Good travel writing is hard to find, but there is. Part of the reason for this is that much travel writing is also considered nature writing or non-fiction narrative. Part of the reason is that the field is so competitive because many good authors compete for a relatively small market space. But there is a wide variety of great travel novels out there, and here is my list of the top ten travel novels I’ve read in the last two years.
10) Through Painted Deserts, by Donald Miller. This is one I found in the “Christian Nonfiction” section, which may be unfair. There is no doubt that Miller is a Christian, but he is first and foremost a writer, he does not preach, and his questioning of his own faith, of the reasons for his existence, of who and what he is or what he is becoming recalls the fantastic examination of conscience that came from the travel writing of the Beat generation. Miller’s account of his journey is brilliant, going through the moments of beauty, the need for good road trip music, and admitting his moments of shame and fear as freely as any other part of his journey.
9) Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure by Sarah MacDonald. The initial reading of this book can be difficult, because after the first few chapters there is a lot of the Western perspective, the whimpering of living conditions and poverty, the kind of disdain you don’t like to read from travel writing. I’m glad I read the rest, because like “Across Painted Deserts,” “Holy Cow” is about the author’s journey. Sarah evolves and changes from chapter to chapter in front of you as she sheds the dismissive nature of an atheist “too smart” to fall into superstition, and opens up, traveling around India and trying out all the different religious beliefs and practices. as she becomes a humble theist she learns about happiness, learns how to grow, and learns that alien cultures may have much to offer the open traveler.
8) Into the Wild by John Krakauer. I first saw this book at Barnes and Noble at one of the display tables. I was on winter vacation in Alaska and visiting family in Iowa. I picked up the book, sat down, and read the entire paper in one sitting. Travel book, journalistic book, nature book, adventure book, whatever you call it, this is a great read, and the debate it provokes is deep and passionate. As a traveler with a passion for travel, I understand the drive the main character feels, as a native Alaskan, I understand the native perspective of irritation, of the lack of understanding that nature is brutal and especially Alaska should be respected as such. .
7) Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town, by Paul Theroux. Paul Theroux is at his best in “Dark Star Safar,” where his observational skills and dry wit are on full display. Paul takes readers across Africa via an overcrowded dilapidated bus, canoe, cattle truck, armored convoy, ferry, and train on a journey that is hard to forget. There are moments of beauty, but there are also many moments of misery and danger. This is a narrative from Africa that goes below the skin to dare to look into the deepest core of what is often referred to as “The Dark Continent”.
6) Blue Highways: A Journey to America, by William Least Heat-Moon. This is an autobiographical journey taken by Heat-Mean in 1978. After separating from his wife and losing his job, Heat-Moon decided to take a long road trip around the United States, sticking to “Blue Highways”, a term for refer to little byways connecting rural America (which were drawn in blue in old Rand McNally atlases). So Heat-Moon rigs up his van, named “Ghost Dancing” and embarks on a 3-month soul-searching tour of the United States. The book chronicles the 13,000-mile journey and the people he meets along the way, as he steers clear of cities and interstates, eschews fast food, and explores local American culture on a journey that is as amazing today as it was when he made it. for the first time.
5) The Lost Continent, by Bill Bryson. There are tons of great Bill Bryson books out there, and any one of them could fit the bill here. “The Lost Continent” is Bryson’s journey across America, visiting some common places (the Grand Canyon), but also exploring the back roads and looking for that familiarity that helps him remember home.
4) Wanderlust: Pico Iyer’s True-Life Tales of Adventure and Romance. Probably one of the best collections of travel writing published in recent memory, this collection is under the name of Pico Iyer, who helped edit this collection. These stories come from the “Wanderlust” section of Salon.com and create a varied tapestry of travel writing that will keep the reader going from one writer to another.
3) A walk through America by Peter Jenkins. This is one of the all-time modern classics in travel writing, as Peter Jenkins recalls the story of his 1973-75 walk from New York to New Orleans. For many readers, this is still a rare travel book that grabs you and keeps you going. Known as a travel writer who will walk anywhere, including Alaska and China, Peter Jenkins says, “I started looking for myself and my country and I found both.” That sums up what travel writing should be about.
2) Travels with Charlie by John Steinbeck. This was a novel that helped John Steinbeck win a Nobel Prize for Literature. “Travels with Charlie” is a fantastic travel narrative that gets to the heart of travel, the point of the journey and the strange confrontation and realization that the places and people you remember are gone once you are. As he revisits the places from his youth that many of his books are based on, he finds himself seeing old friends who are as uncomfortable with his return as he is with being there. A great story about travel, about home, about grieving lost history, about growing old, and about America – this should be required reading for all high school students.
1) The Dharma Tramps, by Jack Kerouac. The beat generation was full of great travel narratives, and Jack Kerouac was the master of powerful, moving and passionate language that unfolded stories like few people have. While “On the Road” is Kerouac’s most noted travelogue, “The Dharma Bums” is a better book. Full of passion, engaging characters and stories, and the kind of passionate language and powerful prose that made Beat Generation writers popular, Kerouac’s book is extraordinary and deserves its number one spot.
