Travel Memoir Reading Challenge

Travel Memoir Reading Challenge

I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions, but this year I did want to challenge myself in a few ways. I’ve been wanting to work more on this blog and my travel writing, and I’ve also set a higher goal on Goodreads this year than last year. Between these two things I saw an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, so I came up with this One Year of Travel Memoirs project –  every month this year I’ll read a different travel memoir or autobiography – and I’m really excited to get started!

In addition to helping with my reading goal, I’m looking forward to learning more about travel writing and traveling from this little project. Maybe in some small way it will help me become a better writer for this blog. I imagine that even if it doesn’t, I’ll find some interesting new places to add to my list and a lot of travel inspiration through this experience!

Every month I’ll post a review about the book I read, and a little information about its globetrotting author and the places he or she wrote about. I have all twelve books picked out, and I’ve started the first (Under a Lucky Star) already. Stay tuned for a review in a few weeks!

I tried to choose them with some diversity (I have an equal number of male and female writers, and a variety of destinations) but there are fewer travel memoirs/autobiographies of travelers than you would think! Most of mine are also not very recent – I wanted to choose ones that have at least somewhat stood the test of time.

Travel Memoirs Reading Challenge

 

Here’s my full list of 12 books for the year:

Under a Lucky Star – Roy Chapman Andrews – Review here

Out of Africa – Isak Dinesen (really Karen von Blixen) – Review here

Travels of Ibn Battutah – Ibn Battutah

West with the Night – Beryl Markham

Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de motocicleta) – Ernesto “Che” Guevara

I Married Adventure – Osa Johnson

The Sea and the Jungle – H.M. Tomlinson

The Cruel Way – Ella Maillart

Travels of Marco Polo – Marco Polo

Perseus in the Wind – Freya Stark

Innocents Abroad – Mark Twain

A Woman’s Journey Around the World – Ida Pfeiffer

 

So, what do you think of this project? Have you read any of these books? Are any of your favorite travel memoirs missing from this list? Let me know in the comments below!
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