The Best Books About Quitting Your Job to Travel
Books open a window into how another person sees the world. For travelers, we strive to see the world in new ways everyday– and reading is just one of the many ways we expand our vision. As an avid reader, I’ve collected quite the glorious bookshelf of travel literature, and as I go through the shelf, book by book, I feel a sense of nostalgia and joy remembering where I was and who I was when I read these books. All of them have, in a way, helped me to see the world in a better (or more honest) light.
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage
For over a year Shackleton and his crew survived in the frigid waters of the Antarctic seas, their ship crushed by ice and rendered useless. Yet they endured, and survived. No one would come to their aid, and indeed– no one knew where they were or would find their bodies if they sunk below the sheets of ice they floated on. Eventually they would set sail– in a life boat– and several would live to tell the tale.
The Great Railway Bazaar
I’m not a fan of Theroux books in general because he seems to be on these epic adventures almost begrudgingly. His banter isn’t witty or interesting, it’s full of disdain, and it infects the patient people around him. I had high hopes for his books about China, and especially about train travel– something I’m passionate about and love. But still I have to say that this book is good– mostly because there are not many other great reads about train travel around the world, and it’s such a lovely way to move around.
The Geography of Bliss
One man sets out to find the world’s happiest people. Shockingly, they aren’t all first world countries. Or maybe that shouldn’t be surprising at all. Still, I read this while on the road and always came back to the idea that Burma, despite its endless problems, is one of the top countries on my bucket list.
Shantaram
This book isn’t about travel, per say, but elements in Lin’s story bring the color and vibrancy and excitement of wanderlust to life. Lin, the escaped convict, disappears in Bombay to hide and find a new life for himself. He finds a lot more than that. What I love about this book is how well the setting plays into the story, and how important “place” is to the outcome and direction of each character’s life.
Vagabonding
Like so many other travelers, I liked Rolf Potts book about life on the road. I read this sitting on a white-sand beach on an island off of Texas, and have a lovely picture of me in the sun with this travel book shading my face and filling my brain. Full of great insight and advice, this is a must-read for any world traveling hopeful.
The Sex Life of Cannibals
If you know where Kiribati is you’re ahead of where I was before I opened this book. Stranded on the island (by choice) this writer gives intersting, comical and witty insight into traveling around the islands, and a blunt and honest take on what will likely become of the small islands in the central Pacific.
Honeymoon with my Brother
One of my all-time favorite travel sagas, this book tells the story of a man whose fiancee leaves him and he decides to take the already booked and paid for vacation honeymoon– with his brother. The two set off on a gloomy, bittersweet trip and end up falling in love with themselves, and who they are as people. It’s great because yes– they travel and see new things, but in the end what they really find is who they are. And fraternity.
Marco Polo
You can’t have a travel book list without this epic. Although a lot of the history in Marco Polo’s tales are not accurate, he does an excellent job of painting a picture for readers. You get a sense of the Khan’s palace, realm and riches, but take it all with a grain of salt. Still, the book wouldn’t be what it is without a bit of exaggeration.
Hector and the Search for Happiness
A therapist suddenly realizes that he works non-stop to make his clients happy while he himself isn’t happy. He has no idea what happiness is. So, he sets out on a trip around the world to try to find happiness. What I love about this is that in the end (spoiler alert) he doesn’t know why he went on the trip at all. He just ran from his life, and tried to find resolution on past experiences. It’s great because it doesn’t idolize travel.
Lost on Planet China
Written by the same funnyman who wrote The Sex Life of Cannibals, this read was hilarious for anyone who knows China. His first time in the country was full of missteps, observations and mistakes that all China travelers make– and later laugh at. And yet his insight into China and the Chinese was thoughtful and kind, almost loving. This book inspired me to wipe the slate and try to see each place anew every morning.
A Peace to End All Peace
This isn’t a travel book, to be sure, but I read this when I was backpacking through Central Asia, the Caucus and Eastern Europe. And then, finally, I finished this book in Istanbul one day while looking out over the Bosphorus. It was fitting that I closed the book in Turkey, as that’s where this nonfiction account of WWI and the ridiculous aftermath began– with Churchill looking out on the same waters. This book, like many travel literature, framed much of the rest of my travel through Europe. Why are boundaries and borders where they are? And was a temporary peace worth the lasting conflict these lines in the sand created?
Race to Dakar
I love Charley Boorman. I don’t know what it is, but there is something about this guy that is instantly likable. Maybe it is his friendship with Ewan McGregor that elevates him to such “cool” strata, or maybe it’s the fact that he is man-boy who was able to keep his hobbies as his primary job well into adulthood. And not only that, but he manages to make it in everything he tries– including writing. But his real passion is a good road rally, and I have that passion as well (though not as fast or to the same level!)
The Ridiculous Race
While in Shanghai, I read a lot. I read on the subway (with the book pushed flat against my face from the crowds) and I read on the bus (with a lap full of cabbages to store for winter). And when I was reading this book, I laughed a lot out loud, causing the Shanghai-ren around me to laugh too. This is the true story of two young men who decide to set off around the world in opposite directions and race back to again– a circumnavigation of silliness. I loved the idea of two friends setting out on adventure– and it was all the more comical knowing they were apart and yet always thinking of how to best one another.
Flightless
We travel by ground transportation a lot since I’m not a fan of flying, so Flightless– the tales of people who travel without flying– was perfect for me. I loved the idea that other people are out there with the same mindset. It’s always good to get reassurance. For me, travel isn’t about flying over the ugly parts– it’s about all the parts. And that, my friends, has landed me in some ugly territory at times– but those memories are just as priceless as the beautiful ones, and often more memorable.
Wild
When the person who is your anchor in life dies, what holds you together? For some people, the answer is, “I don’t know,” and that was the case with Wild. One woman sets off to try to find herself on the Pacific Coast Trail– and ends up walking for a long, long time before she finally does. What I liked about this book was that the author doesn’t hold back. She made big mistakes and wasn’t too shy to tell us all about them, in all their dirty details, just to highlight how important it is to be outside, in nature, moving and nomadic.
Three Cups of Tea
Despite the controversy over his books, I liked Three Cups of Tea, and read it when I was in Uzbekistan, not far from the lands he was describing. I loved his descriptions of the villages, of the cultures, of the way of life I’d never likely see. And, ultimately, I loved that there was a person out there brave enough to go into the chaos of Pakistan and try to help young girls get an education.
Wild Swans
Again, this isn’t a travel book, per say, but it is an excellent book that inspired me to want to travel to China– to really see the China I had missed in prior visits stuck in the cities. After reading this book in Illinois, I set off for China and backpacked in the western provinces for several months. At last I had seen more of China– that land outside the major cities that so few travelers really see.
Road Fever
One of my all-time favorite road rally books begins with Tim Cahill deciding to drive from Tierra del Fuego (the most southern point in South America) to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska (the most northern point in North America) by truck. This book is insane, and covers deserts, ice lands, bandits and a whole lot in between in a record 23 days. This is part of what inspired me to want to participate in the Mongol Rally. Thanks Tim, for the inspiration!
If you know of other great travel books, let us know in the comments and we’ll add them to the list!
, by Tim Cahill. It is a rare thing that I read a book in one sitting, but that is exactly what happened once I started reading Road Fever. Cahill and long-distance driver Garry Sowerby race to set a new world record from the furthest southern point in South America, Tierra del Fuego, to the furthest northern point of Prudhoe Bay Alaska. They did this amazing feat in 32 1/2 days, a Guinness World Record. It isn’t just the feat that is amazing, it is the fun series of adventures Cahill and Sowerby find themselves enjoying while setting new records. I left this book in Turkmenistan.
, by Paul Theroux. While it is no secret that I dislike Theroux’s writings for their stuck up, holier-than-thou feel, I did enjoy reading these two books in so far as they provided insight into the areas we would be traveling through by rail. Theroux is notorious for his use of ground transportation, an idea we can fully support. Nevertheless, his constant complaints about food and sanitation become pestering the more pages you turn. In Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Theroux retraces a route he took as a young man, and notes the changes. This had real potential, but fell short because he brought along a cell phone, laptop, and an older man’s need for amenities. I left one of these in Shanghai, and the more recent book in Uzbekistan.
, by Tom Bissell. Another former Peace Corps volunteer becomes a writer. Bissell became deathly ill while serving in Uzbekistan, and was sent home before completing his two years of service. Once healed, the more-healthy and mature Bissell returns to Uzbekistan to finish what he started– a trip to the Aral Sea. Filled with historical insight and a bit snobbish critic of the area and its people, Bissell is no doubt an expert on the country’s water waste and the diminishing Aral Sea. Nevertheless, it is a bit long-winded and egotistical, focusing on his own return to Central Asia and his misadventures more than the people or region. Ironically, I left this book in Central Asia when I departed.
, by Lonely Planet Publications. This compilation of tales focuses on people who have chosen to travel without leaving the ground, proving that getting there is more than half the adventure. Some of these amazing folks are featured on our 
, by Peter Hessler. Like many great travel writers, Hessler got his taste for travel in the Peace Corps while assigned to a small town on the Yangtze River teaching English. He studied Mandarin Chinese daily, and slowly became fluent in the world’s most difficult language to master. Meanwhile, he spent his time trying to understand the people he worked with and around, and to delve into the culture without holding back. As a result, Hessler’s books offer genuine commentary on the Chinese and their massive country, as well as an un-egotistical vantage point from which readers can enjoy a foreign country. River Town, his first book, is the tale of his Peace Corps assignment while Oracle Bones is a montage of information Hessler gleaned while living in Beijing, interviewing locals and learning more about Chinese history and language. I lent a friend one of these books never to see it again, and the other is in my collection in the USA.
, by Charley Boorman. Charley Boorman and longtime travel partner Ewen McGregor have set off around the world together on their motorcycles and then composed Long Way Round. In Race to Dakar, Boorman sets off on his own. While the writing is not 100%, the adventure is, and Boorman details his planning, launch and then start in the Dakar Rally. While he was injured and did not finish the rally, Boorman healed up and continued on several other adventures, including another trip with Ewen McGregor called 
. We were excited to read about these rally adventurers because of our own upcoming 
, by David Fromkin. This telling Pulitzer price book finalist tells of the causes of World War I (on the Eastern front between 1914 and 1922) and how the policies before, during and after the conflict have resulted in the most tumultuous area on the planet– the Middle East. The book begins with a young Winston Churchill visiting the Bosporus and concluding that any army hoping to take the Ottoman Empire would only have to control the Aegean. This thought came to fruition later in Churchill’s life as he sent British troops during WWI up the straights in a failed attempt to destroy the Ottoman Empire and end the war. It is shocking how daringly close the plan came to success. The war rages on and the Ottoman Empire collapses, and is ruled eventually by Ataturk (Mustafa Kemal). They gain in power and reinforce the German’s advances, further prolonging the war on all fronts. Eventually the dust settles to reveal the Central Powers have been defeated, but what is less commonly known is that each government in the Allied Powers Alliance has fallen and their internal opposition parties came to power. Essentially, those who began the war were replaced in all cases except Germany, and the mission and goals of the war changed dramatically as a result of new voices in the arena post fighting. Thus, new faces sat around the table deciding how to divide winnings and the states of Iraq, Iran, Jordan and Lebanon were formed, and the Israeli homeland question was raised. The Allied Powers promised a homeland to the Israelites and set about making it happen, not knowing the cultural and religious currents they would stir in so doing with neighboring Arabs. This book explains the root causes of the Israeli – Palestinian conflict, as well as why modern Turkey is so different from other Muslim countries. This book does not touch on the wars in Iraq (Desert Storm of Operation Iraqi Freedom) or 9/11 or Afghanistan.
, by Mark Bowden. This book about the Iran Hostage Crisis read like an adventure novel, but was in fact very well researched. Bowden interviewed countless survivors, read everything he could get his hands on about the Iranian student’s movements, and fully explains the reasons why Muslims dislike Americans. For an American, this book is almost a must-read simply because Bowden is able to get inside the minds of the students who took the American Embassy hostage, and reveals their motives, desires and, years later, what happened to these children. His subtitle is: “The First Battle in the West’s War with Militant Islam,” and Bowden explains why the hostage crisis was a precursor to events that transpired later between the Muslims and the West, and why westerners often fail to fully grasp the rationale and motivations of those militant Muslims in places like Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.
, by Peter Hopkirk; 
, by Stephen Tanner; and 
, by George Crile. If it seems all these books represent a trend, then you are an astute reader my friend. We’ve been traveling through predominately Muslim countries, and our books of choice reflect a desire to better understand the historical context of our culture clashes. We are historians, so naturally our interest in understanding the present lead us to the past. At any rate, all of these books were also page-turners that we think almost anyone could easily enjoy.
as Rolf Potts terms it, then this book is an invaluable guide on how to get started with planning and logistics. It is a whimsical yet no-nonsense guide on how to take anywhere from a few weeks to a few years off to travel, and do so successfully.
offered invaluable insight into the inter-workings of a team undertaking the rally.
will be full of inside jokes only you and other China travelers will understand. His insight into the psyche of the Chinese was amusing and comical, but hardly deep. It would be fair to say that more than half of the book was taken with Troost’s comical musings on the Chinese way of life, with the remaining bit concerned with telling where and what he was up to while romping around the Middle Kingdom.
, Thompson gives perky little insightful tales from his own past that involve excessive amounts of cocaine and marijuana done with Alaskan State Government officials, various visits to go-go dance halls (aka brothels) and a ridiculous amount of drinking with all sorts of unsavory characters. Despite this, he manages to weave an attention-grabbing tale of what it is like to travel as a rogue (albeit flawed) writer, a tale that leaves me wondering what his wife (mentioned in only half of his trips abroad) thinks of his new book.
, making it a fast and delightful read. While their insight into the places they visit is minimal, the funny commentary along the route is amusing and delightful.
is for you. Weiner travels across the globe trying to find the world’s happiest locations. He travels to the Netherlands, Switzerland, Bhutan, Qatar, Iceland, Moldova, Thailand, Great Britain, India and America in search of this aim.
