What's the best travel book you've read?

Question

I'm looking for something informative, but also with adventure, humor, and generally a personal perspective. Thanks for your recommendations.

Answer 1

Try Bill Bryson. Start with A Walk in the Woods, his account of attempts to hike the Appalachian Trail. Funny, funny, but also informative. Not exactly adventurous, but he does deal with one obstacle after another. He's been called another Mark Twain; he's also been criticized by Appalachain Trail enthusiasts for not taking his subject seriously and making fun of fellow hikers.

Down Under takes a similar approach to Australia. The two have been combined (2002) in Walk About.

Bryson is more famous right now for his best-seller, A Short History of Nearly Everything, and over the long haul his books on language earned him his reputation (Mother Tongue; Made in America; Dictionary of Troublesome Words). But for fun, you have to try his travel books. There are others I've not mentioned (or read yet myself) described in the site listed first below.

Having said all this, I must tell you that my favorite travel books are not humorous or adventurous, but a naturalist's view of the USA. In the 1940s Edwin Way Teal followed the coming of spring from Florida north to Maine. The resulting book was North with the Spring. The book was followed by Journey Into Summer, Autumn Across America, and Wandering Through Winter, the last of which won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1966. He has a similar book about England in Springtime in Britain.

"For observing nature, the best pace is a snail's pace," he said, and that precept guided his and his wife Nellie's travels across the country with the seasons. "Nothing" in nature, he says, "not mountains nor sea nor shore nor rocks - is exactly the same on two successive days." And again, "The most durable harvest of our lives, in all probability, is our harvest of memories." Not humor. Or adventure. But common sense, and good down-to-earth enjoyment of nature. You never see bugs and leaves and creeks and woods the same way again.

He has been ranked with John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, and John Burroughs as the four greatest naturalist/writers in US history.

So Bryson for fun, but Teale for a Circle of the Seasons; A Walk Through the Year, The Lost Woods; Near Horizons; and a Conscious Stillness -- to use just a few of his other titles.

One more travel book I just have to mention (and it has some sardonic humor and some hair-raising accounts of conflicts in the Middle East). It is In Search of the Birth of Jesus: The Real Jouney of the Magi (1995) by Paul William Roberts. Booklist gives it this brief review: "What a valuable book! At the very least, it is an engaging travelogue, and Roberts' account of his journey through Iran, Iraq, and Syria to retrace the steps of the magi will easily hold an audience from beginning to end. But, more than travelogue, it is a provocative invitation to reexamine the Zoroastrian background of Christianity, providing an occasion for serious reflection on the intersection of religion and politics in one of the most troubled regions on the planet."

Answer 2

the best travel book I've read is Ghosts:Washington Revisited The Ghostlore of the nation's capital. I'm really into ghost and I actaul believe in them thanks to a spirtual visit I had several years ago in Lincoln's tomb, long story short I turned around and he was there with Willie I belive it was. Yes that is very nutty but I'm convinced. You should definitely read this book has some great stories. The book was authored by John Alexander.

Answer 3

Anything by Paul Theroux. In particular I liked The Kingdom By The Sea (the UK), Riding The Iron Rooster (China), The Pillars Of Hercules (the Mediterranean) and Dark Star Safari (Africa). He is a cynical writer, sharp tongued and sharp eyed. I enjoy his travel books much more than his novels.
My favorite of the travel books is The Old Patagonian Express in which he goes from Boston to the very most southern tip of South America, usually traveling by train. A long, interesting journey filled with rascals, saints and adventures.

Answer 4

Mine would be "Charles Kuralt's America" by Charles Kuralt.
Kuralt was a CBS newsman who traveled the country writing feature stories about the interesting people and places he encountered. This book, twelve chapters, is about a different favorite American place he spent a month at--at the perfect time of the year to be there.

The book is nonfiction and very informative because of the personal experiences of the first-person writer. Kuralt also had a great sense of humor.

Answer 5

I'm not sure if you are looking for something like this, but I enjoyed "Italian Days" by Barbara Grizzuti(sp?) Harrison. It's a book of essays chronicling the author's year long trip to Italy. It's funny, informative, even sad in places. She visits distant cousins, meets many interesting people, and you get the sense you are traveling with her. You will definitely want to visit Italy if you read this book. And if you do, you will be a better informed traveler. Wonderful book!

Answer 6

Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Answer 7

Homer's Odyssey if you are looking for the absolute best. Maybe the first travel book in history that we know.

Answer 8

Anything by Walker Percy.

Answer 9

"Kingdom By the Sea" by Paul Thereaux