Reading books is undoubtedly one of the best ways to discover places you never knew existed. Reading the right books will allow you to dive deep into your imagination as you pretend that you are living in the moment that the author has experienced. Having said that, here are a list of 10 books summarising all the best destinations you must add to your bucket list!
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Written as a heart-warming tale, A House in Fez gives interesting insights into the architecture, religion, tradition and people of Morocco.
In particular, this book talks about how the author, Suzanna Clarke, alongside her husband, built their life in Morocco. They started off buying a charming house located in a donkey-trod alleyway in Fez, that they spent much of their time renovating. Whilst living there, both of them faced various problems such as language and cultural differences. Find out what else this book entails by downloading it here.
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Dian Fossey was a primatologist and conservationist who spent most of her life studying Gorillas. This book was written by her and firstly published in 1983, while she was teaching at Cornell University. Gorillas in the Mist covers the whole journey of Dian Fossey and her 13 years of research. Her research involved studying the behaviour of four gorilla families and their three generations in the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda border, East Africa. Find out more here.
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This book entails Michael Palin's epic adventures across the North and South Pole, but focused mainly on his trip to the Sahara Desert. about his thrilling journey in Sahara. As a writer and comedian, Palin adds humor to his writings. As the journey unfolds, this book reveals a diversitu of cultures and landscapes, and a long history of civilisation, trade, commerce and conquest. More so, Michael covers all the activities he was involved in like camel-riding, staying in primitive places and trying out desert food. Learn more about Michael's fun travel experiences here.
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The Power of One proves its quality as it has 4 stars on Goodreads. More so, the author, Bryce Courtenay, is known as one of Australia’s best-selling authors!
Bryce spent the entirety of his childhood life living in South Africa. As he wrote this book, he tells the story of a 5-year-old boy who lived in the rural area of South Africa during the ’30s and ’40s. The boy’s journey as a Caucasian who was born in that era is captured beautifully as one of the most inspiring and heartfelt novel you have ever read. Read more.
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528 pages of this book covers Tim Cope’s horseback riding journey across the Eurasian steppe. During his three-year journey, he crosses Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Crimea, Ukraine and Hungary. Along the way, Tim forms a bond with his horse and loyal dog, Tigon.
His book also covers all the challenges Tim encountered like dehydration and heat exhaustion. Alongside this, his book also talks about Tim's learning points like the exposure to new cultures and the traditional ways of surviving by meeting the nomads. Read more.
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The Wild Places was written beautifully by Robert Macfarlane, a British nature writer and a lecturer. Lyrical words and prose strung in a tale-tell about Robert’s journey exploring the remaining wilderness of Britain and Ireland. This book will surely intrigue your philosophical minds. Making you re-think about the life of you and things around you. Read more.
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This book is about Andrew X. Pham's journey search for his cultural identity. Catfish and Mandala also become a memoir of his solo bicycle voyage in Vietnam. Long story short, Andrew was born in Vietnam but raised in America. The voyage began after his sister’s suicide. He later decided to quit his job and sell all his belongings to start a year's bicycle journey with Vietnam as his main destination. Indeed, Catfish and Mandala will open your sense of adventure. Read more.
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My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durell is one of the best books you can read to inspire you to travel. It is light-hearted as it tells about the life of a boy, where his eccentric family decided to leave the United Kingdom. They sell their house and move to a beautiful tropical island called Corfu that is located in Greece. Not only that this book captures the natural history of Corfu, but it also has a bunch of metaphorical humor. If you are ready to be taken back to your childhood memory, laugh out loud, and inspired My Family and Other Animals is a book that you should read.
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A Sunburned Country is a non-fiction book containing insights about the sixth largest country in the world: Australia. This book is told in the author’s great sense of humor. It will surely make you chuckle, and be mind blown. This book contains a great amount of information about Australia, from the friendliest people, cleanliness, to the deadliest animals that the country possesses. Wanna learn more? Click here.
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The last one is Mosquitoland is a brilliant novel which encapsulates the story of a young, half-blind and mentally-ill girl called Mary Iris Malone. One day, she learns that her biological mother falls sick back in her hometown, Ohio. Thus, this book describes her tiring four-day trip from Missisippi to Ohio to reunite with her mother. Along the way, Author David Arnold covers a few sensitive topics like suicide, depression and divorce. Learn more about this novel here.
Clearly, from the description above, we can tell that traveling is not merely for fun. It can be deep, sad, funny, romantic, philosophical, pure, full of knowledge, and emotions. There are absolutely a lot of things you can gain when you travel. So have you felt inspired enough to travel? I hope at least one of these books will help you with that!
