Here are the best books on traveling that you need to read before you pack up your suitcase. Curated by Katie Rivers Ocmond.
Looking for digital? Check for eBooks and eAudiobooks here.
cloudLibrary | Libby | Freading
Check out Lonely Planet destination guides on Freading
Complete Guide to the National Parks : All 63 Treasures from Coast to Coast by Erika Hueneke
Here are all 63 of the country’s epic national-park locations in one comprehensive and visually stunning book!
It’s been over 100 years since the Grand Canyon’s designation as a national park, and 150 years since Yellowstone became the United States’ first designated national park.
Since then, the U.S. National Parks have become some of the nation’s most treasured places visited by millions of people each year. Their names evoke grandeur and pride and are on most people’s bucket list of places to see. Did you know the U.S. hosts the clearest lake on earth, the tallest granite monolith and the greatest concentration of geothermal features on the planet? It’s all here in the United States, preserved for generations as part of the National Park System, America’s “best idea.”
Centennial is proud to present this beautiful, informative and inspiring coffee table book in which readers explore all 61 of the country’s epic national-park locations.
From the awesome vastness of the Grand Canyon to the arches, spires and buttes of Utah’s Mighty 5, discover nature’s marvels—thundering waterfalls, ancient glaciers, majestic mountains, complex waterways and volatile volcanoes—plus a tribute to the nation’s greatest manmade monuments, including the St. Louis Arch, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Statue of Liberty.
Whether savoring the sunrise from Maui’s highest peak or toasting the sunset on Cadillac Mountain in Maine, travelers will relish our celebration of America the Beautiful, a keepsake that’s as relevant on the coffee table as it is on the open road.
Looking for a sustainable and stress-free way to explore Europe? Hop on board the continent’s railway network with this ultimate guide to train travel. Whether you want to take it slow on the scenic route or make the most of the newest high-speed services to get straight to your destination, Lonely Planet’s experts show you how to plan your journey.
Packed with detailed gatefold route maps and insider tips, we cover everything from how to piece together a long-distance trip to the must-see stops and best ways to book value-for-money tickets. As airlines cut back flights and airfares rise, now is the perfect time to take advantage of the increasing overnight services and flexible fares being offered. We also reveal the quirks of different operators and countries, such as luggage allowances, rules and regulations, and what facilities are on board.
If you’re looking for a more eco-friendly, convenient – and sometimes quicker – way to get from A to B as you travel throughout the continent, Lonely Planet’s Guide to Train Travel in Europe will equip you to make the most of your time and budget.
Uniquely Japan : Discover What Makes Japan the Coolest Place on Earth! by Abby Denson
Lavishly decorated manhole covers, pink polka-dotted backhoes, toilets with warmable seats, blow dryers (and other bells and whistles). It’s just another day in Japan, where the futuristic and zany stands side-by-side with the rooted and the venerable, and there’s a festival going on somewhere almost every day of the year.
In Uniquely Japan, Abby Denson—author of Cool Japan Guide and Cool Tokyo Guide—uses her own personal drawings and photos to highlight the things that make Japan truly different from every other place on the planet. From the ramen and sushi we’ve all come to love to the fantastic creatures who now star in their own video games and anime, the comic artist takes you on a romp through Japan’s distinctive popular and traditional culture.
From kimono to kawaii, Japan has endless ways to astonish visitors. This book offers a fun opportunity for armchair travel and reminds you to keep your eyes wide open when you do get to visit Japan in person!
Rediscovering Travel : A Guide for the Globally Curious by Seth Kugel
Having captivated millions during his five-year tenure as the New York Times’s “Frugal Traveler,” Seth Kugel has become one of our most internationally beloved travel writers. While his famously unassuming journeys around the globe have forged a signature philosophy of whimsy and practicality, they have also revealed the seemingly infinite booby traps of vacationing on the grid.
In a book with widespread cultural reverberations, Kugel takes the modern travel industry to task, determined to reignite humanity’s age-old sense of adventure that has virtually been vanquished by the spontaneity-obliterating likes of Google Maps, TripAdvisor, and Starwood points. Woven throughout with vivid tales of his perfectly imperfect adventures, The Intrepid Traveler explains—often hilariously—how to make the most of new digital technologies without being shackled to them. For the tight-belted tourist and the first-class flyer, the eager student and the comfort-seeking retiree, Kugel shows how we too can rediscover the joy of discovery.
“Travel is not about the destination but the experience. . . . That’s what makes [it] so appealing, so addictive, and that’s what makes Rediscovering Travel so necessary.” — Peter Greenberg
The travel bible for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder and/or mood and distraction disorders, offering helpful tips to soothe any child’s travel anxieties.
Traveling with children is always challenging, but for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder and/or mood and attention and distraction disorders it can be especially intimidating. How should parents of children experiencing meltdowns deal with clueless and judgmental onlookers? What are the best methods to alleviate motion sickness when your child might already be on a cocktail of drugs? Traveling Different: Vacation Strategies for Parents of the Anxious, the Inflexible, and the Neurodiverse answers these and many other questions parents may have when traveling with their children.
Dawn M. Barclay presents travel strategies and anecdotes from Certified Autism Travel ProfessionalsTM, parents of special needs children, associations and advocates, and mental health professionals, broken down by mode of transportation and type of venue. The heart of the book outlines suggested itineraries for spectrum families as well as venues–such as museums–that cater to the unique special interests that are characteristic of individuals with autism. Less common accommodations such as dude ranches and houseboats are also included, as are vacations involving sports that might not immediately be associated with ASD, such as diving, skiing, and golf.
The book culminates with a resource guide of travel agents who specialize in special needs travel–as well as where to find other experts–and lists of organizations that advocate for special needs families. Noted mental health professionals offer advice throughout the book and organizations that support the needs of this community are profiled and included in the resources.
Travel brings the world together and now, thanks to a growing focus on the needs of those with special needs, it is more accessible than ever before. This work is an essential part of that effort, a resource designed to make the cultural, educational, and bonding benefits of vacations available to all.
A Trip of One’s Own : Hope, Heartbreak, and Why Traveling Solo Could Change Your Life by Kate Wills
A travel story is the best story of them all …
Travel journalist Kate Wills wasn’t expecting to be divorced after less than a year of marriage, or to be forced to restart a life that had seemed so stable for so long. Luckily, her job as a writer offered her the perfect opportunity to escape from it all. But this time, with no deadlines to hit or all-expenses-paid trips to absorb in a few days before churning out copy for a travel magazine, her jet-setting felt different. There were no photographers working alongside her or assistants booking her flights. For the first time ever, Kate was traveling alone.
Feeling unexpectedly out of her element, Kate began to scour history for stories of female travelers to inspire her. From a fourth-century nun to a globe-circling cyclist, Kate discovered that there have always been astonishing women who have broken free from society’s expectations, clearing the path for many of us to do the same.
Funny, heartfelt, and guaranteed to spark wanderlust, A Trip of One’s Own is the perfect armchair travel read to inspire you to jump in the car or hop on a plane to explore the world. This audiobook is the must-have next listen for any aspiring solo female traveler!
The Bucket List : Places to Find Peace & Quiet by Victoria Ward
Explore hard-to-find quiet spots in urban jungles, ultimate wilderness hideouts, the world’s best mindfulness and meditation retreats, and ancient centers of spiritual succor and artistic solace – perfect for whether you want to find yourself or get completely lost.
This inspiring guide is full of ideas and inspirations for travel destinations around the world that invite you to renew yourself physically and spiritually – perfect for recent graduates, soon to be retirees, inveterate daydreamers and armchair travellers, and anyone considering taking a much needed sabbatical. When it is time to escape from the hectic, hurly-burly of ordinary life, this is where you can find a thousand delightful quiet and peaceful places that encourage you to relax.
Featuring a range of escapes that include everything from momentary getaways in the heart of New York or Paris to longer contemplative visits to places that allow you to screen out the jangle of contemporary life, this is an expertly curated trove of peaceful places. It includes small parks and squares, lovely old churches and spiritual sanctuaries, off-the-beaten-path museums and galleries, hidden courtyards and gardens, tiny local eateries – and even cemeteries. Also included are wilder escapes in unspoiled natural settings that last over a weekend or longer, ideal for those whose idea of peace and quiet involves birdsong and the gentle rustle of leaves. From the magic of watching the sun rise over the desert at the top of Mt. Sinai, to the perfect quiet of an antiquarian book dealer in London or a Buddhist temple in Tokyo, each destination offers the chance for space, a time to think, and provides a moment to savor the world around us in a new light.
A Coastline Is an Immeasurable Thing : A Memoir Across Three Continents by Mary-Alice Daniel
A poetic coming-of-age memoir that probes the legacies and myths of family, race, and religion—from Nigeria to England to America
Mary-Alice Daniel’s family moved from West Africa to England when she was a very young girl, leaving behind the vivid culture of her native land in the Nigerian savanna. They arrived to a blanched, cold world of prim suburbs and unfamiliar customs. So began her family’s series of travels across three continents in search of places of belonging.
A Coastline Is an Immeasurable Thing ventures through the physical and mythical landscapes of Daniel’s upbringing. Against the backdrop of a migratory adolescence, she reckons with race, religious conflict, culture clash, and a multiplicity of possible identities. Daniel lays bare the lives and legends of her parents and past generations, unearthing the tribal mythologies that shaped her kin and her own way of being in the world. The impossible question of which tribe to claim as her own is one she has long struggled the Nigerian government recognizes her as Longuda, her father’s tribe; according to matrilineal tradition, Daniel belongs to her mother’s tribe, the nomadic Fulani; and the language she grew up speaking is that of the Hausa tribe. But her strongest emotional connection is to her adopted California, the final place she reveals to readers through its spellbinding history.
Daniel’s approach is deeply in order to reclaim her legacies, she revisits her unsettled childhood and navigates the traditions of her ancestors. Her layered narratives invoke the contrasting spiritualities of her Islam, Christianity, and magic. A Coastline Is an Immeasurable Thing is a powerful cultural distillation of mythos and ethos, mapping the far-flung corners of the Black diaspora that Daniel inherits and inhabits. Through lyrical observation and deep introspection, she probes the bonds and boundaries of Blackness, from bygone colonial empires to her present home in America.
Shelf Analysis 