Many epic journeys were born from the pages of books — Kate Harris’s cycling adventure along the Silk Road that she recounted in Land of Lost Borders, for example, was inspired by her childhood adoration of Marco Polo’s famous tales of the same region.
Similarly, many of the world’s greatest travelers are also voracious readers: the travel writer Paul Theroux once wrote in his book of essays "Fresh-Air Fiend" that as a child, “One of [his] pleasures was reading; reading was a refuge and an indulgence.”
Books and travel, it seems, go together like peanut butter and jelly — and, happily, so do books and social distancing!
If you’re stuck inside with your actual travel plans temporarily on hold, we’ve got you covered with this list of quarantine-friendly reads for all your wanderlust needs.
From philosophical musings on the meaning of travel itself, to first-hand accounts of life in foreign lands, to fantastical romps filled with magic and time travel, these books will allow you to see the world from the comfort and safety of your own home.
(In no partcular order)
1. Anything by Bill Bryson
Alright, so this is a little more than one book — but if you’re looking for stomach ache-inducing laughter as well as keen and genuine insight into your destination of choice, Bill Bryson can’t be beat.
As a travel writer known for his approachable and self-effacing humor, Bryson has written most prolifically on the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia.
Read about his European backpacking adventures in "Neither Here, Nor There" (1991); his off-the-beaten-path Australian romp in "In A Sunburned Country" (2000); his thoughts on the character and quirks of Great Britain in "Notes From A Small Island" (1995); and his struggles and triumphs on the Appalachian Trail in "A Walk In The Woods" (1997).
These books are the perfect choice to accompany you on a long plane or train journey, or to escape into the world from your living room — although you might want to be prepared for some strange looks from your neighbors when you inevitably laugh out loud.
2. A Time of Gifts + Between The Woods and Water by Patrick Leigh Fermor
Ever stepped out for a walk and wondered where you might end up if you just kept going? Patrick Leigh Fermor understands.
Written as a memoir many decades later, "A Time of Gifts" and "Between the Woods and Water" recounts Fermor’s journey on foot across Europe from the Netherlands to Istanbul in 1933-34; a third volume called "A Broken Road", uncompleted but published posthumously using Fermor’s diary and a rough draft, completes the trilogy.
Walk alongside one of the greatest travel writers of the 20th century as he sleeps under the stars, tramps through the countryside, and befriends shepherds and European aristocrats alike.
Fermor’s experiences capture the vestiges of a European life and culture that would soon vanish under the rising tide of World War Two, and though he recounts the tale as a much older man, his colorful storytelling captures all the spirit and romance of life as he knew it then — an 18-year-old boy with nothing but a backpack and the whole world before him.
For European history buffs and lovers of a good old walk through the woods, Patrick Leigh Fermor’s world awaits.
3. Lands of Lost Borders by Kate Harris
Kate Harris’s real-life adventure tale is one that many literary-inspired travelers will likely find relatable. Catalyzed by the tales of Marco Polo that she read as a child, Harris aspires first to explore beyond the Earth’s boundaries as an astronaut and then to cycle the entirety of the Silk Road itself.
Accompanied by her childhood best friend, Harris sets out to turn her dream into reality, and does so with grit, humor, and poignant self-reflection. Traveling from Istanbul to Leh in northern India, Kate and Mel cycle down miles of rain-soaked Central Asian roads, climb countless remote mountain passes, consume as much baklava as they can whenever it’s available, make questionable border crossings, and endure the nail-biting bureaucracy of visa applications.
Harris’s story is pure adventure balanced with timely reflection on the nature of borders both physical and mental and the urge for exploration itself; you’ll find yourself laughing and groaning along with the author, and (just maybe) deciding to hop on that stationary bike in preparation for your own epic two-wheeled journey.
4. On The Road by Jack Kerouac
What list of travel-related literature would be complete without a mention of Kerouac’s best-known work? Published in 1957, "On The Road" is the classic liquor-soaked, drug-fuelled, jazz-filled road trip rolick of the Beat Generation.
Join Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty (based on Kerouac himself and his fellow Beat icon, Neal Cassady) as they careen from coast to coast, partying with friends old and new, breaking bread with fellow hitchhikers and road trippers, falling in and out of love, working in fields and parking garages, and getting in (and, miraculously, out) of more scrapes than you can count on both hands.
"On The Road" defined a generation and a literary style while painting a madcap, time-capsule portrait of America and establishing itself as a staple for the literary traveler. For anyone who, like Sal Paradise, “lean[s] forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies”, a copy of this book in your back pocket will never let you down.
5. The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
For fans of quirky characters, unlikely adventures, and dry humor, this charmingly unexpected tale by Jonas Jonasson is the perfect book to accompany you on your own travels.
On the day of his 100th birthday party, Allan Karlsson hops out of his nursing home window in his bedroom slippers and into a cascading set of hilarious lost-luggage mishaps, chance meetings with gangsters and elephant-keepers, new friendships with hot dog vendors, and close scrapes with the law.
At the same time, retrospective glimpses into Allan’s past reveal his part in major historical events, from drinking with former United States Vice President Harry Truman, to crossing the Himalayas post-WW2, to joining a revolution in 1930s Spain.
Allan’s story is outlandish and grin-inducing, and he stands as a champion for the idea of riotous adventure as something to be sought out one’s whole life through — no matter your age or current footwear.
6. So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger
A hapless but good-hearted writer, a rascally old boat builder with criminal past, an aging Pinkerton agent, and the wide open roads of the American West — Enger’s second novel will make you want to hop on the next train out of town in search of new horizons and (possibly) a circus to join.
Follow Monte and Glendon as they embark on an unlikely and haphazard journey across America to set right the wrongs weighing on Glendon’s conscience, brushing shoulders with handsome boy outlaws, fearsome sharp-shooting women, and even an elephant — their footsteps dogged all the while by the relentless Pinkerton Charles Siringo, who’s intent on tracking Glendon down.
Set in the early 1900s, this novel is filled with all the color, folklore, and rugged adventure of the American Old West in its twilight; Enger’s lyrical prose and incredible attention to detail will have you laughing, crying, and packing your bags all at once.
(For similar Old West themes and an even more intimate evocation of the American Midwest, check out Enger’s first novel, Peace Like A River).
7. The Nomad: Diaries of Isabelle Eberhardt by Isabelle Eberhardt
When it comes to having a total disregard for convention, Isabelle Eberhardt takes the cake — and these diaries are the perfect introduction to her impossible-to-invent story.
Born in 1877 in Switzerland, Eberhardt was a lifelong writer, publishing short stories under a male pseudonym as a teenager; later, her interest in North Africa prompted her move to Algeria at the age of twenty.
She converted to Islam and, until her untimely death in a flash flood at the age of twenty-seven, traveled throughout North Africa dressed as a man, drinking frequently, smoking with abandon, taking lovers as she pleased, and otherwise cementing her status as “outcast” in the eyes of the colonial French government.
She wrote extensively about her travels in books and for French newspapers, and many of her manuscripts (including her diaries) were published posthumously.
A true adventurer and bold nonconformist, Eberhardt’s reflections on life in North Africa are the perfect inspiration for anyone who, like Eberhardt, finds themselves “haunted by thoughts of a sun-drenched elsewhere.”
8. Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew X. Pham
Far more than just a bicycle adventure around the world, Catfish and Mandala chronicles the author’s journey to rediscover his birthplace of Vietnam as well as his place in the world as a Vietnamese-American.
After escaping a war-torn Vietnam in 1977 at the age of ten, Pham resettles in California with his family; however, following the death of his sister years later, Pham begins a year-long journey by bicycle through Mexico, Japan, and finally Vietnam once again.
Alongside vivid descriptions of his experiences and the countries he passes through, Pham recounts his struggles with cultural identity: othered as both a Vietnamese immigrant in America, and a Viet-kieu (Vietnamese expatriate) in Vietnam.
Pham combines stories from his family’s life in Vietnam and his father’s experiences as a POW with Pham’s journey in the present, creating a rich tapestry of storytelling; the result is as much a captivating portrait of a country as it is a thought-provoking reflection on cultural dislocation.
For those interested in the history and repercussions of the Vietnam War as well as the power of travel to reconnect you to both self and place, this is the perfect choice to add to your reading list.
9. The Little Book by Selden Edwards
A story of love, war, family, and the threads of cause and effect that touch our lives and tie us together across generations, Selden Edwards’ "The Little Book" is a classic tale of time travel told with stunning intricacy and care.
Finding himself dislocated in space and time from late-1980s San Francisco to 1897 Vienna, Wheeler Burden struggles to orient himself in his new reality and figure out the practicalities of day-to-day life, while simultaneously attempting to untangle the mystery of what brought him there in the first place.
Unbeknownst to him, Wheeler’s every choice and interaction is setting in motion an invisible chain of events that will shape his and his family’s future, as well as the world-changing events of the coming century.
Edwards expertly weaves Wheeler’s story into real historical events, and paints a vivid portrait of a culturally and politically vibrant Vienna that at times feels so real it’s as if we’ve been transported there alongside Wheeler. If you need another reason to pack your bags for the coffee houses and music halls of one of the world’s greatest cities, look no further than "The Little Book".
10. The Odyssey by Homer
As one of the oldest surviving works of Western literature (surpassed only by the Iliad), calling the Odyssey one of the world’s original travel stories isn’t a stretch; indeed, the word “odyssey” itself has since become synonymous with a grand, lengthy voyage often involving an element of struggle and growth.
The eponymous hero’s decades-long journey to return to his home of Ithaca following the end of the Trojan War — aided and thwarted by gods, courted and enchanted by witches and nymphs, beleaguered by battles with sea monsters and sirens — is the definition of epic poetry and heroic quest.
For lovers of Greek mythology and the classics of Western literature, let this archetypal traveler’s tale sweep you away to sail the wine-dark seas of Ancient Greece with that “man of twists and turns, driven time and again off course...”: Odysseus himself.
11. The House of Spirits & My Invented Country by Isabel Allende
Born to a Chilean family in Peru, raised in Chile, exiled to Venezuela, and resettled in the United States, Isabel Allende is a true force of nature and one of Latin America’s foremost authors.
Her books draw heavily on her own experiences as a woman and journalist in Latin America, and often comment on South American politics against a backdrop of myth and fantasy interwoven with realistic fiction — a genre known as magical realism.
Her first novel, "The House of Spirits", is an epic multi-generational tale of a South American family and its experiences with love, revolution, and the supernatural. Alternatively, Allende’s memoir "My Invented Country" gives a firsthand account of her life in Chile prior to the revolution that forced her to leave, and its pages are filled with colorful descriptions of both places and people.
An incredible storyteller in both fiction and non-fiction, Allende’s work is a reading list staple for anyone looking to be steeped in the history and mythic landscapes of Latin America.
12. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Written by one of the foremost contemporary fantasy authors, American Gods is a complex and captivating road trip story populated by all the myths and legends that inhabit the American landscape. Shadow Moon takes a job as driver and bodyguard for the enigmatic Mr. Wednesday, and embarks on a journey through America’s desolate heartland, where magic simmers beneath every surface and old gods live, die, and battle for supremacy.
Attempting to piece together the truth behind Wednesday’s quest and his own role in it, Shadow accompanies Wednesday to tiny towns and nearly-abandoned tourist attractions to meet with Wednesday’s many mysterious acquaintances — including Mad Sweeney, a leprechaun who can pull golden coins from thin air; Mr. Ibis and Mr. Jacquel, co-owners of a funeral parlor in Illinois; and Czernobog, a former slaughterhouse worker with whom Shadow plays a fateful game of checkers.
Gaiman expertly crafts a surreal mythological landscape against a backdrop of the mundane and the bizarre, and weaves a tall tale that manages to be both poignant and incredibly entertaining. For anyone who’s been searching for that perfect combination of quirky Americana and sweeping world mythology, Gaiman’s American Gods is the ideal book for your next road trip.
13. The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin
Bruce Chatwin is one of the travel writing community’s most influential characters, an epic storyteller in both fiction and non-fiction, and an avid wanderer. In The Songlines, Chatwin combines autobiographical narrative of his travels through Australia with collections of notes taken on the nature of humanity and nomadism itself.
He attempts to understand the Aboriginal “songlines,” or the traditional ceremonial songs of Australia that defy all categorization to act as maps of the landscape, genealogical records, methods of navigation, storage units of memory, rituals, and much more.
Chatwin tackles an incredibly complex subject, and argues that the songlines are connected to a deep, ancient human history of movement across the globe. This deeply personal piece of work offers little in the way of conclusions or definitive answers, but is instead a thought-provoking meditation on humanity, spirituality, and the role that nomadism plays in both.
If you’re looking for a mind-opening read full of history, philosophy, and expert storytelling to accompany you on your own journey, then The Songlines is the book for you.
14. Under The Tuscan Sun by Francis Mayes
Before "Eat, Pray, Love", there was "Under The Tuscan Sun".
An undeniable classic (and perhaps originator) of the “American moves to Europe to renovate crumbling villa” genre, Francis Mayes’ memoir of her experiences purchasing and restoring an abandoned house in the Tuscan region of Italy is an indulgent, romantic, and completely charming fantasy that just so happens to be true.
As a university professor, Mayes is free to spend her summers in Italy, where she befriends the locals and workers, uncovers the secrets of the house poetically known as Bramasole, or “to yearn for the sun” (including a natural spring and several painted-over frescoes), and cooks delicious meals using local ingredients from her own garden or the nearby town of Cortona.
The descriptions of the renovation process are lovingly recounted, and Mayes offsets her anecdotes by filling pages of her book with recipes that she tested in Bramasole’s kitchen. Under The Tuscan Sun has inspired decades of Tuscany-loving travelers, and is a truly heartwarming read.
If you dream of rustic, homemade Italian food, the simple joys of rural life, and the sweet satisfaction of hand-done home repairs, Mayes’ memoir will not disappoint.
15. All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
Set in the mid-1900s, McCarthy’s "All The Pretty Horses" perfectly captures all the stark beauty, romance, and sense of adventure that a classic Western entails.
When 16-year-old John Grady Cole learns that his family’s ranch in San Angelo, Texas will be sold following the death of his grandfather, he sets off for Mexico on horseback with his best friend, Rawlins, to seek work as a cowboy.
Their journey is long and eventful (think rascally runaways, disastrous thunderstorms, and a high-speed horseback chase), and their tenure as cowboys at a cattle ranch in Coahuila both idyllic and tragic. McCarthy’s prose is rich in colorful description and unexpected humor, and he tells a story that is both deeply compelling and deeply human.
John Grady and Rawlins are an earnest duo with irresistible energy and character, and you’re sure to find yourself wishing you could saddle up with them to chase down your destiny across the Rio Grande.
16. An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie
As the title suggests, "An African in Greenland" follows the author’s journey from his home in Togo, Western Africa to the Arctic Circle in the 1960s.
During a period of convalescence following a run-in with a poisonous snake, the young Kpomassie comes across a book about Greenland and vows to someday travel to its vast, icy, snake-free expanses.
Over the course of the following decade, Kpomassie works along the western coast of Africa and up into Europe, taking jobs as a translator, secretary, and dishwasher and leaning on the generous hospitality of those he meets along the way.
Many years and several acquired languages later, Kpomassie arrives in Greenland and immerses himself in learning about the life, culture, and inhabitants of the island. Though An African in Greenland reflects elements of anthropological study in Kpomassie’s descriptions of customs and rituals throughout his travels, it remains at its core an exuberant story of adventure and discovery.
A memoir which “reads like a fairy story”, "An African in Greenland" is sure to remind you of your own childhood dreams and prompt you to wonder if perhaps it’s time to make them come true after all.
17. Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica by Zora Neale Hurston
For any anthropology buffs out there, Zora Neale Hurston’s "Tell My Horse" is the pick for you. Serving as both travelogue and ethnographic study, "Tell My Horse" recounts Hurston’s fieldwork in Haiti and Jamaica in the 1930s, where she researched local cultural and spiritual rituals by taking part in them as an initiate.
She writes in detail about the rituals themselves as well as the countries, landscapes, and communities in which they take place: the differences between being a woman in America and the Caribbean, for example, or descriptions of the “quick, green valleys” of Jamaica.
From zombies to boar hunts, Hurston’s research is wide-ranging and comprehensive, her storytelling vivid, and her approach both respectful to the cultures she studies and accessible to readers. With the curiosity of a true adventurer, Hurston journeys boldly into a world unknown to many, and her work serves as a reminder of the endless fascinations and mysteries of human life across the world.
18. Fresh-Air Fiend by Paul Theroux
“For long periods of my life, living in places where I did not belong, I have been a perfect stranger,” begins Theroux in the introduction of Fresh-Air Fiend. This collection of short travel essays, written from 1985-2000, offers a glimpse into Theroux’s life and experiences as a teacher, traveler, and writer from Africa to South America to Cape Cod.
He muses on the nature of growing older, the role of the outdoors and physical activity in the life of a writer, and the point of travel writing itself; he paints various colorful portraits of the many countries and cities he’s visited (Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Christmas Island, the Yangtze River), and reflects on his own past work as well as the work and character of other writers — including his friend, contemporary, and collaborator, Bruce Chatwin.
19. Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee
If you’re looking for a richly sensory, completely captivating, and totally immersive introduction into rural English life post-WWI, Laurie Lee’s "Cider With Rosie" has you covered.
