Anyone here does? I love being a couch traveller (next to the real thing that is, off course). Right now I'm reading Martin Buckley's 'Grains of Sand'. I'm amazed the Amazon entry (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0099277352) on that is quite empty.

So if you do, what are your favourite (kind of) travel books?

Anything by Lonely Planet

These are more like travel guides, not travel books. The LP's are quite alright, but since everyone's got them you're most likely to end up in a b&b where all people are staying there because it's the LP's #1 pick. That doesn't have to be a problem though, lp is updated quite well.

I read a book last year about some Dutch guy who started a restaurant in a truck stop village named 'Solitaire' (in Southwest African Namibia) and got listed as a hot spot in the LP guide. After that, tourists starts flocking in, and he starts compaining about being to busy again, which was something he was trying to avoid in the first place. Nice read that one, find more info on it here (http://home.planet.nl/~lee00301/).

Yeah - it's hard to go fault LP for what they are. Ie, up to date guides on good stuff to see, do, and stay. But, if you spend all your time following them without funding stuff yourself i think you are missing out on a bit.

I've haven't read that much in the way of travel books - although i am a sucker for big glossy coffee table books.

IN fact, most of my travel reading has been about Indonesia which is one of my passions in life. It's alwasy interesting to read what other visitors have to say about it - particularly travelers from previous centuries.

* One of the best i have read is by Tim Severin "The Spice Islands Voyage: In Search of Wallace". it's about a modern retracing on traditional craft the voyages around Indonesia's "spice Islands" of Charles Darwin's assistant who many actually credit with developing the theory of evolution. (see the amazon review at the end)

* I've read a few more indo ones - the best were the one's written in previous decades and even centuries gone by.

* A funny one: "No Shitting In The Toilet: The Travel Guide for When You are Really Lost". Takes the piss out of travelling

---------------------------------
Spice Islands: Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
No mere travelogue of palm-fringed beaches and photogenic natives, Tim Severin's The Spice Islands Voyage is a rewarding mix of historical biography, contemporary adventure travel, and firm (but not shrill) warnings for the future of this exotic East Indonesian island group. As he relates his experiences sailing the archipelago in an indigenous prahu, Severin brings to life both the lush, volcano-spawned isles and Alfred Wallace, the 19th-century British naturalist whose myriad travels here provide the blueprint for Severin's own journey. A shy, self-taught naturalist with a gift for intuitive leaps of genius, Wallace authored a groundbreaking essay (conceived and written in the Spice Islands) on natural selection--an essay his idol, Charles Darwin, may have "mined" for his own theory of evolution.
Now, 140 years later, Severin sets forth to see how the clear turquoise waters, teeming reefs, and wildly diverse animal life that entranced and inspired Wallace have fared. Searching out boldly feathered birds of paradise, graceful green sea turtles, blue-capped maleos, and black-crested macaques, he finds reason for both hope and despair. In some regions, a blend of traditional subsistence hunting and human ingenuity has allowed imperiled species to hold their own; in others, shortsighted greed is decimating one of the most varied plant and animal kingdoms on earth.

Well written, generously illustrated, and powerfully evocative, The Spice Islands Voyage opens a window onto a fascinating historical figure and the precarious state of the islands he loved. --Rebecca Gleason

Certainly do. Read all the Bill Bryson travel books of cause, it's a must really.

Plenty of others as well, a recent (but quite old) one was Boogie Up the River, by Mark Wallington. It tells the hilarious story of a bloke rowing up the thames from London to find the real source of the river, with his dog that is (and tracing the classic Three Men and a Dog).

Anyone here does? I love being a couch traveller (next to the real thing that is, off course).

I am the same way. :colgate:

Not exactly a travel book, but I've been enjoying flipping through "1,000 Places to See Before you Die: A Traveler's Life List."
The only problem is, it's clearly aimed at people with more money than me, and a lot of the things to experience are fancy hotels and the like.

I like all capitol travel books, I've read almost all of them. But the library doesnt have much of those books:(

These are more like travel guides, not travel books.

Haha, when I opened this thread I was thinking you meant travel guides too. I actually like reading travel guides, especially Lonely Planet and Bradt guides... even about destinations where I'm not going to in the near future. Call me crazy. ;)

Regarding travel books, I've read a few books from Paul Theroux. Nice writer, although sometimes too negative in my opinion. Especially Dark Star Safari.

Another great book is "In Europa" (Dutch) from Geert Mak... it's a mixed travel and history book about European cities in the 20th century.

I did read some before my first trip to the states, but I prefere travel guides...

I have a medium sized collection... I especially love the "Inside Out" guides...

http://images.cb2.com/is/image/CB2/InsideOutTravelBooks5?$lg$

Certainly do. Read all the Bill Bryson travel books of cause, it's a must really.

:yes:

Especially his books about Australia (Down Under, In a Sunburned Country) are classics.

^^^^^^^^^^

lol - Bill Bryson. "Notes from a Big Country" had me in stitches. ie, Bill Bryson's experience returning to the States after 20 years in England. he spends the whole book making fun of America and Americans (in a light-hearted way) but them redeems himself in one chapter on the average Americans good-naturedness.

One comparison he made was when they first arrived with no furniture and only suitcases, neighbours instantly came around with offers of meals, lend of clothes, linen, appliances and furniture. He contrasted this with the English who would have just said "so you're the git how paid 50K too much for the Browne's house". lol

Go and read "Notes from a Big Country"

Yes, if National Geographic is considered a travel book in some respects.

Bill Bryson is god :master:

^ Allthough I think someone like Paul Theroux is a better travel writer, Bryson sure is funny in a witty way which is easy to relate to. Especially 'A Walk in the Woods' really makes you lol.

yes

http://www.cng.com.cn/allarticle/contents/cover/1.jpg

I like all capitol travel books, I've read almost all of them. But the library doesnt have much of those books:(
What a poor library, even in the library of Nistelrode they have almost all capitols! ;) Very good travel books, but u cant read easily through it. I more like travel stories.