Guide books give us the basic facts on visiting a place for the first time, but few really inspire us to travel. That sense of wanderlust is far more likely to be piqued by literature that captures the essence of a place or just of the concept of journey on a much deeper level.
We’ve all read a book at one time or another that’s in some way influenced our holiday destinations, and some stories just instill in us an overwhelming urge to travel – regardless of the destination. The best writers can convey a sense of place that stays with us long after we’ve put the book down, and actually visiting that place can feel like coming home.
Here are a few books that will have you reaching for your suitcase before finishing the last chapter!
Notes from a Small Island – Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson has travelled extensively throughout his life, and has a wonderful knack for capturing the small details that combine to make a trip what it is. Notes from a Small Island describes a journey through Britain, seen through the eyes of an American traveller. But the sense of discovery and subtly unfamiliar situations and customs is what comes across, and taps into our own need to visit new places.
Highly accessible and at times hilarious, this book is an effortless read. £5.99 on Amazon
(Fiesta): The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
Focusing on the lives of a group of expatriate Americans living far from home in the 1920s, The Sun Also Rises follows its characters from Paris to Spain, with rich and evocative descriptions of both locations. The madness of Parisian nightlife gives way to the sensual wildness of Pamploma, where the protagonist Jake and his entourage witness bullfights and fiesta for the first time.
Reading this book is almost certain to make you want to visit Spain, and to get there the long way, just as Hemingway’s characters did.
£4.99 on Amazon
A Week at the Airport – Alain de Botton
This short novel is so much a book about travelling as a book about nottravelling! But don’t be fooled: Alain de Botton’s book is the result of a week as ‘writer in residence’ at Heathrow Airport, a place where many travellers begin their voyage.
The book captures the miniate details that are unique to the ‘non-place’ of the airport, all of which evoke a sense of excitement and adventure, combining the magical and the mundane.
£5.30 on Amazon
On the Road – Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac’s On The Road has a momentum and energy to it quite unlike any other book, and really captures the essence of free-spirited travel. A semi-autobiographical work, it follows the real-life journeys made by Kerouc in the 1950s, and is considered one of the defining novels of the Beat Generation,
£4.50 on Amazon
In Patagonia – Bruce Chatwin
In Patagonia charts the six month journey made by English novelist and travel writer Bruce Chatwin’s across the farthest reaches of South America. Chatwin wrote the book in 1972, but Patagonia, with its expansive, unspoilt landscape is still a destination favoured by those who want to escape from the hustle and bustle of modern life.
At the time of its publication the New York Times described In Patagonia as a “little masterpiece of travel, history, and adventure, and it’s been a source of inspiration to travel writers ever since.
£4.98 on Amazon
Image: Paul Alsop
