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With sunnier months on the horizon, minds turn to travel and holidays. And so, in this post, I am pulling five great pieces of travel writing from my bookshelves and considering what lies between the covers.
Come with me, armchair adventurers!
1. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
A very funny book.
At the age of forty-four, with his friend, Stephen Katz, Bill Bryson set off to hike the longest continuous footpath in the world; the Appalachian Trail.
With brutal weather, insects seemingly striving to make the trek unbearable, unreliable maps and probably one of the least reliable hiking companions anyone could ask for, Bryson struggled on to achieve his ambition of hiking the trail, and not die in the process!
You can purchase A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson here.
2. The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson
Another Bryson because, well, he's one of the best travel writers to ever put fingers to a keyboard, not to mention one of the funniest.
This is Bryson's follow-up to Notes From a Small Island, his book about travels he took around Britain twenty-five years ago. To mark the twentieth anniversary of that best-seller, Bryson took another trip around this island and noted, once again, what he saw and experienced. Another humorous read from one of the masters of travel writing!
You can purchase The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson here.
3. Beauty Tips From Moose Jaw: Excursions in the Great Weird North by Will Ferguson
As all the best travel writing does, expect to be left with a desire to go wandering!
Will Ferguson spent three years travelling across Canada and back again. From seaplanes to canoes and many other modes of transport in between.
Along the way, the writer delves into Canada's history and landscape, explored here in this excellent book.
You can purchase Beauty Tips From Moose Jaw by Will Ferguson here.
4. Red Dust: A Path Through China by Ma Jian
An acclaimed and award-winning travel book from Ma Jian!
1983; a time of economic reform and youthful rebellion in Deng Xiaoping. Ma Jian's ex-wife was seeking custody of their daughter and his girlfriend was sleeping with another man. At a point of personal and wider upheavals, one day he bought a train ticket to the westernmost border of China and began a journey to find himself.
This is a piece of travel-writing written by an author that can call their subject home, but who was also an outsider; it reveals China as a land of contradictions.
You can purchase Red Dust by Ma Jian here.
5. As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee
'The stooping figure of my mother, waist-deep in the grass and caught there like a piece of sheep's wool, was the last I saw of my country home as I left it to discover the world'
In London, a young Laurie Lee made a living as a labourer and playing the violin. But, desiring further adventure, and with just a blanket and a violin, he spent a year crossing Spain, from north to south. I discovered Laurie Lee only recently, I am ashamed to say, but fell for his beautiful and lyrical writing immediately.
Laurie Lee's writing is just wonderful.
You can purchase As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee here.
Just before you go, can I ask that you please consider supporting this blog with a coffee from ko-fi.com - the caffeine keeps me following in the footsteps of the great travel-writers, if only only from the comfort of home . . .
