The Best Travel Books to Read
My personal book recommendations to ignite your wanderlust
Always bring a book or two when you travel!
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Sitting in the sun reading books is one of my favorite things to do!
And since I just finished reading a book all about the US national parks that I LOVED, I decided I had to share this (and other) book recommendations with you.
So here are some of the best books to read if you love to travel, or if you love to read, or if you love to read while you travel.
Leave Only Footprints
A book about national parks IN a national park! Brandywine Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
I had the opportunity this summer to meet Conor Knighton at Chautauqua Institution. Conor spent a year traveling to every national park in America, in honor of the national park system’s 100th anniversary in 2016.
After hearing his lecture, I had to buy his book, Leave Only Footprints. And every few pages I had to stop and Google each new national park I now want to go to (which is pretty much ALL of them!).
This is definitely one of the best books to read if you love to travel, or nature, or pretty much anything really. I highly suggest this book!
Through Painted Deserts
I fell in love with Through Painted Deserts when I first read it in college: 2 twenty-somethings with no money leaving everything behind to drive in a van from Texas to Oregon.
But it’s not just about the adventures they face on their way across country; Donald Miller has a way of spouting deep truths about the universe in poetic quips while he regales us with his travels.
I love anything by Donald Miller, but this one is an especially good book to read for travel lovers (and lovers of deep truths about the universe).
A Walk Across America
& The Walk West
I randomly found A Walk Across America (and its sequel: The Walk West) on a paperback swap website several years ago. This incredible book, written in the 60s & 70s, inspired me to want to cross America (in a camper van… not walking…) even before camper vans were cool!
Peter Jenkins is a college graduate disillusioned with America (it’s nice to know things haven’t changed…), but a wise mentor encourages him to get to know his country before he judges it too harshly. So naturally, he sets off on a walk across all 2,742 miles of it (more or less).
This is a book that will make you fall in love with America (and maybe even with walking)! It definitely deserves its place on a list of good books to read!
More Book Recommendations:
That’s all the travel book recommendations I have for now.
If you have any good book recommendations you want to share, be sure to add them in the comments below!
If you’re looking for more good books to read, be sure to check out all of my nerdy checklists. Here are a couple of my favorite reading lists for getting hyped up to travel (or daydream):
Looking for a good book recommendation?
Save this pin for later to remember all these good books to read:
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This article was written by: Julia Rexford