# Can you recommend some good travel writing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 15, 2007, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-some-good-travel-writing/404137 "2007-05-15T02:30:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-some-good-travel-writing/404137/41 "2007-05-17T12:52:29Z")
[Edwin Way Teale](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Way_Teale) is one of my favorites, especially his Walk Across America four book series. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-some-good-travel-writing/404137/42 "2007-05-17T13:12:53Z")
Hunter S Thompson’s S American stuff originally posted in Scanlon’s, and some of which was reprinted in The Great Shark Hunt was pretty interesting. One of the Monty Python guys is pretty interesting as a travel writer. He did documentaries as well on those same trips. ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-some-good-travel-writing/404137/43 "2007-05-17T13:21:47Z")
[QUOTE=China Guy] One of the Monty Python guys is pretty interesting as a travel writer. He did documentaries as well on those same trips. [/QUOTE] Michael Palin. ---
**Author:** ![ignoramus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@ignoramus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignoramus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-some-good-travel-writing/404137/44 "2007-05-17T17:01:17Z")
[The Riddle and the Knight: In Search of Sir John Mandeville](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giles_Milton) by Giles Milton is a good read. Part travelogue, part medieval history lesson. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-some-good-travel-writing/404137/45 "2007-05-17T17:09:22Z")
[QUOTE=capybara] Nah, looked it up-- Travels with my Donkey: One Man and his Ass on a Pilgrimage to Santiago, by Tim Moore. [/QUOTE] I loved that book – Tim Moore is one of my favourite travel writers – but it has to be saiid that it is pretty light. Probably not the OP’s cup of tea. It’s called _Spanish Steps_ in the UK. Got to love the prosaically dull title the US publishers chose, though! :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-some-good-travel-writing/404137/46 "2007-05-17T18:23:51Z")
Here’s another vote for Bill Bryson = cringe. I can’t count the number of times I’ve read an anecdote by him and my immediate reaction was “Well, I know _that_ didn’t happen; you’re freaking making it up.” Some of my faves (many of them having to do with India) – William Dalrymple - City of Djinns, In Xanadu, The Age of Kali Suketu Mehta - Maximum City Pico Iyer Benedict Allen - Who Goes Out in the Midday Sun? And these aren’t travel stories as such, but they have the same spirit of exploration – Gerald Durrell – My Family and Other Animals, Birds Beasts and Relatives, Fauna and Family, Fillets of Plaice, The Picnic and Other Inimitable Stories, Marrying Off Mother and Other Stories ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-some-good-travel-writing/404137/47 "2007-05-17T19:00:02Z")
Jonah Blank - Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God Rory Nugent - Search for the Pink-Headed Duck, Drums Along the Congo ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-some-good-travel-writing/404137/48 "2007-05-18T12:20:22Z")
Hey, **Shamozzle** , I forgot to get back to this thread. Yeah, I thought Herodotus was a decent writer. However he might be a bit dry and textbook-ish if you aren’t interested in ancient Mediterranean cultures. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-some-good-travel-writing/404137.md?page=2)