You don’t have to leave your bedroom to learn more about the world around you!
If you aren’t able to travel anywhere for spring break, reading a book of travel writing, or a cultural history can be a great way to experience a different part of the world without ever leaving your house or apartment. Travel writing can help you identify places you might want to visit, or create a better itinerary when you actually go on that dream trip. Here are some of my favorite travel memoirs or cultural histories that I’ve read recently. While my recommendations are mainly Europe-focused, travel writers visit and write about all corners of the globe and it’s easy to find books about anywhere in the world you might want to travel!
1.The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia by Michael Booth
The observations of an immigrant to Denmark are based on his own experiences in his new country and multiple trips to Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Utilizing personal experience, anecdotes and social history, Booth dives into the reasons behind each country’s extremely high rankings on world happiness and life satisfaction surveys. However, Booth also acknowledges the “flaws” in the Nordic model that the world’s media tends to overlook and explores how they are looking ahead to future challenges. Booth is a journalist who has written several other books on countries like Japan, China and South Korea.
2. The Rhine: Following Europe’s Greatest River from Amsterdam to the Alps by Ben Coates
In this textual journey through countries like the Netherlands, Germany, Lichtenstein, Austria and Switzerland Ben Coates follows the Rhine River through both space and time. He explains the history of the cities he passes through, from the historic industrial heart of Germany to tiny Dutch seaside towns, explaining how each country has changed over time. He also details his own experiences in each city and town he passes through, highlighting points of interest and attractions off the beaten track. Coates is an immigrant to the Netherlands and has written a book about his experiences entitled Why the Dutch are Different.
3. Swiss Watching: Inside Europe’s Landlocked Island by Diccon Brewes
In a book that is half guidebook and half travel memoir, Diccon Brewes seeks to explain the contradictions in the Swiss character-a country in mainland Europe surrounded by the European Union that isn’t a member state, with four official languages and a complex religious and democratic history. Brewes visits cheese factories and watch stores while explaining practical information about traveling to the country and talking to the Swiss gleaned from years of experience as an expat.
4. The Palace of the Snow Queen: Winter Travels in Lapland by Barbara Sjoholm
This atmospheric book details several trips the author made to the Arctic circle, detailing visits to hotels made out of ice, watching the Northern lights, traveling across the countryside by dogsled, and interacting with indigenous Sami people. All of her visits happen under the cover of winter in one of the darkest and coldest places in the world. The writing is beautiful and evocative.
5. Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey
While the book purports to be about haunted houses, Colin Dickey is really more interested in why certain places have ghost stories attached to them. In locations from abandoned jails to old plantation homes to a house in Salem, Massachusetts, with (historically) seven gables, Dickey explores the cultural narratives that bind humans together and how collective uncertainties are expressed through ghost stories and the people and places that are or aren’t depicted in legend. Although not technically travel writing, Dickey’s accessible writing style describes many places around the United States that definitely seem worth a visit.
6. Ireland’s Eye by Mark Anthony Jarman
Jarman explores the intersection between national and family history in his account of a trip to Ireland and reunion with his relatives. Alongside his own experiences in Ireland and observations on the culture, Jarman also discovers how family histories from nearly a century ago can have very real echoes in the modern world.
Although it’s not always possible to take a plane to a different country, travel writing, and memoirs can serve to help fill the void or inspire a new adventure. Books written by outsiders or expats can also provide a different view of society than someone who grew up in it and can give useful insights to visitors. There are all kinds of different travel writing, on many different countries, by many different people and hopefully, the above list will be a small starting point in helping you find subjects that interest you. Reading the work of travel writers can expand your view of the world and find new places to explore!