The best travel books, to go far away even if you are at home

What crazy things are you ready for on your vacation? Are you more the type to climb a mountain, dive into the jungle, or just lounge on a beach? If you prefer to relax, the best travel books can bring adventure to you! Lie down by the pool, order a drink, and embark on a crazy adventure in complete peace and quiet. And if your vacation quota is exhausted, you can get away from it all vicariously with travel books.

They do not only introduce us to distant lands, as wonderful as they are. Some show familiar places in a new light. Others take a thematic approach rather than sticking to a single destination. But the classics of the genre present such fine writing that they can easily be classified among the best novels. We present to you some of the best travel books ever written.

The Places in Between de Rory Stewart

A long time ago, before he became a podcaster – even before he became a Conservative MP – Rory Stewart was a young man obsessed with walking. And the more dangerous this walk was, the better. When he decided to cross Afghanistan on foot in 2002, just months after the fall of the Taliban, many people predicted that he would die on the way. Although he comes close to the worst a few times, he survives and recounts his journey in a country in chaos, largely governed by local tribes – tribes who, despite their poverty, are quick to feed and house him throughout his epic hike.

Le Shah de Ryszard Kapuściński

Ryszard Kapuściński was, for many years, communist Poland's sole foreign correspondent. He was sent around the world to cover various coups and other revolutions. His encyclopedic travel reports constitute one of the best works of journalistic literature in history – so much so that he was considered a serious candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature. One of his most remarkable works is none other than Le Shahwhich explores the Iranian Islamic revolution of 1979. The structure, somewhat experimental – the book opens with the image of Kapuściński himself, trying to find meaning in his notes and recordings in the chaos of his bedroom. The hotel – combines reports, anecdotes gleaned from interviews, and the long history of Iran, with rare power.

High Caucasus they Tom Parfitt

Russia is a vast country, largely inhabited by peoples who are not originally Russian. One of these areas is none other than the North Caucasus, a mountainous region located in the north of Georgia and Azerbaijan, home to a predominantly Muslim population. In High Caucasusthe British journalist Tom Parfitt recounts his crossing of this territory, from the Black Sea in the west to the Caspian Sea in the east. Throughout the journey, we discover multiple ethnic groups, some of the deadliest places in Russian history, and sublime nature.

The African from Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie

Tété-Michel Kpomassie was born in Togo in the 1940s, when this African country was still a French colony. As a teenager, he harbored an irresistible desire to visit the cold, northern reaches of the world. After years of traveling in Africa and Europe, he finally landed in Greenland. Although his height and skin color distinguish him from the natives of the region, he quickly finds a place within the community that occupies this hostile island. With a rather exhaustive account of its author's amorous exploits, the book is often quite funny.

Yoga for People Who Can’t Be Bothered to Do It de Geoff Dyer

Geoff Dyer is an outstanding writer – no one matches his pace. Among his bibliography composed of travel books as harsh as they are spiritual, we find Yoga for People Who Can’t Be Bothered to Do Itwhich comes and goes from Rome to New Orleans via Libya – passing through almost everywhere, in fact – according to the meditations of its author, who questions the transcendental character of what he is in living. A hybrid work between a travel book and a personal development book, it will make you question the meaning of travel. And laughing, a lot.

At the abandonment of Cal Flynn

What happens to places shaped by humans when humans abandon them? In AbandonedCal Flyn travels the world in search of an answer. The radioactive zone around Chernobyl, an uninhabited island in Scotland populated by wild beasts, collective farms dating from the Soviet era in Estonia… So many places sometimes so toxic and hostile that humans have deserted them, and where nature regained his rights. Enough to compose an impressive work of reporting, all the more relevant at a time when our connection to nature is in complete disarray.

What am I doing here de Bruce Chatwin

Bruce Chatwin's most acclaimed books, In Patagonia et The Song of the Tracksare located in the South American mountains and the Australian Outback respectively. But he was also a master in the art of conciseness. What am I doing here brings together reports and interviews written all around the globe: during a yeti hunt in Nepal, during a crossing of the Volga in Russia, on the set of a Werner Herzog film in Ghana. The urban stories do not lack panache either: you must read the masterful description, under high tension, that he gives of Marseille.

AA Gill is Away (“AA Gill is far away”) d’AA Gill

If AA Gill is known as a gastronomic critic, his piercing gaze and his unrivaled writing have set his sights on many other subjects. AA Gill is Away constitutes the first review of his travel writings (according to implacable logic, the second is entitled AA Gill is Further Away, “AA Gill est encore plus loin”), and it keeps its promises. He visits Sudan, the porn industry in California, the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, and many, many other places. All revealed by his keen sense of words and his lively wit.

Visa for Venice the Jan Morris

Jan Morris was a pioneer in many fields. A prolific historian and travel writer, member of the first expedition to reach the summit of Mount Everest, he was also one of the first people to receive sexual reassignment surgery. Venicehis book about one of the most talked-about cities in the world, is an absolute classic. A synthesis between history and personal reflection, the work displays brilliant prose. In the author's own words, Venice constitutes “the impressionist, resolutely subjective and romantic picture not of a city, but of an experience.”

Journey to a War Christopher Isherwood and WH Auden

This book is faithful to its description: Christopher Isherwood and WH Auden, two of the greatest writers of the 20th century, travel to China in the 1930s, then engaged in a war of self-defense against imperial Japan. We are witnessing an episode of History rarely told elsewhere, and this is probably one of the only travel books partially written in verse. The prose part is signed Isherwood, followed by a series of sonnets signed Auden, as a response to the events they witness.

Originally published on British GQ