8 Great Travel Books To Read in 2023

The Best Travel Books: 13 Books That Will Give You Serious Wanderlust

15 Best Travel Books to Read - Novels About Adventure and Self Discovery

Haunted by a recurring dream, young shepherd Santiago is advised by a gypsy woman and a mystical elder, who reveals himself as the King of Salem, to journey to the Egyptian pyramids to uncover a hidden treasure. Heeding their counsel, Santiago sells his sheep and travels to Tangier, only to be swindled by a thief. This forces him to work for a kind-hearted crystal merchant, during which time he encourages the merchant to take business risks that result in Santiago amassing a small fortune in just one year.

Feeling wealthy yet unfulfilled, Santiago decides to resume his quest for the treasure at the pyramids. He joins a caravan across the Sahara desert, where he befriends an Englishman studying alchemy. The Englishman is on his way to meet a 200-year-old alchemist residing in the oasis of Al-Fayoum in the Sahara, hopeful to learn the secrets of the trade. Once they reach Al-Fayoum, Santiago falls in love with a local woman named Fatima and manages to save the oasis from an impending attack by interpreting an ominous sign in the desert. Subsequently, he is invited by the advanced alchemist to journey further into the desert, leaving Fatima and the caravan temporarily.

While traveling with the alchemist, who shares profound wisdom about the Soul of the World, they are captured by a tribe of Arab soldiers. To save their lives, the alchemist offers all of Santiago's money to the soldiers and promises them that Santiago, who is allegedly a powerful alchemist, will transform into wind within three days. Panicked and clueless, Santiago spends the next three days in deep contemplation, eventually managing to create a sandstorm with the help of the wind and the sun, fulfilling the alchemist's promise and securing their freedom. Upon reaching the pyramids, Santiago is beaten by two men who, convinced by his tale of a dream indicating treasure, leave him alive. One of the men, while dismissing dreams as worthless, unknowingly gives Santiago a final clue about the treasure's actual location. Santiago returns to Spain, locates a chest of jewels and gold under a sycamore tree in an abandoned church - the same one from his recurring dream - and plans to reunite with Fatima, who waits patiently for him in Al-Fayoum.

The Alchemist

El Alquimista

During the chill of 1947, Dean Moriarty, a thrill-seeking habitual offender who's also a recent groom, arrives in New York City. He forms a bond with Sal Paradise, a budding writer who surrounds himself with intellectual associates, including the poetic Carlo Marx. Dean's dynamic lifestyle captivates Sal, sparking a three-year span of relentless cross-country voyages. Sal, frequently traveling by bus and audacious hitchhiking, finally fulfills his long-cherished dream of reaching the west. He not only reunites with Dean and their mutual friends in Denver, but he also ventures farther westward alone. He finds employment as an agricultural laborer in California for some time among other things.

The following year, Dean once again disruptively enters Sal's life, and the pair embarks on a joint journey westward. This trip is filled with more wild exploits, including a stopover at Bull Lee's in New Orleans, and concludes in San Francisco. The subsequent winter sees Sal visiting Dean, and the duo embarks on a warm-hearted journey across America, with Dean eventually settling down in New York for a while. Come spring, Sal sets off to Denver alone, but Dean soon reunites with him for a trip that extends all the way to Mexico City.

Throughout their constant nomadic lifestyle, they encounter a variety of vibrant personalities, ever-changing vistas, dramatic incidents, and personal growth. The charismatic Dean, notorious for his philandering ways, fathers four children with his three wives within these three years. Sal, initially a desolate and frail individual, gradually evolves into a cheerful and confident man, ultimately finding love. Initially, Sal's interest in Dean stems from Dean’s vibrant, impulsive passion that Sal finds lacking in himself, but they discover shared similarities over time. The narrative's richness is found in the subtleties.

On the Road

En la Carretera

13 Best Adventure Travel Books to Inspire Wanderlust - The Planet D

15 Best Travel Books to Inspire Your Next Adventure - Beyond Wild Places

The narrative intertwines two compelling narratives. The first one traces the adventurous odyssey of a young man named Christopher McCandless into the wilderness, while the second delves into his psychological profile and motivations. The story unfolds nonlinearly, with the two narratives often crossing paths through intricate details and varying scenarios. McCandless is initially introduced through his acquaintance Wayne Westerberg, who paints a compelling image of a smart, charming, and determined individual who rejects materialism and hails from a comfortable middle-class background in Virginia. The story then backtracks to the start of McCandless's journey west in his used yellow Datsun.

McCandless initiates his journey post-college, driving to Lake Mead in Nevada, where a flash flood prompts him to abandon his car and some possessions. His adventurous spirit sees him buying a canoe on a whim and embarking on a five-month journey down the Colorado River to Mexico. Meanwhile, his family back home try to piece together his disappearance. McCandless later settles in Bullhead City, Arizona, where he briefly stays with an older man named Charlie before moving on. Along his journey, he forms a pseudo father-son bond with an individual named Ronald Franz, whose shared story offers insight into the potential harm McCandless's risky behavior could inflict on others.

The narrative then revisits Westerberg, providing a look into McCandless's problematic relationship with his father and his final month in Carthage, South Dakota. It reveals that McCandless had discovered his father's bigamous past, which potentially fueled his drive to abandon his previous life. The story also explores the reactions to McCandless's journey, with some labeling him as a romantic fool, while others see similarities between McCandless and other wilderness fanatics such as Everett Ruess. The narrative concludes with the discovery and identification of McCandless's body in Alaska, leaving behind a trail of heartbreak and unanswered questions, and offering a cautionary tale of adventure and self-discovery gone awry.

Into the Wild

Hacia la Salvaje

A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

Una Crónica Personal de la Catástrofe en el Mt. Everest

A seasoned mountaineer is commissioned by a popular outdoor publication to document the increasing commercialization of Mount Everest. His curiosity piqued, he joins an expedition, which turns out to be one of the most catastrophic in the mountain's history. The team he joins is led by a company known as Adventure Consultants, whose role is to expedite the acclimatization process to the extreme altitude and guide the climbers safely to Everest's peak.

The expedition is divided into multiple camps: Base Camp and four others positioned at various altitudes. After weeks at Base Camp, the team embarks on several trips to the higher camps to hasten their adaptation to the high altitude. In May, they finally set out for the summit. The mountaineer chronicles his journey, detailing the experiences of his teammates and guides, and mapping out the timeline of their time on the formidable mountain. The climbers find the altitude hard to adjust to, each dealing with exhaustion, weight loss, and slow movement. Their experience varies greatly, with some well-equipped for the challenge, while others are amateurs heavily reliant on their guides.

Tragedy truly strikes in the latter part of the journey. The group leader sets a 2:00 pm deadline to reach the summit and turn back, but this is largely disregarded. Only a few, including the mountaineer, make the deadline, with others, including the team leader, reaching the peak as late as 4:00 pm. A storm hits soon after, leaving various members stranded, lost, and ultimately leading to fatalities. Through a miracle, one climber presumed dead manages to return to camp and survives the ordeal, though he suffers profound injuries. In all, the expedition results in 12 deaths, leaving the mountaineer haunted by the experience. 

In the aftermath, he publishes the commissioned article but feels compelled to delve deeper into the events of the tragic expedition. Through extensive research and interviews with survivors, he writes a more comprehensive account, aiming to present an accurate and thorough narrative of the harrowing events. His reflections on his own survival and the loss of life he witnessed lead to a redefinition of his own mortality and a lasting sense of survivor's guilt. Despite potential backlash, he is determined to share the full scale of the tragic, heroic, and selfish actions that occurred during their attempt to conquer Everest.

Into Thin Air

Hacia el Aire Delgado

A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon

Un Cuento de Obsesión Mortal en el Amazonas

The Lost City of Z

La Ciudad Perdida de Z

In a Sunburned Country

En un País Quemado por el Sol

One Woman's Journey Across 1,700 Miles of Australian Outback

El viaje de una mujer a través de 1.700 millas de territorio australiano deshabitado

10 Best Adventure Travel Books of All Time

The Alchemist

On the Road

Into the Wild

Into Thin Air

A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

The Lost City of Z

A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon

In a Sunburned Country

Tracks

One Woman's Journey Across 1,700 Miles of Australian Outback

Adrift

Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea

Dark Star Safari

Overland from Cairo to Capetown

Ubuntu

One Woman's Motorcycle Odyssey Across Africa

Sources

What To Read Next

10 Best Adventure Travel Books of All Time

The Alchemist

On the Road

Into the Wild

Into Thin Air

A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

The Lost City of Z

A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon

In a Sunburned Country

Tracks

One Woman's Journey Across 1,700 Miles of Australian Outback

Adrift

Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea

Dark Star Safari

Overland from Cairo to Capetown

Ubuntu

One Woman's Motorcycle Odyssey Across Africa

Sources

What To Read Next

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