Hi

French Revolutions by Tim Moore. Cycling, outrageous French waiters, comedy and lots of chafing. A laugh out loud gem.

Arabia , formerly, Arabia through the Looking Glass by Jonathan Raban. Insightful and off-beam. A great introduction to the varied world of the Middle East even if it was written long before nine-eleven and the "War on Terror". Probably my favourite travel book of all time.

'McCarthy's Bar' for sure. Followed by 'Road to McCarthy'. Pete McCarthy is much missed.

Oh - and my travel diary from SEA - just re-read it tonight.

KPG

Paul Theroux is a good travel writer. The first one of his I read was called The Old Patagonian Express. He starts in Boston and goes all the way to the tip of Argentina. Good stuff!

I'm not saying its the best... but it's my favourite, is set in India, and can now be read here for free:
Chasing Rainbows in Chennai

If anyone would like a free electronic version of this book, laid out in book form in a pdf file, then mail me at colin@zine5.com and I'll oblige

Sometimes I like to read travel diaries and books from long ago - one of my favorites is "Our Hearts Were Young & Gay" by Cornelia Otis Skinner (daughter of Otis Skinner, a famous actor/director from the 20's) and Emily Kimbrough (mother of Charles Kimbrough of "Murphy Brown" fame). The book details their trip to Europe in the 1920's and is hysterical.

Another oldie but goodie is "Full Tilt" by Dervla Murphy, who traveled by bicycle from Ireland to India in the early 1960's. I read this book in high school and it was the first to give me the idea that you can travel close to the earth.

Try this one, if you are looking for a classic journey. A tougher woman, I can't imagine.

TRAVELS WITH MYSELF AND ANOTHER


The "another" is Ernest Hemingway, who she cajoles into going with her on one of her trips. Fantastic book

I just read Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure and have to agree with Lux, a great read. I'm also going to vote for Honeymoon with My Brother, which is irresistibly touching unless your heart is a cold, hard, nugget.

Vagabonding-Rolf Potts
On the Road-Jack Kerouac

These were two of the first traveling books that I have read, I obviously have a lot of catching up to do!

My favourite is Tiziano Terzani's "A Fortunate Teller Told Me".

The joint themes of this beautiful book are his decision not to fly for one year whilst employed as asian correspondent for Der Spiegel and the search for and meetings with famous or notorious fortune tellers in the places he visits.

I'm hoping that if loads of you buy it more of his work might be translated into English <nudge>.

Okay, so Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks is my faorite too!

I also enjoyed;
Chasing Che by Patrick Symmes
Travels in a thin country by Sara Wheeler
The Fruit Palace by Charles Nicholl
and
Marching Powder by Rusty Young/Thomas McFadden


I'd honestly say that Marching Powder is a MUST READ!!!!!

Honorable Mentions go to Bad Times in Buenos Aires by Miranda France and In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin.

Stay away from:

In the tomb of the inflatable pig by John Gilmette

quote:

My favourite is Tiziano Terzani's "A Fortunate Teller Told Me".

I love this book! I was nearly heartbroken when he passed away in 2004. He had such wonderfully gentle and profound insight. I also really liked 'Goodnight Mr. Lenin' and 'Behind the Forbidden Door.' What I would really like to see is a translation of 'Another Turn of the Merry Go Round,' which is the story of his battle with cancer.

Of a different feather, I enjoy Redmond O'Hanlon's writings, especially 'In Trouble Again' and 'No Mercy.' Few other people, while in the middle of danger and certain intestinal upsets, can believably convey their excitement over spotting new and as-of-yet-recorded fauna.

Just got finished reading "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert and loved it - one woman's odyssey to Italy, India and Indonesia.

Okay, I've got a brand new recommendation!!!

Diane Thiel's

The White Horse: A Colombian Journey

So far so great! I'm only 66 pages in thus far, but here's my favorite passage:

quote:

And here, in Jaqué, with all this lush vegetation around us, Miguel kept insisting that toilet paper couldn't possibly come from trees. "They wouldn't cut a tree down to make toilet paper," he said.
I didn't blame him for disbelieving. It doesn't make sense to me either. As we went back and forth, and I said again, "Believe me, it's true," a little girl who was standing nearby, listening, looked over and piped up, "No, it isn't. It comes from Panama City."

Chatwin, of course

Some others that haven't been mentioned:
Rory Stewart's The Places In Between- One of my favorite books of the last few years, let alone travel-related. Open-minded yet shrewd with a firm grasp of the history and culture of Afghanistan. I can't wait to read his other book, The Prince of the Marches about his experience as a provincial governor in post-invasion Iraq.

most anything by Robert D. Kaplan (The Ends of the Earth, Balkan Ghosts, Surrender or Starve, plenty of others) - Mixes excellent travel obeservation with keen political and historical analysis. Probably my favorite journalist working today.

Peter Fleming's Brazilian Adventure and News From Tartary - The brother of Ian, Fleming injects a great dark wit into his stories. Great if you appreciate misadventure.

Tété-Michel Kpomassie's An African in Greenland - Hailing from Togo, Kpomassie pursued a childhood ambition to see Greenland. His experiences among the Inuit are a massively entertaining case study of culture clash that is ultimately quite touching.

just a few recent favorites-- truly great travel writing and reportage is a recent passion of mine