7 Classic Travel Books That Shaped Our Wanderlust A Literary Journey Through Time
7 Classic Travel Books That Shaped Our Wanderlust A Literary Journey Through Time - "The Great Railway Bazaar" Train Journey Through Asia
The book's vivid descriptions of iconic routes like the Orient Express and the Trans-Siberian Railway have inspired countless travelers to explore the world by train.
Paul Theroux's journey in "The Great Railway Bazaar" spanned approximately 28,000 miles, utilizing over 30 different train routes across Asia.
The author's trip included riding on the now-defunct "Frontier Mail," a luxury train that ran between Bombay and Peshawar, offering a glimpse into a vanished era of rail travel.
Theroux's account of the Trans-Siberian Railway reveals that the journey took seven days to cover 5,772 miles, making it the longest continuous rail line in the world at the time.
The book details the engineering marvel of the Khyber Pass railway, which climbs 1,200 meters through 34 tunnels and over 92 bridges in just 52 kilometers.
The author's experience on the "Train Bleu" from Paris to Istanbul highlighted the technical challenges of maintaining consistent gauge sizes across different national rail networks.
What else is in this post?
- 7 Classic Travel Books That Shaped Our Wanderlust A Literary Journey Through Time - "The Great Railway Bazaar" Train Journey Through Asia
- 7 Classic Travel Books That Shaped Our Wanderlust A Literary Journey Through Time - "A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush" Mountaineering in Afghanistan
- 7 Classic Travel Books That Shaped Our Wanderlust A Literary Journey Through Time - "The Beach" Backpacking Thailand's Hidden Paradise
- 7 Classic Travel Books That Shaped Our Wanderlust A Literary Journey Through Time - "Wild" Solo Hike Along the Pacific Crest Trail
7 Classic Travel Books That Shaped Our Wanderlust A Literary Journey Through Time - "A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush" Mountaineering in Afghanistan
"A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush" by Eric Newby is a classic travel memoir that recounts the author's expedition to attempt the first mountaineering ascent of Mir Samir in the remote Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan.
Newby's witty and understated account of his journey, undertaken with limited mountaineering experience, has been praised for its comic style and vivid depictions of the stunning yet treacherous Hindu Kush wilderness.
The book's title is a play on words, as Newby's "short walk" in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan was anything but short, covering over 250 miles through some of the most rugged terrain on Earth.
Despite having only four days of prior mountaineering experience, Newby and his friend Hugh Carless attempted the first recorded ascent of Mir Samir, a 19,000-foot peak in the Hindu Kush range.
Newby's impromptu expedition was made possible by the fact that he was earning a living in London's haute couture fashion industry, allowing him the flexibility to embark on such an adventurous journey.
The book's comic and understated style has been praised by critics, with Newby described as the "anti-Hemingway" for his wry and self-deprecating tone when recounting the expedition's many misadventures.
Newby's detailed descriptions of the Hindu Kush landscape reveal that the region contains some of the deepest canyons in the world, with certain valleys plunging over 16,000 feet from ridge to river.
Intriguingly, the book makes no mention of encountering any Taliban or Al-Qaeda fighters, as the Afghan civil war that would later engulf the region had not yet begun during Newby's travels in the 1950s.
"A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush" is considered a pioneering work that helped establish the modern "adventure travel" genre, inspiring later writers like Paul Theroux and Bill Bryson to embark on their own perilous journeys.
7 Classic Travel Books That Shaped Our Wanderlust A Literary Journey Through Time - "The Beach" Backpacking Thailand's Hidden Paradise
"The Beach" by Alex Garland is a famous novel that explores the themes of identity, cultural clashes, and the impact of social and political changes on individuals and their search for a hidden paradise in Thailand.
The story follows a young British backpacker who discovers a seemingly idyllic island community, only to find that the utopia is not as perfect as it first appears.
The novel was later adapted into a popular film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, further cementing its status as a classic work of travel literature.
The remote island paradise depicted in the novel is actually based on the real-life Maya Bay on the Thai island of Phi Phi Leh, which was closed to visitors for several years to allow the ecosystem to recover from overtourism.
Garland wrote the novel while living in the Philippines, using the island geography there as inspiration rather than traveling to Thailand during the writing process.
The book's protagonist, Richard, is a composite of several different backpackers Garland met while traveling in Southeast Asia, each with their own unique motivations for going "off the beaten path."
Despite the novel's themes of escape and isolation, the real-life Maya Bay attracted over 5,000 visitors per day at the height of its popularity, leading to significant environmental degradation.
Researchers have found that the coral reefs surrounding the "hidden beach" in the novel have been severely impacted by climate change, with widespread bleaching and die-off events over the past two decades.
The book's depiction of the island community as a utopian, self-sustaining society has been criticized by some as romanticizing the challenges and complexities of living in a remote, resource-constrained environment.
Interestingly, the novel's antagonist, Daffy, is based on a real-life backpacker Garland met who had taken up residence on a remote Thai island and become increasingly possessive and territorial over the years.
7 Classic Travel Books That Shaped Our Wanderlust A Literary Journey Through Time - "Wild" Solo Hike Along the Pacific Crest Trail
Cheryl Strayed's memoir "Wild" recounts her transformative 1,100-mile solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail in 1995.
The book, which reached number one on the New York Times Best Seller list and was selected for Oprah's Book Club, chronicles Strayed's journey of self-discovery as she faced personal demons and dealt with the tragic death of her mother.
The success of "Wild" has inspired many readers and led to an Oscar-nominated film adaptation starring Reese Witherspoon.
The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) stretches over 2,650 miles, running from the Canadian border in Washington to the Mexican border in California, traversing 3 states and numerous mountain ranges.
Cheryl Strayed's hike covered 1,100 miles of the PCT, nearly half the total trail length, making it an exceptionally long and grueling solo journey.
The PCT has an average elevation of 8,000 feet, with the highest point being Forester Pass in the Sierra Nevada mountains at 13,153 feet.
Strayed's memoir "Wild" is credited with sparking a surge in PCT thru-hike attempts, with annual registrations increasing by over 300% in the years following the book's publication.
Despite its remote location, the PCT intersects with over 100 roads, allowing hikers to resupply and access towns along the route, though some sections can be over 100 miles between access points.
The trail encounters a wide range of ecosystems, from dry desert landscapes in Southern California to lush sub-alpine forests in Washington, requiring hikers to adapt their gear and skills to changing conditions.
Strayed's hike took place in 1995, before the widespread use of modern GPS and satellite communication devices, making her navigation and safety protocols more challenging than those used by PCT hikers today.
Wildlife encounters are common on the PCT, with hikers reporting sightings of black bears, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and other potentially dangerous animals throughout their journeys.
The PCT was designated as a National Scenic Trail in 1968, though it was not until the 1970s and 1980s that the full route was established and secured through land acquisitions and trail construction.