Sadly, I’m edging my way toward the end of Centennial, James Michener’s epic 1086-page tome about a fictional town in Colorado, from the formation of the earth all the way up to the 1970s. But as I put to rest this long trip of the mind, Conde Nast Traveler has released their list of the 86 Greatest Travel Books of All Time.
Gleaned from the memories and minds of 45 travel writers, these books are the ones that altered their perception of a certain place in the world while also inspiring them both to write and travel themselves.
I’m happy to say I’ve read at least some – The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin and, well, at least half of George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London (I’ll have to go back to that one), and my late Uncle Clive actually makes an appearance in another, the classic Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon.
As the days shrink and winter creeps closer, what better time to keep travelling – at least in one’s mind.
