11 Travel Novels That Will Make You Feel Like You're Adventuring Too
Add These Travel Novels to Your Reading List ASAP
For a travel addict, there is nothing worse than being between trips. Scrolling through your Instagram, looking at the amazing places everyone else is seeing. Looking longingly at your list of places to see before you die, wishing you were off on another adventure already.
Thankfully, reading a travel novel is one of the best ways to replicate the feelings you experience when you travel — because you are being transported on adventures right along with the main character. Although nothing is the same as being there in person, the following travel adventure books will satiate your yearning for adventure at least while you are absorbed in their stories.
We can’t help the fact that you’ll probably be even more antsy to hop aboard a plane or jump in your car as soon as you put them down!
Although travel is inherently personal, all of these stories show that travel is the best teacher, especially when it comes to the self.
“Life of Pi,” Yann Martel
“Life of Pi” is an extraordinary tale of a young boy who survives a shipwreck, with the help of a tiger from his family’s zoo. It’s a fantastical tale about personal faith and the relativity of truth.
Although, in a sense, Pi is not traveling by choice, his ordeal allows him to cement his faith in God by observing that the journey is what’s important, not the destination.
“On the Road,” Jack Kerouac
The definitive novel of the hip “beat” generation of the 1950s, “On the Road” chronicles author Jack Kerouac’s free-spirited travels with his friend, Neal Cassady, although both receive pseudonyms in the book.
Written like a series of journal entries, the novel is one of self-discovery and friendship through travel. An essential read while road-tripping or on a college gap-year.
It's nearly impossible to get a unique experience at a tourist trap. Get more out of travels by visiting these tourist trap alternatives instead!
“Chocolat,” Joanne Harris
Lovers of chocolate and magic will enjoy Joanne Harris’ novel, “Chocolat,” a story about the impact a single individual can have. When Vianne, a single mother, and her daughter, Anouk, arrive in a small French village to open a chocolaterie during Lent, tensions run high between them and the local priest.
This book is sure to make you long for the French countryside and their unrivaled chocolate, pastries and amour.
