Travel & Travel Writing

Hitch a ride on the open road with America’s most beloved weirdo, John Waters. Carsick chronicles Waters’ coast-to-coast hitchhiking odyssey from Baltimore to San Francisco with all the strange and wonderful sights and sounds in between. Even the most mundane roadside truck stops are transformed into provocative tableaus when filtered through Waters’ charismatic and irreverent lens. Every bit as outrageous as a John Waters’ hitchhiking adventure should be.

American Elizabeth Bard’s previous book, the delightful Lunch in Paris, chronicled her love story with her French husband. Picnic in Provence tells their next chapter, which includes an unexpected move to a tiny village in Provence, a baby, and a business (artisanal ice cream!). Through it all, readers get a poignant, not-overly-romanticized look at life in rural France. It is a delicious read—not only because Bard includes recipes in each chapter, but also because she captures the vibrancy and simplicity of Provençal food and life.

Designer Mimi Robinson explores how a place reveals itself through its unique colors in her beautiful new book, Local Color. From the ocean blues, grassy golds, and forest greens of Point Reyes, to the vibrant indigos, hot pinks, and electric greens of Guatemala, Robinson’s palettes capture her global travels, and demonstrate how you can do the same. Artists (or anyone interested in seeing the world in a new way), be sure to pack a copy of Local Color in your suitcase! 

Cannibalism is either a terrifying social taboo or an accepted way of life—depending, of course, on who you ask. Michael Rockefeller learned about it the hard way, working his way through the New Guinea jungle in search of primitive art created by tribes with beliefs he’d never encountered before. His ultimate disappearance was officially ruled a drowning, even though headhunting and cannibalism thrived in the area. Hoffman’s book is a thrilling adventure that crosses cultural and political boundaries, and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

San Francisco is my favorite city in the world, and this book gives so many reasons to fall in love all over again – and is also an intriguing and lovely introduction for any stranger to the foggy shore. Starting from a physical exploration, Gary Kamiya takes you on a temporal, environmental, and ideological tour of this small, wonderful place.   

Somewhere deep in the Amazon jungle, the story went, there was a city made of gold. The only problem was that no one knew where it was, and the surrounding region was filled with fierce tribes that killed outsiders on sight. This is the story of the people, some lucky, some tragically not so, who tried to find it.  

With no prior rowing experience, Adam Rackley decided to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a 7-meter-long wooden boat with one other person. It took them 76 days. If that’s not enough to make you want to read their story, this book combines Rackley’s first-person narrative with the intense history of trans-Atlantic rowers, beginning with two Norwegian fisherman in 1896—and many more, some of whom didn’t make it. Adventure, obsession, and survival at its best.

I’ve always loved maps, but previously knew very little about the history of cartography, so I found this fascinating. While clearly delineating the technical advances of the great cartographers (Ptolemy, Mercator, Cassini, Google Earth, and others) Brotton discusses the political, economic, and/or religious objectives that, to greater or lesser degrees, distort all maps. This is a perfect book for map lovers, history buffs and fans of well-researched general nonfiction.

This lushly illustrated coffee-table book celebrates the best and most iconic trails in the United States, from the famous (the Pacific Crest and the Appalachian) to the lesser known (the Potomac Heritage and Natchez Trace). The author, who has herself logged more than 17,000 trail miles (!), covers hikes in 49 states and eight national parks, providing maps and descriptions for each. The photographs are awesome, underscoring the raw beauty and ecological diversity of North America.

Ever dream of getting out of town? Island in the middle of nowhere out of town? If so, you need this book. The new pocket edition of the Atlas of Remote Islands charts remote islands that have captured atlas-loving Schalansky’s heart. Though she’s never been to any of them, her essays on each island paint a vivid, soulful image of what are otherwise isolated dots on a map, making this a lovely little book.