Literary Travel Books: Must Reads for Summer 2025
In an age where wanderlust and literary appreciation intersect, the right book can serve as both a passport and compass. And these carefully curated selections represent more than an escape, they’re invitations to experience the world through the eyes of thoughtful observers who understand that the most profound journeys often begin long before we pack our bags.
From intimate food memoirs that capture the essence of place through cuisine to philosophical meditations on landscape and belonging, this collection celebrates the enduring power of travel literature to expand our understanding of both the world and ourselves.
13 Literary Travel books for your list
- Old School Indian – Aaron John Curtis
- Awake in the Floating City – Susana Kwan
- The Bombshell – Darrow Farr
- Far Away – Amy Poeppel
- Is a River Alive? – Robert Macfarlane
- Hunger Like a Thirst – Besha Rodell
- Foreign Fruit: A Personal History of the Orange – Katie Goh
- Baking Across America: A Vintage Road Trip – B. Dylan Hollis
- Hearts Aweigh – Shannon Sue Dunlap
- Lifelines: Searching for Home in the Mountains of Greece – Julian Hoffman
- The Great American Retro Road Trip
- Kuleana: A Story of Family, Land, and Legacy in Old Hawai’i – Sara Kehaulani Goo
- On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu – Rick Steves
1. Old School Indian – Aaron John Curtis
Curtis delivers a nuanced exploration of identity and tradition that transcends simple cultural memoir. His narrative weaves together personal history with broader questions about what it means to preserve heritage in a rapidly changing world. The book offers readers an intimate window into Indigenous perspectives on place, memory, and the complex negotiations between tradition and modernity. Curtis’s prose is both accessible and profound, making this essential reading for anyone interested in understanding contemporary Native American experience.
2. Awake in the Floating City – Susana Kwan
This poetic debut transforms a climate-ravaged, partially submerged San Francisco into a haunting meditation on place, memory, and what we choose to preserve when everything familiar disappears. Kwan’s narrative follows Bo, an artist who remains in the flooded city as caretaker to 130-year-old Mia, creating an intimate portrait of resilience amid environmental collapse. The novel operates as both speculative fiction and profound exploration of how we find meaning in caring for others and honoring disappearing worlds. For travelers, it offers a powerful reminder that the places we love are fragile, and that sometimes the most important journey is the decision to stay and bear witness.
3. The Bombshell – Darrow Farr
Set against the backdrop of 1993 Corsica, this novel follows seventeen-year-old Severine Guimard, a privileged politician’s daughter whose kidnapping by Corsican independence fighters transforms into an unlikely education in radical politics and first love. Farr masterfully captures the intoxicating Mediterranean setting while exploring how place can become catalyst for profound personal transformation. The novel brilliantly examines the collision between youthful idealism and political awakening, using Corsica’s rugged landscape and complex independence movement as the perfect stage for a coming-of-age story. For travelers drawn to destinations where beauty and danger intertwine, this offers a vivid portrait of how foreign places can fundamentally reshape who we become.
4. Far Away – Amy Poeppel
This delightful guilty pleasure proves that escapist fiction can be every bit as transportive as serious travel literature. In Far Away, Poeppel brings together a Texas family and a Berlin family who impulsively swap homes for the summer after crises upend their lives. What follows is a warm, hilariously smart exploration of motherhood, marital strain, and cross-cultural chaos. Poeppel crafts a story that whisks readers between small-town Texas charm and the vibrant streets of Berlin, delivering the kind of emotional satisfaction that makes for perfect vacation reading. Her characters are relatable without being ordinary, and her vividly rendered settings never overwhelm the narrative. It’s the literary equivalent of a well-planned holiday—thoroughly enjoyable and surprisingly memorable.
5. Is a River Alive? – Robert Macfarlane
Recommended by AFAR Travel, Macfarlane’s Is a River Alive? is a lyrical blend of travelogue, environmental prose, and philosophical inquiry that challenges readers to reconsider their relationship with the landscapes they traverse. Journeying through rivers in Ecuador, India, and Canada—each granted legal rights as living beings—Macfarlane asks profound questions about what it means to treat nature as a partner rather than a possession. His poetic prose transforms these waterways into characters worthy of our deepest attention and respect. Operating on multiple levels—part nature writing, part environmental meditation, part travel guide to places we might never have thought to visit—this is essential reading for conscious travelers. Macfarlane’s ability to find wonder in the everyday ensures his work lingers in the mind long after the last page.
6. Hunger Like a Thirst – Besha Rodell
From food stamps to fine dining, Rodell’s memoir is as much about place and belonging as it is about the meals that shaped her. Charting her path to becoming a respected restaurant critic, she offers a candid, unflinching look at how class, culture, and identity are reflected on the plate. Part culinary road trip across America, part meditation on the emotional resonance of food, Hunger Like a Thirst invites readers to consider the ways in which what we eat tells the story of who we are. Rodell’s prose is intimate without being indulgent, making this a standout in the crowded field of food writing.
7. Foreign Fruit: A Personal History of the Orange – Katie Goh
Goh takes the humble orange and turns it into a vessel for exploring globalization, migration, and cultural memory. We follow the fruit’s journey across continents while tracing her own family’s immigrant experience, resulting in a narrative that feels both deeply personal and historically expansive. Foreign Fruit proves that travel writing doesn’t always begin with a plane ticket—it can start in your own kitchen, with the foods that connect us to distant places and forgotten histories. Goh’s voice is fresh, thoughtful, and quietly powerful, making this an unexpectedly moving read.
8. Baking Across America: A Vintage Road Trip – B. Dylan Hollis
Hollis blends a love of vintage recipes with the romance of the American road trip, producing a hybrid cookbook-travelogue steeped in nostalgia. Each stop along his journey reveals forgotten confections and the small-town stories behind them, reminding us that culinary heritage is as much about people and places as it is about ingredients. Quirky, warm, and visually rich, Baking Across America is for anyone who believes the best adventures are found off the interstate, preferably with something sweet cooling on the counter.
9. Hearts Aweigh – Shannon Sue Dunlap
Dunlap’s charming romance delivers both humour and heart. Set aboard a cruise ship, it follows the entanglements of love and purpose against a backdrop of salt air and open water. Dunlap offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into maritime life, steering well clear of glossy brochure clichés. Instead, she captures the camaraderie, the unpredictability, and the quiet moments that make life at sea so compelling—whether you’re navigating storms or your own heart.
Step from the page to the deck—experience the same salt air and boundless horizons on our Galapagos Cruise.
10. Lifelines: Searching for Home in the Mountains of Greece – Julian Hoffman
Hoffman’s lyrical exploration of rural Greece offers readers an intimate portrait of a landscape and culture too often reduced to tourist clichés. His deep connection to place shines through every page, transforming personal experience into universal truths about belonging and home. The book serves as both love letter to a specific region and meditation on what it means to truly inhabit a place rather than simply visit it. Hoffman’s elegant prose and profound insights make this essential reading for anyone drawn to the Mediterranean.
11. The Great American Retro Road Trip – Rolando Pujol
This celebration of classic American travel culture captures the enduring appeal of hitting the open road in search of authentic experiences. The book combines practical travel advice with nostalgic appreciation for the golden age of automobile tourism. Its visual and narrative elements work together to inspire readers to seek out their own adventures along America’s historic highways. Perfect for anyone who believes that the journey itself is often more important than the destination.
12. Kuleana
Kuleana: A Story of Family, Land, and Legacy in Old Hawai’i resonates far beyond its Hawaiian setting. The narrative examines what it means to care for both land and community in an increasingly globalized world. Through intimate storytelling and cultural insight, the book offers readers a deeper understanding of indigenous perspectives on environmental stewardship. It’s essential reading for travelers who want to engage more meaningfully with the places they visit.
13. On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu – Rick Steves
Steves applies his signature practical approach to one of travel’s most legendary routes, offering both historical context and contemporary insights. His balanced perspective acknowledges both the romance and reality of overland travel while providing valuable guidance for modern adventurers. The book serves as both nostalgic journey and practical guide, perfect for readers planning their own epic adventures. Steves’s experienced voice makes this an invaluable resource for anyone drawn to independent travel.
