Seven Adventure Travel Books to Inspire Your Next Expedition

Some of these are fiction, some are true stories, but all will inspire a sense of wanderlust. Here are seven of our favorite adventures to read.

The Beach by Alex Garland

Considered Generation X’s first great novel, The Beach is both a celebration and critique of backpacking culture, following a traveler looking to get off the beaten path.

Walden; or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau

A staple of American high schools, Walden is Thoreau’s timeless call to nature, simplicity and individualism. Few realize his cabin was about two miles away from his family home, located just outside the edge of town. While it’s not exactly a survival tale, the author shows you don’t have to visit exotic places to find meaning in travel.

The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

Not many have as interesting a career as Peter Matthiessen. The guy isn’t just a writer, he’s also famous for being an early pioneer of LSD, an undercover CIA agent and a devoted naturalist, best exemplified by his book, The Snow Leopard, recounting his journey into the Himalayas with George Schaller in search of the elusive snow leopard.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

If you enjoyed Apocalypse Now, you should read the novel it was based on. Instead of Vietnam, the story takes place in Congo Free State, a Belgian slave colony. Readers are sent on a journey up the Congo River in search of a rogue ivory trader who becomes a demigod among the natives. Today, Conrad is praised for raising questions about colonialism during a time when it was the norm, while he is also criticized for reinforcing Western stereotypes about Africa.

Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger

Like Heart of Darkness, many British traveler novels are insensitive to the cultures they depict. Arabian Sands is not one of those novels. Published in 1959 by writer/explorer Wilfred Thesiger, this travel masterpiece documents his journey into the Arabian Peninsula, documenting Bedouin culture and its gradual eradication by development after World War II.

West with the Night by Beryl Markham

Men wrote most of the books in this genre, but Beryl Markham’s personal account of growing up in British East Africa is not one to be missed. Ernest Hemingway was a fan of the book, most remembered for Markham’s pioneering flight across the Atlantic in one go.

True at First Light by Ernest Hemingway

Speaking of Hemingway, no travel book list would be complete without one of his works. True at First Light, however, is not considered one of his best. The Hemingway estate released the novel posthumously with heavy editing, though it received little praise. Today, it is considered a complex novel and fans of Hemingway’s body of work will find it an illuminating read into the author’s mind.