My Top 5 Travel Reads

On top of my love for travel, I also love to read in my spare time. I’ve always been a fan of fiction, and as I my passion for travel grew, my passion for travel literature also grew. Throughout the last few years, I have dedicated many hours to reading about travel. Not only does this peak my interest for new travel destinations, but it helps me improve my travel writing. Nothing like a win-win situation! Here are my top 5 travel reads (in no particular order) and why:

1) The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Holly Corbett, & Amanda Pressner

What do I not love about this book? I love how raw and honest these 3 authors are, discussing everything from stress about travel weight, to the worst of stomach issues, to the problems with each other. I love that this book is written from 3 different perspectives, each author taking a turn to write about a different place. The 3 different writing styles are tied together nicely to give an overall picture of their travels and what they learned along the way.

2) The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost by Rachel Friedman

When I first started reading this book, I loved to hate Rachel. She’s down on herself, which makes it easy for the reader to get down on her too. Somewhere along the way on her journey, she picks herself up, hauls you along with her, and you fall completely in love with her and her travel adventure. Having been to both Ireland and Australia, I enjoyed reading about the places that she went that I had been, and when she got to South America, I began adding places and activities to my list for my (at the time) upcoming trip. If you need a bit of an attitude adjustment on your life through a heartfelt travel memoir, this book does the trick!

3) Wild by Cheryl Strayed

I spent most of my time reading this book in awe. How is it that someone can hit rock bottom and pick themselves up by setting out on a solo journey to hike for months (yes, months!) down the Pacific Crest Trail? Inspiring truly does not give justice to Strayed and the physical, mental, and emotional journey that she sets out on. Need some inspiration to overcome an obstacle? This book will do just that!

4) The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner

This book is whimsical, well-written, detail oriented, and extremely interesting. Filled with facts, history, and the charm of the author himself, I added multiple travel destinations to my constantly growing list when reading this book. Diving between some of the world’s happiest places, and some of the world’s unhappiest places, Weiner truly gives readers a sense for the world at face value. This was one of my first travel reads, and it inspired me to seek out more, learning more and more about this amazing world that we live in.

5) Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

This book has taken a lot of flack, but personally I love it. Not only do I admire Gilbert’s ability to pick up, leave home, and set out on a journey entirely about her, but I deeply admire her ability to write about this journey and share it with the world. It’s not as simple as one may think to bare yourself to the world in such a raw and vulnerable way. Personally, I have always had a longing to practice yoga in India, so I loved this part of the book. After reading Eat, Pray, Love, I added both India and Bali to my list of travel destinations that I will one day (soon!) visit.