My travel obsession inspired by books
Connecting me to destinations in ways I never imagined
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A reader can live a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one. — George R. R. Martin.
What about a traveler? Do they get to live a thousand and one?
Stories have been said to make the world go round. They breathe meaning into everything we do.
A trinket sitting on a mantelpiece holds little charm until we learn it’s the only thing connecting a man to his beloved wife of 23 years who passed 15 years ago. Then it becomes whimsical.
Can we say the same about destinations? Do these places fascinate us because of the narratives spun about them?
Okay, just imagine for a second what would have happened to Verona if Shakespeare hadn’t written Romeo and Juliet. Would it generate the same GDP for the Italian government in tourism? I don’t think so.
I’d like to believe that places are more special because of the stories we’ve written and told about them. Stories of love and war, conquest and defeat, epidemics and festivals. Stories that remind us of who we are and why we are here.
Stories with an emotional pull strong that is enough to get you off your couch and straight onto the road, hoping for some adventure of your own. Or at least, borrow from the characters in the book you just read.
Okay, just imagine for a second what would have happened to Verona if Shakespeare hadn’t written Romeo and Juliet
I love a destination with a great story. There’s nothing more exciting than visiting a place brimming with centuries-old history that set you imagination rolling.
Indeed, there are many ways to get inspired to visit a place. But sometimes, I’ve found books nudging me to my next destination.
Here are five books that pulled me–literally–off my couch! No spoilers, I promise.
From Scratch by Tembe Locke
A love story starting in Florence and ending in the Sicilian countryside, Locke’s memoir is a subscription of passion, warm conversations about food, and bonds that pull the heartstrings. And I’ll add tears too.
I’m not much of a nocturnal person but I loved the depiction of nightly walks on the streets of Florence. And when I visited, it turned out to be the most enjoyable part of the trip.
Most cities come alive as the sun goes down but I found Florence more enchanting at sundown. The bustling streets keep you entertained with its array of pleasures. From performers serenading you with their art to Tuscan cuisines leading you into restaurants and cafes humming with lively conversations, Florence is a beauty to experience.
All the lights we cannot see by Anthony Doerr
Some books are an escape from reality. Some others bring us to a grinding halt before it. Though a fictitious story about World War II, this book showed the effects of war on not just people but also places.
The city of Saint-Malo has seen the good, bad, and ugly as a war survivor. And after reading the book, it felt right to want to feel the pulse of such resilience. Though badly damaged, the coastal city was rebuilt after the war and remains a historic site for curious minds.
I don’t know what I find more romantic about the town between its medieval architecture and the miracle of its sunsets visible along the coastline.
Walking in its narrow streets amid the lull of cheery conversations of strangers, I wondered if the town still remembers what it was like a century ago when shells from enemy lines hurt its eternal beauty.
Don’t ask me if I found the Sea of Flames diamond. I wasn’t looking for it in the first place. Plus, who needs that when you’ve got a model of the town itself? 😊
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
If I hadn’t visited Paris before reading this book, I would have done so on its account. As it is, few cities evoke the same sense of romance and allure as Paris, the City of Light. But Hemingway takes it further by presenting a Paris cast in stone.
In the book, one is invited to stroll along the cobblestone streets of 1920s Paris, where artists and writers congregate in cafes and salons, exchanging ideas and inspiration. And if you weren’t alive during that lifetime — I wasn’t — the book leaves you longing for a period some would call, “the good old days.”
While Hemingway’s Paris may have disappeared like leaves in Fall, I can still feel its shadows in modern-day Paris. From leisurely walks along the Seine to lounges in cafes and coffee shops, I can pretend I’m a golden-age creative struggling to make ends meet yet able to afford the kind of lifestyle 9–5 folks of our age can only dream of. Way to go, Hemingway.
Harry Potter, by J. K Rowling.
If you didn’t wait by your mailbox as a kid, hoping for a letter from Hogwarts after reading J.K. Rowling’s enchanting series, then you must have been one of the two people I know who somehow resisted that pull. Oh, I have a friend who isn’t a fan.
My obsession with Harry Potter may have started when I was just a kid but that didn’t stop me from visiting some of the locations in the movie. And in a way, taking those trips connected me with my inner child more than I realized. I was glad I visited the London Zoo as an adult rather than the 12-year-old me who would have found a way by all means to get an interview with a python.
The Davinci Code by Dan Brown
Despite the controversy this book sparked, this was the sensational read that put the Vatican on my bucket list. Let’s forget for a second that it’s a spiritual relic significant to millions of people. The Vatican is also a place rich in art and history. It also buzzes with the divine.
I was no treasure hunter but for a moment, I wish I was. And while I may not have discovered any elusive holy artifacts during my visit, the aura of the place might have inspired a story or two of mine.
I do have other places to visit that are inspired by books I’ve read. Like Prince Edward Island, Canada from the Anne of Green Gable Series by Lucy Maud Montgomery, or Romania from Dracula by Stan Broker. But I have to chill a bit ‘coz at this point, my bucket list is spilling into the ocean of places to visit.
Thanks for reading my story. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.
