Not all those who wander are lost

Books that Travel Well

It took me several years to work up the courage to visit India. After having reluctantly accepted independent solo travel as my best option, I soon realised that books would be my most important companions from now on. It is true what they say, that you can never prepare yourself for India. Nevertheless, I have found reading India related books to be hugely inspiring, helpful and rewarding. It surely has deepened my insight and interest in its people, culture and spirit – both before and during my stays there.

As for guidebooks, I’ve mostly been travelling with Lonely Planet. I like Rough Guides a lot too, and have used them on several trips in South-East Asia and Europe.

Here are my favourite India reads, a mix of fiction and fact:

• Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts
• A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
• The Snake Charmer, Sanjay Nigam
• Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
• Yoga School Dropout, Lucy Edge
• Mantras and Misdemeanors, Vanessa Walker
• Mahatma! eller konsten att vända världen upp och ner, Zac O’Yeah
• Guru! En resa i underlandet, Zac O’Yeah
• Q & A, Vikas Swarup
• The Little Book of Hindu Deities, Sanjay Patel
• Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, Suketu Mehta
• The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga
• The Death of Vishnu, Manil Suri
• Holy Cow!, Sarah MacDonald
• King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema, Anupama Chopra

When it comes to other countries and destinations, I haven’t really immersed myself much in their local literature. In Thailand I’ve mostly been studying Buddhist philosophy, reading just a few other books like Alex Garland’s The Beach and Phra Farang by Phra Peter Pannapadipo. The only book by a Thai writer that I can remember reading is Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap.
Buddha Da by Anne Donovan has a great Scottish feel to it, while Maggie O’Farrell, Marian Keyes, Mike Gayle, W B Yeats and Bobby Sands are my British and Irish favorites.