If you’re looking for vacation inspiration or simply searching for a great armchair travel read, check out this list of excellent travel writers!
One of my favorite travel writers, Bill Bryson, will take you on a hilarious adventure in any of his numerous books; however, he’s at his best when writing about his adopted country, England. In Notes from a Small Island, Bryson sets off on a farewell tour of the county he has called home for the past twenty years, noting the endearing quirks of the English along the way. In his latest work, The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain, Bryson revisits his memorable first trip around the island nation. Other great travel reads by Bryson include, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America, A Walk in the Woods, and Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe.
Also worth a look is Kristin Newman’s What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding. Newman’s life as a sitcom writer (for television shows like How I Met Your Mother and That 70’s Show) allowed her the time and financial freedom to travel all over the globe throughout her twenties and thirties. Newman answers her struggle with commitment in her personal life by falling deeply in love with the world. This book will give you a serious case of wanderlust.
Tsh Oxenreider proves that globe-trotting isn’t just for the unattached. In At Home in the World: Reflections on Belonging While Wandering the Globe, the author spends nine months circumnavigating the globe with her husband and three kids in tow. Oxenreider explores the meaning of home as she finds herself settling comfortably into all different corners of the globe.
If you’re craving a bit of vicarious living, look for Peter Mayle’s books about Provence. His classic work, A Year in Provence, describes his first year in the south of France after moving there permanently from England. The book portrays a host of characters, from neighbors to builders to winemakers to local chefs. It describes a life full of simple pleasures and adapting to the pace of a new culture.
Find all of these and more in the catalog!
-Contributed by Cailín C., Adult Services Librarian