10 Awesome Books To Read While Travelling.

By Marhuanta Barreto 2 days ago

When travelling was a major odissey and took several days or weeks to get to a place, there was a lot of room for boredom, back in those days travellers would a large number of books to read while travelling as well as a number of everyday objects to keep them entertained.

While the long distances are a thing of the past, human beings have not lost the capability to enjoy a great story and it doesn´t matter if you are a hardcopy book lover or if the invention of kindle and tablets took your book worm tendencies to a whole new level, at least for now, these are 10 of my all time favorite books to read while travelling:

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Robert M. Pirsig.

This 1974 best-selling novel narrates the motorcycle roadtrip of “Phaedrus”, his son and the Sutherlands from Minnesota to Northern California. It has as much knowledge of Zen Buddhism as cook book – which is none – as well as of motorcycles, however it finds a balance between thechnology and the technocracy of life with the romantic “living in the moment” zen mindset.

Fun Fact: The novel holds until this day the Guiness Record as the most rejected best-seller by a publisher. It was rejected over 121 times before it was picked up by William Morrow & Inc.

The Curse of Lono. Hunter S. Thompson & Ralph Steadman.

What can I say about “the original gonzo” in Hawaii? Well, besides the über famous Fear and Loathing in Vegas, the Curse of Lono would be Thompson´s surreal ode to the Kona coast. Lesson to be learned: shouting “I am Lono” – the ancient hawaiian God – out loud in front of the locals might not be a good idea.

The Hitchhiker´s Guide to the Galaxy. Douglas Adams.

Don´t panic! The Earth is going to be destroyed to build an intergalactic highway, the first of the five book trilogy is both a hilarious and a series of unfortunate events. Arthur Dent starts his hike around the galaxy with a series of unique characters – my favorite is Marvin the Paranoid Android - and the quest to find the Answer to the Ultimate Question about Life, the Universe and Everything. Does the number 42 mean something to you?

Crime & Punishment. Fyodor Dostoevsky.

I´m going to be completely honest about this book: I love Russia and russian literature but I have NEVER been able to finish it. Why? Because the first time I started to read it was over a decade ago, it was during the summer and I was in Russia, at some point of the summer I visited St. Petersburg and while walking around, crossing the K. bridge, drinking tea and other things, I kind of started to think that Raskolnikov was right. One of the most intense books I´ve ever encountered and I hope to finish it one day.

P.S: Saint Petersburg is definitely one of the most beautiful cities I´ve ever been, doesn´t matter if its winter or summer.

Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me. Richard Fariña.

This 1960s cult classic tells the story of Gnossos, a modern Odysseus and his collegue experiences in upstate New York, the other settings of this novel are his trips to the American West and Cuba in the days of the revolution led by Fulgencio Baptista. Thought it is a little nihilistic, psychedelic and subversive (for 1958 standards) it is like the James Dean of books, it never gets old; maybe it has something to do with the fact that Richard Fariña died tragically a few years later while promoting the book.

Pyongyang. Guy Delisle.

Graphic novels embrace many topics and themes but this one is by far one of my favorite. French Canadian author Guy Delisle narrates his two month stay in North Korea and Pyongyang, the country´s capital city while working on an animated project sponsored by the french television in early 2000. Totalitarism, the lack of disabled and old people, the cult to the late Kim II-Sung, Coca Cola, brainwash… do you get the picture here?

The Slowness. Milan Kundera.

For many years Kundera has been one of my most beloved writers for many reasons, probably it has a lot to do with the fact that is very easy to read and somehow I can relate to many of the topics and issues he brings to the table such as philosophy, sensuality and modernity. Several plots take place in a french castle that serves as a hotel, try to follow a very rich and dense story in only 150 pages.

On The Road. Jack Kerouac.

I think most people is familiar with the body of work of this celebrated beatnik generation posterchild. His second novel is mostly autobiographical and describes several roadtrips across the United States, the adventures by itself create a strong sense of meaning and life purpouse and is all connected somehow by some of the greatest jazz music of all time.

Old Man and The Sea. Ernest Hemingway.

The spanish, sailors and fishermen used to call the sea is La Mar and it was always in feminine, because it could be spectacularly beautiful and giving in the good times and terribly cruel to them at the same time. The journey of a lifetime of old man Santiago and his struggle with a great marlin, also his memories of his times in Africa. It is the perfect book to read by the ocean.

The Millenium Trilogy. Stieg Larsson.

From Stockholm to Australia, to Grenada and Switzerland; Lisbeth Salander´s peculiar and fascinating personality and adventures with Mikael Blomkvist is something we can´t keep from reading. Did you know that in Sweden there are tours around the books most famous locations?

Bonus:

Sihpromatum: I grew my boobs in China by Savannah Grace. A collection of travel stories from her family travel journey around China and Mongolia in her teen years. It is in my bucketlist now.

So, have you picked your next travel book yet? Please send us your travel book recommendations here, tweet us or join the conversation on Facebook and we can chat about it!