12 Best Travel Books to Stir Up Some Serious Wanderlust
From international flights to seemingly endless layovers to cross-country train rides, long travel days are a great opportunity to dig your nose into a new book. Whether you prefer packing light with a Kindle or reading old-school style with a well-worn paperback, a good travel book is the perfect on-the-road companion—no matter your destination. To inspire your next trip (or just help you get through a long layover day), these are some of our favorite travel books for women who wanderlust:
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12 best travel books for 2024
1. Best overall travel book: Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
One of the most iconic books (and films) of the 2010s, Eat, Pray, Love deserves a top spot on your travel reading list. (And no—we won’t shame you if you want to watch the movie first.) As a 30-something modern American woman, Elizabeth Gilbert had seemingly checked all the boxes: career; husband; home. But these golden handcuffs left her feeling unfulfilled. In her memoir, Gilbert recounts her story of ditching it all for an around-the-world journey—from Italy to India to Indonesia—to meet and discover her true self. *Cue inspiring movie montage here.*
Price: starting at $11
2. Best travel book for solo travelers: What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding: A Memoir by Kristin Newman
No, you do not have to give up your seat on the plane because the woman next to you wants to sit with her husband who’s assigned seat is three aisles back. If you’ve ever dealt with similarly frustrating solo travel woes, then you need to get your hands on What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding. In her 2014 memoir, sitcom writer Newman recounts her tales of solo travel and why she opted for mastering the art of “vacationship” instead of settling down. As she introduces you to Finnish poker players, Israeli bartenders, Argentine priests, and other captivating characters, Newman delivers a candid, comical account of how she fell in love with the planet, the locals, and herself during her solo life on the road.
Price: starting at $11
3. Best travel book for digital nomads: Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf Potts
What is vagabonding? Veteran travel writer Rolf Potts calls it “taking time off from your normal life … to discover and experience the world on your own terms.” Sounds pretty good, right? In Vagabonding, Potts gives you both the inspiration and the information to: pick your destination; finance your travels; work and volunteer abroad; adjust to life on the road; and deal with re-assimilating to your “normal life.” Whether you’re a seasoned traveler or just embarking on location-independent living, consider this your handbook to living life on the road.
Price: starting at $14
4. Best inspiring travel book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
150+ million readers can’t be wrong. Yeah, that’s how many copies Paulo Coelho has sold of his famous 1988 novel. In this modern classic, you’ll follow the story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy “who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found.” Translated from Coelho’s native Portuguese, The Alchemist has become a cherished favorite of bookworms around the world with its inspiring, uplifting tales of listening to your heart and following your dreams. Turned off by the sound of clichés? Read a sample—we swear you’ll be hooked.
Price: starting at $18
5. Best travel book for women: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
Another travel book for women (immortalized in film by Reese Witherspoon four years after Julia Roberts’ Eat, Pray, Love performance), Wild is one of the 2010s’ gifts that just keeps on giving. In this memoir, Cheryl Strayed tells the story of her eleven-hundred-mile solo hike of the Pacific Crest Trail—from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon, all the way to Washington State. Another feel-good memoir about picking yourself up when the going gets tough and learning to persevere, this is the travel book every woman should read before her next trip.
Price: starting at $11
6. Best travel book for campers: Walden by Henry David Thoreau
This classic may have been published in 1854, but its theme, message, and heart transcend (no pun intended) the decades. Written by transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, Walden is a personal account of the two years, two months, and two days he spent in a cabin near Walden Pond in Massachusetts as he reflected on living the simple life among natural surroundings. If you’re heading out on a camping trip or hiking trip, don’t forget to sneak this book into your travel backpack if you want to spend some time in nature thinking the big thoughts.
Price: starting at $9
7. Best travel book for road trips: On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Who’s packing up for a road trip? If you’re planning a cross-country tour of the U.S., there’s no better companion in the passenger seat than Jack Kerouac. His 1957 novel, On the Road, chronicles the years the famous writer spent traveling through North America with his friends, set against a romantic but gritty backdrop of poetry and jazz. If you're a fan of David Bowie, Bob Dylan, or Van Morrison, then count yourself in good company—these musicians all cite Kerouac's second novel among some of their main influences. Travel inspiration, indeed!
Price: starting at $13
8. Best travel book for slow travelers: A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle
Have you ever dreamed of ditching it all to go live on a farm in the south of France? (*Raises hand.*) Well, Peter Mayle didn't just talk the talk—he walked the walk. In his A Year in Provence, Mayle details how he realized his childhood dream by moving into a 200-year-old house in Provence's remote Lubéron with his wife and two dogs. For all the slow travelers out there who dream of putting down roots (at least short-term ones) to enjoy the rural, simple life, consider this travel memoir your insider look at what it takes.
Price: starting at $11
9. Best travel book to open your mind: Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India by William Dalrymple
One of the most enriching parts of traveling is getting the chance to explore new cultures, meet new people, and gain a different perspective. If you want to jump-start your cultural exploration before your plane even takes off, consider packing Nine Lives for some in-flight reading. This enlightening travel book explores nine varieties of religious devotion in modern India. Written by William Dalrymple (a historian, writer, art historian, and art curator), this is the go-to page-turner for our traveling pals who are looking to uncover a little more than just the best cafés in Barcelona during their travels. (Although that, too, is a pretty damn good travel pursuit.)
Price: starting at $12
10. Best travel book for foodies: Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer's Guide by Cecily Wong & Dylan Thuras
This one’s for the foodies! Let’s be real: Half the fun of visiting a new region is checking out the local cuisine—but Gastro Obscura takes the average traveler’s food obsession one step further. A Chilean beer made from fog? 2,000-year-old Egyptian egg ovens? A monkey buffet festival in Thailand? Yeah, Gastro Obscura goes there. In this ultimate handbook for foodies who travel, Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras traverse the seven continents to explore what people eat and drink around the world. Warning: Don’t read this one when you’re hungry.
Price: starting at $24
11. Best travel novel: A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
“Put 👏 the educational materials 👏 away.” We hear you loud and clear. As much as we love to dive into a good travel guidebook or flex our intellectual muscles with a classic, sometimes we just want some good, old-fashioned R&R with a good, old-fashioned romance travel novel. So meet Lucy, a young, English, middle-class girl on vacation with her older cousin in Italy. (Spoiler: This one’s set in 1908.) Lucy meets George Emerson with whom she shares “a brief romantic encounter” before being wooed by the stable and reliable Cecil Vyse. Whether it’s 1908 or 1998 or 2018, we can all relate to Lucy’s predicament: “Do I go with safe and reliable or risk chasing my dreams?” Short and sweet at 152 pages and oh-so-romantic with its historic Italian landscape, this travel novel is the perfect pal if you want to laze the afternoon away in a new cafe.
Price: starting at $9
12. Best cult-classic travel guidebook: World Travel: An Irreverent Guide by Anthony Bourdain & Laurie Woolever
It’s hard to talk about travel culture without mentioning the late Anthony Bourdain. Renowned for his culinary writing, Bourdain also became famous for his well-loved cooking and travel TV shows, like The Taste and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. In World Travel: An Irreverent Guide, Bourdain teams up with food writer Laurie Woolever to share insights on some of his favorite travel destinations around the world. From advice on how to travel, where to stay, what to eat, and what to avoid, this travel guidebook both informs and inspires so you can “experience the world like Anthony Bourdain.”
Price: starting at $20
Best travel books - Common FAQs
What book should I read while traveling?
While traveling, we like to pack one book to inform and one book to inspire. Vagabonding by Rolf Potts is a great travel read to learn how to live a location-independent life, while The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a world-renowned classic that will change the way you think about travel and the world.
Is it better to travel with a physical book or read with a Kindle?
It all comes down to personal preference, but reading with a Kindle definitely makes travel easier. You can pack as many books as you want, buy new books in an instant, and even access your local library from across the world. Of course, diehard bookworms know there’s nothing quite like turning the pages of a physical book or wandering through a new bookstore. So on the road, we like to read a mix of physical books and ebooks.
What is the most popular travel book?
With over 150 million copies sold around the world, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is perhaps the most popular travel book. In fact, it makes the list of one among only nine books to have sold 100+ million copies, making it one of the most popular books in the world! We think that qualifies as a definite must for your in-flight reading list.
