Oh, the travel bug is buzzing! It’s hard to beat the turn of a page for sparking the desire to hit the open road, the smell of abroad or the thrill of stumbling upon an overlooked corner of the world. Although practical guides provide invaluable help, it’s usually the stories, the philosophies and the very spirit of adventure that the books convey help to plant the seed for our next adventure.
Here’s a list of five tomes that are all capable of exciting that next travel bug within you, each providing a new prism through which one can imagine the world and one’s place in it.
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
Potts doesn’t merely suggest you travel; he offers a framework for rethinking time and life priorities. He takes on the idea that long-term travel is an impossible luxury and lays out concrete steps for saving, planning and adjusting to life on the road.
It is his focus on the inner transformation that comes from long-distance journeys – more self-sufficiency, flexibility, a wider perspective on the world – that makes you long for the power of it all to be experienced for yourself.
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Aside from his tragic end, McCandless’s story taps into a fundamental human urge to break free from societal constraints and commune with what’s primal. His relentless pursuit of his ideals, however delusional, challenges us to examine our own definitions of a life well lived and the courage to walk our own road.
The rugged, numinous territory he travels also essentially serves as a visual invitation to explore the more spectacularly wild corners of our home planet.
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Gilbert’s journey is a familiar feeling for anyone who has felt lost or wanted a change. The way she honestly describes her vulnerability and slowly but steadily finding joy again in new places and finding herself again is inspiring and reassuring.
It implies that travel can serve as a deeply healing and restorative practice, one through which we nurture ourselves and connect with the balance in the universe.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
On the surface this fable isn’t much, but it contains powerful truths about destiny, trusting yourself, and saying yes to the universe when it presents new opportunities.
Santiago’s quest, steeped in symbolism and encounters, inspires belief that if we follow our own guidance, our own true north, the universe will conspire to help us realize our dreams, including the dream of the world.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The vibrancy of Kerouac’s prose and the bone-deep feeling of freedom embodied by his characters’ cross-country trips are contagious. The book envelops the reader in a spirit of spontaneity and seizing the moment, encouraging a commitment to taking life as it comes, and to finding beauty and kinship in the mundane interactions of travel.
Katherine May is the author of “Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times.” It reminds you that the path, in all its detours and discoveries, is sometimes the most fully-savored part.
Each of these books gives adventure a unique spin, one that gets us to escape, explore new vistas, and find not only the world but ourselves in it. Allow their pages to inspire your wanderlust and lead you to your next big adventure.
