Books That Inspire Our Travels

Great road stories often make me want to grab the author by the lapels and exclaim, “Are you

insane

?” But in a good way.

Take George Mahood, a perfectly normal chap who decides to

set off on a 1000-mile journey penniless, without luggage, and naked except for a pair of boxer shorts

emblazoned with the Union Jack. Incredibly, he persuades a pal to do the same, and as the two bumble their way north up the length of Britain, relying on the generosity of strangers, I find myself laughing out loud at their exploits. George’s book

Free Country

is especially pleasurable to read while you’re wrapped in a warm quilt on the sofa, sipping hot tea, and congratulating yourself on having the good sense not to commit that particular folly.

A Romanian Gypsy

Want yet more proof that the course of a great travel narrative never runs smoothly? Cast your mind back to emails from vacationing friends describing the pretty scenery, tasteful restaurants, people just like themselves … I’m sorry, I must have dozed off there for a moment. In contrast are the late-night page-turners, such as

Duende

by Jason Webster and

Along the Enchanted Way

by William Blacker,

two very different tales in which young men seeking a more authentic life join the Gypsies

(in Spain and rural Romania, respectively), with chaotic, intense, and riveting results.

Moments of crisis are often the springboard for unforgettable adventures. Two popular works –

Tales of a Female Nomad

by Rita Golden Gelman and

Halfway to Each Other

by Susan Pohlman – begin with women on the brink of divorce. Rita leaves home to spend her life

blithely traveling alone through countries all the guidebooks say you’d be crazy to visit without a professional guide and an armed guard

. Susan and her husband obey a sudden, mad impulse to grab the kids and move to Italy for a year in hopes of repairing their fractured marriage. In both cases, it’s the twists and tumults that keep you eagerly tapping your Kindle’s screen.

Even without such high-stakes drama, a good memoir plunges the author (and reader) into the unknown. Peter Mayle’s classic

A Year in Provence

and Victoria Twead’s delightful

Chickens, Mules, and Two Old Fools

are charming, leisurely tales about the often-surprising perils and pleasures of moving abroad and restoring an old house in the country.

Even learning how to kiss cheeks – twice in Paris, three times in rural Provence, as a general rule – requires considerable finesse

. “I now pay close attention to the movement of the female head,” writes Mayle. “If it stops swiveling after two kisses, I am almost sure I’ve filled my quota, but I stay poised for a third lunge just in case the head should keep moving.”

I loved both those books but confess that when my turn came,

I was tremendously relieved to learn that foreigners moving to Europe aren’t actually

required

to buy a crumbling farmhouse and restore it with the help of semi-literate but wise and amusing locals.

As readers of

Dancing in the Fountain

know, I chose to live in the city of Seville, which offers just as many cultural pitfalls and pratfalls, but with less mud and a clear-cut rule about cheek kisses: first right, then left, then stop.

Some writers hold us spellbound with insights that help us see our own journeys in a larger context. “Travel agents would be wiser to ask us what we hope to change about our lives rather than simply where we wish to go,” says Alain de Botton in

A Week at the Airport

. Pico Iyer, author of

The Global Soul

, puts it this way: “We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate… And

we travel, in essence, to become young fools again

– to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more.”

Great travel books offer us the exhilarating experience of being a young fool again – without actually having to undertake a journey of 1000 miles wearing nothing but unmentionables and a hopeful smile.

Unlike some of my better-organized and more practical blogger friends, I have not included any books (or indeed any products anywhere on my blog or website) due to sponsorship of any kind. The books mentioned here are ones that have helped me on my journey; I believe you might find them entertaining and useful while planning your own adventures.

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