What to Read While on the Road: Great Books About Travel and Adventure

Last updated: May 12, 2015

“Miracle in the Andes” — Nando Parrado was unconscious for three days before he woke to discover that the plane carrying his rugby team, as well as their family members and supporters, to an exhibition game in Chile had crashed somewhere deep in the Andes.

“A Walk in the Woods” — The Appalachian Trail trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America–majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you’re going to take a hike, it’s probably the place to go.

“A Year in Provence” — In this witty and warm-hearted account, Peter Mayle tells what it is like to realize a long-cherished dream and actually move into a 200-year-old stone farmhouse in the remote country of the Lubéron with his wife and two large dogs.

“Fierce Invalids from Hot Climates” — He doesn’t merely pack a pistol. He is a pistol. And as we dog Switters’s strangely elevated heels across four continents, in and out of love and danger, discovering in the process the “true” Third Secret of Fatima…

“Into The Wild” — In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter…

“Into Thin Air” — In March 1996, Outside magazine sent veteran journalist and seasoned climber Jon Krakauer on an expedition led by celebrated Everest guide Rob Hall. Despite the expertise of Hall and the other leaders, by the end of summit day eight people were dead…

“Life of Pi” — An endless blue expanse of storytelling about adventure, survival, and ultimately, faith.

“On the Road” — an American classic and major literary event—rougher, wilder, and more provocative than the official work.

“West with the Night” — Born Beryl Clutterbuck in the middle of England, she and her father moved to Kenya when she was a girl, and she grew up with a zebra for a pet; horses for friends; baboons, lions, and gazelles for neighbors. She made money by scouting elephants from a tiny plane.

“Light at the Edge of the World” — In Light at the Edge of the World, Wade Davis explores the idea that these distinct cultures represent unique visions of life itself and have much to teach the rest of the world about different ways of living and thinking.

“The Snows of Kilimanjaro” — When Harry, the central character, goes on safari to “work the fat off his mind,” his ambitions are cut short when a terrible accident leaves him facing his ultimate death and weighing the meaning of his life.

“Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence” — The narrative of a father on a summer motorcycle trip across America’s Northwest with his young son, it becomes a profound personal and philosophical odyssey into life’s fundamental questions.

Best Books About Travel and Adventure: “Snow Leopard” — Two traveled high into the remote mountains of Nepal to study the Himalayan blue sheep and possibly glimpse the rare and beautiful snow leopard. Matthiessen, a student of Zen Buddhism, was also on a spiritual quest…

Best Books About Travel and Adventure: “The Rum Diaries” — a brilliantly tangled love story of jealousy, treachery, and violent alcoholic lust in the Caribbean boomtown that was San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the late 1950s.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage through Antarctica and South Georgia

The Worst Journey in the World — Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the South Pole.

In the Ghost Country: A Lifetime Spent on the Edge by Peter Hillary

The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life

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• Into The Wild (John Krakauer) – Love the book? The movie is awesome too.
• Into Thin Air (John Krakauer) – The book is better than the movie.
• Miracle in the Andes (Nando Parrado)
• Rum Diaries (Hunter S. Thompson) – Don’t see the movie, just read the book.
• On The Road (Jack Kerouak)
• A Walk in the Woods (Bill Bryson)
• West with the Night (Beryl Markham)
• Snows of Kilimenjaro -(Ernest Hemingway)
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence (Robert M. Pirsig)
• A Year in Provence (Peter Mayle)
• The Edge of Never: A Skier’s Story of Life, Death, and Dreams in the World’s Most Dangerous Mountains (William A. Kerig)
• Light at the Edge of the World (Wade Davis)
• The Snow Leopard (Penguin Classics) Peter Matthiessen)
• Feirce Invalids from Hot Climates (Tom Robbins)
• The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life
• In the Ghost Country: A Lifetime Spent on the Edge
• Wild
• The Worst Journey in the World
• Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage