Our writers’ talents extend well beyond the articles we share on TravelAwaits. Today, we’re sharing some of the books they’ve written.

Peggy Cleveland

A children’s book inspired Peggy Cleveland’s love of travel, so it’s only fitting that the travel writer became an author herself. Peggy co-authored The Tsar’s Masquerade with her sister under the pen name Raphael Mercikovsky.

The Tsar’s Masquerade

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Tsar Nicholas II holds the fate of Russia in his hands after receiving a fateful prophecy warning of a horrific future that lies ahead. What will the richest and most powerful man in the world do to save all he holds dear? The Tsar’s Masquerade is the answer.

This work is not just about Nicholas and Alexandra, the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia. The novel lifts the Grand Duchesses out of the shadowy pages of history books, gives them personalities, and chronicles their development from children into mature young women. The reader is provided a different look at the character of the Tsar and the mercurial behavior of his beloved wife.

It is in essence a love story, plain and simple, but not the kind one would expect to find in a typical romance novel. It focuses on the overwhelming love Nicholas had for his family and his country and the measures he was willing to take to protect these two great loves.

“My whole life I wanted to write a book. I now understand why Margaret Mitchell, the author of Gone With The Wind, only wrote one novel. When you complete a project of that length and depth there is just nothing left. That is how I feel about my own masterpiece. When complete, it was over 1,000 typed pages.” — Peggy

100 Things to Do in Tacoma Before You Die

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“This is my love letter to Tacoma. After moving 33 times, my husband and I chose the Tacoma area to retire. This vibrant city is a wonderful destination for a vacation that includes mountain (Mt. Rainier), city (Tacoma) and sea (Puget Sound). I was inspired to write this book because Tacoma is often overlooked in favor of Seattle, its more famous neighbor. With gorgeous views for miles, an eclectic dining scene and both a theater and museum district, there is something for everyone.” — Peggy

Sara Broers, Amy Piper, Tim Trudell, And Roxie Yonkey

Three TravelAwaits writers, Sara Broers, Amy Piper, Tim Trudell, and Roxie Yonkey wrote different parts of Midwest Road Trip Adventures.

Midwest Road Trip Adventures

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An author from each of the 12 Midwest states wrote about his or her state, except South Dakota, which was a combined effort. Each author selected geographically dispersed byways within their home state: North and South Dakota, Nebraska (Tim), Kansas (Roxie), Minnesota, Iowa (Sara), Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan (Amy).

“I wrote the Iowa chapter in Midwest Road Trip Adventures. This book is a collaboration of travel writers that adore the Midwest and all it has to offer. With the return of the American road trip, there was no time like the present to start writing alongside fellow travel friends. We made it easy for you to road trip through the heart of America.” — Sara

Kelly Hayes-Raitt

Kelly Hayes-Raitt admits she sleeps around — usually with animals. Kelly has been traveling full-time for the past 12 years as an international housesitter, meaning she lives at no cost in someone else’s home and cares for their pets while they travel. She has housesat in some of the world’s greatest cities, including Paris, Hanoi, and London (during the 2012 Olympics!) and in off-the-beaten-path places like Ya’an, a Chinese village where she was the only English-speaker around, and Réunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean. 

Along the way, she’s learned a few tricks for anyone who is thinking about breaking into housesitting — or is currently housesitting and wants to up their game. As a 60-year-old solo traveler, she’s convinced housesitting is the safest and most convenient way to travel. 

How To Become A Housesitter: Insider Tips From The HouseSit Diva

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In How to Become a Housesitter: Insider Tips from the HouseSit Diva, Kelly spills secrets on how to assess if a sitting assignment is right for you, how to settle in to living in other people’s spaces, how to secure repeat sits, and more!

Rebecca Hall

Rebecca Hall wrote and published her semi-fictional travel memoir, Girl Gone Greek, during Greece’s economic crisis when the country was receiving very negative international press. In her own small way, Rebecca wanted the world to see her Greece, not that of the accusatory headlines. It has now been written into a double award-winning film script. Girl Gone Greek is great for all ages, Grecophiles, and those intrigued about life abroad in a completely different culture.

Girl Gone Greek

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Girl Gone Greek is a semi-fictional travel memoir based on Rebecca’s first year living in rural Greece and working as an English teacher. Unique characters that cross her path ultimately help her realize her love for a country where life is certainly not smooth. People certainly stick together and the community spirit is strong, something the main character has never really experienced coming from a “colder,” more independent northern European country.

Inka Piegsa Quischotte

After many years as an attorney, Inka Piegsa Quischotte became a travel writer, novelist, and photographer. The luxury and solo travel writer loves the sea, the desert, museums, and ancient history. In addition to Instanbul, she has lived in London and Miami and now calls Spain’s Costa Blanca home.

Istanbul: City Of The Green-Eyed Beauty

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In this literary guide to Istanbul, Inka follows the plots of three authors: Orhan Pamuk, Pierre Lotti, and crime writer Barbara Nadel. There are many locations in these authors’ books and anyone who reads them can read Inka’s book alongside to see where the action takes place.

Heather Markel

After 25 years in corporate America, Heather Markel quit her job to pursue her passion. Now the multi-linguist travels the world while making her living as a certified professional coach and writer.

How To Afford Full-Time Travel

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How To Afford Full-Time Travel is designed for anyone who wants to travel full time, but can’t figure out how they’d afford it. It’s complete with formulas to help you figure out how much you need to budget and whether you have that available now, or, if not, to calculate how much longer you need to save to reach your goal of full-time travel!

“I wrote How To Afford Full-Time Travel based on my own success traveling full time for four years now because I know there are many other people out there who want to do it but think they can’t afford it, and it’s simply not true! If you buy the book, email heather@heathermarkel.com and mention TravelAwaits and I’ll send you a free copy of the new companion guide for it, What It’s Really Like To Travel Full Time, that goes into more depth about each of the travel styles mentioned in the main book.” — Heather

Argentina: A Guide For The First Time Visitor

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The essential guide for your first visit to Argentina, this deep-dive into Argentinian culture helps you set your expectations for a wonderful trip. Inside you’ll get:

• Essentials: Including plug-types and visa information, negotiating tips, transportation, and more.
• Culture Notes: Learn what’s important to everyday life, what to expect when it comes to food.
• Itineraries: Helpful suggestions on choosing where to go by your interests, as well as regional notes and suggested things to do and see.
• City Centers: A map of the center of some of the most popular cities in Argentina so you know which streets and areas are best to look for accommodation and more!

This is not your typical “hotel, restaurant, tour” book — there are enough of those out there. This is a first-hand experience guide to the culture and day-to-day life in Argentina that gives you a starting guide of where to go to plan your trip. Even if you only have a couple of weeks in Argentina, consider leaving some space in your plans for impromptu destinations. Be open to meeting people that inspire you to visit nearby places you won’t find in a guidebook — it’s a surefire guarantee for a fun and unique experience!

“I spent four months in Argentina in 2019 and absolutely loved it. I also learned a lot more than the average tourist, so I put together a guide that explains some of the cultural aspects of Argentina, along with some helpful information about many of the wonderful places you can visit. Because I know that travelers often want to stay in the ‘center’ of a city they’re going to, and it can be difficult to figure out where the center is, I also include some city-center maps to help you be able to figure out the best lodging options!” — Heather

Gail L. Clifford, M.D.

A physician for 30 years, Gail L. Clifford, M.D., has been to all 50 states as well as five continents. This avid traveler currently divides her time between Ireland and the U.S.

The Experts Cure: How Entrepreneurs Are Changing the World

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Twenty authors and entrepreneurs offer compelling answers during these demanding times. Each one has a unique story. Each one has a unique solution. The Experts Cure: How Entrepreneurs are Changing the World is an anthology book compiled by Wall Street Journal and international bestselling author Rob Kosberg. 

It features successful consultants, innovators, and leaders from around the world. They offer solutions to the problems that plague us like fear, failure, health challenges, and starting a new career, just to name a few. They open up their lives and share their victories as well as their struggles. They give us a way forward to both impact lives and increase income.

Each chapter is written by a different author and has a standalone, inspirational story with practical and life-changing applications. Taken together, they present an uplifting and significant message of hope for the future.

“This Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-seller had contributions from 20 authors who are working to improve and change the world during the pandemic. The editor asked me to contribute based on my efforts to improve the lives of physicians by conquering the financial stress from medical student loans and learning how to find joy in their lives every day. My ‘why’ is to reduce physician suicide. Losing more than one physician or medical student per day is unacceptable. We’ve got to do a better job taking care of each other.” — Gail

Mommy Magic: Anatomy And Sex Ed For Preschoolers

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Have you ever felt ill-equipped to answer children’s questions about the birds and the bees? Read this book with them and have the answers to anatomy and sex education questions. Start the discussion early and build a great relationship with your children about topics others may find embarrassing. With a story that fits anatomically with sex and the creation of a baby, answer the actual question your child asks (not more) and they’ll grow in their knowledge of their own bodies.

“Mommy Magic is really the fictionalized story of my daughter’s introduction to anatomy and sex ed when she was in preschool. I’d had the artwork done several years ago but with her at home during the pandemic, we actually had it published and were pleased with the warm reception worldwide — especially from parents and the medical community. The importance for us here, the ‘why’ was to help parents learn how to start difficult or embarrassing conversations with kids. My experience, as a child, medical professional, and parent, has always been that education and information make all of this easier. And having the conversation with 3- to 5-year-olds allows parents to lay the foundation for the actual sex conversations when the child is old enough to understand it.” — Gail

Brain Games For Hospitalized Patients: San Diego Edition

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Exercising your brain is like exercising your body. With the right program, you can keep your brain young, strong, agile, and adaptable. Brainteasers and brain games are organized on an increasing scale of difficulty from “warm-up” to “merciless.” Fun and engaging games are expertly designed to give your brain the kind of workout that stimulates neurogenesis, the process of rejuvenating the brain by growing new brain cells. Target six key cognitive functions:

1. Long-term memory

2. Working memory

3. Executive functioning

4. Attention to detail

5. Multi-tasking

6. Processing speed

“The Brain Games series of books came from witnessing the boredom of my patients in the hospital — especially with the social isolation caused by the pandemic and severe visitor restrictions. Having a variety of games to ‘play’ keeps patients entertained and engaged — all good things for stress reduction between physician visits, tests, and other medical care. I’ve used photos of places I’ve worked or lived or visited or been offered by the facility or other sources to add. We learned a version of this could also be done as wedding or party favors (who knew?) — and wedding anniversaries (like 25th or 50th) have been especially fun — creating word searches out of names or streets or other places important to the happy couple. Many more of the Brain Games books are on the way!” — Gail

Carol Esguerra Colborn

A former jet-setting Filipina executive, Carol Esguerra Colborn (aka Carolina) shares her American dream, a story of retirement, immigration, and love. At 55, she immigrated to the United States and four years later became a new bride to an American businessman. Together, they’ve created an extensive travel bucket list, crisscrossed North America four times, and blogged about their cruising lifestyle.

Carolina: Cruising To An American Dream

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In a little over four years, author Carolina and her husband traveled almost 100,000 miles to 49 American states, nine Canadian provinces, and six Mexican states. In Carolina: Cruising to an American Dream, she offers fascinating facts about irresistible places, surprising insights about unique encounters, and useful guides born out of their experience.

Carolina: Cruising to an American Dream tells how Carolina discovered America from within the cozy confines of an RV with lessons that came as fast as scenes changed. She not only learned to be a wife without losing her identity but also to be an American without losing her roots. But, most of all, she learned about the beauty of America and her people, past, present, and future.

Cruising Past Seventy: It’s Not Only About Outer Journeys. It’s Also About Inner Ones.

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Are you wondering how long you can continue traveling? It really doesn’t matter how much older you are; there’s just too much to cover in this whole wide world. And the older we get, we seem to be running out of time, energy, and money.

In light chatty style, Carol intimates with you that we don’t have to go to all the places out there in what she calls outer journeys. She shares the value of inner journeys in 41 easy-to-read chapters of lessons learned, changes made, and insights gained.

This book puts together the most widely-read posts from her blog, Cruising Past 70, about her eight years of RVing and subsequent travels to 38 countries. It also includes excerpts from her first travel book, Carolina: Cruising to an American Dream, and six of her many TravelAwaits articles. By the end of the book, you will know how to blend outer and inner journeys, see the deep and long-lasting benefits of travel, and enjoy an enriched travel life past 70.

“The older we get, we seem to be running out of time, energy, and money. At 73, I was inspired to answer this question forv those of us who are retired or are contemplating retirement.” — Carol

Joe Cuhaj

Based in Mobile, Alabama, Joe Cuhaj has worked as a news anchor/reporter/director, program director, music director, producer, and on-air talent. In addition to his many TravelAwaits articles, Joe has penned several titles on outdoor recreation, including Hiking Waterfalls Alabama as well as Paddling Alabama, which he co-authored with veteran paddler Curt Burdick.

Hiking Waterfalls Alabama: A Guide To The State’s Best Waterfall Hikes

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“Hiking Waterfalls Alabama is my eighth Falcon guide to hiking, kayaking, and camping adventure not only in Alabama but also the Gulf Coast. The book takes readers to 50 of the best waterfall hikes in the state far from the touristy areas and deep into the beautiful Alabama mountains and canyons. The inspiration for the book is simple enough — the lure of waterfalls. I can’t tell you how many times I have lost track of time and lost myself in the soothing sounds and the white and frothy cascades tumbling down the rocks. Many people do not realize that Alabama has so many incredible waterfalls. The guide acts as a primer, introducing them to the great hikes that culminate in a spectacular water show.” — Joe

Paddling Alabama By Joe Cuhaj And Curt Burdick

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From the Appalachian highlands in the north to the Gulf Coast, this guide offers paddling opportunities ranging from classic whitewater rapids to meandering rivers, quiet lakes, and saltwater estuaries. Join authors Joe and Curt for a statewide tour of Alabama’s premier paddling destinations for the canoeist and kayaker.

Each destination is described and mapped in detail, with information on put-in points and take-outs, water conditions, and flora and fauna. Sidebars and at-a-glance data highlight local history, seasonal attractions and cultural events, restaurants, paddlesports organizations, and much more.

Robyne Stevenson

Robyne Stevenson spent three decades as a professor before trading her busy calendar for a tiny-house nomadic life. An avid political junkie, Robyne cares deeply about social justice, the environment, and baseball. Her black cat, Inky, accompanies Robyne on her travels.

No Time For Regrets: A Novel (Socialites & Suffragists Book 1)

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A romantic tale of a woman coming of age as a suffragist in the cradle of democracy, No Time For Regrets is the first of three books in the Socialites and Suffragists series. Ruth Reid embarks on a quest to matter in the world of 1917. She longs for status and privilege to take her out of her working-class family and into the world of socialites on Philadelphia’s Main Line.

She joins the suffragist movement and simultaneously falls in love with a prominent lawyer, Alex. They have a clandestine love affair that requires Ruth to trade public happiness for private ecstasy. Everything comes to a head as the 19th Amendment is ratified and women finally have the right to vote. She makes the hardest decisions of her young life when she discovers it is her own voice that is the most powerful of all.

“I retired and began traveling in my Airstream. I began my second career as a writer on the road writing articles for TravelAwaits and working on my novel. I have completed two more novels in this series for publication this year.” — Robyne

Sue Reddel And Diana Laskaris

Authors, entrepreneurs, and world travelers Sue Reddel and Diana Laskaris have created the life they want on their own terms. In their first book, the duo walks readers step-by-step through their simple but powerful system for designing the work and life you love.

Reddel and Laskaris live the life they love in Portugal, residing in a “beautiful country with friendly people, great healthcare, excellent cuisine, amazing culture, good weather, and pocket-friendly prices.” In their latest book, the pair demystify the process of relocating to Portugal.

What Should I Do Now?: A 14-Day Jumpstart Program To Get Unstuck, Make Decisions, And Take Control of Your Work and Your Life

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Have you lost your job or are you ready for a change? Are you afraid because you don’t know what the future holds? Do you feel stuck and unable to make decisions without fear?

Is a big question on your mind, “What should I do now?” When you suffer a career or personal setback, or just can’t get ahead, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Maybe you see nothing but a bunch of questions without answers. 

The What Should I Do Now? A 14-Day Jumpstart Program To Get Unstuck, Make Decisions, And Take Control Of Your Work And Your Life workbook can help you remove the fear and confusion that keep you from getting what you really want in life. This easy-to-follow, step-by-step program can help you jumpstart your progress in just an hour or two a day. Fun and enlightening activities provide a deeper understanding of what will make you happy and help you actively design a truly satisfying future.

The workbook is written in an entertaining and straightforward style by people just like you who understand what it’s like to have more questions than answers. They’ll be your guides, encouraging your progress along the way as you look forward to each day bursting with new enthusiasm, ideas, and determination. In just two short weeks you can discover exactly what your best self looks like and precisely how to pursue the work and life of your dreams.

101 Tips For Moving To Portugal: And Once You Arrive

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The thought of moving to Portugal fills potential expats with questions. Laskaris and Reddel have dealt with all of these decisions and details. Now the duo is passing along their practical and timely tips in an easy-to-follow, quick-read guide. Not only does this guide offer strategies and tasks for the move, but it also answers questions about when to go, what it will take to make the move, and what to expect once you arrive. Topics include how to get started, getting help or DIY, where to live, taking pets, banking and finance, transportation, and more. According to the authors, 101 Tips For Moving To Portugal (And Once You Arrive) “can help anyone decide whether moving to Portugal is right for them, and if so, offer practical tips to make the transition quicker and easier.”

Kathleen Walls

Kathleen Walls is a road trip enthusiast and the writer and publisher for American Roads and Global Highways. Additionally, she has authored numerous travel books including Georgia’s Ghostly Getaways, Finding Florida’s Phantoms, Hosts With Ghosts, and the Wild About Florida series. According to Kathleen “the only thing nearly as much fun as traveling to new places is telling everyone about those places with my writing.”

Wild About Florida: Central Florida

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“Central Florida has the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf beaches much like other parts of Florida, but in many other ways, it is distinct and unique. The Florida scrub jay, a bird many Floridians believe should be our state bird, is found nowhere in the world except central Florida. Central Florida is bisected by one of the most unique rivers in the state and perhaps even the world.

“First off, the St. Johns is the longest river in Florida and one of the few in the country to flow north. The total distance the river drops from its source in marshes southwest of Melbourne to its mouth in the Atlantic near Jacksonville is less than 30 feet, or about 1 inch per mile, making it one of the ‘laziest,’ slowest-moving rivers in the world. Also due to the fact that it is born in the salty estuary marshes of Indian River County, passes through salt springs, and then receives an infusion of salt at the mouth, creating a more brackish river. It’s the only river in the country that is home to saltwater stingrays.

“Then there are the whooping cranes. There are only three whooping crane colonies in the United States. Central Florida’s Polk, Osceola, and Lake counties are the home of the only non-migratory flock of whooping cranes. Citrus County is host to the ultralight-led migratory flock that winters in Chassohowitzka National Wildlife Refuge near Crystal River. And then there is… but why not just read the rest of the book to discover all the things that are uniquely central Florida.” — Kathleen Walls

Connie Pearson

Alabama-based freelance travel and food writer and blogger Connie Pearson has more than 275 articles published online and in print. The former music teacher and missionary’s travel inspiration blog is called There Goes Connie.

100 Things to Do in Huntsville and North Alabama Before You Die (100 Things to Do Before You Die)

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“North Alabama is my heartland, and Huntsville is now Alabama’s largest city. I wanted to showcase our many restaurants, festivals, and attractions to the many new families moving to the area and to those who have lived here for years and are getting out after the pandemic.” — Connie

Related Reading:

• Why I Chose Travel Writing As My Retirement Career
• Read All About It: The Top 11 Travel Books Of 2022
• 22 Places TravelAwaits Writers Want To Visit In 2022

If you don’t have a Kindle yet or are in need of an upgrade, Prime Day is your big chance to get one at a deep discount.

Prime Time

Amazon Prime Day is somewhat of a misnomer, as it lasts two days, July 12-13. Also, there are early Prime Day deals, including up to 60 percent off of Amazon devices. This Prime Day, there is a huge sale on Kindle Essentials Bundles.

Kindles Are Perfect For Travelers

Kindles are a great companion for any traveler. Instead of hauling around heavy books, you can slip this tablet into your bag and have access to more books than you can imagine.

Books Galore

Yes, just about any book you can think of is available on Amazon, but did you know that you can also read free books from the library? Apps like OverDrive allow you to reserve e-books and audiobooks from your local library. Just sign up by using your library card to log in, then start adding titles to your bookshelf.

Amazon also offers Kindle Unlimited, a subscription service that gives you access to millions of titles as well as audiobooks and magazines for a monthly fee.

Do Kindles Require Wi-Fi?

Yes and no. Unless you buy a data plan for your Kindle, it will only work on Wi-Fi. However, Wi-Fi is only necessary to browse and download books. Once a book is downloaded to your Kindle, you can access it at any time — whether you are connected to the internet or not.

Can You Use An E-Reader Like Kindle On An Airplane?

Yes! As mentioned above, the device only has to be connected to Wi-Fi to download books, so you can use your Kindle on the plane, no problemo. Just remember to put it in airplane mode!

Other Kindle Benefits

Look Up Words

One of my favorite things about e-readers like Kindles is how they let you highlight a word to define it. This way, I don’t have to look it up on my phone, where I inevitably get distracted by something else. It also makes it easy to translate words and highlight passages for future reference.

Read In The Dark And Outside

The adjustable light lets you read indoors and outdoors, any time of day or night. Kindle’s glare-free touchscreen won’t blind you in the sunshine like a phone screen or iPad does.

Adjustable Text Size

Change the size of the text and the font for your reading pleasure.

Easy Transfer Of Titles

If you are upgrading from an older Kindle to a newer version, it is so simple to transfer your titles to your new device. Simply sign in to your Amazon account, and all your books will be there waiting for you!

Seamlessly Switch From E-Book To Audiobook

Newer versions of Kindle have Bluetooth so you can connect your headphones and listen to audiobooks on them too. When you buy a Kindle book on Amazon or an audiobook on Audible, it usually gives you the option to purchase the other version as well, so you can read when it is convenient or listen when you want.

Kindle Oasis Essentials Bundle

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Why is this Kindle Oasis bundle so much more expensive than the one above? For starters, it is waterproof, so you can read in the tub or by the pool. Secondly, it has 32 GB of memory, whereas the Kindle above only has 8 GB. This means you can store more books.

Thin and light, the graphite-colored Kindle comes with a black leather cover and power adapter. Its flush-front Paperwhite display features an adjustable warm light so you can change the screen shade from white to amber. The only downside is it does have page turn buttons, which can wear out over time. The Kindle Oasis is Bluetooth-enabled to connect to headphones or speakers so you can switch seamlessly from reading to listening.

Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition

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Also waterproof, this Kindle Paperwhite features wireless charging (wireless charging dock sold separately) and can last up to 10 weeks on a single charge. Like all Kindles, it features a glare-free display, but it also has an adjustable warm light and auto-adjusting front light. We love this option because it is highly customizable. You can choose how much storage you need: 8 GB or 32 GB. Lockscreen Ads display sponsored screensavers on your device’s screen when it is locked, and this Kindle Paperwhite is available with or without Lockscreen Ads. It also comes with a three-month free trial of Kindle Unlimited, which you can opt out of if you’d prefer. It is also available as a bundle with three choices of cases: cork, fabric, or leather.

Certified Refurbished Kindle Paperwhite

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This refurbished Kindle Paperwhite isn’t a bundle with a power adapter and cover, but it is waterproof and does do its small part in helping to save the planet. TravelAwaits editor Linsey Stevens outlines why she is a big fan of her refurbished Kindle:

“Spending as much time on a screen as I do, I never thought I’d like an e-reader — and I especially hate reading anything lengthy on an iPad. We’re also big on reduce, reuse, recycle, so I’m always hesitant to try new and potentially unnecessary tech. But when I saw Amazon offering refurbished Kindles for a fraction of the price of new, it seemed like a perfect option to try a lightweight, travel-friendly reading option.

This is one of my favorite purchases to date! My refurbished Kindle Paperwhite is so small it fits in almost all my purses (no more getting to coffee dates early and aimlessly scrolling on Instagram), and I’ve mastered borrowing electronic books through my local library and Netgalley (super fun for review copies!), meaning I’ve only outright purchased a few books I want to have for reference. Everything else on my Kindle has been free.

I just finished Vanessa Hua’s A River of Stars and am partway through Kinari Webb, M.D.’s Guardians of the Trees, and strongly recommend both. Either would make a great in-flight or poolside read.”

For even more Prime Day deals, check out:

• 15 Travel Tech Deals To Snag On Amazon Prime Day 2022
• Prime Day Is Here And We Found The Luggage Deals You Won’t Want To Miss
• The Dangerously Comfortable $8 Pool Float You Never Have To Worry About Falling From

Years ago, before we all just logged on to find out everything we needed to know about new places we were visiting, a trip to the bookshop to buy a new guidebook always came before any trip to any new place. I’ve always loved the experience of buying a new book full of beautiful photos and packed with information on museums and restaurants and beaches and bars. Yes, it’s so much easier now to browse websites and there’s so much information available to us, but there’s still something so magical about buying and reading a guidebook. But why stop there? When it comes to traveling, there are many different kinds of books to immerse yourself in — letting you live in that land before you get there.

Scotland is a unique country, unlike England, or anywhere else really. To fully get to know the place before you go, there are a few books that get right under the skin of Scotland and show the country as it really is. As well as guidebooks, there are beautifully written and intriguing memoirs, travel essays, cookbooks, and novels. Here’s my pick of books you should read before visiting Scotland. 

Experience Scotland

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Lonely Planet is the most popular guidebook publisher in the world, but its new series of guidebooks, the Experience series, is a little different. Written by local experts, these guides take you through when to visit, what to see, what to eat, what to drink, and how to get from one place to another. Because they are written by local experts, these guides include experiences you might not know about, the kinds of things you won’t find online.

I love how this guidebook covers a wide range of experiences and places in Scotland, while getting right to the heart of each one. You can browse by area, or you can bike, hike, take a whisky trail, or a foodie tour on your way around Scotland, and you can do it all by planning the trip yourself through this book. The book includes pull-out maps, bus routes, and in-depth city guides. There’s a great guide to the islands of Scotland as well as a page on whisky written by a master distiller.

Marram

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This lyrical travel memoir takes you on a journey with Leonie and her friend, Shuna, as they ride their ponies, Ross and Chief, through the Hebridean landscape. Much more than just a travel book, Marram guides you through the nature of this area and what it really feels like to be in this place, with the added element of traveling this land on horseback.

The book is written in diary form, with each day — from start to finish — giving you a detailed account of their travels, how Leonie felt, what she thought about, what they ate, and everything in between. It’s a true travel memoir, as the author tries to come to terms with her difficult relationship with her mother while riding through this wild Scottish land. Beautifully written and poetic, this book not only introduces you to a breathtaking area of Scotland, but also to Scottish people. Simply put, a must-read for anyone visiting the area for the first time, and for anyone who knows the place well, but has never experienced it on horseback!

Scotland Beyond The Bagpipes

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Beyond the Bagpipes is an interesting book, as it’s written by an English author who initially didn’t know Scotland at all. As she takes you through her first impressions of a surprising country that turned out to be so much more than she’d imagined, we walk with her and it’s like we are also discovering the country for the first time.

This is perfect reading for anyone who’s never been to Scotland before. It’s like Helen is on your journey with you, like she is your own personal travel buddy. It takes me right back to my first experiences of Scotland and how eye-opening it is once you venture out of Edinburgh to discover a vast country of incredible and diverse regions, towns, islands, cities, and villages. The book also touches on why the author took this journey and, in a similar vein to Marram, we learn about Ochyra’s relationship with her mother and the grief of losing her. Touching and funny in places, it’s a lovely companion to travel with.

Made in Scotland

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If you want to get to the heart of who the Scottish people really are, Billy Connolly is a good person to start with. If you don’t know who he is, Billy Connolly is Scotland’s most famous comedian. From a working class family in Glasgow, Billy has a truthful humor and a thick Glaswegian accent!

This is just one of the reasons why an audiobook version can be a good option — if you’re not overly familiar with the way people speak in Glasgow. Not only will this help you to understand the nuts and bolts of what he’s saying, it will also introduce you to this unique accent and dialogue. A Glasgow accent can be quite difficult to come to grips with if you’re not familiar, and the use of some words might be a little confusing. An audiobook also makes a great traveling companion, especially if you have quite the journey to make. Traveling with this book will bring Scotland to you before you arrive. It is an ode to Billy’s homeland, and his love for the place really shines through.

50 Years—Kinloch Lodge

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There’s perhaps no better way to get to know a country than through its food. At Kinloch Lodge on the Isle of Skye, food is very important. And, celebrating their 50th year in business, Kinloch is releasing a very special celebratory book. The book includes the history of the lodge — delving back long into its past before it was a hotel — the nature and wildlife of the area, and its dramatic landscape. And, sprinkled through this beautiful book of photographs and stories, are simple but sumptuous recipes.

This is a really beautiful book, written with passion for the place. It covers a lot of the island and talks about how the people of Kinloch live their lives, but it’s the recipes and stories about the food that really bring it all together. If you follow the gamekeeper, the fisherman, and the forager, you’ll see just how the local produce arrives so delicately on the plates at Kinloch. A warning though, this immersive book will definitely make you want to stay at the lodge!

Case Histories

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Sometimes a novel can bring a place to life better than any guidebook, and Kate Atkinson is a wonderful storyteller who creates a solid sense of place and treats Scotland like it’s one of the characters. In this book, we meet Jackson Brodie, a cynical private investigator who follows three unconnected mysteries, only to find connections where they are least expected and nothing is ever as it seems. Jackson is brusque, he rubs people the wrong way, he’s a bit of a loner, of course, but he does love his dog.

Set in Edinburgh, Case Histories is the first in a series of novels featuring Jackson Brodie, so if you like the first one, you have a few more to carry on with. But if you’re looking for a happy-go-lucky kind of book, Atkinson doesn’t really write those. It’s gritty, honest, and not always sunny — a bit like Scotland.

These are all great books to read before you set off on your first trip to Scotland, but they are also great books to take with you to read once you arrive. There’s something so satisfying about reading a travel memoir or novel in the place it was written in and written about. It grounds you in that place like nothing else can. 

To find out more about where to go and what to see in Scotland, check out My 6 Favorite Unique Places To Visit In Scotland. You never know, you might be inspired to write your own travel memoir. It all begins with a trip.

For more on Scotland, check out these articles:

• Peek Inside This Historic Scottish Hotel Brought Back To Life By Tennis Star Andy Murray
• 7 Reasons I Love Exploring The Scottish Highlands By Water
• 8 Amazing Restaurants In Scotland Perfect For Outdoor Dining

On my very first backpacking trip in 2001, the most indispensable item in my pack wasn’t my multipurpose sarong or blue bandana; It was a well-thumbed copy of Let’s Go Europe. Once upon a time, this student-written guidebook company was a powerhouse, going head-to-head with mega-brands like Lonely Planet. It outlined everything that was free and frugal and I designed my summer itinerary around which destinations earned a coveted “thumbs up” rating for their hostels. Thanks to my guidebook, I was spending less than $35 a day for accommodations, meals, and activities — even in pricy spots like London and Paris.

Today, my budget is higher and my trips look different, but I’ve never lost my love for a good guidebook and I’ve expanded well beyond the classic tried-and-true brands. If London or Paris is on your travel list, you’ll want to do the same. These busy destinations are crying out for visitors who are eager to explore in a slightly different way. Seeking out the weird museum, the funky artist quarters, or the flower-filled lanes will result in a trip you’ll never forget. These are some of the alternative travel books that inspire my trips to these two incredible European capitals.

Paris

A Writer’s Paris By Eric Maisel, PhD

A Writer’s Paris: A Guided Journey for the Creative Soul

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You don’t have to be planning your next novel or even contemplating a short story in order to enjoy this little guidebook with black and white illustrations. If you’re searching for the artsy, romantic side of the city, this is the book for you. And, more to the point, if you’re searching for some part of yourself — be it your next plot point or perhaps a big decision in your life — you’ll appreciate having A Writer’s Paris (2019) by your side. This book includes a helpful appendix of places to read (from English language bookstores to public parks), vignettes on what it’s like to write in a place like a church, and snapshots of life in a literary city. If perchance you are indeed heading to Paris to write a book or undertake another creative pursuit, there are also practical tips on how to go about it and realize your goals in the limited time that you have.

The Little(r) Museums Of Paris by Emma Jacobs

The Little(r) Museums of Paris: An Illustrated Guide to the City’s Hidden Gems

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This book boasts that you’ll be discovering a new side of Paris, one that’s hidden in plain sight and it just takes a quick glance at the included listings to know it’s right. Starting with the Museum of Fairground Arts and concluding with the Chateau of Malmaison, The Little(r) Museums of Paris (2019) covers attractions that you almost certainly have never heard of before. This is the perfect book for anyone traveling with a mixed group. No matter what someone’s niched interests are, you can bet the author found a museum that represents it in Paris. She covers everything from the Museum of Music to the home of Victor Hugo to the Museum of Counterfeiting. Every entry includes pragmatic information (including tour times, metro stops, and contact information) but, best of all, everything is hand illustrated. As such, this is the most charming book imaginable, immortalizing Paris’s little(r) museums with tiny watercolors. You’ll want to have this book displayed on your coffee table long after your trip.

Secret Paris By Thomas Jonglez 

Secret Paris

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On a recent trip to Paris, I was very much on the proverbial beaten path, walking down a touristy street not far from St. Germaine. The sidewalks were crammed with bric-a-brac from the souvenir shops and, unless you happened to be hankering for a faux-brass Eiffel Tower keychain, the street didn’t have a whole lot to recommend itself. By chance, I glanced up at the corner and saw a small plaque on the side of a building. It detailed how a French soldier, born on that very street, had died as a German prisoner of war. It was a sudden, sobering reminder that history really is all around you in Paris, even when you least expect it. 

It’s little moments like this that make me love the recommendations in Secret Paris (2019). This slim book is absolutely filled with “blink and you’ll miss it” experiences. There’s the cannonball embedded in the wall of the Hotel de Sens (a souvenir from the July Revolution of 1830), the last artesian well in the city, and the café where socialist leader Jean Jaurès was assassinated. This is the perfect book for both first-time visitors and those who have been to Paris so many times, they might be contemplating making their own guidebook. First-timers will be excited to discover so many “hidden gems” next to mainstream attractions (like a motif of spectacular painted tiles not far from the Louvre), while jaded, “seen-it-all-ers” will be amazed by all the attractions tucked away in the outer neighborhoods.

Pro Tip: Here’s What One Francophile Loves

I spoke to Jo Karnaghan, a passionate Francophile and the blogger behind Frugal First Class Travel, about what Parisian guidebooks she loves. She recommends Paris: Made By Hand by Pia Jane Bijkerk. Jo says, “Whether you want to find the most chi chi of haberdashery or the most unique artisan souvenir, Pia Jane is your lady. This book really is a jewel that personally I just love to read and savour whether I’m planning a trip to Paris or not.” I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Jo has also published a book on Paris! The Ultimate Paris Address Book is the perfect resource for information on where to sleep, eat, and shop.

London

London’s Museums And Galleries By Eleanor Ross

London’s Museums and Galleries: Exploring the Best of the City’s Art and Culture

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I thought I had a pretty good grasp of London’s museums and galleries. Sure, there’s a lot of them, but thanks to my early days in bargain backpacking, I had a lock on every freebie London had to offer. But a quick look through London’s Museums and Galleries (2020) showed me just how much I had to learn. I discovered that London has a Garden Museum, a Windmill Museum, even a Vagina Museum! I especially appreciate how this book gives equal space to mainstream attractions (like the Tate Modern and the Imperial War Museum) and those that barely qualify as museums, like the Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities (an absinthe cocktail bar and a basement filled with unusual artifacts).

London’s Hidden Walks By Stephen Millar

Londons Hidden Walks Volumes 1–3

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What’s better than one book about London? Try three! London’s Hidden Walks (2014) is available by single volume but I think the three-pack makes for a gorgeous display and a much better time trip planning. I had always considered walking in London to be a pragmatic thing (I can move much faster than a bus stuck in traffic) and a matter of frugality (single-use Tube tickets are not cheap). Millar’s books showed me that a London walk could be an adventure all on its own. His work, complete will detailed maps, allows you to follow in the footsteps of politicians, writers, and scoundrels and it showcases sides of the city you didn’t even know were there. The Thames is not the only waterside walk that’s available! This would be lovely for any traveler with an uncertain travel schedule, as you can do these walks at just about any time of day and find starting points no matter where you’re based in London.

While it’s not technically a book, A London Floral: An Illustrated Guide by Natasha Goodfellow (2020) is a lovely companion for London’s Hidden Walks. Opening up as a beautifully illustrated map suitable for framing, this pretty booklet is illustrated by Clover Robin and is a gorgeous guide to seeing London’s bloomiest spots.

Public House: A Cultural And Social History Of The London Pub By Open City

Public House: A Cultural and Social History of the London Pub

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Writing a book about London pubs is a tricky thing. For starters, there are so many. How can you possibly know what to include or leave out? Then there’s the tricky business of, well, the pub business. What’s trendy today could be shuttered tomorrow. However, Public House: A Cultural and Social History of the London Pub (2021), isn’t your typical drinking guide. It’s written and published by Open City, a charity dedicated to making London and its architecture more open, accessible, and equitable. Their work is a celebration of the London public house as a gathering place, a cultural touchstone, and a piece of heritage. Yes, reading through it will give you some great ideas on where to grab a pint (120 pubs across all 33 of London’s boroughs are covered). But this is the furthest thing from a tourist’s guide to watering holes and you’ll find yourself reading it again and again.

Pro Tip: What One London Resident Recommends

I asked Julie Falconer, the voice behind A Lady In London blog, if she had any recommendations for a great niche guidebook and she did not disappoint. Julie reports, 

“I love the book London Style Guide by Saska Graville. It’s full of great tips for stylish local places and hidden corners, and the photography is excellent.” Time to add this one to my reading list!

For more of TravelAwaits’ best reads, check out these stories:

• First Latina American Airlines Captain Releases Book Of Poems By Women Pilots
• Check Out These TravelAwaits Authors And The Books They’ve Written
• 18 Great Reads For Travel Lovers

Traveling solo as a woman may be one of the most enlightening and even life-affirming things you’ll ever do. A brief online search for “best travel books” will probably suggest books by Paul Theroux, Bill Bryson, Jack Kerouac, or an array of other male authors. But if you are a woman planning on traveling alone, then what you really need is to read books by women who have gone before you and lived to tell the tale. Their stories are heartfelt, often hilarious, and frequently heartbreaking, but all these women have returned home better and wiser for their travels.

Here are 13 books every solo female traveler needs to read, and all of them will give you wanderlust in the best possible way!

Wild: A Journey From Lost To Found By Cheryl Strayed

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Aged 26, Cheryl Strayed thought she’d lost everything. Her mother had died from cancer, her family had disbanded, and her marriage had crumbled. With nothing to lose, she made the impulsive decision to walk 1,100 miles of the west coast of America, and to do it alone. She had no experience of long-distance hiking and the journey was nothing more than an idea and a line on a map. Carrying the weight, both physical and mental, of both her massive backpack and her emotional burden of loss, she hikes from California’s Mojave Desert to the Columbia River Gorge on the Oregon/Washington border, and heals along the way.

There is a film adaptation of the book starring Reese Witherspoon.

A Woman Alone: Travel Tales From Around The Globe, Edited By Faith Conlon, Ingrid Emerick, And Christina Henry De Tessan

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This is a collection of stories written by women who have ventured solo across the world. It’s a relatable and inspiring anthology and great for a dose of armchair escapism. Marybeth Bond discovers the “pleasures” of camel-riding in the desert when she decides to follow an ancient Indian trading route. Faith Adiele, a black Buddhist nun, enters a deserted train station at three in the morning in a Thai village controlled by armed bandits. Ena Singh negotiates with the Russian police to visit the blue-domed city of Samarkand.

The book is filled with stories of women who have traveled, on their own, to just about anywhere you can think of. The stories are funny, thrilling, and occasionally terrifying, and will definitely empower you to embark on your own journey.

What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding By Kristin Newman

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This is one of the ultimate single-girl travel manifestos. Having spent much of her 20s and 30s attending baby showers and weddings, Kristin Newman is not ready to settle down. Instead, she decides to travel, and falls in love with the world around her. In her day job as a sitcom writer, Newman pens a lot of comedy, so this refreshing and poignant tale of solo travel will have you laughing out loud at times.

Ultimately, Kristin’s adventures led to a better understanding of what she is actually running from and why all life’s challenges seem to put her on a transatlantic flight to the unknown.

A combination of humorous storytelling, thoughtful, candid reflection, and travel inspiring tales, this is a compelling and hilarious book that will have you rushing to renew your passport.

Elsewhere: One Woman, One Rucksack, One Lifetime Of Travel By Rosita Boland

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From her first young and solo outing to Australia, Rosita Boland has spent the last 3 decades seeking out new experiences and exciting adventures in every corner of the world, carrying little more than a battered rucksack and a diary. From a death-defying bus journey through Pakistan to witnessing the majestic icescapes of Antarctica, Boland writes about moments of joy and deep personal loss. This is a book that celebrates a life well-traveled, in all its messy and wondrous glory.

A Handful Of Honey By Annie Hawes

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Annie Hawes is on a mission to track down a small oasis town deep in the Sahara Desert. Leaving her home in the olive groves of Italy, she sets off along the south coast of the Mediterranean and travels through Morocco and Algeria, where she eats pigeon pie with the family of a cannabis farmer, learns the habits of djinns (spirits able to appear in human or animal form), encounters protesters in Morocco affixing colanders to their television aerials, comes across a still used stone age method of making olive oil, and many more such adventures. Spoiler alert: she ultimately discovers her Saharan oasis, but learns that life in a date-farming oasis is not as simple and uncomplicated as she’d imagined. This is a light-hearted and often hilarious read.

The Nomad: Diaries of Isabelle Eberhardt

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Born in 1877 and dying at the tender age of 27, Isabelle Eberhardt had a short, but adventurous life. Moving from her home in Switzerland to Algeria, she spent almost her brief, adult life traveling across North Africa and through the Sahara Desert, alone and dressed as a man. While she may not be the original solo female traveler, her book is one of the earliest written by a woman traveling alone.

The Valleys Of The Assassins: And Other Persian Travels By Freya Stark

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In our age of ever-increasing feminism, it’s easy to forget that women have been traveling alone for generations, long before the trend of gap years and joining the Peace Corps. One of her generation’s most intrepid explorers, Freya Stark was a great example of this fact. In the 1930s, she explored places where few single women would dare to venture alone: Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Yemen. She was a trained geographer and cartographer, and her writing is especially vivid and descriptive. The Valleys of the Assassins chronicles her travels into Luristan, the mountainous terrain between Iraq and Iran, often with only a single guide and on a shoestring budget, documenting everything she sees, from the people to the land around her.

Full Tilt: Ireland To India With A Bicycle By Dervla Murphy

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It’s pretty hard to imagine now, but in the 1960s and 70s, the Middle East was the “place to be.” The “hippie trail” ran through Europe, parts of the Middle East and Southeast Asia before ending in India or Nepal, and people from all over the western world were traveling the route. In 1963, Dervala Murphy got on her bicycle and headed off on “the trail.” Starting in Ireland she rode across icy Europe, through Afghanistan, over the Himalayas and through Pakistan into India. Luckily for us, she kept a diary, and this is the tale of her travels.

My Journey To Lhasa By Alexandra David-Néel

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Originally published in 1927, My Journey to Lhasa is a powerful, entertaining story of danger and achievement, and one that is a remarkable and inspirational tale. Alexandra David-Neel was a French explorer, spiritualist, and anarchist who, disguised as a beggar, became the first western woman to enter the forbidden city of Lhasa and be received by the Dalai Lama. She tackles some of the toughest terrain and climate, suffers primitive travel conditions and frequent outbreaks of disease – lots of treks through chest-deep snow, lots of butter tea, and at one point, a hunger so strong that she ate her own leather boots! This is a story of a truly intrepid female explorer.

Tracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1,700 Miles Of Australian Outback By Robyn Davidson

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Robyn Davidson traveled across Australia’s Red Centre to the Indian Ocean with four camels and a dog in the late 1970s. She endured sweltering heat, fended off poisonous snakes and lecherous men, chased her camels when they get skittish and nursed them when they get injured, and she emerges at the end as an extraordinarily courageous woman driven by a love of Australia’s landscapes, an empathy for its indigenous people, and a willingness to discard the trappings of her former life.

No Hurry To Get Home By Emily Hahn

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Emily Hahn was way ahead of her time. Born in 1905, she studied mining engineering, walked across Africa, lived alone in the Belgian Congo (aged 25), became the concubine of a Chinese poet in the 1930s (where she became an opium addict for 2 years), and bore a child with the head of the British Secret Service. The 23 essays in this collection are about the people and places she encountered, and were first published in The New Yorker between 1937 and 1970.

A House In The Sky: A Memoir Of A Kidnapping That Changed Everything By Amanda Lindhout

$13.80Buy Now

Amanda Lindhout mentally escaped a violent household as a child by paging through copies of National Geographic and imagining herself in exotic locations. Working as a cocktail waitress, aged 19, she started saving her tips so she could travel the world. She backpacked through Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, and India, getting braver with each adventure. She went on to travel through Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan – all before starting to work as a reporter in war-torn Afghanistan and Iraq.

On the fourth day of a trip to war-torn Somalia in 2008, she was abducted by a group of masked men and held captive for 15 months. Her gripping memoir documents her conversion to Islam as a survival tactic, learning how to be a “wife,” her dramatic escape, and how through it all, what kept her spirit from breaking was her memories of the places she’d traveled before. This is a story of courage and resilience in the face of unimaginable adversity. A House in the Sky recounts one of the worst things that could happen to a female traveler and depicts the strength that exists deep within all women.

There’s nothing like a good travel book to keep you occupied while waiting for your next big trip! Not only that, but a good travel book can both inspire your future travel destinations and help you understand destinations you’ve already visited. I hope you’ll agree with my suggestions!

For even more books to inspire travel, check out:

• Check Out These TravelAwaits Authors And The Books They’ve Written
• 11 Audiobooks Perfect For Your 2021 Road Trips
• Find Inspiration: 7 Must-Read Books That Incite Travel

A woman in the cockpit of a commercial aircraft is still a rare sight to see. Airline passengers have become accustomed to, “This is your captain speaking,” coming over the intercom in a baritone voice. Flight safety instructions are most often announced by a female flight attendant. But the currents of gender in aviation have been shifting in the past few decades, and Captain Linda Pauwels has been at the forefront of the change.

Pauwels has been pioneering the industry since the early ’80s when she became the youngest cargo jet captain, flying a 707 for a military cargo contract carrier, Southern Air Transport. In 2000, at age 37, she became the first Latina to captain an American Airlines commercial flight. Currently, she serves as a check airman for American, instructing and evaluating pilots on the Boeing 787. Her most recent accomplishment is becoming the first person to publish poems written by storied aviatrix and fellow female flight pioneer, Amelia Earhart.

Earhart’s previously unpublished poetry appears alongside works from other women pilots in Pauwels’s latest book, Beyond Haiku: Women Pilots Write Poetry. That’s right, Pauwels is also an author! Her previous releases include Latinas in Aviation: Stories of passion, power, and breaking into the aviation industry and the first book of the Beyond Haiku series, Beyond Haiku: Pilots Write Poetry.

The first Beyond Haiku book came out of an internal forum hosted by the pilots union for American Airlines, where commercial pilots discuss different topics. While studying job stress in airline pilots for a doctoral program, Pauwels came across artistic expression, like writing poetry, as an outlet. This prompted Pauwels to start a poetry thread on the forum in 2015, called “Morning Haiku.”

At the outset, many of the male pilots turned up their noses at the thread dedicated to poetry, yet it began to take hold. Pauwels posted all types of poetry: old poetry, poetry about war, poems by men, poems by women. And the pilots began to participate by posting their own poems.

During the pandemic, Pauwels curated five years’ worth of pilots’ poetry into the first book. It was illustrated by the children of pilots, ranging in ages 7 to 17. Proceeds went to the union’s Emergency Relief and Scholarship Fund to help families of pilots who were furloughed due to COVID-19.

While giving an interview about that first book, Pauwels got the idea to make it a series. The next collection of poems would be penned by women pilots and the next by military pilots. The final book would feature the different seasons and experiences of a pilot’s life. To compile this next book, she put out a poetry submission request that was disseminated among women pilot organizations such as Women in Aviation, The Ninety-Nines, and The International Society of Women Airline Pilots, as well as internal forums.

Fifty-eight diverse women aviators answered the call. Pauwels included at least a snippet from each submission. The book features women pilots from 10 different countries ranging from a teenager to octogenarians. It was also a family effort. Pauwels and her daughter Nathalie, who is a Naval officer, provided submissions as well.

“I just wanted to do something to honor us as women who fly, and I really wanted to feature people from many different parts. We were fortunate that we do have different cultural components and different types of flying — not just commercial flying. The first book was only airline pilots. This one has all types of pilots. And I really wanted to have the community feel of who we are, why we like to fly, and what things are important to us. That’s how this came about,” explains the pilot-turned-author.

So why does Pauwels like to fly? According to her, she loves the feeling of “being in the air and seeing the majesty from above.” She also notes the interactions among pilots when the door is closed in the flight deck. “Over the years, I guess they leave marks — good marks — connections that we all have that are very unique amongst pilots.”

Connection is what made it important to Pauwels to highlight women pilots in this book. “I see the effect,” she says. “I wanted to do something really unique. I didn’t want to just have a poetry book. I wanted it to be a community effort.” She also wanted to influence the next generation of women pilots.

A handful of adult artists and 26 young artists aged 7-17, illustrated the book. “I’ve always liked working with youth,” says Pauwels, who also holds a graduate degree in education. “I wanted to give the youngsters the opportunity to participate and to have their work published. And their work is amazing. In the first book, it was really good. This one, it’s really amazing. And then, that makes the book interesting to younger people who are perhaps looking at this for their career. So there’s layer upon layer of this,” she explains.

Opening “young people’s eyes to the possibilities that exist,” as Pauwels puts it, is one layer. Another layer is supporting aspiring women aviators. Proceeds from Women Pilots Write Poetry go to fund aviation scholarships. Yet another layer is the discovery of Amelia Earhart’s previously unpublished poetry.

As Pauwels was compiling this book, a thought came to her in the middle of the night. She was getting so many entries from female pilots, she wondered, “Did women in the past write poetry?” In her 2 a.m. research, she came across a paper by Purdue University professor Dr. Sammie L. Morris on Earhart’s poems. Morris had discovered poems, which dated back to the early 1920s, among the admired American aviatrix’s personal papers and other memorabilia.

Earhart served as a career counselor and adviser in aeronautics at Purdue in 1935, just a couple of years before she would vanish forever in her attempt to become the first female to circumnavigate the world. Earhart’s husband, George Putnam, donated the archive to the university upon his wife’s disappearance. Pauwels wasted no time in asking permission to print Earhart’s poems in her upcoming compilation, and to her surprise, Purdue obliged.

Although Earhart authored several non-fiction works during her lifetime, her aspirations as a creative writer remained relatively unheard of until Morris’ discovery. Earhart’s poems on love, sorrow, and flight appear in the book alongside works by other women pilot poets of the past — such as Delphine Bohn, Nadine Ramsey, and Louise Thaden. In addition to Earhart’s poems, the book features a rejection slip from a poetry magazine dated May 1921. The denial is scribbled to Emil Harte, Earhart’s masculine pen name.

One of Earhart’s poems recounts the miscarriage of her mother’s first child. The footnotes explain the miscarriage of the baby girl was “caused when she was thrown against the brake lever of a cable car.” No matter gender, pilots share a common perspective and love of flying, but it’s the unique experience of womanhood that female pilots bring to these poems.

“You know there are some experiences that women have where they’re made to feel that they’re not good enough, or that they will not succeed, and that this is not something for them,” says Pauwels, “and I included poems to that effect. I also have poems about motherhood and difficult things when you’re raising a family. One of the pilots decided to stop flying so that she could raise her son. Those things are very specific to women. There’s a lot of sacrifice when you do this professionally. You give up a lot. You give up time — time with your family — you’re not there. The men do it too, but motherhood is still something that can’t be replaced.”

The mother of two would know — Mr. Pauwels was a pilot for Japan Airlines. A poem in the book, entitled, “Two Pilots, One Plane,” by Kelly Jeffries is about spouses who are both pilots. It reads, “It’s give and take, in flying and in life.” Pauwels agrees, adding that, “Relationships in aviation are difficult and they have been forever.” She offers the well-documented tumultuous relationship between aviation pioneer Count Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and his wife Consuelo, as an example. The author of the widely cherished children’s story, The Little Prince, also disappeared while flying — never to be found. His widow gives her side of the story in the book, The Tale of the Rose.

Pauwels loves all of the poems featured in Women Pilots Write Poetry, including the historic additions, of course. But when pressed to pick a favorite, she chooses Peace, by active Navy pilot Erica Glanz. It’s about the stressors that women often carry, like worrying about the well-being of others. And how women pilots have to put their problems out of their minds, so they can you can, you know, fly a plane. “I can’t break, but I’ll bend,” Glanz writes of the pressure. “As you sit in the cockpit and you have the before takeoff checklist complete, it’s like hey, none of this other stuff exists,” says Pauwels, who relates to the poem on a personal level. “You know, that’s the compartmentalization that is so clear, and I thought she did an outstanding job with that poem.”

Themes of strength, endurance, resilience, beauty, family, love of flying, and finding balance weave their way through the book. It’s these common threads that tie the flying community together. Pauwels hopes that the commonalities represented in the book will bring pilots — not just female pilots — a sense of peace.

A retired pilot sent Pauwels a message via the pilot’s forum. He had purchased a copy for himself and one for his neighbor’s daughter, who just got her instructor rating. His message read along these lines: “I’m not much of a poetry reader, but I have to tell you that the sense of peace I felt after I read the book is something that I can’t describe.” Pauwels presumes “What he was trying to convey is that there are really no differences in women pilots, men pilots — we’re pilots, and these are things that we share. So the takeaway for me is: Pilots like to fly. In the end, it really is about the flying, and how it makes you feel, and why we do it. And that’s the commonality.”

I must admit to having a book problem. Not only do I read all the time, but if I like a book, I love to keep it. My home resembles a library. And then there are bookstores. I can spend hours browsing, reading the backs of books, and can’t wait to start reading all the new additions in the to-read shelf. I am not fussy when it comes to new or second-hand books, but I am a sucker for a lovely store, which adds to the browsing pleasure.

When it comes to travel, I not only like to take books with me that are set in or written by someone from my destination, but I also look out for special bookstores which might be worth visiting wherever I go. The same goes for libraries, book-inspired hotels, bookstore-cafes, and settings that take me back to books I enjoyed.

If you suffer from a similar affliction, then you will enjoy my list of destinations that are a must-see for any bookworm. It is an eclectic mix of all things book-related, and it is only a short list, because if I listed all my favorite spots, then they would fill a book… 

1. Oxford, England

Oxford is an ancient city of learning where you can, quite literally, find a bookshop or library around every corner. But one of the most exciting places I have ever visited is the Bodleian Library. The main research library in Oxford, and second-largest library in Britain after the British Library, with some 13 million manuscripts, including two copies of the Gutenberg Bible — the first printed book in history and most valuable book in the world — is simply magnificent.

Founded by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1602, after the Reformation destroyed most libraries and ancient manuscripts, he dedicated his fortune and connections to not only building a library whose architecture is stunning, but also bringing together documents, manuscripts, and books from the learned world — including ancient papyrus scrolls from Egypt, some 3,000 years old, to hand-printed books in Latin.

You can visit as part of a tour, learning more about the architecture and history, including the Divinity Hall, famous for doubling as the Infirmary in the Harry Potter films, which as one of its quirks, has a door by Christopher Wren, an architect of the famous St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Pro Tip: Pop into Blackwell’s Books, just across from the library — set in an old building, the outside belies the cavernous inside and vast selection of books. Be prepared not to emerge for a few hours.

2. Buenos Aires, Argentina

I kid you not, as soon as I arrived in Buenos Aires, this place was my first stop on a long to-do list. But while I came to love the city, and there is much to recommend, this remains a firm favorite. Opened in 1919 as a theatre, the place evolved into a cinema in 1929, but over the years fell into disrepair and was threatened with demolition. Luckily it was saved and underwent the most magical reinvention of them all: it turned into reportedly the most beautiful bookstore in the world, the Ateneo Grand Splendid. Every bit of the former theatre is filled with books, the stage is used sometimes as a café, sometimes for events, the former boxes are reading nooks, and the overall product does not only make any reader’s heart beat faster, but is also hugely photogenic.

Pro Tip: Buenos Aires is a city full of great bookstores. Do also visit Libros del Pasaje, a café-cum-bookstore in hip Palermo.

3. London, UK

London is a city for book lovers, period. It starts with Sherlock Holmes being present everywhere, including his own museum, to Charing Cross Road — which is not only the star of the superb book 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Banff, but it is still home to many bookstores today — to my all-time favorite bookstore, Daunts in Marylebone. But one tiny little lane hidden off Charing Cross Road, not far from bustling Leicester Square and pretty much hidden from sight, lies simply the best book-lover destination: Cecil Court. Nicknamed Bookseller’s Row because of the 20 odd antique book stores all right next to each other, this short alley is also thought to have been the inspiration for Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley.

Pro Tip: If you love travel, pop into Stanford’s, just a five-minute walk away, which sells maps for every spot in the world, travel guides, travel knick-knacks and, yes, books.

4. Bath, England

The city of Bath, with its honey-hued Georgian architecture, could come straight out of a Jane Austen novel. That is because not only did the author live here, but she also wrote several books in Bath. You can go on walking tours visiting the best addresses and there is the Jane Austen Centre, where you can learn more about the writer and her life, or you can walk around and soak up the atmosphere. I love visiting Sydney Gardens which lie directly opposite 4 Sydney Place, where Austen lived and worked, or you can visit the Assembly Rooms, which are featured in her books and many of the later film versions.

Pro Tip: For a step back in time, why not go for a sumptuous afternoon tea in the period Regency Rooms.

5. New York, USA

When you travel, chances are you will have to stay somewhere for the night, and where better than a hotel that is home to more than 6,000 books? The aptly named Library Hotel in New York makes leaving the hotel difficult. Even walking from one end of the corridor to the other might take some time. Books are everywhere, in the rooms, the lobby, the Writer’s Den, and, obviously, the Reading Room. You might just miss out on exploring New York City.

Pro Tip: Like a good whodunnit? Head straight to the Mysterious Bookshop which is stocked floor to ceiling with crime and mystery novels.

6. Zurich, Switzerland

If you have worked up a thirst, or indeed an appetite, why not head to the Wine Library in Zurich? Part of a hotel, the Wine Library is a room which doubles as a breakfast room, lounge, and wine bar, and has an entire, very tall wall full of books. The building, a former brewery, is stunning, mixing old with modern, but the Wine Library is one of the most beautiful places in Zurich to sit back and relax, or meet a friend — with a glass of wine and book in hand.

Pro Tip: If you don’t speak or read German, and need some reading material, pop into Pile of Books, a picturesque little bookshop dedicated to English books.

7. Bucharest, Romania

Bucharest is one of those capital cities that does not see many overseas visitors, but it should. An ancient city with a horrendous, more recent history, it is full of interesting places worth discovering. And here I discovered what I think is, after the Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires, one of the most Instagram-able bookstores ever: The beautiful Carturesti Carusel, located right in the old town. Over three floors, linked by a stunning white spiral staircase, you find books, presents, even a café and reading hideout, and a good English book section. You can also get some lovely bookmarks when you make a purchase.

Pro Tip: Not far from the bookstore, have a coffee at Dianei 4, a rather nice and unusual café.  

8. Hay-on-Wye, Wales

The little town Hay-on-Wye sits close to the border between England and Wales and is known around the world as the “Book Town.” Countless bookstores line the streets, there is even one open in the street, with an honesty box attached, should you want to take one of the books.

Then there is the Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival which takes over the town for two weeks every June, welcoming the biggest and most interesting names in literature for readings, talks, and book-signings.

Pro Tip: When you come to Hay, make it a Thursday, when the 700-year-old market takes place. It features fresh produce and useful odds and sods, all in a lovely setting.

9. Paris, France

Paris has so many places associated with writers who lived and created here, from Hemingway to Fitzgerald, from Henry James to Oscar Wilde, that searching out their special places would, and does, fill books. Then there are the iconic bookstores, such as Shakespeare & Co which is so popular that it has turned from a bookstore into a sideshow. But there are other, hidden book-lover’s places, which you can enjoy away from the crowds. For example, the National Library, Richelieu-Louvois, is right in the heart of the city and is so beautiful it makes your heart sing. You can either join to read there, or simply stand and look at it for a while.

Or, for English books, go to the lovely, if rather crammed full, Abbey Bookstore, where the owner Brian usually offers you a coffee.

Pro Tip: For a bookstore with a difference, visit the houseboat L’eau et les Rêves, Water and Dreams, moored by Canal de l’Ourcq. On deck, you’ll find a café bar, while under deck there are books and regular art and literary events.

For bibliophiles who also love TravelAwaits, check out these authors and the books they’ve written.

As I cruised the long, lonely stretches of Nevada’s Highway 93, I was transported to the 18th- and 19th-century streets of New York City, Albany, and Washington, D.C., alongside United States Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.

And as I gazed at the marvels of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah, a part of me was in the Highlands of Scotland, right in the midst of a crew of feisty wizards and witches.

Such is the beauty of audiobooks — those wonderful creations that allow you to listen as a narrator reads a book. For me, they offer an unbeatable opportunity to travel virtually while you travel.

As an avid road tripper, I have long turned to audiobooks as a means of battling the boredom of long drives. When I recently looked back at my audiobook history for the past year, I found that I had listened to 40 audiobooks, mostly while I was driving.

Since no one expects the travel situation to change quickly in 2021, I have compiled a list of audiobooks — some fairly new, others older — to lighten your future road trips. Here are 11 of them.

1. The Great Alone

Alaska has been on my travel must-list for years, and I had toyed with taking a trip there in 2020. That didn’t happen, but I was able to “travel” there anyway through The Great Alone, Kristin Hannah’s wonderful 2017 novel that is part coming-of-age story, part fictional travelogue for the area near Homer, Alaska.

I see The Great Alone as a way to transport to the wilds of Alaska, even if you’re stuck driving to spots in your own backyard. Or, if you’re lucky enough to be road-tripping through Alaska, the book would be a great introduction or accompaniment.

2. The Boys In The Boat

I love a nonfiction book that makes me think, “Why didn’t I know this?” That was the case with Daniel James Brown’s 2013 The Boys in the Boat, which chronicles a team of young rowers from the University of Washington on a quest for a gold medal in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

The rowing saga is compelling, but I also enjoyed the backstories — especially of team member Joe Rantz’s amazing odyssey as he moved around the states of Washington and Idaho while dealing with the trials of the Great Depression. It made me want to check out the backroads in the Northwestern U.S.

3. The Flight Attendant

With HBO’s series bringing attention to Chris Bohjalian’s suspenseful 2018 novel The Flight Attendant, I decided to listen to the book before watching the series.

Without giving any spoilers, I’ll say that the series departs quite a bit from the book. For one thing, the main setting is Dubai rather than Bangkok. I especially relished the book’s focus on flight travel, as well as its later locations in Rome and New York City.

4. Kitchen Confidential

Although I had long been a fan of the late Anthony Bourdain’s TV series No Reservations, The Layover, and Parts Unknown, I had never read the book that started it all, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.

I finally got around to it in 2020. I found the audiobook highly entertaining, especially its descriptions of Bourdain’s early culinary adventures in Normandy, France, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and New York City. A special treat with the audiobook is that Bourdain narrated it himself. The book is a perfect accompaniment to a foodie-focused journey.

5. The Dutch House

Author Ann Patchett’s 2019 novel The Dutch House offers an enthralling story centering on family dynamics, wealth, and poverty, and how a magical house can make a life-long impression. I also loved the story’s settings in the suburban area around Philadelphia and the Columbia University area in New York City. It would make a great introduction to an East Coast road trip.

An added bonus: Movie star Tom Hanks narrates the audiobook.

6. Harry Potter

For some reason, I never read J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series when it became a worldwide sensation in the early 2000s. I made up for the omission in 2020, listening to all seven audiobooks narrated by the incomparable Jim Dale.

Along with offering a fun and exciting adventure story, the books wonderfully transport you to the sights and sounds of the Scottish Highlands. I’m late to this party, but I would love to take a road trip through places like Glencoe and Steall Falls, Scotland.

7. Born A Crime: Stories From A South African Childhood

Trevor Noah, the host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, recounts his remarkable early childhood and young adulthood in his 2016 book Born A Crime: Stories From A South African Childhood.

For me, the insights into the waning years of South Africa’s apartheid and the first years of democratic rule were eye-opening. Along with the serious topic, comedian Noah offers a wild and engaging look at growing up in Johannesburg, South Africa. Noah narrates the audiobook.

8. The Alice Network

I love a good spy story, and Kate Quinn’s 2017 novel The Alice Network serves that up brilliantly in a historical dual-timeline story during and after World War II.

I always know that a book is a hit with me if I do online searches for the story’s settings. That was the case with The Alice Network’s haunting descriptions of Nancy, Grasse, and Oradour-sur-Glane, France.

9. Alexander Hamilton

I’ll admit that I had tried to read Ron Chernow’s 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton a few years back but didn’t get through the 818-page tome.

After watching the hugely entertaining Hamilton production on Disney Plus in summer 2020, I decided to give the book another go as an audiobook. I found it a fascinating and enjoyable deep dive into early-American history, with great descriptions of locations throughout New York, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia.

At almost 36 hours, however, the audiobook is best for the very long road trip!

10. Becoming

Along with the extraordinary life story that takes Michelle Obama from a childhood in the South Side of Chicago to eight years of living in the White House, the former First Lady’s 2018 memoir Becoming also offers a captivating look at her extensive world travels — from Kenya to England to India.

In addition, the book offers insights into travels across the United States during the election campaigns of President Barack Obama. The audiobook is especially enjoyable because Michelle Obama narrates it herself.

11. Where The Crawdads Sing

Every now and then, the descriptions in a book are so captivating that you feel like you’re there, smelling the sea air, feeling the sand between your toes, and hearing the calls of the marsh birds. That was the case with Delia Owens’ 2018 novel Where the Crawdads Sing.

Along with being an edge-of-your-seat story, the audiobook also offers a lovely depiction of North Carolina’s marshlands — sure to inspire many road trips in the future.

How To Access Audiobooks

There are many ways to access audiobooks, but I like to use my local library’s selection. With a library card, and through the Overdrive or Libby apps on smartphones or tablets, many public libraries provide free access to a huge selection of audiobooks.

I use Overdrive, and I have worked out a system of always having a handful of books on my “hold” list. That means that when the book becomes available for borrowing, I get an email notification that I can download it. Because libraries have only a limited number of each title available for checkout, you often cannot get your chosen book immediately but need to get in line. If you keep your hold list stocked with titles, though, chances are you will always have something to listen to when you hit the road.

But if getting your selection immediately is important, there are a number of options for payment services that will allow you to get what you want when you want it. Audible, an Amazon company, offers the world’s largest selection of digital audiobooks and spoken word content. With Audible, customers can listen anytime and anywhere to professionally-narrated audiobooks across a wide range of genres. Amazon Prime also offers subscriptions that will enable you to access a limited number of audiobooks per month. Both services offer free 30-day trials.

I like connecting my phone to my car-play option and listening through the car’s stereo system, although I have also listened on an iPad.

Pro Tips

Just like the radio or a podcast, listening to audiobooks can be a bit distracting while driving. I recommend only listening while you are on long stretches of interstate highway or when you’re driving through stretches of rural highways. I routinely turn off my audiobooks in city traffic.

I often travel solo on my road trips, so I have only myself to please when it comes to book selections. Although I think all of my selections would be good for anyone, couples might especially like Noah’s Born a Crime or Brown’s The Boys in the Boat. Also, history-loving couples setting out on a long road trip might want to tackle Alexander Hamilton together. Obviously, for families, the Harry Potter series can’t be beaten. And there is always the option of using headphones.

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• Our Most Popular Road Trips From 2020 To Fuel Your Next Journey
• California PCH Road Trip: 9 Amazing Must-Stop Spots
• British Columbia Road Trip: Vancouver To Victoria

Art and music have long been my inspiration for travel. In high school, I loved the study of humanities, an academic discipline that explores aspects of human culture. It was so interesting to study a work of art or literature in relation to what was going on in the world at the time. My love of art and music goes back even further to when I discovered a book devoted to that topic on a family bookshelf.

The Bookshelf For Boys And Girls (Art And Music, Volume 6)

Before the days of the internet, our computer was a set of encyclopedias that my father had invested in for our family. Our set came with The Bookshelf for Boys and Girls. I was an obsessive reader and was constantly looking for something new to read. I had passed over Volume 6 many times, but one day I picked it up, and I was enthralled. The volume included two books, “The Story of Art” and “The Story of Music.” I focused purely on art. I poured over each photograph and story, learning about each work.

“The Story Of Art”

The word to parents in the foreword shares that the purpose of “The Story of Art” is to show children how to look at art intelligently. I learned about Greek art and architecture and minute details about the different types of columns. Or how religion inspired many famous buildings such as the Parthenon in Athens and the Pantheon in Rome. The book delved into the art of the Middle Ages and then transitioned into modern times. I was fascinated by each work of art and promised myself that one day, I would go see each one on my list.

The List Inspires Travel

I have been blessed to have a well-traveled life. Over the years, I have been able to visit quite a few of my favorites from my list. Some of these trips were quite an adventure. One of the most challenging was seeing The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, which hangs in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. I toured Italy by bus, and when we visited Florence, this gallery was not on the itinerary, but we had about one hour of free time. I was not leaving the city without seeing this painting. I literally ran through the streets of Florence to reach the museum, tearing through the halls until I reached the painting. I was able to spend about 10 minutes while catching my breath and taking it all in. It was lovely and so much larger than I expected. Botticelli’s colors were vibrant even after hundreds of years. It truly is a masterpiece, and my heart was full. Then I ran back to the bus.

I wept when I saw the Parthenon for the first time, and I still can’t believe the emotional response I experienced. I know it sounds hokey, but I had dreamed about seeing it for so long. This was a totally unplanned trip. I was stationed in Germany on an army airfield that houses the planes used to ferry senior officers around Europe. If any seats were open, soldiers could take a space-available flight. My roommate called me at work and said if I could get a pass, we could fly to Athens tomorrow. I dropped everything so I could make the trip. We arrived at the U.S. military base in Athens with just enough time to get a taxi to the Acropolis before it closed.

The Ghent Altarpiece was painted by Hubert and Jan van Eyck and hangs in St. Bavo Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium. This artwork has a storied past that makes it worthy of inclusion on a bucket list. The Ghent Altarpiece consists of 24 wooden panels and hangs in the location it was designed for. NPR calls it the world’s most coveted painting. It has been stolen numerous times, looted in wars, illegally sold, and one panel is still missing. At the time I saw it, I only knew it as a famous work of art, but nothing about its elaborate history. Now it is even more well known from the movie The Monuments Men, where the main characters search for it across Europe after the Nazis stole it.

Lessons Learned

I take all kinds of trips as a travel writer, but my favorites are those inspired by art and books. A themed trip is a great way to plan a visit to a destination. I love books that are set in small towns. It is so interesting to visit the places the characters liked.

An artist can be a great inspiration for a themed trip. Visit their birthplace, places that inspired their work, and tour the museums that exhibit their masterpieces. This can take place over several trips, if necessary.

An Itinerary Idea Based On Michelangelo

Michelangelo is one of my favorite artists because he was a true renaissance man. He is renowned for works of painting, sculpture, and even architecture. Begin your trip in Florence, where he was raised as a child. Begin at the Casa Buonarroti, where you can see some of his early works. Don’t miss David, one of his most famous sculptures at the Accademia Gallery Museum.

Next stop: Rome and the Vatican. The most moving of all his works, in my opinion, is the Pieta which is the only work he signed. It is in St. Peter’s Basilica, where Michelangelo served as the last architect and designed the dome. He painted two frescoes in the Sistine Chapel: scenes from Genesis on the ceiling, and The Last Judgment on the altar wall. Both the Pieta and the frescoes can be found in Vatican City. Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses is a dramatic work of art housed in the Basilica of St. Peter in Chains in Rome.

Lastly, head to Bruges, Belgium, to see his Madonna and Child, also known as the Bruges Madonna. It hangs in the Church of Our Lady. It is the only Michelangelo sculpture to leave Italy. This sculpture was also featured prominently in the movie The Monuments Men. This is an optional step, as it is far from Italy, but Bruges is definitely worth a visit when touring Europe. It is one of my favorite towns and is so scenic.

So, the next time you are looking for an idea for a trip, pick up your favorite book. Who knows where it will take you?

When I came to work for TravelAwaits, one of the first new-to-me destinations I heard about was Blackberry Farm — a Walland, Tennessee, resort that’s been Zagat rated the best small hotel in the United States.

While my family almost moved to Huntsville, Alabama, when I was a teenager, aside from a week of househunting there and a few long weekends in Nashville and Memphis, I haven’t spent much time in the American South. And I never considered any place in Tennessee an “it” vacation destination.

But TravelAwaits’ VP, Missy Glassmaker, lived in Knoxville and is connected to people who are connected to Blackberry Farm. And so I listened with interest (and, admittedly, some shock and even jealousy) as she relayed stories about this seemingly enchanted place that butts up to Great Smoky Mountains National Park — and where room rates are a minimum of $750 a night.

What makes it so special? And who do these people think they are!

Well, I now have deeper answers to those questions than I ever anticipated. I write monthly reviews of soon-to-be-released books, and when I got the opportunity to read an advance copy of Blackberry co-founder Kreis Beall’s memoir The Great Blue Hills of God: A Story of Facing Loss, Finding Peace, and Learning the True Meaning of Home, of course I had to take it.

I was captivated, entertained, and deeply humbled by this book — and I consider it the perfect vacation read. Here’s why:

The Great Blue Hills of God: A Story of Facing Loss, Finding Peace, and Learning the True Meaning of Home

Buy Now $23.99

1. It Reads Like New York Times Bestseller Little Fires Everywhere

If you’ve read Celeste Ng’s 2019 novel Little Fires Everywhere, which is being made into a Hulu miniseries, you know what I’m talking about. Reese Witherspoon, who’s acting in the miniseries, called Little Fires “a deep psychological mystery about the power of motherhood … and the danger of perfection” that moved her to tears.

It’s easy for me to echo that sentiment about The Great Blue Hills of God. But this isn’t a novel; it’s a riveting true story that involves family secrets, unlikely friendships, big business, traumatic accidents (including a fire), untimely death, and a great deal of honesty about how Blackberry, a seemingly picture-perfect place, came to be. I didn’t expect it from a memoir, but this is the kind of page-turner I want when I board a plane or sink into a lounge chair by the pool or on the beach.

2. It Invites You To Reconsider The American South

While Blackberry Farm is the epicenter of the book, Kreis and her family moved around a lot (and owned a lot of homes, each of which she creatively named). From her childhood in Knoxville to mothering two babies and starting a restaurant in Hilton Head, South Carolina, to homemaking in Lower Alabama, The Great Blue Hills of God covers a lot of ground. And Kreis treats her readers to an intimate snapshot of life in each place.

One of the most interesting things she introduced me to was hunting camp culture in Alabama, and her accounts of splitting her time between a house on Eaton Square in Mobile, her family’s rustic hunting lodge, and her “Little Bay House” in Point Clear are illuminating. I was born and spent my young childhood in Alaska, and some Southern mores confound me, but Kreis’s reflections prove that wherever you are, people seek creative ways to kindle and maintain connection — and to find the beauty in their lives and natural surroundings.

3. It Will Inspire You To See Our Country

For many of us, international travel boasts the ultimate allure. Darjeeling, Scotland, and climbing more Maya ruins in the Yucatan are at the top of my list. But what about the places within driving distance of home?

In addition to her tremendous capacity for writing about food and design, Kreis has undeniable topophilia: a strong sense or love of place. And while she references overseas travel once or twice in The Great Blue Hills of God, it’s her appreciation of all the stateside places she loves, from the hills of Tennessee to The Ashram in Calabasas, California, that reminds her readers they don’t have to go somewhere far-flung to enjoy an adventure or rejuvenate their spirits.

4. It Invites You To Commune With Your Feelings (And Put Work In Its Place)

Kreis writes vividly about decadent meals, her favorite aubergine floors, and training with culinary greats like Martha Stewart. But she also gets real about her traumatic brain injury, divorce, the loss of a child, and the moments she sacrificed to her perfectionism and workaholism. “I realized I had helped to create a place of flawless beauty, accolades, and daily perfection, Blackberry Farm, while living a life that was flawed.”

The Great Blue Hills of God winds up being a very spiritual read as Kreis relates her experience of finding faith (not just going to church) without proselytizing. Her courage to extract herself from work to seek out solitude is a nod to the power of time alone for reflection, and her book will be loved by the solo traveler or anyone craving time for themself, whether it’s found at home or on the road.

5. It Reinforces The Value Of Home

Few folks can travel full time. Eventually, most of us make our way home, wherever that is. And sometimes it’s with an immediate desire to start planning our next trip. But as her book’s subtitle suggests, Kreis speaks to the value of home, not just luxury resorts and high-end farm-to-table dining.

In between chapters, she shares heartfelt advice for daily living, hostessing, and so on. She also asks wonderful questions that will help readers of all ages revisit what health, home, happy travels, and family mean to them.

Want more on Blackberry Farm? Read one vacationer’s account of why Blackberry Farm is the ultimate relaxing getaway destination, and preorder The Great Blue Hills of God, out February 4, here.

Want inspiration from Kreis’s travels? She’s been on safari, goes RVing with her grandchildren, has climbed Machu Picchu, and enjoys hiking in Sedona.

The next best thing to taking a trip across the world may be snuggling up with a good book about another person traveling across the world. Whether you’re looking for inspiration for your next adventure, want to pick up some helpful travel tips, or just need a book to read while you’re en route to your next travel destination, there’s a travel book out there for everyone!

Unleash your inner adventurer by getting your hands on one of these must-read travel titles. We turned to Amazon to discover the top travel books you should consider reading according to real, travel-loving reviewers. This list is compiled of the top travel books on Amazon — those that have nearly perfect 5-star reviews — from at least 100+ reviewers.

Keep reading to discover why you need to add these 11 travel books to your personal collection!

Driving Miss Norma: An Inspirational Story About What Really Matters at the End of Life

$14.49Buy Now

Breaking the rules and living life are the themes of this inspiring read. Driving Miss Norma: An Inspirational Story About What Really Matters at the End of Life tells the story of Norma who, after being diagnosed with uterine cancer at the age of 90 and recently becoming a widow after nearly seven decades of marriage, said Forget the IV tubes and bring on the adventure. Miss Norma, her son Tim, her daughter-in-law Ramie, and their dog Ringo, all set off on an adventure across the country to places none of them have been before. They taste things they’ve never tasted and partake in experiences they’ve only dreamed of. Amazon readers say the book is heart-warming and teaches us all that life is to be lived — and traveled!

From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death

$14.29Buy Now

Not to be morbid, but have you ever wondered about the death and afterlife practices of other cultures? Well, From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death describes the international journey of mortician Caitlin Doughty, who sets off to uncover the rituals and practices of other cultures when it comes to dealing with the deceased. With respect and true interest, Doughty explains to her readers the different cultural customs involving the dead, and the emotions that are tapped into in each unique practice. Amazon readers greatly appreciate the witty humor and style of writing that Doughty uses to approach what some consider a taboo topic.

The Final Frontiersman: Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska’s Arctic Wilderness

$12.99Buy Now

This book serves as the inspiration for the Discovery Channel documentary series The Last Alaskan. In this book, the cousin of Heimo Korth gives a detailed explanation of the trials that Korth and his family go through as they live 200 miles away from civilization in Alaska. Korth journeyed there in his 20s and left behind his life in Wisconsin. Three decades later he has built a life for himself, his wife, and their two daughters. The Final Frontiersman: Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska’s Arctic Wilderness is described as “a rustic version of the American Dream [that] reveals for the first time a life undreamed by most of us.” Amazon readers say that after watching the documentary series, the book has given them a new outlook and deeper understanding of why the Korths choose their life in the arctic.

Happy Herbivore Abroad: A Travelogue and Over 135 Fat-Free and Low-Fat Vegan Recipes from Around the World

$16.31Buy Now

If you’re a foodie who enjoys global cuisine, consider giving this book a try. Happy Herbivore Abroad: A Travelogue and Over 135 Fat-Free and Low-Fat Vegan Recipes from Around the World is a compilation of travel anecdotes and internationally-inspired recipes from traveling chef Lindsay S. Nixon. Nixon has traveled far and wide and made a collection of more than 135 vegan recipes that are healthy and easy to make. Amazon readers say the book is full of easy to make recipes that are great for people transitioning to a vegan lifestyle (and pining for a getaway!).

A Fine Romance: Falling in Love With the English Countryside

$53.18Buy Now

A Fine Romance: Falling in Love With the English Countryside is the third book in a trilogy that’s been described as “travel writing at its best.” This book doubles as a travel guide and love story. Written as a diary, Susan Branch describes her six-day excursion on the Queen Mary 2 and her two-month experience in the backroads of rural England alongside her husband. With several photos and watercolor illustrations running throughout the book, you will get sucked into Branch’s adventures. Amazon readers felt themselves not wanting to put the book down and loved reading about the daily adventures of Branch and her husband Joe.

One Man’s Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey

$16.04Buy Now

To become one with your surroundings away from the bright lights and honking of horns, left completely to your own devices — this either sounds like a dream or a nightmare. For Richard Proenneke, this was a dream that he turned into reality. One Man’s Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey captures Proenneke’s experience of being alone and self-sufficient in the Alaskan wilderness with nothing but nature to keep him company and sustain him. Amazon readers say the book is a must-read for outdoor lovers. It’s filled many with great respect for Proenneke and his journey.

Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal

$10.11Buy Now

Little Princes: One Man’s Promise To Bring Home The Lost Children of Nepal invites you to journey with Connor Grennan, who set off on a journey to Nepal for fun and adventure but ended up partaking in an enduring act of kindness. Grennan began volunteering at the Little Princes Children’s Home for children orphaned by the war in Nepal. Despite his reluctance, he began to fall in love with each of the children he got to know. After eventually learning that they were deceitfully separated from their families, he felt compelled to make things right for them. This book details the great lengths Grennan went to in order to reconnect the children he met with their loved ones. Amazon reviewers appreciate the evolution of Grennan’s character throughout this striking piece.

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage

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This is a true and detailed account of the British ship Endurance setting sail for the South Atlantic Ocean in 1914. Although tough to read, Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage is one of the greatest recordings of human courage. The story will take you through the journey of Sir Ernest Shackleton, whose ship was trapped and crushed in the ice around it in 1915. Shackleton and his crew had to survive as they drifted on ice packs for five months. Amazon readers say that the book is so detailed that you begin to feel some of the emotions of the men described in the book — they felt as if they were really there with them. In addition to being a powerful travelogue, this book is sure to show you just how strong and capable humans can be, even in the worst of circumstances.

Going Local: Experiences and Encounters on the Road

$15.95Buy Now

If you’re a traveler who prefers to immerse yourself in the local culture and atmosphere no matter the destination — or think it’s something you’d like to try — this book will guide you every step of the way. Going Local: Experiences and Encounters on the Road is a guide to steering far from resorts, five-star hotels, and mainstream restaurants. This book is for the traveler who wants to know how to enjoy their journey by way of encountering the everyday life of the locals that inhabit unique destinations. That means local foods, local accommodations, and embracing the local people. Amazon readers love how raw the book is and that, instead of glorifying the pretty pictures curated by resorts and uppity hotels, this book truly opens you to the possibility of journeying beyond the beaten path.

Find Momo Coast to Coast: A Photography Book

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If you like traveling, dogs, and interactive reads, then this book will hit the spot! Momo Coast to Coast: A Photography Book allows the reader to travel with Momo the dog across the country to well-known landmarks and sites. The interactive part comes in because for every location you’ll never know quite where Momo is hiding. Although this book doesn’t offer much text, it’s still a fun “read.” With every flip of the page, a new location is revealed and it’s your job to spot Momo the four-legged adventurer. Amazon readers say the book is family-friendly, but also a book you can enjoy thumbing through by yourself.

Inside Passage: Living With Killer Whales, Bald Eagles, and Kwakiutl Indians

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Inside Passage: Living With Killer Whales, Bald Eagles, and Kwakiutl Indians represents true adventure — the good and the bad. Its author, Michael Modzelewski, left behind his average life and surroundings to embark on a journey full of beauty mixed with reliance on survival skills. He cruises along the coast of Seattle and Alaska before settling down on a remote island that presents its own obstacles. Modzelewski meets unusual friends — both human and animal — along the way. Amazon readers loved the true adventure aspect of the book and rave about how descriptive it is. You’ll feel as if his journey has become your own and walk away pining for your own Alaskan escapade.

For more book suggestions, read “Find Inspiration: 7 Must-Read Books That Incite Travel” or consider planning a trip to a unique and entrancing bookshop, like China’s Chongqing Zhongshuge Bookstore, which needs a spot on every book lover’s bucket list. From China, jet to Porto, Portugal, to meet Livraria Lello: Portugal’s stunning bookshop!

From the great Michelangelo to the imaginative J.K. Rowling, everyone needs a bit of inspiration from time to time. Whether it be creating a masterful work of art, writing a best-selling book, or maybe just letting go of your fears to take a trip to one of your bucket list destinations — inspiration is what sparks many of these things to transpire in our lives.

To give you a head start, here are seven books we suggest you read to feed the travel bug in you!

1. A Woman Alone: Travel Tales From Around The Globe

Some of the tales of traveling in this book, edited by Faith Conlon, Ingrid Emerick, and Christina Henry de Tessan, may be a bit far-fetched compared to your own travel plans, but it’s great motivational material nonetheless! This book allows you to witness the journeys of adventurous women as they embark on their own solo travel missions.

Barnes and Noble describes the book as a compilation of “funny, thrilling, occasionally terrifying, ultimately transformative stories of navigating some of the most unusual destinations on the globe.”

Some of these women’s’ journeys may be a bit unorthodox, but they represent the motto of women taking a step away from their norms to experience all that life has to offer.

2. The Geography Of Bliss

If you’re the type of reader who finds inspiration in being challenged and encountering a mix of philosophical viewpoints, you’ll be able to appreciate all that this book, written by speaker and New York Times bestseller Eric Weiner, has to offer. Weiner takes readers on a journey that’s part self-help as he investigates “not what happiness is, but where it is.”

Barnes and Noble sum ups the book perfectly in calling it “a unique mix of travel, psychology, science, and humor” in which Weiner answers deep questions and offers “travelers of all moods some interesting new ideas for sunnier destinations and dispositions.”

3. Blue Highways: A Journey Into America

For the small-town wanderer, this autobiographical piece by William Least Heat-Moon may satisfy your bookwormish needs while also sending you on a small town journey of your own.

Barnes and Noble’s description notes that Blue Highways is “hailed as a masterpiece of American travel writing,” and calls it “an unforgettable journey along our nation’s backroads.” Least Heat-Moon’s discoveries, recollections, and anecdotes are “a revelation of the true American experience.”

4. The Alchemist

Seeing as this book is a modern classic, you may have already stumbled across it if you’re an avid reader. If you’ve read it already encountered Paulo Coelho’s most famed work, give it another read. If you haven’t picked this book up, consider grabbing a copy right now. It truly does embody the authentic travel spirit.

According to the Barnes and Noble’s synopsis, “Santiago’s journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.”

5. The Happiness Of Pursuit

This book’s title may be able to speak for itself on just how inspirational it is, but in case you still aren’t sold, author A. J. Jacobs says of Chris Guillebeau’s The Happiness of Pursuit, “If you like complacency and mediocrity, do not read this book. It’s dangerously inspiring.”

The Happiness of Pursuit is simply that, a log of ordinary people finding joy in pursuing their wildest dreams — and learning what drives them. Guillebeau details his journey around the world and his interactions with other “questers” he meets along the way.

Brené Brown says the book is, “smart, honest, and dangerous. Why dangerous? Because it is as practical as it is inspiring. You won’t just be daydreaming about your quest — you’ll be packing for it!”

6. Tales of Trains: Where The Journey Is The Destination

This book proves that there is joy to be found in the journey, not just the destination. It narrates a series of long-distance train rides and the author’s trail of events along the way.

Just how long is the trail? Well, according to the author, Nora Dunn, the book “covers over 42,000 kilometers of train travel through 11 countries, in 44 days.”

Dunn is adamant that this isn’t a how-to book, but instead a “what’s it like” book. If you’re a traveler who finds little to no joy in the journey, perhaps reading this book can give you some insight as to why there is fun to be had in not only your destination but getting there as well.

7. Eat, Pray, Love

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert is the quintessential book to turn to for travel inspiration — as long as a little romance doesn’t bother you. This book, published in 2006, chronicles Gilbert’s adventures, but it’s more than a book about traveling; this book details how Gilbert found her zest for life as she got to know different sides of herself in Italy, India, and Bali.

According to a 2019 Forbes highlight on Gilbert’s undying passion for travel, she has a strong inclination to urge people who may be stuck in their own world to get up and get going.

“I’ve traveled my entire life. I’ve traveled alone. I’ve traveled all over the world. I’ve traveled in the strangest circumstances from [luxurious situations ] to a $4 hotel room in Calcutta. I have never done anything but grow as a result of what I’ve seen and learned,” Gilbert told a group of travel professionals in attendance at a ship christening in Budapest.

“In these dark times, of division and fear and anxiety, never is it more important to travel. Never is it more important than to leave your home and to go face to face, not on the internet, but in the flesh and meet people who are not the same as you.”

If that doesn’t make you book the first flight to India — or wherever your heart is calling you — then we don’t know what will!

Are you a book-lover searching for more inspiration? Perhaps a visit to the magical book store that inspired many of the scenes from J.K. Rowling’s famous Harry Potter series would suit you. Meet Livraria Lello, Portugal’s stunning bookshop, and maybe one of the must-visit spots on your next trip!

People around the world are mesmerized by California and have been for ages. It’s not just Hollywood that has created this sensation, though it has certainly contributed. With relatively perfect weather, a melting pot of diverse cultures, and topographical diversity, it’s a traveler’s dream.

But there’s something apart from eternal sunshine and picturesque landscapes that has drawn people west since the gold rush. There’s a perfect alchemy in this state that provides nurturance for artists of all kinds.

From the warm, sandy beaches of San Diego to the snowcapped mountains of Mt. Shasta, writers have flocked to California for ages. Whether it’s to meet like-minded authors, soak up inspiration, go a little mad, or hide out in a cottage, this state continues to be a literary hotspot. If you’re familiar with literature, names like Jack Kerouac and John Muir should ring a bell. Perhaps their writing styles didn’t collide, but their interest in the golden state certainly did. Not all who wrote here were native Californians, but their work left an indelible impact on the state.

If you’re looking for literary inspiration of your own, or simply want to see where these legends hung out, here’s where you need to go. For the first part of this article, we’ll explore Northern California. Grab a map, pack your sunscreen, and don’t forget your notebook: these literary landscapes might bring you closer to your muse.

The Explorers

John Muir

“The mountains are calling and I must go.” If you’re a traveler with a pulse, you’ve heard this quote. You also know that John Muir was a boundary-breaking explorer who helped establish many of the U.S.’s national parks. Even though he was born in Scotland, Muir moved to Martinez, California when he was a pre-teen and fell in love with the Sierra Nevada.

Yosemite Creek Cabin
Lower Yosemite Fall; Yosemite, CA

After exploring Northern California’s mountain ranges as a sheepherder, the future Sierra Club founder decided to make Yosemite his home. He wasn’t just a writer; this man was a builder, an inventor, and a wilderness preservationist. As such, his elaborate home reflected his diverse interests. The journey there requires a keen sense of adventure and can be quite perilous. If you’re not up to visiting his original Yosemite cabin, you can always head to the John Muir House, which was built in 2009.

John Muir National Historic Site
4202 Alhambra Ave.; Martinez, CA

Visit the house that “John of the Mountains” lived in with his wife, learn about his conservation accomplishments, and wander through nine acres of orchards. While on the grounds, you can also hike up Mt. Wanda, which was named after John’s daughter, and accompany a ranger to see his last resting place.

Recommended reading: The Mountains of California.

Jack London

Bay Area native Jack London was one of the first — and most famous — explorers in the U.S. to make a living from writing. He quit school at the age of 14 to see what he could discover across the bay in San Francisco. His travels would eventually lead him to Japan, Alaska, Cuba, and beyond, but he always returned to California.

Jack London Square
Broadway and Embarcadero; Oakland, CA

This massive plaza in Oakland is the East Bay’s only waterfront open to the public. While it’s now filled with restaurants and shops, this is where Jack London spent much of his childhood. It was here that he survived off stolen oysters and gathered material for stories like The Sea-Wolf. The commercialization of this space makes sense, as London himself was able to profit from his experiences here. Don’t miss Cedric Wentworth’s lifelike bronze statue of London, near Broadway, gazing beyond the waterfront.

Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon
48 Webster St.; Oakland, CA

If you’re going to Jack London Square, it only makes sense that you head to Heinold’s. Also known as the Jack London Rendezvous, this was where the writer would come to drink and take notes for his novels. Supposedly, this bar is where The Sea-Wolf and The Call of the Wild were created. If you don’t believe the hype, London mentioned this saloon — built from the remains of a whaling ship — repeatedly throughout his autobiography, John Barleycorn.

Jack London’s Cabin
1-199 Webster Street Tube; Oakland, CA

During the Yukon Gold Rush, London spent the winter of 1897-98 in the Alaskan Klondike. He stayed in a log cabin, working on The Call of the Wild. It wasn’t until 1968 that a businessman stumbled upon the abandoned cabin and discovered London’s signature etched in the wood. Half of the logs were sent to Oakland and the other half to Dawson Creek, Canada. It is here, just beyond Jack London Square, that a replica of London’s Klondike cabin is constructed.

Recommended reading: Call of the Wild, The Sea Wolf.

The Beats

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

One of the most underrated Beat poets has also been the most influential. Writer, painter, and traveler, Ferlinghetti is also a businessman (and one of the remaining Beat writers still alive). In 1957, Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” was on trial for obscenity. Sensing a need for a more independent publishing company — one that wouldn’t tolerate censorship — Ferlinghetti founded City Lights Books.

City Lights Bookstore
261 Columbus Ave. at Broadway; San Francisco, CA

Whether or not you follow the Beat Generation writers, a visit to San Francisco’s City Lights is imperative. Established in 1953, this two-story historic landmark in North Beach continues to thrive. As the U.S.’s first bookstore to feature all paperbacks on its shelves, it continues to promote lesser-known or controversial poets and political voices. Check the schedule to see if you can catch one of its events.

North Beach Branch Library
850 Columbus Ave.; San Francisco, CA

Not far from City Lights is the North Beach Branch Library. While there is plenty to discover inside, Bill Fontana created a one-of-a-kind “sound sculpture” that features the hums and echoes one can hear throughout the neighborhood. Unsurprisingly, the “Sonic Dreamscape” features Lawrence Ferlinghetti reciting one of his poems. Indeed, North Beach — and the Beat Generation — wouldn’t have been the same without him.

Recommended reading: San Francisco Poems, “Pity the Nation“.

Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac: need I introduce the man? The famous Beat, originally from Massachusetts, who decided to get his kicks while digging the North American landscapes with his friend and muse Neal Cassady. The “On the Road” guy who made stream-of-consciousness hip and established a lengthy Duluoz Legend. Kerouac took road trips to a new level, inspired the Beatnik movement, and continues to urge people to get up and travel through his pages.

Jack Kerouac Alley
Jack Kerouac Alley; San Francisco, CA

Even though he never lived in the Bay Area, Kerouac’s presence remains almost everywhere. As you exit City Lights, turn right and you’ll come upon Jack Kerouac Alley, established in 1988. If you walk too far, you’ll miss it. Though the road is short, its importance is immense, connecting North Beach to Chinatown with various Kerouac memorabilia along the way.

The Beat Museum
540 Broadway, San Francisco, CA

Established in 2006 as an ode to the Beats, this museum is a must-see for any bibliophile passing through the era. Don’t just stop in front for the photo opportunity with Jack and Neal’s mural; dive in to discover a myriad of 1950s, Beat-related memorabilia. Head to the “On the Road Exhibit” for vintage photos and paintings. You’ll also find countless foreign editions and translations of Kerouac’s wildly successful autobiographical novel.

Neal and Carolyn Cassady’s House
29 Russell St.; San Francisco, CA

As I stated, Kerouac never really lived in the Bay Area. For much of his traveling days, he didn’t truly reside anywhere. He’d often stay long periods of time with his friends wherever they were living. Such was the case when he took refuge in the Cassady home. Neal Cassady was the true inspiration behind On the Road. He was Dean Moriarty, Kerouac’s hero and muse. It was in this attic that he stayed for several months in 1952, penning Visions of Cody, based on Neal.

P.S. The females behind the Beat Generation — the women who made the males’ exploration possible — are often overlooked. You can read about Carolyn Cassady’s experience in her own book, Off the Road: My Years With Cassady, Kerouac, and Ginsberg.

Bixby Creek Bridge
CA-1, Monterey, CA

Big Sur was one of Kerouac’s last — and most depressing — works. Nonetheless, his poignant descriptions of nature and emotion are hauntingly beautiful. While holing up in Ferlinghetti’s cabin in Big Sur, he immersed himself in the picturesque dangers of the coast, avoiding the fame he had once adamantly sought. While you can’t currently visit this cabin, or the canyon from which he listened to the ocean’s waves, you can visit Bixby Creek Bridge for panaromic views. Walk Kerouac’s former stomping grounds on the Old Coast road and hike up Pfeiffer State Park’s mountains as he did.

Recommended reading: On the Road, Big Sur.

Allen Ginsberg

After dropping out from Columbia University, it wasn’t long before Ginsberg would soon make the Bay Area his home. Grappling with genius, political plight, and madness, he never failed to push the boundaries of expectation within his art and life. His poem, “Howl,” was one of the reasons that City Lights now exists, after all.

Vesuvio Café
255 Columbus Ave.; San Francisco, CA

Crossing Jack Kerouac Alley from City Lights, you’ll find a funky, two-story café known for its adult beverages. Decorated with old photos — many of them Beat-related — unique mirrors, and colorful characters, it’s a spot that showcases San Francisco’s idiosyncrasies and intriguing past. Ginsberg, Kerouac, and Cassady, among others, used to hang out here, philosophizing about life and language. In fact, this was the last stop before Ginsberg’s first-ever reading of “Howl” at the now-defunct Six Gallery.

Sir Francis Drake Hotel
450 Powell St.; San Francisco, CA

While taking peyote, Ginsberg had a haunting vision of a hotel. It wasn’t until after “Howl” that he visited the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, immediately recognizing its walls from his trip. It was here, in his hotel room, that he commenced writing the second part of the poem, entitled “Moloch.” It seems ironic that “Moloch” would harshly criticize capitalism, as the Sir Francis Drake is now one of San Francisco’s most luxurious hotels.

If you’re super keen on Ginsberg and his genius poetry, you can follow in his footsteps around San Francisco throughout the writing process of “Howl.” The Washington Post had deemed this “The Howl Tour of San Francisco.”

Recommended reading: “Howl,” “A Strange New Cottage in Berkeley”.

Northern California has seen so many talented writers pass through its landscapes, forever changing how its cities and natural wonders will be seen. Of course, the above is just a limited sampling of writers from the 19th and 20th centuries. Many writers continue to choose the Bay Area as home, inspiring others to see the Golden State through their artistic lenses.

Check out the sequel to this piece, Must-See Places In Southern California For Book Lovers, as we will delve into Southern California and its writers’ favorite spots!