Travel Writing & Commentary

One of the most important and influential books of the past half-century, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance tells the iconic story of a father and son's motorcycle trip across America in the 1960s....

Step inside this captivating account of Paulo Coehlo's pilgrimage along the road to Santiago. This fascinating parable explores the need to find one's own path....

An upbeat, fascinating and inspiring memoir of solitude, love and friendship, and the joys and pains to be found in the wilderness.

Ghost Empire is a rare treasure - an utterly captivating blend of the historical and the contemporary, realised by a master storyteller....

When Englishman Chris Broad landed in a rural village in northern Japan he wondered if he'd made a huge mistake. With no knowledge of the language and zero teaching experience, was he was about to be the most quickly fired English teacher in Japan's history....

This gripping and triumphant memoir follows a living legend of extreme mountaineering as he makes his assault on history, one 8,000-meter summit at a time....

On October 6, 1973, Ted Simon knew there was no going back. He loaded up his 500cc Triumph Tiger in the pouring rain and said good-bye to London....

In Neither Here nor There Bill Bryson brings his unique brand of humour to bear on Europe as he shoulders his backpack and journeys from Hammerfest to Istanbul on the cusp of Asia....

In 1954 the Australian writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston left grey, post- war London for Greece. Moving first to the tiny island...

With the cyclone season fast approaching, Alone Australia contestant and solo adventurer Mike Atkinson sets sail on an extraordinary 1500-kilometre journey to the northern tip of Australia. His aim is to live entirely off the land and sea....

This audiobook will change the way we understand ourselves and the great outdoors....

Lawrence Durrell's evocative memoir of living in Cyprus, just before the Greek/Turkish partition....

This touching, true story of the Texan pioneering spirit, English eccentricity, and two women old enough to know better will appeal to all baby boomer travel adventurers

16 countries, 124 days and 18,000 miles. This is the story of one woman’s solo lap of the planet by bike....

In the autumn of 1988, Michael Palin set out from the Reform Club with an ambitious plan: to circumnavigate the world....

Recounting the three weeks of blood, sweat, and tearsthat make up a 7,000 mile journey from the glitzy streets of Paris to the hinterland of northwestern Africa....

Two friends, zero preparation, one dream. From the author of the beloved bestseller The Emerald Mile comes a rollicking and poignant account of an epic 750-mile odyssey, on foot, through the heart of America’s most magnificent national park and the grandest wilderness on earth.

In Made in America, Bryson de-mythologizes his native land....

In 1834, Osborne Russell joined an expedition from Boston, which proceeded to the Rocky Mountains to capitalize on the lucrative salmon and fur trade. Beginning at the age of 20, he detailed the life of a trapper in his journal and recorded his adventures....

Ever since he can remember, Dom Joly has been fascinated by travel to odd places. In part this stems from a childhood spent in war-torn Lebanon, where instead of swapping marbles in the schoolyard, he had a shrapnel collection - the schoolboy currency of Beirut....

An exemplary travelogue of danger and achievement by the Frenchwoman Madame Alexandra David-Neel of her 1923 expedition to Tibet, the fifth in her series of Asian travels and her personal recounting of her journey to Lhasa, Tibet's forbidden city....

Join cruising legends Lin and Larry Pardey as from England they proceed into the Baltic, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Germany....

From one of Canada's most beloved and celebrated Newfoundlanders comes a rollicking insider's guide to the province, told as only Alan Doyle can tell it.

Are there any genuinely wild places left in Britain and Ireland? Or have we tarmacked, farmed and built ourselves out of wildness? In his...

Before climbers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates were able to reach the unclimbed West Face of the remote Siula Grande, disaster struck....

A series of personal and reflective journeys through the streets of Victorian England, The Uncommercial Traveller explores the hidden corners of cities, the forgotten lives of ordinary people, and the quirks of everyday life. Written as a collection of loosely connected essays and travel pieces, it captures the essence of Dickens’ keen observational skills, as he paints portraits of people and places often overlooked by society.

The wonder of the night train: headlamps ablaze, passengers boarding after sunset and leaving before sunrise, slipping in and out of compartments unseen. For Monisha Rajesh, the singular thrill of sleeper trains inspired a new journey around the world – one filled with moonlit landscapes, cosy compartments and quirky companions. From Austria’s Nightjet to Scotland’s Caledonian Sleeper and Finland’s Santa Claus Express, Rajesh invites us on a multi-year adventure aboard the world’s most wondrous night trains.

For Parrotheads, armchair adventurers, and anyone who appreciates a good yarn and a hearty laugh, here is the ultimate backstage pass. You’ll read the kind of stories Jimmy usually reserves for his closest friends and you'll see a wonderful, wacky life through the eyes of the man who's lived it. Jimmy takes us from the legendary pirate coves of the Florida Keys to the ruins of ancient Cartegena. Along the way, we hear a tale or two of how he got his start in New Orleans, how he discovered his passion for flying planes, and how he almost died in a watery crash in Nantucket harbor.

The Uncommercial Traveller is the persona of Dickens for this collection of semi-autobiographical sketches. A kind of Victorian blogger, he is funny and affecting by turns as he recounts what he sees and wonders at its meaning. Whether laying bare ‘a wilderness of dirt, rags, and hunger’ or musing on the ‘moodiness’ of tom-cats; recounting Mr Indignation Cocker’s sherry bill or simply taking us by the hand as he goes about his ‘no-business’ in London and further afield, he brings the warmth, compassion and fleet-footed wit that infuse his novels.

Initially published in 1775, A Journey to the Western Isles recounts a three-month trip to upper Scotland that Samuel Johnson undertook with James Boswell a couple of years previously. During their adventure, they discover a novel culture, stunning landscapes and welcoming locals – all described in Johnson's captivating prose.

Blending travel writing, natural observation, and deep reflection, Thoreau invites listeners to see nature — and themselves — with new eyes. Cape Cod is a timeless meditation on solitude, resilience, and the beauty of the wild.

With his characteristic blend of scientific insight, personal biography, and poetic narrative, The Complete John Muir Collection is a fascinating audiobook for nature lovers, hiking enthusiasts, conservationists, and anyone passionate about the rich history behind America’s most beloved national park.

This is a completely clear and un-pixelated accounting of the life of four individuals who's worlds collide at a table, in a bar, on a beach in Southeast Asia. What happens next is magic. Follow the adventures of the four as they grapple with the wreckage of the lives they temporarily left behind in Sweden, the UK, Australia, and the United States. Heartache, loss of love, loss of self, and the reclamation of it all in a chance meeting at a Bar by the Beach.

Waking up in the Wilderness invites you to embark on a four-decade journey into Yellowstone National Park. Travel with Natalie Ogbourne as she navigates the fine line between isolation and solitude—on the road, on the trail, and in life. Encounter the park’s inseparable dangers and delights. Explore Yellowstone through each of its seasons—hiking, canoeing, fly fishing, snowmobiling, and camping along the way. Experience the transformational power of its wilderness.

Grab your cappuccino and settle in for a sweet taste of village life. After several trips to Italy over the last 25 years, Angela Correll and her husband, Jess, decided to take the leap and put down roots in a tiny Tuscan village, restoring a centuries-old horse stable into the home of their dreams. Angela invites you to immerse yourself in the captivating and quirky culture of her small hilltop village as she shares observations, stories, photographs, recipes, and ideas from her time in Tuscany.

Edward Abbey, who never much liked Alaska, called it "our biggest, buggiest, boggiest state." To others, it has been a cure for despair. When Michael Engelhard moved to Fairbanks more than three decades ago, he was a cheechako, a subarctic tenderfoot. Gathering skills and experiences the hard way, he attained "Sourdough" status while realizing there would always be more to learn, see, and do in the land of midnight sun and auroras.

Julia Blackburn has always collected things that hold stories about the past, especially the very distant past: mammoth bones, little shells that happen to be two million years old, a flint shaped as a weapon long ago. Shortly after her husband’s death, Blackburn became fascinated with Doggerland, the stretch of land that once connected Great Britain to Continental Europe but is now subsumed by the North Sea. She was driven to explore the lives of the people who lived there—studying its fossil record, as well as human artifacts that have been unearthed near the area.

What if the most unforgettable moments of your travels weren’t about the places you went—but the people you met along the way? In 5 Stars, 1 Rock, Shakir takes you on an electrifying adventure across 40+ countries and all seven continents, sharing stories of deep friendships, unexpected connections, and the highs and lows of life on the road.

Travel shapes our identity, from ancient spiritual journeys to the modern movement of people across the globe. In his latest book, Douglas J. Brouwer, a pastor, scholar and lifelong traveler, invites listeners to reflect on the profound, transformative power of travel in all its forms. With over 40 years of pastoral ministry in the U.S. and Europe, Doug shares personal stories from his own life, from childhood road trips to leading mission teams, study tours, and pilgrimages.

Award-winning author and educator Dan Blanchard invites you on a one-of-a-kind journey across Connecticut’s secret stories and historic landmarks. From mysterious jail cells to Revolutionary War commons, from haunted homesteads to the homes of America’s greatest storytellers—this book shows that every place holds a lesson, and every lesson shapes a better leader.