Memoirs about travel

Or those that or that inspired me to travel. From adventure to romance to tales of ex-pats.

The PCT, written about in a few of the adventure travel books I have enjoyed. Photo by Sébastien Goldberg on Unsplash

Greetings Readers!

It has been a while. You might remember in the last issue I shared some beautiful libraries and bookstores you can visit. This issue is continuing the theme - sort of - by sharing some of my favourite stories that have inspired travel and adventure for me. I think travel memoirs can inspire us in a few ways. They can encourage a reader to visit somewhere new or provide a virtual visit to a destination through imagery. Or, in some cases, they can inspire you to similar, less risky adventures. Either way, I hope that you enjoy this short list of stories about travel.

Adventure Travel/risky endeavors

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage - This one is about an expedition to the South Pole at the start of World War 1. It really is an incredible voyage and story and if you don’t know the history at all, I recommend not reading anything about it and just enjoying the book. It made me want to visit Antarctica when I read it. Now, not so much, for several reasons, but

Into Thin Air - I know that some people do not like John Krakauer. But I do, so too bad, I am recommending not one book but two by him! This is the first hand account of the Mount Everest disaster of 1996. If you don’t know what that is, please heed the advice I’ve given above and don’t Google it and just read this one. I guarantee it will not make you want to climb Mount Everest. It will maybe inspire you to hike or want to visit the Himalayas as it did me. It reminds you of how fragile, foolish, and ambitious humans can be.

Into the Wild - On the same theme as above, and also by Krakauer, this story is about a young man who hiked into the Alaska wilderness to try and survive in the back country near Denali. I am not spoiling anything by telling you he did not survive long. But this description of the book sums up the telling of the story by Krakauer:

“Digging deeply, he takes an inherently compelling mystery and unravels the larger riddles it holds: the profound pull of the American wilderness on our imagination; the allure of high-risk activities to young men of a certain cast of mind; the complex, charged bond between fathers and sons.”

Might make you want to travel to Alaska and see these wild landscapes for yourself but not do anything risky.

Through Hiking/Walking stories

I enjoy stories like these to read about the physical and mental challenges of hiking alone as well as to learn about the destination and sights along the way. These are the stories that have inspired me to do multi-day hiking trips and eventually, I’ll do a backpacking trip on my own.

Becoming Odyssa - This is the story of a recent college graduate who hikes the entire Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine (2000+ miles). She is unprepared, tested, learns many lessons along the way. This story was enjoyable and might inspire you to hike in your hometown or area, to do some day hikes on your next vacation or long weekend, or to go on a guided multi-day hiking trip. It is also for those who like being out in nature!

Wild - Covering the other coast…this one is Cheryl Strayed’s book about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (Mexico to Washington 2650 miles/4264 km) after leaving a failed marriage, a scattered and broken family after the death of her mother, and essentially, life as she knew it behind. I would bet a lot of you have read the book or seen the movie adaptation starring Reese Witherspoon. Although Cheryl was a little bit older than Jennifer in the AT book mentioned above, she learned similar lessons about herself and life while hiking. Through hiking is challenging, character building, and not for the faint of heart. Again, this might not compel you to suddenly hike the PCT, but reading it might make you want to explore hiking on the West Coast to visit some of the areas Cheryl visited on her PCT hike.

Walking the Americas - This book is written by Levison Wood, who is apparently famous for walking expeditions. He’s British and was an officer in the armed forces so he had the outdoor skills for through hiking and being in precarious situations like walking from The Yucatan peninsula in Mexico all the way through Central America and across the incredibly dangerous Darién Gap into Colombia. I own this book and would read it again. It made me want to visit every little part of Central America that he traveled through except for the Darién Gap (jungles and cartels). Its title could be more exciting though because it doesn’t really do the subject matter any justice.

Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home - Another Pacific Crest Trail story but this time written by Heather Anderson. Heather hiked the PCT, AT and the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) from Mexico to Canada (3028 miles/4873 km) all by age 25. Hiking all three is called the triple crown in through hiking, but it doesn’t have to be in the calendar year. However, Heather did hike all three in one year, 2018 (inspiring and a little crazy, right?!). After that tremendous accomplishment, Heather had some turmoil in her life that sent her back to the PCT for some soul-searching, much like Strayed in Wild. Contrary to what you might think based on the hiking memoirs I’ve chosen, you can just love through hiking and hike the AT, PCT, or CDT. :) However, it does seem that people who take on these endeavors really do have something to prove to themself or want to test their own strength and resilience.

Motorcycle journeys

Long Way Round - You might be tired of me talking about this story since I’ve mentioned the three season tv series documentary before. You can find it on Apple tv. But, this was the original journey. In it, Ewan McGregory and his friend (also an actor) Charley Boorman ride their motorcycles from London to New York by travelling trough Europe and Asia and flying with the bikes on a commercial plane across the Pacific to Alaska to ride across Canada and end in New York City. It is quite a journey and inspired me to add destinations in Asia (Mongolia, some of the ‘Stans) to my list as well as be slightly more curious about motorcycles. I don’t think I’d ride one or take a long trip but I do respect the journey and planning that goes into such an endeavor.

Funny/Cheeky memoirs

What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding: A Memoir - This one is a bit of a spicy memoir and was a funny read. It is about a writer who was the odd one out in her friend group since she was unmarried and without children. So, she set out on many solo trips to have her own adventures around the world. I did laugh at this one more than once. It may or may not inspire some spicy times.

France/memoirs

My Life in France - the story of Julia Child and her husband Paul Child in France in the late 1940s and it is a record of their adventures, memories, friends, dinner parties, and of course, her cooking! You’ll be inspired to cook, eat, and explore France after reading this one. Julia and Paul’s story is also a lovely one.

Almost French - A romantic story of a foreign woman finding love with French man while she is travelling abroad from her home country of Australia. It does sound quite predictable but I read it years ago and enjoyed it. It was charming.

A Year in Provence - I really loved this story about a man who moves to the south of France for a year and immerses himself in local life.

Italy

An Italian Education - I really enjoyed this book of reflections and stories about life in Italy by a British writer who married an Italian and they set up their life in Italy. It made me laugh out loud several times. I think this is a good read for this time of year when you want an escape and to laugh because it is not too heavy or emotional.

Under the Tuscan Sun - We’ve all heard of this one and maybe seen the movie? Poet/writer/chef moves to Italy to renovate an old farmhouse and sets up her life in rural Italy. This one will inspire to to eat your way through Italy, if anything.

These lists are a nice compilation of travel memoirs about countries on the Asian continent.

And this is a list of travel memoirs about travelling as a person of color in South Africa. I’m excited to add several of those to my reading list.

I also want to mention that in general, I’ve been trying to read more books by authors who are not native English speakers to diversify my reading experience. Travel memoirs do not really do that, they are the visitor’s experience.

If you know of any travel stories or memoirs that focus heavily on the author’s connection to their homeland, I am always taking suggestions. They can be native English-speakers or not. I will share any suggestions in a future issue! I will also make sure I follow this up in 6 months or so with new reads to inspire travel - hopefully some from the lists above or suggested by any of you!

That’s all for this time. Getting back on track and will feature some of my November trip to Mexico in the next issue. I was fortunate enough to travel with work on a kayak trip.

-Sonya