Travelers' Tales

Africa & the Middle East

Rosamond Halsey Carr, Land of a Thousand Hills: My Life in Rwanda. Biography/Carr
Observations of an American woman who spent 50 years in Rwanda.

Bruce Feiler, Walking the Bible. 915.6 Fei
A fifth-generation American Jew makes a 10,000 mile trek from Mount Ararat to Mount Nebo.

Tony Horwitz, Baghdad without a Map. 915.6 Hor
A journalist’s travels throughout the Middle East.

Tim Mackintosh-Smith, Travels with a Tangerine. 910.4 Mack
A man follows the footsteps of the medieval explorer Ibn Battutah from Tangier to Constantinople.

Afshin Molavi, Persian Pilgrimage: Journeys across Iran. 955.0543 Mol
An Iranian-American returns to his homeland and gets reacquainted with the land and its people.

Kira Salak, The Cruelest Journey: 600 Miles to Timbuktu. 916.62 Sal
A young woman follows the trail of explorer Mungo Park down the Niger River in a kayak to Timbuktu.

Rick Ridgeway, The Shadow of Kilimanjaro: On Foot across East Africa. 916.762 Rid
A month-long trek from the top of Mount Kilimanjaro through the Tsavo game reserves to Mombasa.

Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon’s Mines. 916.3 Sha
On the basis of a questionable map bought in Jerusalem, a man seeks the fabled Ophir in Ethiopia.

Jeffrey Tayler, Angry Wind: Through Muslim Black Africa by Truck, Bus, Boat and Camel. 916.6 Tay
A travel writer treks through the lower region of the Sahara known as the Sahel.

The Americas

Alice Adams, Mexico: Some Travels and Some Travelers There. 917.204 Ada
A novelist describes her love for Mexico’s land and people.

Bruce Chatwin, In Patagonia. 918.27 Cha
The classic travelogue of a journey through the region of Argentina and Chile known as Patagonia.

Gretel Ehrlich, This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland. 998.2 Ehr
A journey among the Inuit of the world’s northernmost country.

Will Ferguson, Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw. 917.1 Fer
A Canadian humorist travels through the cities, small towns, and wilderness regions of his homeland.

John Gimlette, At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig Travels Through Paraguay. 918.92 Gim
A writer’s odyssey through the cities and wilderness of Paraguay reveals its rich history and diverse populace.

Nessa Rapoport, House on the River. Biography/Rapoport
A woman and her family travel by houseboat through the Trent-Severn Waterway in Ontario.

Ann Vanderhoof, An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude. 972.9 Van
A couple take a 2-year sailboat tour of the Caribbean.

Asia

Tom Bissell, Chasing the Sea. 958.7 Bis
A journey to the ever-shrinking Aral Sea in the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan.

Jason Elliot, An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan. 915.81 Ell
A British man’s travels in Afghanistan under both the Soviet and Taliban regimes.

Alexander Frater, Chasing the Monsoon. 915.40452 Fra
A journey through India during the monsoon season.

Peter Hessler, River Town: Two Years on the Yangtzee. 915.138 Hes
A Peace Corps volunteer travels to a remote part of China visited by few westerners.

Pico Iyer, The Lady and the Monk. 952.1864 Iye
A man spends a year in Kyoto and befriends a Japanese housewife who acts as his guide.

Redmond O’Hanlon, Into the Heart of Borneo. 915.983 Oha
Two middle-aged British academics trek through the wilds of Borneo.

Mark Salzman, Iron and Silk. 951.058 Sal
A man who majored in Chinese at Yale travels to China to teach English.

Stanley Stewart, Frontiers of Heaven: A Journey to the End of China. 915.1 Ste
A British journalist travels westward from the coast of China to beyond the Great Wall.

Simon Winchester, Korea: A Walk through the Land of Miracles. 915.19 Win
An Englishman travels on foot through Korea and befriends a variety of people.

Australia & The Pacific

Bill Bryson, In a Sunburned Country. 919.4 Bry
The renowned travel writer provides a humorous and affectionate look at the land Down Under.

Tim Flannery, Throwim Way Leg: On the Track of Unknown Mammals in Wildest New Guinea. 919.5 Fla
A biologist on scientific expeditions observes the flora and fauna of New Guinea, as well as its people.

James Houston, In the Ring of Fire: A Pacific Basin Journey. 909.09823 Hou
Travels through the islands of the Pacific Ocean.

J. Maarten Troost, The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific. 919.681 Tro
A man accompanies his wife to the islands of Kiribati and finds a curious mix of paradise and modern problems.

Europe

Sam Apple, Schlepping through the Alps: My Search for Austria’s Jewish Past with Its Last Wandering Shepherd. 914.36 App
A comic writer follows a shepherd—who is also a Yiddish folk singer—in the Alps.

Sean Condon, My ‘Dam Life: Three Years in Holland. 914.92352 Con
Unemployed Australians take on a variety of oddjobs in Amsterdam.

Marlena De Blasi, A Thousand Days in Venice. Biography/De Blasi
A woman leaves her home and career in the U.S. to marry an Italian living in Venice.

Phil Doran, The Reluctant Tuscan. 945.5 Dor
A Hollywood writer reluctantly moves to Italy, where his wife bought a run-down, 300-year-old house.

Tony Hawks, Playing the Moldovans at Tennis. 914.76 Haw
A man bets he can beat each member of the Moldovan soccer team at tennis or he must sing the Moldovan national anthem naked.

Michael Kelly, London Lines: The Capital by Underground. 914.21 Kel
A tour of London by subway train.

Peter Mayle, A Year in Provence. 944.9 May
A British man’s account of buying a 200-year-old house in Provence.

Peter McCarthy, McCarthy’s Bar: A Journey of Discovery in the West of Ireland. 914.15 Mac
A British man seeks his Irish roots on a driving tour, with a stop for a pint at every pub named McCarthy’s.

Tim Moore, Travels with My Donkey. 263.042 Moo
A man follows the ancient pilgrimage route through Spain to Santiago de Compostela with a donkey.

Tom Stone, Summer of My Greek Taverna. 914.9587 Sto
A man agrees to take over a friend’s restaurant on a Greek island during the height of the tourist season.

Susan Toth, My Love Affair with England. 914.2 Tot
An American woman’s travels to England, from her first backpacking trip to her garden tour honeymoon.

Around the World

Tim Cahill, Pecked to Death by Ducks. 910.04 Cah
Humorous essays on journeys to exotic places.

Thurston Clarke, Equator: A Journey. 910.0913 Cla
A three-year trip around the world, crisscrossing the Equator through three continents and many islands.

Rigel Crockett, Fair Wind and Plenty of It. 910.41 Cro
One man’s account of working on a tall ship on a voyage around the globe.

Gayle Forman, You Can’t Get There from Here. 910.41 For
A couple travel to remote locations but discover that cultural gaps are shrinking in today’s world.

Michael Palin, Full Circle. 919.04 Pal
The Monty Python star’s journey through 18 countries around the Pacific Rim.

Paul Theroux, The Pillars of Hercules. 910.91822 The
The famed travel writer travels around the coast of the Mediterranean.

Franz Wisner, Honeymoon with My Brother. 910.4 Wis
Jilted by his fiancée, a man invites his brother to accompany him on a two-year trip around the world.