Books to Read While Traveling

by Michael Tieso on July 9, 2009

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I find that travel related books inspire the travel you’re already on and continues to give you strength to keep on going. Learning about a new culture before you arrive will greatly enhance your experience and appreciation of the destination.

Vagabonding: A must read for anyone currently traveling or about to travel. It’s the bible of backpacking.

Into The Wild

First They Killed My Father: I highly recommend this book if you’re going to Cambodia. Read the reviews on Amazon and you will see how this book has touched so many people around the world.

The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War

The Girl in the Picture: The Story of Kim Phuc, the Photograph, and the Vietnam War

The White Tiger

Marching Powder: A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South America’s Strangest Jail

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

The Quiet American (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo

Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found

Shantaram: A Novel: I highly recommend this one.

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

Fried Eggs with Chopsticks: One Woman’s Hilarious Adventure into a Country and a Culture Not Her Own

The Darkest Jungle: The True Story of the Darien Expedition and America’s Ill-Fated Race to Connect the Seas

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey to Educate the World’s Children

Mao’s Last Dancer

What are some of your favorite travel related books? We’ll add it to the list.

Updated: 28/4/10

Article by Michael Tieso

Michael Tieso travels around the world writing, photographing, and filming his adventures. He is the Editor-in-chief of Art of Backpacking -- a website that provides stories, tips, and advice about all things backpacking. He runs a travel blogging community called Art of Travel Blogging. He's currently filming a documentary on travel and technology called Everywhere Connection. He left the cubicle life to travel the world in May 2009 and he still continues the journey to this day with no end to it. He loves adventure, food, and music. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

Michael has written 254 awesome articles for AOB.

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GC
Chris McCandless had the mind of a real traveler? Selfish, insensitive to the feelings of others, self-involved, flippant, careless and narcissistic? Yeah, what a great traveler.
GC
Chris McCandless had the mind of a real traveler? Selfish, insensitive to the feelings of others, self-involved, flippant, careless and narcissistic? Yeah, what a great traveler.
http://www.theplanetd.com Dave and Deb
There are so many, but I love “The Bang Bang Club” by Greg Marinovich, Joao Silva. It takes place in South Africa during the final days of the Apartheid and tells the story of the photographers that documented life in the townships.
And “The girl in the Picture” by Denise Chong it is about the life of Kim Phuc. She was the girl that had most of her body burned by napalm blast during the Vietnam war. She was caught on film running down the road away from the destruction of her village. I met her and saw her speak here in Canada 2 months ago, it is an incredible story about an amazing woman.
http://www.dansadventure.co.uk/ Dan
I’ve just finished reading The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. I would recommend it for anyone travelling to India.
http://www.dansadventure.co.uk Dan
I’ve just finished reading The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. I would recommend it for anyone travelling to India.
http://theplanetd.com/ Dave and Deb
There are so many, but I love “The Bang Bang Club” by Greg Marinovich, Joao Silva. It takes place in South Africa during the final days of the Apartheid and tells the story of the photographers that documented life in the townships.
And “The girl in the Picture” by Denise Chong it is about the life of Kim Phuc. She was the girl that had most of her body burned by napalm blast during the Vietnam war. She was caught on film running down the road away from the destruction of her village. I met her and saw her speak here in Canada 2 months ago, it is an incredible story about an amazing woman.
http://southeastasiaismyoyster.blogspot.com/ Morgan Coudray
Great list. Vagabonding is a quick and easy read.
Don't forget On the Road – Jack Kerouac
cheers
http://twitter.com/maryannesoo maryannesoo
Tibet – 7 years in Tibet
Machu Picchu – The Last Days of the Incas
http://www.thetotetraveler.com/ kate
Into the wild is a must read. For more great lightweight books to read while traveling check out http://thetotetraveler.com/2009/11/23/5-great-t…
http://www.thetotetraveler.com/ kate
I can't wait to read White Tiger before we go! Thanks for the recommendation
http://www.thetotetraveler.com/ kate
Into the wild is a must read. For more great lightweight books to read while traveling check out http://thetotetraveler.com/2009/11/23/5-great-t…
http://www.thetotetraveler.com/ kate
I can't wait to read White Tiger before we go! Thanks for the recommendation
http://www.briefcasetobackpack.com michaelapotter
I loved the “Bang, Bang Club”. Actually got to meet and spend some time with Greg Marinovich in Jo'burg. They are making it into a movie.
I love reading books about destinations I'm going to travel in – both before and during. It makes me feel more in touch with a sense of place and its history. On top of that list is Graham Greene's “A Quiet American” based in Vietnam pre-American involvement.
I also loved reading “The Agony and the Ecstasy” while traveling through Italy. When I stumbled upon a small church in Rome housing some of Michelangelo's pieces that were highlighted in the book, I felt very fortunate. I had walked by it the previous week without knowing. Then I read the passage and happened upon it again.
http://www.wanderingaramean.com Wandering Aramean
I just posted a review of a couple books I read on recent trips. Both Shantaram and Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found are books set in Mumbai, India. The authors tell very personal tales of their life as a small person in the enormous city. With experiences ranging from slum living to working as a writer on Bollywood films the stories are thrilling, compelling and, in some cases, at bit harrowing. They are both great reads, and both available for the Kindle, making bringing them with you on the road very easy.
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingarame…
Michael Tieso
Nice! Heard good things about Shantaram so I'll have to pick that up sometime. Just added them to the list as well.
Michael Tieso
Havn't heard of these before but the reviews seem pretty good. Added these to the list.
Locavorista
Shantaram is amazing, this is a great list of books thanks for sharing!
http://thinkingparticle.com/ vishnu kumar
Siddhartha from Herman hesse can also be your fellow traveler…Shantaram is an amazing book…if you are traveling India…its like a VISA….

http://www.artofbackpacking.com Michael
I like the first 25% of Shantaram but then I got incredibly bored. Such a long book and I was losing interest in all the small details that were being described. I couldn’t finish it.