As part of my travel research I have been reading a variety of books about travel. I have found there are four types of books; those that are guide books to places, those that are strictly about how to travel, those that are about the experiences of people who are traveling and those that while the topic of the book is not travel, they give insight to places around the globe. I have read books in all of the categories and will share my list of the ones I liked the best. In this post I am going to write about books that are about how to travel. Both of these books are very easy to read and if you are like me you won’t want to put them down… I am also a re-reader of books I like and I have read each of these books at least a couple of times.

Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

The first book I read when we first started planning our trip in 2011 was Vagabonding by Rolf Potts.  This is a great book to really learn about long-term independent travel. It starts at the beginning of deciding to go and proceeds to be a guide for planning a trip. He discusses issues like financing your travel time, determining your destination, adjusting to life on the road, working and volunteering overseas and handling travel adversity. At the end of each section is a tip sheet with suggestions and resources related to the topic. I got a lot of blog and travel website recommendations from this book. One of the things I really liked about this book is that the author did not sugarcoat independent travel; he really told it like it is… the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Rough Guide to First-Time Around the World by Doug Lansky

If you are planning or even dreaming of planning an around-the-world adventure, this is a great pre-departure guide.  This book will help you design the best possible trip, with tips on using your phone abroad and guidance on which websites, apps and travel agencies to use to get the best deals and advice. You’ll find helpful information on what to pack and which festivals not to miss, how to stay safe and (perhaps most importantly) how to get under the skin of a place and meet the locals in a natural way. The guide includes regional profiles and maps to help you plan your route and plenty of practical advice to help you save money. One of the things I like about this book is that in each chapter there are stories about real people that help to illustrate the topic of the chapter.

In my next post about travel books I’ll write about the one’s I’ve read that are about the experiences of people who are traveling.