10 Books That Will Make You Want To Travel

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Written by Norrie

I love discovering new places. You see, I didn’t say I love travelling, because that would be a lie. I hate travelling. I can’t stand being at the airport, all that stress and general chaos just grinds on my nerves. Arriving in a foreign country isn’t much more pleasant either. Either the dude who’s supposed to give us a lift to the hotel is missing, in hiding, late, or the metro system is confusing, or the bus timetable and route is undecipherable. Something’s always up, I’m telling you. By the time I arrive to my accommodation I’m so wrecked I just want to crawl under a blankie and never make eye contact with any human ever again.

Thankfully I’m quite good at recovering, and once I’m where I’m supposed to be, I’m in my element. I enjoy wandering around, sitting in cute cafes and just watch people or rolling around on the beach. I must have mastered the art of blending in too, because just last month I was strolling around in Brussels, when some Brits insisted on talking to me in broken French. Whatever, bro!

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and this week’s topic was Books That Awaken the Travel Bug In Me. So let’s jump right in!

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
I’ve never been to Prague, but it’s on the shortlist! Although I doubt one would come across angels and demons there, but I’m more thrilled about czech beer and trdelník which is pretty similar to kürtőskalács my favourite hungarian pastries of all times. If you don’t know what any of those things are, it’s just all the more reason to visit!

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
Yes, I know, I live in London, so technically it’s not travelling. But this book just made me want to discover the real, the hidden London. Makes no sense? Don’t worry. I don’t know either what this means, it was just a feeling this book gave me that I can’t shake off.

It by Stephen King
Most of King’s books are set somewhere in New England and it’s a big dream of mine to visit some places there. It’s beautiful, atmospheric, and of course, Bangor, Maine is where Stephen King lives. I could breathe the same air the master does!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
I loved everything about this book, and after reading it, just want to visit Sweden even more. I spent a whole week eating food inspired by Lisbeth Salander and Kalle Blomkvist. If I could, I would probably live in an IKEA store. Just don’t make me assemble that shit, because that makes me cry.

The barbarous coast by Ross Macdonald
Southern California, you say? Yes, please!

Tangerine by Christine Mangan
Morocco and Tangier is another dream destination of mine. Although ever since my friend returned from there with photos of snakes scattered around the main square of Marrakech I’m a bit less enthusiastic. I mean, nice place and all, but I’m not sure how I feel about the amount of snakes these people are capable of piling up in one spot. Yikes.

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Even though the Thailand depicted in this book is rather dystopian, and not really a pleasant experience to be there, it remains one of those places I hope to visit one day.

The Burning Shore by Wilbur Smith
Even though I’ve been to South Africa twice, I never made it to Cape Town. It also took ages for poor Centaine to get there in this story, so there’s still hope!

Raven Black by Ann Cleeves
C’mon, guys, these people on the Shetland Islands have an actual Viking Festival! Up Helly Aa is held in the middle of winter to mark the end of the yule season. Awesomesauce.

Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
I honestly don’t know what possessed me when I slapped Iceland on the list. I mean, I’m always cold when the temperature drops below 20C degrees, and yet I want to see all the places I read about in this book.

Have you been to any of my dream destinations? Where else would you go?

70 Comments

  2. Iceland and Shetland Islands are extremely high on my travel list. 👌👌👌

    I’m with you re the actual travelling, I love the exploring part but not the actually moving from a to b part. I usually need a bit of a recovery after that too. 😂😂

    I’ve been to Stockholm but would love to explore Sweden a bit more. And Norway – somewhere I haven’t been yet either. 😊❄️

    Morocco is amazing, those vibrant colours, heat and smell of spices.. it’s just so different and I loved it. 😊 I actually never noticed any snakes, maybe they were just decorative to add a bit character… I sincerely hope I’m not wrong here though! 🙈

    And you know… I’m Czech so I’m extremely biased towards Prague which I adore to bits. Its gothic architecture, many wonderful legends and that food… I love that place so much. 💞 I’m really happy to help you out planning / recommending places (local inside knowledge he he). There are so many Slavic legends as well that tie to my home country – again, more than happy to share some of them with you for the spooky atmosphere when visiting. 😊❤️

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    1. Yes, Norway too! My friend there and when he came back he said “it’s beautiful, but the beer is too expensive”. LOL. Priorities.

      Oh, some inside knowledge would be awesome! My BF used to live in Czhech for a few years, but not in Prague and he didn’t visit there that often. I’ll be in touch if i ever make it there! ❤

      If you were to go to Iceland or Shetland, is there anything to climb on?

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      1. Ha ha, those priorities are everything. 😊

        I would recommend this annual event in Český Krumlov (it happens every June) http://www.czechtourism.com/e/five-petalled-rose-celebrations-cesky-krumlov/ It’s not in Prague but should you have a day to spare it’s extremely atmospheric and I have so many fond memories of it. And yes, happy to help even though your friend is likely to be of great help too. So cool he lived there for a bit.

        Ha ha, there may be some climbing there. We did a 2 week long road trip around Scotland a few years back (epic camping trip featuring a small tent and extremely overpacked tiny fiat panda 🐼) and managed to climb. Iceland would be mostly hiking though, I so want to go there sometime soon (bf went before we met – how unfair is that?? But he’s keen to go again so it’s all good…)

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  4. I’ve been lucky enough to have done some serious travelling in my day, but always dreamed of revisiting Africa (it’s HUGE!) and also seeing Australia. Though I know I’ll never go to either, a girl can dream.

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      1. Can not recall seeing snake.Although spent far too much time in hotel for my liking as all inclusive. But cheap out for meals, massages and at markets. Plenty of sun. Don’t feel I got to experience much culture to know what culture like.

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  8. Daughter of Smoke and Bone totally made me want to go to Prague! I think some town in Maine should set up a Stephen King attraction just like devote everything to it, the whole town could be actors from different stories, interact with the newcomers and so on. Great list!

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  10. I spent my childhood years in Thailand, and I still miss the beaches! And my mother-in-law lives in Cape Cod so we go up there and visit around New England frequently…great beaches there too. LOL it’s summer, you can totally tell where my mind is.

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  11. I’m so with you on Prague. I even went as far as looking up how expensive it would be to take a city trip there but finances weren’t/aren’t allowing it, hah. Otherwise I would’ve gone there in a heartbeat!

    And I’m still jealous of you living in London. But at least I can go there next month, if only for a couple of days. ❤

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  12. I really need to go to SA soon.I’d love to visit Jo’burg and Capetown.Morocco has always been on my list but I don’t know about the snakes haha.I fear those things!Thailand is a dream too.I’ve only been to Uganda,Tanzania and Zanzibar and of course,Kenya where I am from.Would definitely love to see the world some day.Great post Norrie.

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    1. Zanzibar sounds really cool!
      I mean, the rest too, but i don’t know too much about them. I remember watching a travel documentary series when i was a kid and one episode was zanzibar, so that’s more familiar.

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  14. I love the idea of travelling but the actual act of travelling is always so chaotic. Blargh. I don’t like travelling by plane with all of the hassle at the airport. If I have to I prefer by boat, train or car. 😀 This is probably why we prefer camping haha.

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  16. Lovely list! I get it, traveling itself is a bit stressful and exhausting, but once that moment has passed and you can actually explore the place, it’s the BEST thing ever 😀
    I’m so happy to see Prague on your list, I’d love to visit that city as well, especially after reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone. It seems like such a gorgeous city 😀

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  19. Yes! After I read ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ I really felt like travelling to Sweden! Loved the atmosphere created in the novels, especially the first one.

    Haha, the only place a Stephen King novel makes me want to travel is under my blanket 😀

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  20. 1. so amazing that you live in London! ❤
    2. I so wanna go back there!
    3. It is not weird and it makes a lot of sense that you want to discover your own country! Sometimes what we know, and the places that we have gone in our own country are not that many… XD

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    1. Ooo, Prague, how exciting! Hope all goes well 🙂
      I’ve never been there, but others who were told me that Daughter of Smoke and Bone paints a pretty accurate picture of the atmosphere and all. You’ll see soon, i guess. Hope you’ll like it 🙂

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      1. Ooh you have to go! Just make sure you don´t go in high season as it is crawling with tourists! We rented a car in September and drove Ring Road 1 in approx. 10 days. You can easily add more days to your schedule, but oh my – one of the best trips ever! 🙂

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