Borderlines: A Journey in Thailand and Burma (915.91 NIC)
by Charles Nicholl

Running the Amazon (918.1 KAN)
by Joe Kane

Sparring With Charlie: Motorbiking Down the Ho Chi Minh Trail (918.1 KAN)
by Christopher Hunt

The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific (919.504 THE)
by Paul Theroux

The Last River: The Tragic Race for Shangri-La (915.492 BAL)
(the Himalayas)
by Todd Balf

THE OBSERVANT TRAVELER

A Walk in the Woods (917.404 BRY; CAS; CD) (Appalachian Trail)
by Bill Bryson

A Year in Provence (944.92 MAY; VHS)
by Peter Mayle

Behind the Wall: A Journey Through China (921 THUBRON)
by Colin Thurbron

Bella Tuscany (921 MAYES; LPB)
by Frances Mayes

Driving Through Cuba: Rare Encounters in the Land of Sugar Cane (917.291 GEB)
by Carlo Gebler

Fifty Years of Europe: An Album (940.55 MOR)
by Jan Morris

I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away (973.92 BRY)
by Bill Bryson

In a Sunburned Country (919.404 BRY) (Australia)
by Bill Bryson

Into the Heart of Borneo (915.983 OHA)
by Redmond O’Hanlon

Iron & Silk (CAS 921 SAL) (China)
by Mark Salzman

Korea: A Walk Through the Land of Miracles (915.19 WIN)
by Simon Winchester

Pole to Pole with Michael Palin (VHS 910.4 MIC)
by Michael Palin

Natural Opium: Some Travelers' Tales (910.4 JOH) (travel collection)
by Diane Johnson

Notes From a Small Island (914.104 BRY) (Britain)
by Bill Bryson

O Canada: Travels in an Unknown Country (917.104 MOR)
by Jan Morris

Pass the Butterworms: Remote Journeys Oddly Rendered
(910.45 CAH) (humorous collection)
by Tim Cahill

Patagonia Revisited (918.27 CHA)
by Bruce Chatwin and Paul Theroux

Pecked to Death by Ducks (910.4 CAH) (gonzo travelog)
by Tim Cahill

PrairyErth: A Deep Map (917.815 HEA) (Kansas)
by William Least Heat-Moon

River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (915.138 HES)
by Peter Hessler

River-Horse: The Logbook of a Boat Across America
(917.304 HEA; LPB)
by William Least Heat-Moon

Roads: Driving America's Great Highways (917.304 MCM)
by Larry McMurtry

Seek: Reports From the Edges of America & Beyond (910.4 JOH)
by Denis Johnson

Shopping for Buddhas (915.496 GRE) (Kathmandu)
by Jeff Greenwald

The Kingdom By the Sea: A Journey Around Great Britain
(914.1 THE)
by Paul Theroux

The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-town America (917.3 BRY)
by Bill Bryson

The Pillars of Hercules: a Grand Tour of the Mediterranean
(910.918 THE)
by Paul Theroux

The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze and Back in Chinese Time (915.12 WIN)
by Simon Winchester

The Size of the World (910.41 GRE)
by Jeff Greenwald

Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy (921 MAYES; CAS)
by Frances Mayes

West With the Night (CAS 921 MARKHAM) (Africa)
by Beryl Markham

THE ORDEAL

Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea (910.091 CAL)
by Steven Callahan

Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors (982.6 REA)
by Piers Paul Read

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster (796.522 KRA; CAS; LPB; YA)
by John Krakauer

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
(919.9 ALE)
by Caroline Alexander

The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea (974.45 JUN)
by Sebastian Junger

THE JOURNEY OF SELF-DISCOVERY

The Snow Leopard (818 MAT) (the Himalayas)
by Peter Mattheissen

TOTAL GEOGRAPHY

Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs, and the Chesapeake Bay (639.54 WAR)
by William W. Warner

Coming Into the Country (917.98 MCP) (Alaska)
by John McPhee

The Pine Barrens (974.9 MCP) (New Jersey)
by John McPhee

Today, there are no new lands to discover. Therefore, contemporary travel writing comes in different guises. The first is ADVENTURE TRAVEL, or extreme travel, where limits have been set on the travelers, whether it is in the extent of their usage of modern technology or in their means of travel. The second is THE OBSERVANT TRAVELER. These are first-person narratives that might include the “less-than-heroic exploits of would-be adventurers.” With either kind of traveler, the journey may be about surviving an ordeal. This leads to a third type of travel writing; THE ORDEAL a very dangerous adventure that happens in a particular place. A fourth type of travel writing is the journey of SELF-DISCOVERY. And finally, there is GEOGRAPHIC that describes a specific place in great detail.

Travel literature may appeal to travelers, adventurers, those who like a good story, fiction readers, or those who like to daydream. With travel literature there is truly something for everyone. So pull up a chair, sit back, relax, and take off for someplace exciting.