One of the reasons why most of us love reading books is because they let us travel far and wide, without moving our feet.
Today, I am sharing 5 books that will spark your wanderlust and inspire you to book your ticket for the next trip.
There are thousands of books where locations are the backdrop and you get to know a lot about the place through the story of the protagonist. In this post, I am listing 5 books with publishers’ descriptions that are about the journey and the destinations.
1. MY HOLIDAY IN NORTH KOREA BY WENDY E. SIMMONS
Most people want out of North Korea. Wendy Simmons wanted in. In My Holiday in North Korea: The Funniest/Worst Place on Earth, Wendy shares a glimpse of North Korea as it’s never been seen before. Even though it’s the scariest place on Earth, somehow Wendy forgot to check her sense of humor at the border.
But Wendy’s initial amusement and bewilderment soon turned to frustration and growing paranoia. Before long, she learned the essential conundrum of “tourism” in North Korea: Travel is truly a love affair. But, just like love, it’s a two-way street. And North Korea deprives you of all this. They want you to fall in love with the singular vision of the country they’re willing to show you and nothing more.
Through poignant, laugh-out-loud essays and 92 never-before-published color photographs of North Korea, Wendy chronicles one of the strangest vacations ever. Along the way, she bares all while undergoing an inner journey as convoluted as the country itself.
2. NO BAGGAGE BY CLARA BENSEN
Newly recovered from a quarter-life meltdown, Clara Bensen decided to test her comeback by signing up for an online dating account. She never expected to meet Jeff, a wildly energetic university professor with a reputation for bucking convention. They barely know each other’s last names when they agree to set out on a risky travel experiment spanning eight countries and three weeks. The catch? No hotel reservations, no plans, and best of all, no baggage.
Clara’s story will resonate with adventurers and homebodies alike — it’s at once a romance, a travelogue, and a bright modern take on the age-old questions: How do you find the courage to explore beyond your comfort zone? Can you love someone without the need for labels and commitment? Is it possible to truly leave your baggage behind?
3. THE GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO GETTING LOST BY RACHEL FRIEDMAN
As her candid coming-of-age journey takes her to Australia and South America, curious Rachel discovers and embraces her love of travel and unlocks more truths about herself than she ever realized she was seeking. Along the way, the erstwhile good girl finally learns to do something she’s never done before: simply live for the moment. A riveting and relatable read.
4. HOLY COW: AN INDIAN ADVENTURE BY SARAH MACDONALD
Holy Cow is Macdonald’s hilarious chronicle of her adventures in a land of chaos and contradiction, of encounters with Hinduism, Islam and Jainism, Sufis, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians and a kaleidoscope of yogis, swamis and Bollywood stars. From spiritual retreats and crumbling nirvanas to war zones and New Delhi nightclubs, it is a journey that only a woman on a mission to save her soul, her love life—and her sanity—can survive.
Founders of Lonely Planet Tony and Maureen Wheeler have produced travel guides to just about every corner of the globe. After thirty years in the business, they have been hassled by customs, cheated by accountants, let down by writers, banned in Malawi, berated for their Burma guide and had books pirated in Vietnam. Through it all, their passion for the planet and traveling certainly hasn’t diminished and comes shining through in this enthralling travelogue.
These are just a few books to get you inspired and started to take you away on adventures and travels around the world.
Have you read any of these? What are your favorite travel-related books that you’ve read? Does reading spark your wanderlust?
My theme for this year’s Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is Notes from the Road, which has my thoughts, views, experiences, tips, stories inspired by my years on the road.
96 Responses
I haven’t heard of any of these, but I’m going to try and procure “Holy Cow” 😉 The title itself captured my attention as I was reading the post, and the cover is nice too!
Yes, it has a pretty quirky and interesting cover!!
I have only read ‘Holy Cow’ off your list. Guess 4 more books are going to be added to my tbr list:)
Awesome! Happy reading, Mayuri!
That’s an interesting list, Shilpa! Will check them out for sure. 🙂
Cool! And do share your review, Esha 🙂
What a great book list. If you’d asked, I would have said Wendy’s book was impossible. Good on her for writing it!
Yes, she has done the impossible, actually. Thanks Jacqui.
I also like the idea of Passport-as-book. Hadn’t thought of it that way but yeah, it is!
What a great collection of books. They all sounds grait, but I’m particularly interested int he last two 🙂
Thanks Sarah! Hope you get to read these soon 🙂
Wonderful selection of books thank you Shilpa! I love the quote at the beginning re the best pages are found between the pages of a passport!
True that. Travel makes for great stories. Thanks Susan 🙂
The one about North Korea sounds great. It would be interesting to read more about a country like that is such a mystery
Debbie
Yes, this is one country which intrigues everyone. 🙂
I don’t think I have ever read a travel based books but these have made me wonder why not. No baggage is the one that has truly caught my attention and I think I will begin with that. Thanks for sharing these Shilpa
Yes, since you travel so much, you must check travel books as well.. Happy reading, Shalini 🙂
I haven’t read any of these. The covers and descriptions are so interesting. I had once read a travelogue about a trip to North Korea- i was very surprised by the details. The tourists were taken first to the three Kims statues to pay their respects by kneeling thrice.
Interesting list, this one.
Yeah, I have read a similar article which had some intriguing aspects of this mysterious country.
I haven’t read any of these. They sound interesting, especially No Baggage and Holy Cow. Adding them to my TBR list. Thanks for sharing.
Hope you get to read these soon, Tarang. Happy reading 🙂
OMG !! Never read any of these….Must try to lay my hands on these books 🙂
Happy hunting (not actually, they are all available on Kindle 😀 ) and happy reading, Ramya 🙂
Interesting books. My favorite is one written by Pico Iyer. The Art of Stillness: The Adventures in Going Nowhere.
The Art of Stillness: The Adventures in Going Nowhere, sounds interesting. Will check it out. I have another book from Pico Iyer – The Open Road, which I have not read as yet! 😛
Lovely list. Have been meaning to read Holy Cow for a while now!
Hope you are able to lay your hands on it soon Pooja 🙂
Shilpa you have curated an amazing list of travel books. I would love to read them, especially No Baggage. All of them have been added to my TBR.
Thanks Balaka and happy reading No Baggage 🙂
2,3,4 – I’m going o read them all. Thanks for the recommendation, Shilpa. I think I am going to absolutely love it!
That’s awesome, Shalini. Happy reading 🙂
Since I’ll be housebound for long now, I will definitely fulfill my wanderlust via these books. Thanks for sharing…..
Oh! Have a great time traveling far and wide through these books, Sunita 🙂
I have read none of these books, Shilpa. But bookmarking this post for my future reference to get these books for me.
Thanks Vasantha and happy reading 🙂
Holy Cow was the only one I’d read – the others sound cool, especially the one about North Korea (though, No Baggage sounds like a pretty challenging journey as well… perhaps because I’m a notorious over-packer!)
LOL @ Over Packer. I was one too, but learnt a bit from my bad experiences. I do give in to the temptation to over pack every now and then though 😀
No baggage sounds great, I might check it out 🙂
Cool. Happy reading it, Miss Andy 🙂
Wandering across the globe is my hobby. And till date Lonely Planet’s guide has never failed me.
After reading your post, I am very much eager to lay my hands on Holy Cow…sounds interesting!
Thanks Shilpa for introducing these books.
Love your traveling spirit, Anagha and hope you get to travel more and read these books too 🙂
OMG ! shilpa I have not read any of the books mentioned but they sound so interesting. I loved the quote 🙂 best stories found in between the passport:) All the books look good with great images, holy cow sounds very curious to me:) and of course minimalist tale looks attractive … hope to pick up some time to read and wander:) thanks for sharing.
True, travel gives you so many stories with all the possible ingredients and flavours.
Hope you get to read all these books and travel a lot too, Genevive 🙂
Lovely, some more intriguing books to look out for.
Thanks Cath, hope you enjoy reading them 🙂
I have not read any of those, but Holy Cow caught my attention.
It seems to be the favourite here. Hope you check it out soon, Rohan 🙂
That first title has me hook, line and sinker right from the title… 🙂
Yes, that’s my fav too 🙂
Haven’t read any of these, sadly. Would love to read Unlikely Destinations.
Does Eat Pray Love qualify as as travel story? I read it and enjoyed the learning and acceptance of cultures in different countries.
Yes, Eat Pray Love is a travel story and I loved reading it and watching the movie too 🙂
Thank you for this list! I haven’t heard of any of these books before, but as a lover of travel and reading, these go into my TBR rightaway.
Thanks Soumya, hope you are able to read these soon 🙂
I’m fond of reading travel book and travelogue. So, this list is very useful for me. The last book I read. It was amazing. I recommend all to read it once in a lifetime. Nice post, Shilpa.
Thanks for your recommendation, Sayanti and glad that you find this list of travel books interesting 🙂
Looks like a summer full of reading Shilpa. I’ve jotted down a few titles to add to my reading list.
Thank you.
That’s great, Arti. Have a wonderful time checking out these books. 🙂
Interesting reads these. Have heard of two of them. Guess I got to lay my hands on the other two. Thanks for sharing Shilpa.
https://natashamusing.com/2018/04/b-is-for-burden-or-unburden-atozchallenge2018/
Happy to share and hope you get to check out these books, Natasha 🙂
The one that jumps out at me is Unlikely Destinations. I need to investigate!
My Friend Rosey – B is for Boyfriend
You must, considering that you are such a cool adventure traveler, Keith 🙂
Interesting list of books. I have not read any of them but I guess its time to grab some of them soon.
Happy reading, Deepa 🙂
Strangely out of all the books you have mentioned above, my heart tells me to read Holy cow: with that quirky and interesting cover and the description. Also, the book about North Korea sounds good too any day since its the most unexplored yet explored places for many of us. Have been watching some documentaries about North Korea and strange rules there and still I long for more to know more to know people there. It definitely will be an interesting read. Have bookmarked this link 🙂
Holy Cow is the hot favorite here and yes, Wendy’s book is pretty intriguing since North Korea is so mysterious for all of us. Happy reading, Shesha.
Arent you participating in the AtoZ Challenge this year?
I wanted to and I thought my link got registered, when I did it during my last trip. But for some unknown reason it didn’t. So technically I don’t qualify for it. Although I am still planning to post blogs to get in the writing mode. Today its first working day of April, and I will publish something. Like always you are the big motivation behind AtoZ. 🙂
Oh that’s bad!! But I am glad that you are not letting the registration come in the way of your writing. AtoZ is a perfect way to get back into the writing groove. So get going and I am coming over to your blog to read all your posts from A to Z. It would be fun to do this with you 🙂
That is relieving:) Thankyou for your support Shilpa. It means alot ❤️
Oh, dont worry! You will do great.
You need not mention that. What are friends for!!
♥
Wow. Adding them to my to-read list! I remember starting out with Holy Cow but then I think I had to return it to the library earlier than I thought! Will get around to these soon!
Hope you pick Holy Cow again and read the other ones too, Deepa 🙂
Nice.
Thanks Aditi 🙂
what a unique post. loved all recommendations and the synopsis shared!
Thank you. Glad you liked these post!
What a lovely selection of books! I haven’t read any of these but there are a number I’d love to look for! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Shirley. Happy reading!
Each of these books sound very interesting.
Thanks D 🙂
Each of these books sound very interesting, Shilpa. I would love to add them to my already long wishlist. (It’s going to be a while before I can get to them, tho’ 🙂 )
Thank you.
Ah! This is the common issue with book lovers. Our TBR lists are sooooo long, but do we complain? 😀
Will try to get my hand on atleast one of the books this year
Awesome post
Tongue Twister for B
That’s awesome, Mrs Dash!
Great list! I’m adding these books into my reading list
Thanks Kishor. Happy reading!
I havnt read any of these, but am sure am going to add number 2 and 3 to my to be read list. Travelling is so more than what it looks like at first shot.
That’s awesome, Anupriya. Happy reading and traveling too 🙂
I’ve read Holy Cow and enjoyed it thoroughly. I’d love to get my hands on the book about North Korea. Great theme btw
Thanks Kalpana and hope you get to read the other books soon too 🙂
Hello, Nice Blog! Good Luck on the A-Z challenge! Zulu Delta
Thanks Zulu. Good luck to you too,
These books look so interesting. I am very intrigued about life in Korea. Would love to read that one.
Thanks Nayantara, hope you are able to read Wendy’s book soon. 🙂
Thanks Nayantara, do check out Wendy’s book and do share your feedback 🙂
I’ve read any of these, but definitely go through these books.
Travelling opens up the channel to new gateways. Great informative post.
Thanks Rashmi and hoe you get to read all these travel books. Cheers 🙂