16 Best Travel Books to Inspire Wanderlust

Travel books are a way of escaping everyday life and discovering new and magical destinations through the pages of a novel. Even from our armchairs, we can be transported to distant lands and capture the smells, sounds, and sights through descriptive words and authentic storytelling.

While guidebooks (and travel blogs) are a great way to research specific trip details, reading travel books written through someone else’s eyes, whether fictional or non-fictional, is an excellent way to inspire you to wander the world.

Explore new places, new experiences, and new adventures and escape to other lands from the comfort of your home. Immerse yourself in someone else’s footsteps, soak up their feelings, desires, and wanderlust, and make it your own.

Whether you love the intrigue of the Far East and Africa or dream of sipping coffee in the Tuscan countryside, a book awaits you. For those looking for even more adventure, read about the exploits of writers who have travelled worldwide and let yourself live vicariously through their excitement, fear, and intrigue.

Whatever kind of traveller you are, or indeed would like to be, there is a travel book just waiting to inspire you to wander to faraway lands.

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Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts; it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” Anthony Bourdain

Travel Books List to Adventure Travel in 2023

The Best British Travel Writing of the 21st Century by Levison Wood and Guests

If you are an avid traveller or want to live vicariously through others, this 2023 offering in the book world is ideal reading. It is a celebration of outstanding travel storytelling from around the world.

It features topics including adversity along the Congo’s raging River Lulua, making new friends aboard Iraq’s night train, and embarking on life-changing pilgrimages from India to Saudi Arabia.

Pour a cup of tea, sit back and be transported around the world!

Click here to purchase the Best British Travel Writing of the 21st Century.

I Hope There’s A Kettle In My Room by Paula Rooney

This is the inspiring true story of Paula and her first solo backpacking journey around Europe at age 55.

She travels to mountain tops across the Swiss Alps, melts in Venice, feels emotional in Ljubljana, falls in love with Czech and is surprised by Germany.

All the while searching for a decent cup of tea and hoping there’s a kettle in the room. This book is ideal if you are a mature traveller and have always wanted to backpack.

Click here to purchase I Hope There’s a Kettle in my Room

 The Wrong Way Home by Peter Moore

This is one of my favourite travel books, and once I started reading this book, I just couldn’t put it down.

It fuelled my desire to travel around the world.

A hilarious look at how Peter back-packed from London to his home in Sydney, Australia, encountering all sorts of mishaps and funny experiences on the way.

Click here to purchase The Wrong Way Home

Nala’s World by Dean Nicholson

If you love to travel and adore cats, this story of a friendship forged on a global journey will be a perfect holiday read.

Discover how Dean and Nala met when he was trying to find himself after a misspent youth and found Nala as a stray kitten. Read how they travelled across Europe together and the adventures they had on the way.

A heart-warming look at the compassion of a burly Scotsman and his feline travel companion.

Click here to purchase Nala’s World

It’s on the Meter by Paul Archer

A humorous true story of 3 friends who decided to buy a London black cab and go on an adventure from England to Australia.

Their 43,000-mile trip took them to some of the most dangerous places on earth, but not to be defeated, they circumnavigated the globe and broke two world records in doing so.

Click here to purchase It’s On The Meter.

The Pants of Perspective by Anna McNuff

Conde Nast list Anna as one of the 50 most influential travellers in the world.

She lets us into her world in her book as she runs New Zealand’s 3,000 km long Te Araroa Trail.

Her story paints a picture of the New Zealand countryside while allowing us to see her vulnerability as she pushes herself to complete the trail.

Click here to purchase The Pants of Perspective

Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux

The author re-connects with an Africa he last visited in the ’60s, now seen through the eyes of Africans he meets on his journey.

An adventurous, challenging, and dangerous solo trip from Cairo to Cape Town and, in true Theroux style, hard to put down.

Click here to purchase Dark Star Safari

Slow Boat to Uruguay by Andrew Tunstall

This delightful travel book is a true story of a family selling up & sailing around South America is a travel writing delight.

A leaky boat, eccentric locals, and killer whales make a delightful tale that will inspire and amaze the reader.

Click here to purchase Slow Boat to Uruguay

Down Under by Bill Bryson

You know that you will be entertained as soon as you turn the pages of a Bill Bryson book, and this one is no exception.

A travelogue detailing his trip around Australia, the things he sees, and the characters he meets.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, you will be itching to book a ticket to Oz.

Click here to purchase Down Under

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure.

Santiago’s journey teaches us to listen to our hearts and recognise the opportunity to follow our dreams.

Click here to purchase The Alchemist

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

After a failed relationship, the author takes us on her real-life discovery journey from Italy to India and Bali.

She describes the destinations and characters she encounters with depth and feeling and transports us on her travels.

It’s a story of love, understanding, and finding yourself through your journey when all else seems futile.

Click here to purchase Eat Pray Love

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

The author buys a villa in Tuscany, Italy, and then devotes time, money & energy to remodelling and renovating it.

The book is about her time in Italy, and her description of the countryside and the characters around her is enchanting. There are even some Italian recipes in the book.

Click here to purchase Under the Tuscan Sun

Swahili for the Broken-Hearted by Peter Moore

The second book on my list from this author, and this time he takes us on a whirlwind tour from Cairo to Cape Town following a break-up with his girlfriend.

He sets off to find himself but, in true Peter Moore style, finds he is at the centre of some crazy situations.

Experiences include facing a wild Hyena with terrible breath, crossing the treacherous Sani Pass, the highest in Africa, narrowly escaping a riot by hiding in a coffin shop and acting as an extra in a WW2 epic. Hilarious.

Click here to purchase Swahili for the Broken-Hearted

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

I read this book and saw the film version after travelling around Asia and loved it.

This funny novel is about three super-rich Chinese families and the gossip, backbiting, and scheming that occurs when the heir to one of the most massive fortunes in Asia brings home his (American-born Chinese) girlfriend to the wedding of the season.

If you have enjoyed “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” you will enjoy this read.

Click here to purchase Crazy Rich Asians

An Elephant in my Kitchen by Francois Anthony

If you have ever visited Africa, then you will know the plight of some of the animals. 

This incredible true story spreads awareness about the horrors of poaching and highlights the courage and bravery of those trying to protect the animals.

Francoise left Paris’s comforts to start a reserve, “Thula Thula”, to protect elephants and rhinos, but after the death of her husband, things got very hard for her.

One woman’s remarkable story of courage and determination in the face of adversity.

Click here to purchase An Elephant in my Kitchen.

Atlas Obscura by Joshua Foer

More a coffee table piece than a “read on the plane” novel, but Atlas Obscura takes us to destinations that offer us curious and strange things to see and do.

Photographs, illustrations, maps, and charts highlight our wonderful world with a heap of weird and beautiful destinations for the curious traveller.

Click here to purchase Atlas Obscura.

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things. Henry Miller

How to Connect with Other Book Lovers

If you want to get together with like-minded people who want to share and discuss their favourite reads, I suggest joining a book group or starting one yourself.

Register on Reading Groups for Everyone if you are keen on setting up an online group and are looking for people to join.

As a registered group, you’ll be updated with the latest book news through monthly newsletters and will have access to exclusive publisher offers and opportunities.

Make sure you put as much information as possible on your profile (including how your discussion will take place, what kind of books you want to read, etc.) so people can choose the right group for them.

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