If you’re struggling with restrictions and isolation in 2022, Start Adventure has a list of books for you to pass the time in the best possible way and travel without leaving your house.

1. Down Under

Bill Bryson

Published in 2000, it’s one of the most beloved books by bestselling author Bill Bryson. His work can be found in any book shop, library or airport, having been previously adapted for the cinema.

Bryson narrates his experience traveling around Australia. It is a very complete trip, full of his personal impressions. Perhaps the high point of this adventure is the epic Indian-Pacific, a train route that crosses the Oceania continent, connecting the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. On the other hand, driving across the empty infinity of the outback was unforgettable. O maybe that time Bryson tries body boarding and fails.

2. The Goldfinch

Donna Tartt

Although this is not a travel book but a novel, traveling is something Theodore does a lot, being the young protagonist of the contemporary American adventure set in 2013. As events out of Theo’s control shake his life, he must adapt, flee or act.

It is a book that offers scenarios such as New York, Las Vegas and several other places described so realistically that the reader feels as though they are visiting them, from art museums to coffee shops, motels, hotels, well-known avenues and backstreets — by day and by night.

3. Into the Wild

John Krakauer

This is the narrative of the great trip that Chris McCandless undertook, the famous and idealist traveler that died in Alaska after leaving everything he had, including his identity, in search for a self-sufficient life in the wilderness.

McCandless left us in this campsite, an abandoned bus, several books, undeveloped photographs and his diary of 113 entries that tell of the joy and despair of his solitude. Before he arrived in Alaska, however, Chris McCandless walked or hiked across the USA, having met many people who never forgot the young graduate.

Later adapted for the big screen in 2008 by Sean Penn, this book published in 1996 focuses on quite an interesting way on the psychology behind traveling.

4. On the Road

Jack Kerouac

In the 1950s, in the USA, the beat generation is counting on young artists, musicians and writers that rebel agains the culture set by they war veteran parents. Nevertheless, writers, in order to write, need life experience — so it was frequent that groups of friends hit the road to experience life far from the protection of their families.

It is precisely this that Jack Kerouac does in this autobiographical book, in which he undertakes four great trips across the USA and Mexico on a spiritual quest.

5. Journey to Portugal

José Saramago

An account written by the Portuguese Nobel of Literature-winning author as he visits every single region in Portugal between 1979 and 1980. Saramago talks about himself in the third person, “the traveler”. The essence of traveling is present in every line of this book, and it is about each little corner of Portugal that Saramago talks about in great detail.

Perhaps the best part are the descriptions of food, which leave anyone’s mouth watering:  “The veal chop, gigantic, comes on a platter, swimming in vinegar sauce, and in order to fit in the plate it must be cut, or it would drip onto the table cloth. The traveler wanders if he’s dreaming. Soft meat, which the knife cuts effortlessly, and this vinegar sauce makes the cheeks sweat and it’s a comprehensive demonstration of the fact that there exists a happiness of the body. The traveler is eating in Portugal, he’s got his eyes full of past and future landscapes, while he hears Mrs. Alice calling from the kitchen and the young waitress laughs and shakes hers braids.”

Start Adventure sincerely hopes that you will enjoy this reading selection to take on trips or to travel without leaving your house (who knows, maybe you will come on one of our expeditions and you will also write a book).

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