18 Books to Fuel Your Wanderlust

A humorous account of an unhappy author's journey from America to Italy and Iceland, The Geography of Bliss is a travel book that gives insight into where happiness can really be found.

Based on the popular newspaper column, 36 Hours is a perfect road trip guidebook.

Recently adapted to a film starring Reese Witherspoon, Wild explores a woman's difficult path through the wilderness as she confronts her drug addiction, divorce, and mother's death.

Few accounts of the American Beat Generation hold a candle to Jack Kerouac's colorful depiction of his own experiences, when he was On the Road.

Born to Run details the journey of an extremely devoted athlete who sets out to uncover secrets from a tribe of people in Mexico rumored to be experts on the art of running.

In Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love, a recently divorced woman in search of happiness embarks on a trip to Italy, India, and Bali to find herself.

Into Thin Air is a gut-wrenching account of author Jon Krakauer's climb up, and perilous descent down, Mount Everest.

Want to travel the world, but don't want to come back home completely broke? Read How to Travel the World on $50 a Day to get some tips.

In his memoir A Year in Provence, Peter Mayle gives a funny and thoughtful account of each month of his life during the year he lived in a 200-year-old farmhouse in a small French town.

If you want to find ways to travel more often, take some advice from The 4-Hour Work Week, a step-by-step guide to making money, quitting your 9-to-5, and traveling more.

In Diane Johnson's L'Affaire, a wealthy Silicon Valley girl goes to France in search of glamour, sophistication, and romance.

In Jennifer Baggett's The Lost Girls, three friends in their early 30s are unexpectedly forced to reevaluate their lives and decide to deal with it by taking a trip across four continents.

Rolf Potts, author of Vagabonding, advises fellow travelers on the importance of making time to take trips and gives tips on how best to experience the world in a way that's right for you.

A group of young people seek out a mysterious beach while on a trip to Thailand. The Beach, made into a movie in 2000 starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is a thriller with an unexpected twist.

John Steinbeck's travelogue, Travels With Charley, depicts a 1960 road trip that he made across America with his dog Charley.

Into the Wild is a vivid and thought-provoking look into the mind of a young man searching for peace in the heart of the Alaskan wilderness.

In Seven Years in Tibet, an Austrian mountaineer escapes a British internment camp in India, crosses the Himalayas, and finds solace in a remote village.