Being stuck at home with a little more unscheduled time on my hands than usual, I’ve been tackling a few housekeeping projects. While I wouldn’t compare myself just yet to Marie Kondo, I have brought a bit of order to some neglected nooks and crannies – a drawer here, a closet there, that hopeless tangle of Macy’s shopping bags accumulating behind the chair in my bedroom.
And then there’s the Leaning Tower of Books on my nightstand. Kindles, iPads, and smart phones have never been my devices of choice for reading, and so this tower of novels, memoirs, and non-fiction grows ever higher and more precarious.
As I set out the other day to tidy up this literary niche of mine, I got to thinking about travel. Why? Because as much as I enjoy hunkering down at home with a good read, I love to explore the world and often rely on books for inspiration.
Not being able to travel right now is a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, but I do look forward to hitting the road once again. This quarantine will pass at some point, and for those of us itching to explore, new adventures await. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite reads to get you in the mood.
A Sense of the World by Jason Roberts
I picked up this book for a just a couple of dollars in a tiny public library somewhere outside of King City on California’s Central Coast. (Best bathroom break ever!)
A Sense of the World chronicles the astonishing travels of James Holman, a blind man who lived and explored the world in the early 19th century. He fought the slave trade in Africa, survived frozen captivity in Siberia, hunted elephants in Ceylon, and helped chart the Australian outback.
A travel writer ahead of his time, he was at one point a best-selling author and even inspired Charles Darwin, but ultimately outlived his fame and died in obscurity. Thanks to Jason Roberts, his story survives to inspire a sense of wonder and adventure in all of us.
Christ Stopped at Eboli by Carlo Levi
<a href="https://i2.wp.com/mynextbigadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/christ-stopped-at-eboli.jpg?ssl=1"><img src="https://i2.wp.com/mynextbigadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/christ-stopped-at-eboli.jpg?resize=289%2C436&ssl=1" alt="Christ Stopped at Eboli book cover" width="289" height="436" data-recalc-dims="1"></a>The writing is so beautiful in this book it feels more like a long poem. Published in 1945, it is a memoir by the Italian-Jewish writer, doctor, painter, and anti-Fascist activist, Carlo Levi, giving an account of his exile from 1935 to 1936 to a remote village in southern Italy, fictionally called Gagliano.
Through lucid prose and keen reflection on the human condition, Levi transports readers to this place “Christ overlooked.” Impoverished and lacking in modern amenities (there’s only one car!), Gagliano is home to peasants who suffer great hardships, but who welcomed the political exile graciously into their lives.
In 1979, Italian director Francisco Rossi adapted Levi’s memoir as a movie. It was restored and screened at select locations in the United States in 2019.
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
<a href="https://i0.wp.com/mynextbigadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/river-of-doubt.jpg?ssl=1"><img src="https://i0.wp.com/mynextbigadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/river-of-doubt.jpg?resize=330%2C499&ssl=1" alt="The River of Doubt book cover" width="330" height="499" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a>I picked up this book after I visited the Amazon Basin in Peru in 2016. This is an intense, page-turning adventure about Teddy Roosevelt’s exploration of an uncharted tributary of the Amazon River in Brazil after his 1912 election defeat. I knew Roosevelt had a great passion for the outdoors (after all he did create the United States Forest Service and helped grow the National Park System), but I had never heard this tale before.
With his son, Kermit, and trusted guide, he spent the early months of 1913 facing unimaginable challenges, from violent river rapids and loss of critical supplies, to disease, starvation, and even a murder within the ranks.
Fortunately, there are easier ways to visit the Amazon these days! The River of Doubt, by the way, is now called the Roosevelt River.
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
<a href="https://i2.wp.com/mynextbigadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/under-the-tuscan-sun-1.jpg?ssl=1"><img src="https://i2.wp.com/mynextbigadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/under-the-tuscan-sun-1.jpg?resize=309%2C475&ssl=1" alt="Under the Tuscan Sun cover" width="309" height="475" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a>I debated between including this book or A Year in Provence on my list. I read them both a long time ago and loved them equally, but ultimately chose Under the Tuscan Sun so I would have a female author on my list.
Frances Mayes’ story, which was first published in 1997 and spent more than two years on the New York Times Best Seller list, is well known. An accomplished writer and professor, Mayes experiences the breakup of her marriage, and in a move both whimsical and bold, picks up to the village of Cortona in the Tuscany region of Italy. There she restores an abandoned villa, meets a congenial (though not always punctual) cast of locals, and delights in Italian culture and cuisine.
This book makes for an easy escape during uncertain times, and who knows, you may find yourself planning more than just a vacation in Italy!
Granada: A Pomegranate in the Hand of God by Steven Nightingale
<a href="https://i1.wp.com/mynextbigadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/granada-pomegranate-in-hand-of-god.jpg?ssl=1"><img src="https://i1.wp.com/mynextbigadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/granada-pomegranate-in-hand-of-god.jpg?resize=286%2C436&ssl=1" alt="Granada: A Pomegranate in the Hand of God book cover" width="286" height="436" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a>Like <em>Under the Tuscan Sun</em>, this is the story of an American fulfilling the dream of moving abroad, in this case Spain, and enjoying the charms of European living. In this 2015 book, author Steven Nightingale describes how he and his family bought a home in Granada’s medieval neighborhood, the Albayzin.
In contrast to Mayes’ lighter approach, Nightingale explores in great depth the rich and complicated past of his adopted city and the Al-Andalus region. Prior to Ferdinand and Isabella’s conquest in 1492, this area spanning what is now southern Spain and northern Africa was a thriving melting pot of Muslims, Jews, and Christians, out of whose relatively peaceful coexistence rose one of the world’s most vibrant centers of commerce, culture, and science.
Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall
<a href="https://i2.wp.com/mynextbigadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/prisoners-of-geography.jpg?ssl=1"><img src="https://i2.wp.com/mynextbigadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/prisoners-of-geography.jpg?resize=291%2C436&ssl=1" alt="Prisoners of Geography book cover" width="291" height="436" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a>Prisoners of Geography is not an obvious selection for this list, as it is not about a particular place or travel experience. Rather it looks at different regions of the world through the lens of geography, as opposed to say history, culture, or politics.
Journalist and author, Tim Marshall, organizes Prisoners of Geography into ten chapters that each focus on a regional map, which he uses to explain the geopolitical strategies of world powers.
Don’t worry, Marshall’s style is engaging and not overly academic. You’ll learn why America will likely never be invaded by a physical army, why Europe will never truly be united, and how a simple border line drawn by the French and English after World War I has fueled never-ending discord in the Middle East.