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There are certain qualities that people who love travelling share. One of them is a love for books that bring to life foreign peoples and places. Whether reading them for an escape in between trips, or helping pass the time en route, travellers devour pages upon pages in search of inspiration for a new experience or a better understanding of a future destination.

Fact or fiction, a great book can inspire its reader’s journey, literally and figuratively. Search and you will find countless literature lists dedicated to travel, many of which recommend well-known and revered titles like Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, Bill Bryson’s Notes From A Small Island and Alex Garland’s The Beach. Get inspiration for your next adventure with these five, under-the-radar travel reads.

The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton (2002)

Have you ever considered, philosophically and psychologically speaking, why we travel? Calling upon the experiences of great artists, de Botton wittily explores the urge to experience difference and change.

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (2003)

This extraordinary, and albeit lengthy, novel tells the story of an escaped convicted Australian bank robber’s attempt to forge a life in Bombay (Mumbai). Influenced by events in the author’s real life, Shantaram gives a thrilling insight into poverty-stricken Bombay, and Indian culture at large.

The Girl in the Picture by Denise Chong (1999)

One of the most iconic images of the Vietnam War is that of a young girl called Phan Thị Kim Phúc running away from a napalm strike on her village, her clothes having been blasted from her body in the strike. Denise Chong’s biography explores the life of the war’s most famous casualty, before and after the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph was shot in 1972.

Where the Hell is Tuvalu? by Philip Ells (2006)

Bored with his London-based fledgling legal career, Philip Ells sought to change his life dramatically. In his autobiographical account, he describes his two years of Voluntary Service Overseas as the sole lawyer in the Polynesian island nation of Tuvalu.

Round Ireland With a Fridge by Tony Hawks (1999)

The UK comedian Tony Hawks has written a number of accounts of his beer-fueled wager based travel adventures. None are better than his first, which hilariously describes his experiences while journeying around Ireland with a fully functional (when plugged-in) fridge.

Written by insider city guide series Hg2 | A Hedonist’s guide to…

(Image: mrlins)

About the author

Brett AckroydBrett hopes to one day reach the shores of far-flung Tristan da Cunha, the most remote of all the inhabited archipelagos on Earth…as to what he’ll do when he gets there, he hasn’t a clue. Over the last 10 years, London, New York, Cape Town and Pondicherry have all proudly been referred to as home. Now it’s Copenhagen’s turn, where he lends his travel expertise to momondo.com.

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