Post written by Laura
As we are now in the final week of 2024, (Boxing Day as it happens) its the time of year for me to do a little travel reflecting, beginning with my traditional travel book review. I have multiple reasons for publishing this annual post which I began with reviews from 2018:
- Firstly, these posts serve as a reminder to myself where I can check back with the intention of re-reading the best ones.
- Secondly, I enjoy doing these reviews, finding a related photo and generally reminiscing to myself about past trips.
- Thirdly, they may be of use to anyone reading this blog who enjoys travel books.
A total of only 10 books were read this year as the first 4 months were taken up by reading a mammoth 933 page epic called Shantaram! Again, this year, apart from reading a couple of project leadership books for work purposes, the rest of them were exclusively 100% travel books!
Book read: Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Based on the real life story of its author Gregory David Roberts, as mentioned, this huge 933 page book took me over 4 months to finish and seemed to go on forever!
Set in Bombay in the 1980’s I had started reading it before (and during and after) my visit to India this year which provided a wonderful real life parallel between the book and my trip. A few of my fellow Intrepid travellers had ploughed their way through Shantaram and recommended I also read ‘The Covenant of Water’ by Abraham Verghese which is set in Kerala. I’ve noted this in here as a reminder to download it and take it with me when I visit Southern India, hopefully at some point in the not too distant future!
Anyway – back to the book review.
In real life, Australian born heroin addict Roberts had broken out of prison where he was serving a sentence for armed robbery. On a false New Zealand passport under the name ‘Lindsay’ he fled to anonymity, losing himself in the bustling streets of Bombay. He soon met Prabaker, a young Indian tour guide and began his incredible rollercoaster ride of a life for the next 10 years in India.
With vivid accounts of life in the slums and the criminal underworld of Bombay Roberts is a gifted writer bringing to life the complexity of the city and array of characters based on those who featured in his real life.
I found this book something of a slog at times mainly due to its daunting length and my short attention span. However I am so glad I persevered as it is one of the most awe inspiring, fascinating and incredible books I’ve ever read.
Book read: Journeys to Impossible Places by Simon Reeve
I purchased this copy, personally signed by Simon, from my annual visit to Destinations 2024 in February. Unfortunately I didn’t get to meet the man himself as he had attended the show on the previous day which was a Friday. Much as I would have loved to have seen him speaking live, unfortunately he wasn’t worth me taking a day of precious annual leave, which I prefer to put towards actually travelling somewhere (sorry Simon).
As a physical paperback, I took this book with me to India 3 weeks later and enjoyed reading it during some of the lengthy train rides. These were effortless when compared with Simon’s adventures as he describes some of the toughest journeys of his life. For example trekking through western Burma to meet the persecuted Chin people and visiting the front-line of Mogadishu in trouble striken Somalia.
Simon also takes a very personal approach and opens up about his difficult journey towards fatherhood and the challenges he faced as a result of infertility.
Overall, a great, easy to read engaging book and a good follow up to ‘Step by Step‘ which I read way back in 2018!
Book read: Hildasay to Home by Christian Lewis
The second half of former paratrooper Christian Lewis’s amazing 6 year 11,000 mile walk around the UK and many of its islands. This picks up where the first book suddenly ended in Hildasay, the Scottish island which had been the home for Chris and his dog Jet during the pandemic.
Upon leaving Hildasay, during his travels in Scotland, Chris met fellow adventurer Kate who quickly decided to give up everything and join him on his journey. As they continued walking south, the couple went on to have baby Magnus. They finally finished in July 2023 having raised £500,000 for SSAFA, the armed forces charity.
This is an inspiring and well written book and well worth a read!
The above photo is Rhossili Bay which is on the Gower Peninsula and close to Swansea in Wales where the family ended their spectacular adventure.
Book read: Nowhere for Very Long: The Unexpected Road to an Unconventional Life by Brianna Madia
I was drawn to this book by the ‘unconventional life’ part and the anticipation of more inspiration for a fun and adventurous life. I had never heard of author Brianna however as I read through, it turned out she was one of the original ‘van life influencers’.
The book is interesting and fairly well written as Brianna takes us with her on her journeys through the deserts and canyons of Utah in her battered orange van. The book is a bumpy ride in more ways than one as she gives a totally honest account of the highs and lows of her life.
I do have experience of US deserts having been driven through the Nevada, Arizona and California deserts by my Dad back in 1983 but sadly I don’t have any photographs of this awesome and memorable road trip. Instead, for this post, I’ve added a picture that I took as I camped in the desert of Wadi Rum, Jordan in 2019.
Book read: Home by Seven: One Woman’s Solo Journey to Ride to all Seven Continents by Steph Jeavon
Wow – I was gripped from the beginning of this amazing book – what an adventure! The author Steph had a tough beginning with her heroin addiction and stint in prison. Coincidentally for me this is the 2nd book containing the recollections of a former offender and heroin addict that I read this year.
Both accounts describe in graphic detail the traumatic demise and self destruction of this highly addictive drug and then the pain of cold turkey associated with coming off it. Thankfully Steph found the strength to do so and went on to achieve a world record by becoming the first woman to ride her motorbike on all 7 continents.
One of the most exciting parts of the book was Steph’s adventures in Antarctica! Wow – I found this part of the book hard to put down as she described the unique and dramatic scenery, the penguins, the whales and navigating around icebergs. Antarctica is a place I’m hoping to visit within the next 2 – 5 years if my budget permits.
This was one of my favourite books of the year. I took the above photo as Chris and I sailed through the Beagle Channel in December 2016, which Steph also sailed through on her way to Antarctica.
Book read: A Fast Bike to Byzantium: A Motorcycle Travel Adventure (Book 1) by Andy C Wareing
This book was set in 1986 and follows the journey of Andy who set off on his motorbike to ride from England to Istanbul and back. Of course, back then there were no smart phones for using Google maps to check directions or currency conversions or for booking accommodation.
Setting off with his small tent, Andy was in his 20’s and did this during 3 weeks of annual leave and also on a small budget which put some pressure on him.
This book was short but enjoyable, easy to read and with a captivating and humorous writing style. It was also interesting to read about and reminisce various places I had also visited in Europe. I was keen to download the next book and read about Andy’s adventures in Scandinavia next…
Book read: A Fast Bike to North Cape: A Motorcycle Travel Adventure (Book 2) by Andy C Wareing
The second book in this small series capturing the long ago adventures of Andy C Wareing. This was another short but well written account of Andy’s motorbike ride up through Norway to Nordkapp (North Cape) and back down through Sweden. This particularly resonated when Andy described Tromso and taking the ferry to Olderdalen, as we had done earlier this year!
These memoires were from 1989 – there is a section where Andy says goodbye to two new friends who he had met along the way. He said they swapped home addresses as emails were just beginning to become popular… no, I don’t think so… emails didn’t become a thing until the late 1990’s… but never mind, this is a great little series of books given they were published over 35 years after the events took place.
Onto book 3 🙂
Book read: A Fast Bike to Everywhere Else: The Petrolhead Travelogues (Book 3) by Andy C Wareing
This time, Andy tells us about 4 different adventures on different bikes and with different companions. Again, each of these took place in the 1980’s and so well before we had mobile phones and the internet. This time his adventures take him from John O Groats to Lands End, down to the South of France a couple of times and also down to Sorrento in Italy.
I’m not exactly into motorbikes as such, I enjoy reading any books which involve someone going on some kind of journey whether that is by foot or by motorbike or by car. I enjoyed reading this little series. Each book is fairly short and I and went straight onto the next one…
Book read: A Fast Bike through the Badlands (Book 4) by Andy C Wareing
This book fast forwards several decades as by now UK born Andy is married to Paula and they are living in the US state of Georgia. It had been quite a few years since Andy had done any lengthy motorbike road trips however an opportunity presented itself when he offered to drive his neighbours bike through several US states from Georgia in the deep south to North Dakota which is up north and borders with Canada.
Now in his late 50’s (I guess) he decided not to take a tent but to give himself a little more luxury by staying in basic motels as he made his way through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois and more along the way.
Having been keen to read this 4th book I found it less interesting than the other 3 books mentioned above. Maybe because I had not visited any of the places or the states he had driven through so I was unable to relate too much to them or maybe because this book seemed more about the motorbike than the locations… I am about a third of the way through and as I’m starting to skim over paragraphs and then pages of it, I’m thinking about giving up just as Andy is leaving Chicago.
As I don’t have any relatable photos, the photo above was taken during my most recent visit to the USA (which was not actually that recent) but it was during a trip to Miami, Florida in 2019. Florida is the closest I have been to Georgia where the author began his journey.
Book read: Walking with Nomads by Alice Morrison
This was the second physical book I read, or partially read this year. This was another book I had brought at the annual Destinations show in London and unlike Simon Reeve (as mentioned earlier in the post) I actually met the author who signed it for me while I was there. I took the book with me to Argentina to read.
It was very well written and gave an interesting account of the lives of the nomads of Morocco. Well… I found it interesting at the beginning but then found myself skipping over chunks of it as it went into too much detail. I only read about a third of it before stopping and going back to my Kindle app and picking up with one of Andy Wareing’s motorbike books (as above).
Technically, Andy’s books are perhaps not as well written or as well researched however the first 3 were funny, engaging and light hearted. They were high level without going into too much detail which I find easier to read and to stay interested in (except of course for the fourth of Andy’s books which I was less keen on).
This is the end of my book review for 2024, ending on a less than positive note with two books that I didn’t finish. On the basis that life is short and why waste it on something you are not particularly enjoying or connecting with, a new start for 2025 is in order with a new set of books to download and hopefully escape into 🙂
frombluetogreen.com 