Ten Books That Will Inspire You to See the World

T here are few things that inspire one to travel as much as a good book. Here, I’ve decided to list some of my favourite books that involve travelling, and places around the world. Hopefully, some of these will inspire you too.

1. Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan – Jamie Zeppa

Bhutan is a lovely nation wedged between India and China. It also happens to be a country very resistant to change; it only lets in a few foreigners a year in order to preserve its traditional culture. This book is one of my favourites, and if anything will inspire you to travel this is it. It tells the true story of a Canadian woman who decides to teach English in Bhutan after finishing her master’s degree. To me, it accurately describes the highs and lows of being in a new place. It also really helps to explain what life is like teaching in another nation, how challenging, and how rewarding. It’s really helped to cement my desires to teach abroad after I graduate university.

2. A Cook’s Tour – Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain is a wonderfully crass chef who travels the world eating the most obscure of foods. He has a few television series that I highly recommend; ‘No Reservations’ and ‘A Cook’s Tour’ happen to be a couple. The cool thing about him is that while he eats, he also explores the cultures of the places he visits. In this book he travels to Japan to eat the poisonous fugu fish, to Vietnam to eat a beating cobra heart, and to Portugal for a festive pig, added to an abundance of other places. This is a fine introduction to the world of Anthony Bourdain, and I recommend it to anyone who adores food and travelling.

3. On the Road – Jack Kerouac

I started reading the “beats” in high school. Kerouac, in particular, is the first person who spurred my love of California, before Benjamin or California had came into my life. While there’s an abundance of literature by the beats that I can recommend (please message me if you want some) I think that “On the Road” more than anything truly inspires travelling. It’s also a great introduction to beatnik literature. What this book represents to me is the feeling I get whenever I go on road trips. The feeling of getting in a car with no fears, responsibilities, or destination in mind. Travelling in any form can be like this, you never know what’s going to happen and what to expect, and I think for many travellers, that’s one of the best things about travelling. I highly recommend this book.

4. Books, Baguettes, and Bedbugs – Jeremy Mercer

We picked up this book in Chiang Mai at a so-called ‘backpacker’s bookstore’. The book tells the tale of a guy who stayed in Shakespeare & Co. in the Latin Quarter of Paris. Shakespeare & Co. is a bookstore, but it’s not just any bookstore, it’s one with a story. The recently deceased owner of the store encouraged vagrants, travellers, and most of all writers to live in the bookstore for as long as they wanted. The catch was a couple conditions: first of all they had to help around the bookstore, secondly they had to write a short biography about themselves to give to the owner. While I’m not sure if this policy still exists, the author eloquently paints a picture of what life is like in this bookstore, and the people he encountered. Today you can still visit Shakespeare & Co. if you happen to be in Paris; however, the original owner’s daughter now runs the store. This book is impossible to put down, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll rip through it in a day or two.

5. Everything is Illuminated – Jonathen Safran Foeur

I first found out about this book and movie while I was attending a short film course in high school. Now a movie starring Eugene Hutz, and Elijah Wood, it all began with this book. The book tells a tale of a young man who travels to the Ukraine to find out about his family’s past. His family had emigrated from the Ukraine during WW2. The boy hires a Ukrainian family company based in Odessa to find out about his past. The boy, and the company (a grandfather and his grandson) travel throughout the Ukraine unearthing history. It’s a really beautiful story that is comical, moving, and heartfelt. Read it for an insight to Eastern Europe.

6. Pyongyang, Shenzen, Burma Chronicles – Guy Delisle

Guy Delisle is a French-Canadian illustrator. Oddly enough, he has been sent all over the world, to the most coveted of countries, to teach others about illustration. Four of such places that he has been sent are Pyongyang (North Korea), Burma, Shenzen (China), and Israel. Fortunately for us, he has made wonderfully comprehensive graphic novels of each of these occasions. If you’ve never read a graphic novel before, don’t be afraid to. What I like about these is that they offer something that other books do not. If you’ve never been somewhere, it’s often quite hard to comprehend what it is like without images. The great thing about Delisle’s books is that they offer what it’s like to live in a foreign country, as well as pictures, so that the reader can understand what’s going on. I highly recommend everything he has written.

7. Tonuharu – Lars Martinson

Tonoharu is a short graphic novel written about the experiences of a guy who goes to teach English in Japan. The book comes in a series of novels, and unfortunately, I’ve only had the opportunity to read the first one. However, I think it’s great. Tonoharu offers us the confusion, isolation, and oddness one can feel when teaching in another country. As a person who is considering teaching in Japan in the future, I found this book to be a great resource.

8. Sputnik Sweetheart – Haruki Murakami

Murakami is one of my favourite authors. He’s a Japanese author who tends to write about wells, cats, and mixed up love affairs. Although his books can be a little risqué at times, I still think that they are great. Sputnik Sweetheart was written in the 1980s, and takes the viewpoint of a twenty-something in love with a girl named Sumire. Sumire, however, is in love with an older woman named Miu. Without giving too much away, I will tell you that eventually the characters travel to Greece. While this isn’t a travel novel per c’est, it does give the perspective of life through another culture’s eyes. One of the great things about Murakami, is that he writes about really mundane things that happen in life, like cooking food, and late night phones calls. The best thing about him though, is that he takes the ordinary, and makes it extraordinary. I recommend this book for anyone who has a love for Japan, strange literature, and travel.

9. Persepolis

This is one of the best graphic novels I’ve ever read. It helps to contextualize Iran for people who have never been there. Marjane Satrapi tells her story, of life before, during, and after the Iranian revolution. She explains how the revolution affected her life, and family. This book is educational, emotional, and in some senses, comical. You should absolutely read it, and check out the movie that accompanies it. Both, are very well done.

10. The Beach – Alex Garland

This is a great book for any backpacker. Every backpacker knows that one of quests of the traveler, is to find the most unexplored place, the most sacred place, and the least exploited place. Alex Garland’s ‘The Beach’ takes on this idea to an extreme. I had the pleasure of reading this while I was in Thailand, and the book itself, is based in Thailand. The protagonist in the story meets two fellow backpackers and the three decide to trek down to the islands in Southern Thailand. After arriving, they hear about an extremely coveted island. Though I won’t tell you what happens, I can tell you its an engrossing novel telling a Lord of the Flies-esque tale of the extremes of backpacking.

Make sure you check some of these out and let me know below what books have inspired you to travel.

Until next time,

- Leia Atkinson

Tags: reading, travel books