There isn’t a living soul on earth who upon hearing the phrase “inspirational travel books”, doesn’t immediately see the front cover of “Eat Pray Love” flash before his or her eyes. A journey of self-discovery that took Elizabeth Gilbert to faraway lands shrouded in eastern charm and mystery is the siren call every book-loving traveller longs to answer.
While good travel books immerse us in worlds, great travel books beckon us to explore them.
Here are 4 great books that would make you want to scrimp every penny and put it towards your next trip.
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The Art of Travel | Alain De Botton
Travel has become a buzzword devoid of meaningful purpose.
The Art of Travel is Alain De Botton’s honest plea for travellers to rediscover the true meaning of travel that’s been obscured by a strange blend of romanticism and escapism that plagues the modern traveller.
The Art of Travel encourages readers to examine the deficient reasons that fuel their wanderlust, and pull back the curtain on the unconscious pressures that rob travellers of the true joy of exploration.
From appreciating the role of mounting excitement leading up to the trip, to discovering the magic behind the mundanity of tamed seas, Alain De Botton holds his readers by the hand as he leads them to reclaim the unadulterated beauty of travel.
For those who see travel as more than just enjoying new sights and tasting great food, The Art of Travel would make a great travel companion.
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A Woman Alone: Travel Tales from Around the Globe | Faith Colon, Ingrid Emerick, Christina Henry De Tessan
A Woman Alone is a beautiful collection of short essays that transports its readers across countries and continents. Within its pages are musings of solo travel and exposition of freedom that belong only to those brave enough to take on the world alone.
Each story within the book invites us to consider the most pertinent question of our day: “Why go solo?”, and answers it with the most beautiful experiences of personal travels. From the impassible jungles of Central America, to sacred temple pilgrimages in Japan, each account is filled with adventure and insights readers can enjoy while curled up comfortably on their living room couch.
No stranger to the ever-present challenges faced by solo female travellers themselves, contributors of A Woman Alone offer valuable tips that enable women to travel more safely and wisely. For female travellers with loved ones who respond with furrowed brows and mild heart attacks at the mere mention of solo travel, you would feel right at home with this book.
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Love with a chance of drowning | Torre DeRoche
For a city girl with a paralyzing fear of deep water, a charming Argentinean with a leaky old sailboat and a penchant for exploration is a dangerous thing.
It’s not every day that you promise your Australian mother that you would stay away from any American man who might turn your short trip to the United States into a permanent situation. Luckily for Torre, her promise held true (part of it..at least) as our heroine sails off to remote islands and undiscovered corners of the world, subduing her fear of treacherous waters with passionate Argentinean love.
Love with a chance of drowning is a story about trading the comfort and sophistication of city life for a romantic adventure of a lifetime. While it is unlikely for most of us to drop everything to embark on a sailing venture with a European gentleman on a mildly unsafe boat in this life, the book offers us a glimpse of an enchanted life that could only be unlocked by travel.
Its question for its readers: who knows what your next ticket might bring
Afterall, one outrageous decision is all it takes to turn your life into something unrecognizable, something truly magical.
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Hidden Places | Sarah Baxter
Hidden Places plunges readers into the heart of remote places.
From the Black Forest of Germany from which numerous tales of Brothers Grimm originate to the mysterious underwater monument sunken off the Ryukyu Islands, Hidden Places is filled with dream-like illustrations and utterly heart-rending stories that leave readers with a melancholic aftertaste.
Putting to use the skill of story-crafting derived from her profession as a travel journalist, Sarah unearths the sombre and intriguing history behind some of the most remote locations on earth and presents them in the form of captivating stories. From sanctuaries purposefully hidden from persecution to ancestral homes levelled to make way for military bases, each story is about people as much as it’s about places.
There is almost a magical quality to the tales within Hidden Places; it’s as though these forgotten realms and their inhabitants are baring their hearts through the words on the page, longing to be remembered by the world again.
For travellers whose interests lie beyond familiar destinations splashed across the feeds of homogenous travel-focused Instagram accounts, Hidden Places would tick all the right boxes.
Bumbling through university on spindly legs, it’s in the world of Travel that Josiah Tan finds a home. When away from his workstation, Josiah can often be found bartering leftover bacon for morsels of affection from his disinterested Maltese.