The Greatest Travel Stories Ever Told
“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success.” So read the ad for Ernest Shackleton’s last expedition to Antarctica, purported to have run in the London Times in 1913. Though most likely a fiction, it certainly gets the point across. People seek adventure even when the outcome is unknown. Travel can be difficult, but the reward is great, and the stories will be told for years.
In this age of luxury cruise ships, GPS maps, and Wi-Fi, what could be better than honoring the adrenaline-seekers who traveled dangerously? These books are some of the greatest travel stories ever told, guaranteed to put those minor travel snags in perspective.
The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
(Photo: Skyhorse Publishing)
If the title alone doesn’t make you want to haul 700 pounds of gear for weeks in total darkness at 70 degrees below zero, what will? This account of the doomed Robert Scott expedition to the South Pole makes Into Thin Air seem like a day at the beach. It’s the perfect read as your cruise ship pushes off from Ushuaia toward Antarctica, while you’re sipping a glass of wine in modern comfort. It’s one of the greatest adventure books you’ll ever read.
News From Tartary: An Epic Journey Across Central Asia by Peter Fleming
(Photo: Tauris Parke Paperbacks)
James Bond creator Ian Fleming’s older brother was an intrepid adventurer and one of the real-life inspirations for Bond. Many argue that he was a better writer as well. At the height of the Communist incursion in the 1930s, he became the first Westerner in eight years to cross Red Army controlled western China, covering 3,500 miles in seven months, capping it off by crossing the Himalayas into British Kashmir. With typical 007 flair, he brought with him a female companion, a rifle, and six bottles of brandy.
Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft by Thor Heyerdahl
(Photo: Simon & Schuster)
Anthropology class was never this exciting — or harrowing. Aiming to prove the theory that people from South America discovered Polynesia, Heyerdahl floated on a homemade wooden raft, dodging whales, sharks, and storms in the Pacific for three months. He may not have conclusively affirmed the theory, but he certainly showed it was possible. Kon-Tiki was a best-seller upon publication, and Heyerdahl’s endurance has inspired generations.
Full Tilt: From Dublin to Delhi with a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy
(Photo: Overlook)
Already an avid cyclist, at the age of 10 Murphy resolved to one day pedal from Ireland to India. Twenty-two years later she accomplished it solo, setting the bar impossibly high both for cycle touring and gender equality. Especially poignant is her account of Afghanistan, a land and people she loved deeply that few of us will ever see. Upon arrival in Delhi, she also worked for five months in a Tibetan refugee camp, because that’s apparently what one does after pedaling 4,500 miles. Grab a bike and start training to see the world at a better pace.
Related: See Afghanistan’s Best Hidden Gem — Bamiyan
The Man Who Walked Through Time: The Story of the First Trip Afoot Through the Grand Canyon by Colin Fletcher
(Photo: Vintage)
Some credit this book with starting the entire backpacking movement. In the 1980s, Fletcher had the then-novel idea to walk the length of the Grand Canyon below the rim, in one trip. (At the time, the only other person to complete the walk had divided it up over 17 years.) The two-month journey challenged him mentally as well as physically. It would be nice to point out that an American conquered our most iconic National Park, but alas, Fletcher was Welsh.
A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor
(Photo: NYRB Classics)
In 1933, an 18-year-old Leigh Fermor attempted to walk from Holland to Istanbul. Forty years later, he wrote the account, imbuing it with the dual perspectives of the youthful wanderer and the erudite Renaissance man he had become. For the strength, clarity, and style of his prose, Leigh Fermor is widely considered the greatest travel writer who ever lived. It would become a trilogy, with Between the Woods and the Water (1998) and The Broken Road: From the Iron Gates to Mount Athos (2014) to follow.
In Trouble Again: A Journey Between Orinoco and the Amazon by Redmond O’Hanlon
(Photo: Vintage)
In easily the funniest book on this list, naturalist O’Hanlon puts himself at constant risk — from piranhas, natives, himself — and lives to laugh about it. With tourism surrounding Ayahuasca (a psychedelic South American brew made from vines and plants) on the rise, this is still the go-to account of hallucinogen consumption in South America. The author’s works played a major role in reviving the beloved fish-out-of-water genre, made famous by Mark Twain.
Under the Dragon: A Journey Through Burma by Rory MacLean
(Photo: Tauris Parke Paperbacks)
Thanks to a reformist regime, travel to Myanmar has skyrocketed. MacLean puts the country’s fascinating recent history into perspective, traveling from Rangoon to Mandalay and on to meet then-exiled leader Aung San Suu Kyi. His devotion to the people is beautiful as he exposes the politics that oppress them.
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The Kindness Diaries: One Man’s Quest to Ignite Goodwill and Transform Lives Around the World by Leon Logothetis
(Photo: Readers Digest)
Proving that the spirit of old-school travel is still alive, the author travels around the world on a vintage yellow motorcycle with sidecar, relying solely on the generosity of those he meets for food, shelter, and fuel. Logothetis then returns the kindness to his unsuspecting hosts, giving out schooling, homes, and even a cow, depending on their dreams. A heartwarming tale, it restores faith in humanity.
Tracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1,700 Miles of Australian Outback by Robyn Davidson
(Photo: Vintage)
Davidson’s tale is iconic, the story of a woman, her dog, her camels, and her largely solo trek through the Australian Outback — tales of hundreds upon hundreds of miles of brush and Aboriginal culture.
(Photo: Against All Odds Productions)
Davidson’s book recently became a movie (with Mia Wasikowska) and inspired another great book: Inside Tracks: Robyn Davidson’s Solo Journey Across the Outback by Davidson and Rick Smolan, the National Geographic photographer who spent three months with her on her journey. Smolan’s magnificent images, on display at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, are now collected in this new tome. (Plus, the book uses augmented-reality technology so readers can use smart phones to access scenes from the movie based on images from the pages.) This very meta collision of old meets new makes both books worth a read.
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