Some of my Favourite Travel Books

I love armchair travel books. I find how and why other people change their lifestyle and how serendipity, if recognized and accepted, can alter and enrich the travel experience. Here are some of the books I’ve found inspiring, and/or have enjoyed reading.

Tales of a Female Nomad
Rita Golden Gelman

As the American author says of her life – it was a continuous round of “elegant restaurants, interesting people, and events like the Academy Awards and the Grammies. My husband of twenty-four years and I dine with celebrities we see the latest movies before the rest of the world, and we’re invited to all the book parties in Los Angeles”.

But she felt hollow. Life for Rita was, on the outside, exhilarating, perhaps even one others might want to emulate, but she felt like she was living someone else’s life.

After a short break from the marriage, her husband suggested they spend longer apart. During this interval Rita traveled to Mexico relishing the freedom and change of conditions she experienced when living with the locals. When it became clear that the marriage was over, rather than wallowing in self pity, she did a quick stock-take of her finances and her desires and began life as a nomad.

During her travels, she lived (and has written about) life in Mexico the Galapagos Islands, Bali, New Guinea, Israel and Nicaragua, Thailand and my home country of New Zealand. In Bali she lived in a palace but more commonly she lived like the locals.

Throughout her delightful book she demonstrates a “can do attitude”.

Her website http://www.ritagoldengelman.com/ notes that Tales of a Female Nomad has sold over 100,000 copies. Her site also has other useful travel tips.

I love this quote from her book “I’m not running away. I’m running toward….toward adventure, toward discovery, toward diversity.” What a great philosophy.

A must read for anyone contemplating solo travel.

Ted Simon
Jupiters Travels

Jupiter’s Travels is an astonishing and inspiring book and was one of the very first travel narratives I read soon after it was first published in 1979.

Ted chronicles his motorcycle travels around the world – a journey which took around four years. A meticulous recorder of detail he notes that the journey was 60,647 road miles and he undertook a further 17,655 miles by seal, rail and ferry.

A solid read, the book is packed with marvelous anecdotes. The wonderful understated sense of humor of the English shines throughout as he discusses places and people with keen perception. Although he has an impressive grasp of detail and observation, Simon does not allow it to slow the story down. Instead, it carries the reader along on the trip.

Ted began his first journey at age 46 and amazingly at age 70 he repeated the trip and itinerary. His website www.jupitalia.com has details of the second trip, his new book, photographs, details of the equipment he took, including panniers in which he packed all of his needs for the trip and more.

A great read even for those not contemplating travel on two wheels.


Without Reservations
By Alice Steinbach

When Alice took six months leave of absence from her job as a journalist, she wanted to use the time for “comfort “travel. She had fallen into the habit of many of us - that of being defined by other people – behaving in the way others expected of her. Instead, she wanted to live in the moment and satisfy her longing for new experiences.

In January 1993 she left the United States for Paris, a city she knew, having spent some time there as a wife and mother of young children. In Without Reservations she has chapters on her time in London and Florence. Alice has an amazing ability to turn casual encounters into friendships and these serendipitous events make for enlightening vignettes.

By the time Alice wrote her next travel book (Educating Alice) she had resigned her job with plans to travel the world as a casual student taking courses of interest to her – and these courses are eclectic.

In Educating Alice the author, explores more of her interests and it opens with anecdotes from her attendance at a cooking class at the Ritz in Paris. In Prague she appreciates the importance of sensible shoes to walk along the cobbles to the ancient castle, puts on dancing shoes for a session in Kyoto with a geisha and finds secret gardens in the city she adores – Paris. Cuba features too with an extraordinary tale of a dinner and fashion show where the clothes are all in white. A chance encounter with a teacher who extends an invitation to visit her home gives Alice the opportunity to glimpse a life far removed from the usual tourist experiences.

Another chance encounter with a Japanese man, Naohiro, (he was introduced in her first book Without Reservations) ignites a beautiful friendship and Alice’s vignettes of their snatched time together are sprinkled throughout the two books. These glimpses into a smoldering relationship conducted long distance are pure gold.

Her keen eye for detail does not hinder her writing. Like a fine jeweler, Alice crafts her words with care; less is more and anything not advancing the narrative is removed.

Alice’s books are treats to be savored and I want more.




Buying a property in France or Italy is the subject of a number of books. Each author has their own twist on a common theme - visit the country, fall in love with a local man, the location, a property, or any combination....




1. Mary Moody
Author of a Trilogy: Last Tango in Toulouse: Au Revoir (Running Away from Home at Fifty); and Long Hot Summer

Australian broadcaster, author, keen gardener, cook and raconteur, Mary Moody escaped her life (husband, family, job and home) for six months in France, alone. Mary has a knack of making anywhere she rests her head like home complete with friends (locals or numerous visitors from home), lots of laughter and good conversation. Tables groan with interesting food and the way Mary writes about numerous long lunches and dinners she hosted or visited in rural France had me salivating. I often felt as though there was a place set at the table waiting for me - all I had to do was arrive, relax and imbibe.

Mary falls in love with the food, the people and the place and her first six months in the country becomes a tempter. You get the sense she will repeat the experience which she does. On a subsequent trip, after an extensive search, (and false starts) she eventually locates a suitable property to buy in the Lot region (2 hours drive inland from Bordeaux), so begins another tale – that of its restoration.

Mary’s books are a gentle and amusing romp. They are easily digestible. Her honesty in the way she handles this tumultuous change in life and relationships is refreshing.

Her website http://www.marymoody.com.au/ details her many books, tours and more. After reading about the trials and tribulations synonymous with renovations in a country far from home, and with different and unexpected issues, it is a treat to see photographs of her completed home. Her web site also gives details of how to reserve her retreat in France.


2. Marlena de Blasi
A Thousand Days in Venice

Marlena’s Italian story is a gentle tale of unfolding love. Love of the country, the food and lifestyle and love of the man – a Venetian banker named Fernando. A Thousand Days in Venice is one of the classic “across a crowded room, I know he is THE ONE” stories. The story of how the two met would be a great plot for a romance novel, but no, this is real life!

Marlena’s records how she left her life in America, packed up her treasures and transplanted herself into Fernando’s life to share his apartment and country. His home is long overdue for renovation and a woman’s touch. Whereas he loves to live very simply and doesn’t “see” the issues with his existing home, she is used to sumptuous surroundings. This conflict forms the basis for some interesting negotiations between them as Marlena persuades him, successfully, to transform his home.

Before she left America, Marlena was a chef and food writer so her Italian adventure provides a wonderful canvas for her loves which she shares (including several recipes) with us.

A deliciously warm, true story of how romance has the power to surprise and transform.



The Reluctant Mariner
Joanna Hackett

Just how reluctant Joanna is to participate in her husbands dream is made crystal clear in the opening paragraph of the book. Joanna cannot sail and is a confirmed landlubber. This is a classic “feel the fear and do it anyway” story.

Her husband wants to undertake a round the world journey and on a yacht! So after some sailing lessons, all too soon, the big adventure begins - to circumnavigate the globe on a 12 metre yacht. During this journey as Joanna ventured further and further from shore, she adapted to shipboard life, overcoming many physical and psychological challenges, and it appeared that she had become a true “yachtie”. They visited 37 countries, sometimes leaving their boat on an anchorage to venture inland for several days.

Joanne writes with passion, and with the sense of humour so typical of those from the antipodean (Australia) part of the world. A wonderful book to curl up on a comfortable chair with, then admire how someone can overcome so much to participate in the dream of another.


Letters from the Med
Summer Cruising Under the Endless Sun
Andrea and Ian Treleaven

Andrea and Ian trip sounds leisurely and comfortable as they cruised the Mediterranean ports, marinas and bays of the rich and famous on board Cadiz, their 47 foot Beneteau. They are experienced yachties, (especially Ian who has done a lot of blue water sailing).

Letters from the Med was a welcome addition to my coffee table display. It is beautifully written and presented in “bite sized” pieces making it easy to read for anyone with a few minutes to spare.

An interesting addition, particularly for yachties, is a number of side bars of “Ian’s Cruising Notes” with gems for anyone thinking about taking a trip to these waters.

Although the book is effortless to read, it’s the stunning photography that tempts me to pick this lovely book up again and again. The couple’s trip was detailed in Andrea’s weekly newsletter to friends, later expanded to “Treleavens’ Travels” and published on the website http://www.sail-world.com/.

It will be enjoyed; I am sure, by landlubbers and anyone with a love of the water.