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  - Packing my Suitcase on December 18, 2014 at 2:01 am said:
    
    Yes I do have a list with some books I want to read, and just added some of your suggestions there 😀
    At the moment Im reading Under the Tuscan Sun 🙂
    Your list is pretty good! Maybe I will share a list of some books I’ve read next year 😀
    I never read any by Mitch Albom, but “The time keeper” is on my list for a while, maybe its time to read it 😀
    
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uktravel1 on December 16, 2014 at 6:56 am said:

I love that this is a mixture of fiction and guides. I’m always picking up books about new locations and I immediately want to go there. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon made me want to visit Barcelona so much!

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gotmeghan on December 16, 2014 at 8:07 am said:

I REALLY want to read Eat. Pray. Love. and I’ve never wanted to watch the movie before. I’m going to look up some of these later on today, because I’d like to read some travel books than a bunch of blogs, not saying the blogs are awesome. I need a better escape from this countryside. Lol 🙂

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cominghomerescue on December 16, 2014 at 11:29 am said:

I read #22 Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? and LOVED IT!. Check out Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard. Wonderful read and yummy recipes.

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- lesleycarter on December 17, 2014 at 9:08 am said:
  
  Great! Thanks for the suggestion 🙂
  
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Mountainstroh (Tony) on December 16, 2014 at 10:06 pm said:

You have some I loved and some I could not stand on here 🙂 I would like to add Mud Sweat and Gears by Joe Kurmaskie great post!

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- lesleycarter on December 16, 2014 at 11:00 pm said:
  
  Which ones didn’t you like?
  
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  - Mountainstroh (Tony) on December 17, 2014 at 6:52 am said:
    
    As much as i want to like Wild, imdidnt. That book and Into the Wild annoyed me something fierce. Endurance is a long time faovorite as is all,of Brysons. Read 80 days this year and love it.
    
    I am intriqued by Around ireland with a Fridge and he solo trek across Austrailia, i will have to look at those!
    
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    - lesleycarter on December 17, 2014 at 7:52 am said:
      
      Hi Tony,
      
      Send me your address and I’ll send you Round Ireland with a Fridge for Christmas 🙂
      
      My email is [email protected]
      
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La Panzona {Pahn.So.Nuh} on December 17, 2014 at 5:44 am said:

Random question after discovering your blog: what is the most difficult, annoying, frustrating, sad place/country/city you’ve ever travelled to? And what was your take-away from the experience?
I used to love to travel, but now anxiety gets in the way. 🙂 Saludos

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nikkif181 on December 18, 2014 at 2:20 am said:

Thanks for the Christmas stocking filler ideas. A couple of these books will go down a treat for my husband.

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Bulldog Travels on December 19, 2014 at 9:20 pm said:

You might also like a book called Give me the World by Leila Hadley. Lovely book about a woman traveling the world with her small son during a time that it was unthinkable. Wonderful story.

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Sean Smith on January 12, 2015 at 3:10 pm said:

Great list! I’ve read a few of them, and I’ll see if I can get a few more.

Check out Southbound and Walking Home by the Barefoot Sisters – a great pair of trekking book if you don’t mind the appalachian trail theme!

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rudyhou on February 8, 2015 at 10:46 pm said:

‘on the road’ by jack kerouac has been on my list of books to get for the longest time.

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