As you may have noticed, I love reading. I have since I was a child and will still prefer a night with a book on the couch to a night out. The following books have seriously inspired my wanderlust, (almost) made me want to go to certain places and kept me day dreaming.
Here are
My 10 favourite travel books
Shantaram
I had actually restrict myself to 100 pages per day to make it last. It was the closest I ever came to wanting to visit India – or Mumbai rather – to see with my own eyes what G.D. Roberts to delightfully describes.
The Brunetti mystery series by Donna Leon
Usually not a fan of mystery novels, Brunetti gets me every time. It’s not so much about the crime but about Italian food, family, politics and, of course, Venice.
Donna Leon’s German translator does a terrific job: the novels feel exactly the same when you read them in German translation as in the (English) original.
The Songlines
Be prepared for a beautiful journey across Australia, along the “songlines” indigenous peoples have been using as maps navigating today’s Australia for centuries, if not millenia.
Seven Years in Tibet
All he ever wanted was to be in the mountains – even if that meant joining the NSdAP and getting funded by the Nazis. Young Heinrich Harrer and his companion Peter Aufschnaiter make it all the way to Lhasa – then a forbidden city in a forbidden country – where he gets to become friends with the young Dalai Lama, 20 years his junior. He stays there for seven years before returning to his former home in Austria.
Down Under
An American with a sense of irony visits a good part of Australia and takes note of a all the things he finds odd, of which there are many. It’s heaps better to give you a feeling of this vast – and mostly devoid of people – landmass than most guidebooks and sparked my wish to see the stromatolites in Western Australia (which I haven’t managed so far).
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The heart-breaking story of a loving couple with a secret: He is a time-traveller and cannot predict when he’s next going to disappear from the present and turn up unexpectedly in some other time and place, past or future.
Kiwi Tracks
Walking a handful of Great Walks and some more, this book will make you want to pack your bag, put on your hiking boots and
The Beach
All clichées and stereotypes about Thailand in one novel you will not want to put away.
Midnight’s Children
At the very moment of India’s independence exactly 1,000 children are born, linked forever by telepathic powers and each of them endowed with a special gift. Saleem Sinai is one of them. Rushdie at his best.
After Darkness by Christine Piper
This enthralling debut-novel of an Australian author tells the gripping story of a Japanese doctor who moves to Broome, Western Australia, to escape from his old life and is (literally) captured in the throes of World War 2.
Which books have inspired you to (re)visit a certain country or at least to pull out a map and have a good look at it?
*** This article contains Amazon Affiliate links ***
I love travel books! Books by Hans Hass inspired me and many others. Especially I Love “das Schneekind” by Nicolas Vanier and “Abgefahren” by Claudia Metz and Klaus Schubert. Lg Julia
Julia! So wonderful to see you here 🙂
Yes, I remember you borrowing Mum’s book about Hans Hass. His books are truly inspiring – especially for those who enjoy diving.
I haven’t heard of the other titles you mentioned but will definitely have a look..