Best-Selling Travel Books
1. How to Travel the World on $50 a Day: Third Edition: Travel Cheaper, Longer, Smarter by Matt Kepnes
This one is for the globetrotters who are on a tight budget! Kepnes knows better than anyone how to travel the world with a small budget – just $50 per day to be exact. He gives lots of useful tips and advice on how to make your travel cheaper so you can travel for longer. It’s all about being smart with your money and creating a plan so you’re not making impulsive buys. His main message is that the media brainwashes us to think we need to spend thousands on luxury holidays to enjoy them to the full extent. But he proves this is in fact untrue. You can have just as magical a feeling and spend A LOT less money by following his step by step guide.
2. The Places in Between by Rory Stewart
This book is a travel classic and Stewart tells the story of his 36-day travel across Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Which was all done by foot! He gives true accounts of everything he saw and experienced during this time. It features a harsh reality combined with his ever-growing faith in humanity that he experienced along the way. It can be gut-wrenching at times but contains important information about Afghanistan during this time period. You will gain a much better insight into the conflict and hardships that took place in this country.
3. Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
This book will undoubtedly give you the wanderlust feeling. It’s evident that Potts aim is to inspire others to take time off from their busy work schedules, whether it be a week, month or years, to discover and experience all the world has to offer. He understands that it’s not always easy to do this so provides lots of helpful information, tips and advice. Such as how to finance your travels, choosing your destinations, adjusting to life on the road, handling travel adversity and so much more.
4. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
There’s also a great film on this too, but read the book first! It’s beautifully written with incredible detail of each country (Italy, India and Indonesia). This story shares how she made the choice to leave everything she knew behind in the hope to find herself again after struggling with her divorce. She wanted to discover what else the world had to offer and search for happiness inside herself again. She set out on a one year vacation with the hope to mend her broken heart but found so much more than she ever expected.
5. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
Strayed finds herself losing everything at 22 years old, with her recent marriage breakdown and the death of her mother. She the story of an 1100 mile solo hike that she decided to go on after facing these struggles in her life. She felt she had nothing left to lose and wanted to do something that she never dreamed she could. She describes the rollercoaster of emotions that she experienced, which broke her down and bought her back up again. At the end of the hike, she comes out stronger and with a clear perspective as she starts to piece her life back together.