My top 5 travel books

Let's be frank - good travel writing can change your life. 

There's no end to online lists and discussion about what may be the best travel book ever, but this blog post is not intending to wade into that arena. Reading (and talking and thinking about) good travel writing is one of my favourite pastimes. 

Some of these works have changed the way I think about the world, others have sent me across the globe. Least Heat Moon inspired me to cycle across America with the warning-come-promise to "be careful going in search of adventure - it's ridiculously easy to find." (2010.) 
Rory Stewart convinced me that walking a long way was a jolly good idea when he described how he had "...been walking one afternoon in Scotland and thought: Why don't I just keep going? There was a magic in leaving a line of footprints stretching across Asia"  (2011.) 
Thesiger sent me to the Empty Quarter in search of "peace in the hardship of desert travel, and the company of desert peoples." (2012.) 
I quietly fear what the inevitable impact of Ernest Shackleton's epic tale will be...


The power of words should not be underestimated! Below, in no particular order, are my five favourite (or five of my favourite ) travel books. 

Have you read them? What would you put on your list?

1- South - Ernest Shackleton (currently free on Kindle)

2- Arabian Sands - Wilfred Thesiger

3- Blue Highways - William Least Heat Moon

4- A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush - Eric Newby

5 - The Places Inbetween - Rory Stewart