If you are anything like me, you love to research a destination before you visit. Travel guides, non-fiction and fiction stories can be a wonderful source of information and a confidence booster when you second-guess your trip. I learned this lesson in college. As a Spanish major, I convinced my parents that I needed to study in Spain to speak with an authentic accent. Luckily, they agreed.
Two weeks before my trip abroad, I started to panic because I realized I only new the basic facts about this new place where I was going to live for the next six months. I quickly bought James Michener’s Iberia and finished it by the time my plane landed. It’s still at the top of my list: 7 Travel Books to Inspire Wanderlust.
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A New York Times best seller, Iberia by James Michener, provides a rich, detailed look at life in Madrid and smaller cities throughout the country. In his unique style, Michener provides you with an in-depth look at the people, the beauty and the importance of ancient cathedrals, artists, bullfighters, olive orchards, and cultural traditions in Spain. Michener visited Spain many times over 40 years, and referred to Spain as his second home.
Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History Making Race Around the World
If you ever wondered what it would be like to travel around the world before airplanes existed, you’ll find this story by Matthew Goodman fascinating. Inspired by the fiction novel, Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, this novel details the real life story of a courageous female reporter who convinced her boss (in 1889) at Joseph Pulitzer’s World newspaper that she could travel around the world in less than 80 days.
Using the pen name Nellie Bly, Elizabeth Jane Cochrane began her trip circumnavigating the earth. Hours later, a rival newspaper sent their own female reporter on the same journey starting in the opposite direction. Each woman reported her travel experiences including the people, historic sights, weather, mechanical issues and other delays they faced along the way in a nail-biting race to the finish line that became a global story.
A Woman Alone: Travel Tales From Around the Globe
A great book to have with you when you’re traveling, this collection of short stories is an easy read. You’ll find inspiration and guidance on how to handle the challenges of traveling as a solo woman in unique locations such as the Silk Road or deserted train stations at night. In this collection of travel stories edited by Faith Conlan, Ingrid Emerick, and Christina Henry De Tessan, you’ll find that some of these are excerpts from longer books you might want to read next.
Cruising Altitude
Life as a flight attendant used to seem like an ideal job before the pandemic. As you can imagine, the crew and flying public certainly make each day interesting. Another easy read actually written by a flight attendant named Heather Poole, you’ll get an insider’s glimpse into what that life is actually like 35,000 feet above the ground.
Like Water for Chocolate
How can you not love a book that blends rich descriptions of Mexico, wonderful storytelling and mouth watering recipes at the beginning of each chapter? This multi-generational family saga of women set during the Revolution of 1910 was written by Laura Esquival. Tradition, love, lust and the desire to be who you were meant to be, provides the foundation for this fascinating novel that combines reality and the supernatural (known as the genre magical realism). To get a sense of the story, try making this delicious recipe from the novel adapted by a food blogger.
The Year of Living Danishly
When her husband gets a new job in Denmark, Helen Russell (a freelance writer who loves London but not new adventures), reluctantly joins him and sets out to discover the secrets of the world’s happiest country. A witty and insightful look at childcare, taxes, food, interior design and seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in Denmark. A fun read and an entertaining audio version to listen to when you are feeling inspired by wanderlust.
Eat, Pray, Love
After a painful divorce, a writer named Elizabeth Gilbert takes a four-month journey to Italy, India and Indonesia to find closure, peace and happiness. This book was based on her experiences and each section of the book details one country. Although the movie was a box office success, I prefer the book because you get a better sense of each place she visited and her internal struggles before, during and after her journey.
What’s Your Favorite Travel Book?
Travel stories take us to new destinations and provide a glimpse into adventures we might never have imagined. If you love to read, I hope you’ll enjoy one of the 7 Travel Books to Inspire Wanderlust listed above.
Have you ever taken a trip because of a book you read first? What’s your favorite travel book? Please comment below and share your experiences
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