When it’s one of those moments when I have a trip coming up but I just can’t wait for it to arrive – I love to pick up one of the best travel romance books to give my wanderlust an extra kick. Whether you’re craving that wanderlust, a new place, a person, or just a new perspective of life with travel in it, you will love these 10 books.
So, buckle up, wanderluster and romantic, let’s go on an adventure! – Of course, To make your life easier, I’ve included direct links to Amazon and Goodreads, so you can either add it to your cart, designate it to read, or purchase it. 🙂
Best Books to Read While Traveling – Best Travel Romance Books Edition
There is nothing quite like an excellent book to transport you to another time and place, regardless of whether you are an avid traveler or a homebody. But what if you’re on the road and searching for a compelling read to enhance your trip? These stories combine the excitement of exploration with the heady joy of love, making them the ideal companions for your next journey, wherever it may take you.
The best part is that these stories aren’t just about summer flings or star-crossed romances in exotic locales (though rest assured, you’ll find plenty of that, too). They are about the physical and emotional journeys we undertake in the pursuit of connection and self-discovery.
These books will make your heart race and inspire your wanderlust – guaranteed.
# 1 Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
After a difficult breakup, Gilbert travels the world in search of herself, stopping for spaghetti in Italy, spiritual guidance in India, and an unexpected romance in Bali. This book is a classic for all the right reasons: sometimes you have to be lost before you can find your way home to yourself.
This book is an excellent testament for the life-changing potential of travel and the strength it can instill in you – especially if you’re interested in solo travel. It’s a moving and eye-opening story about appreciating the wonder of the unplanned and abandoning your assumptions about how your life should go.
Find this bestselling book on:
#2 Under the Tuscan Sun, by Frances Mayes
More than just a love story, it’s taking you to Italy, a renovation diary and a mouthwatering culinary journal all in one. It will not only inspire you for love and wanderlust, but also to the beauty of spontaneity and taking a transformative journey: like purchasing a villa in the Tuscan countryside.
Immerse yourself into a transformative journey that you didn’t plan for in your life and reflect on your own life.
Discover yourself in the simple things again, such as vibrant local markets or homemade mouthwatering pasta. The lush Italian landscapes described in the book will make your heart yearn for travel, while at the same woven you seamlessly into a love story.
Die-hard romantic? Travel enthusiast? Food lover? This book will check all your boxes.
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#3 The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Even if there were a plan for romantic relationships, most of us wouldn’t stick to it. During his journey to understand why romantic love can’t be represented with algorithms, genetics professor Don Tillman falls in love and writes a novel about it.
Usually, when you think of passionate couples in romance novels, you picture them in faraway places like Bali or Italy, but in this book, you’ll meet a man who goes about finding his soul mate in an unexpected way: by creating the perfect partner survey. Once he does find her, he learns that she is everything he (n)ever dreamed of: unpredictable, fiery, and willing to travel the world to track down her biological father (makes sense, right?).
This book will combine travel, humor, romance, and showcase transformation in all the different ways you wouldn’t expect.
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#4 Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen
A mesmerizing memoir that will transport you into the wild, untamed heart of Kenya with cinematic landscapes and adventures. Engage in a passionate affair with Africa’s wild places and discover a deeper appreciation for Mother Nature.
This book will stand out through the vivid depiction of the Kenyan wilderness and Blixen’s deep respect and understanding of it. The story of Blixen and Finch’s love will make your heart race with excitement and warm you up inside. So, what’s better than learning more about what it means to love a person, a place, and a new way of life?
Get captivated by poetic prose and make you yearn for the African sun on your face and the thrill of love in your heart.
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#5 The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
#5 If you’ve ever dreamed of 1920s Paris, then you’re in for a gin-soaked, jazz-filled ride with a love story of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley. A beautiful blend of love, betrayal, and the lure of the City of Lights. It’s based on a real-life love story in an intoxicating place filled with exhilarating freedom, artistic revolution, and sweeping romance.
The author’s description of Parisian life during the Jazz Age will transport your heart to the city’s intellectual and artistic movements and is so much more than the love story: it’s a love letter to Paris.
Get captivated by the enchanting charm, the vivacious culture, and the transformative influence among the dazzling highs and heart-wrenching lows of love and loss.
This book will inspire a different sense of wanderlust and just a deep appreciation of complex love – that you may just be yearning for.
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Need some real-life inspiration? Check out my recent trip to Antigua, Guatemala!
If you’re planning a romantic trip, these romantic things to do in Key West might give you some ideas.
First time traveler and don’t know where to go? Check this handy guide out!
#6 Chasing the Monsoon by Alexander Frater
Let me start out with, picture this: traveling the subcontinent and capturing the monsoon rains while stumbling into a spellbinding and breathtaking love story. Sounds about right, right? Well, in this novel you can experience the magic of a captivating travelogue and love story as you’re wandering through India chasing awe-inspiring natural phenomenons.
Anticipate rich descriptions of how the author makes the monsoons into a living force that enchants, revitalizes, and romances the country and its people. His writing evokes a strong sense of longing to see the world and a desire to feel the sensation and smell of rain on your skin and the aroma of freshly soaked soil – or literally just crave that warm summer rain on your skin outside.
Discover new places, cultures, and experiences while falling in love with them in this novel.
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#7 Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
How about a love affair on the Italian coast? This love story spans across landscapes and decades. Starting in 1962 in Pasquale Tursi, a man falls in love with an American actress that’s trying to flee the chaos of Hollywood, right into his arms. However, true love persists across oceans, through a span of 50 years that keeps rekindling over decades, showcasing that true love is in fact a marathon and not a sprint.
Be mesmerized by the exploration of love, dreams, and second chances that withstand time. Just like a trip, life in all its messy glory is a grand adventure of twists and turns, beautiful ruins and restored hopes.
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#8 French Lessons by Ellen Sussman
Three Americans, three French tutors, and one day in Paris equals the perfect recipe for heart-wrenching romance. In the city of love, these people learn more than just the language in this single day of unexpected romances that can blossom when we step out of our comfort zones.
This book is about more than simply love; it’s also about finding one’s identity in the face of a new culture and a new place. It will make you long for walks along charming alleys and make you reflect on your history and your future.
You may just find love in the most unexpected place too.
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#9 Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
You’ve heard of discovering love when you least expect it, but what if it comes at a time of pure chaos while traveling? This semi-autobiographical play is set in Mumbai and depicts resilience, revealing beauty, chaos, and contradictions, as well as how love can heal almost anything.
Deeply moved by its raw and heartfelt portrayal of life and love, will make you not want to put it down but book the next flight to Bombay.
This book will be your favorite because it explores the human spirit and its capacity for love, resilience, and redemption while demonstrating the transformational power of travel, love, and second chances.
Down for an adventure that intertwines romance and travel, while taking you into the labyrinth of Bombay’s streets and the human heart?
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Pick your favorite here and add it to your cart now!
#10 The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende
This transcending love story spans continents, from Poland to San Francisco, from WWII to the twenty-first century. This book delves into a profound and enduring love that defies time, cultural boundaries, and personal catastrophes.
Follow a secret romance between a girl fleeing the war and the son of the family’s Japanese gardener. You’ll follow the couple as they prove the enduring power of love that transcends societal norms, distances, and the passage of time. Prepare to explore your identity, displacements, and the deep connections you establish with people, all while testing your self-awareness.
This novel is about a story that will not only pique your wanderlust but will also touch your heart with its timeless romance.
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Books about Travel and Finding Yourself
Books about Travel and Finding YourselfTravel and self-discovery are two components that are tightly linked in literature. Books on travel and self-discovery provide a beautiful combination of both themes, allowing you to embark on a voyage of geographical exploration and internal introspection at the same time.
What Makes Travel Books So Powerful?
For starters, they offer immersive experiences that provide a window into other cultures, landscapes, and peoples from around the world. You can go to different places without even leaving your couch, making it an easy escape.
Second, it’s much more than just the physical travel. They dive into the characters’ transforming journeys – their self-discovery, personal growth, and the profound insights they receive about life and themselves along the way. These works speak to us on a deeper level, often echoing our own search for meaning and identity.
Third, they capture the essence of travel – the sense of freedom, the delight of finding new places, and the transforming experiences that mold and define us – beautifully. The journeys of the characters remind us of our own capacity for change and progress.
After all, it’s a never-ending search for love, connection, and comprehension. These experiences inspire, stir, and leave a lasting impression, whether it’s finding love in a faraway nation, pursuing the monsoon throughout India, or discovering oneself in the seductive streets of Paris.
Last Few Thoughts
Ultimately, these books allow us to discover new horizons while also exploring undiscovered territory within ourselves. They encourage us to enjoy life’s journey with all of its twists and turns, reminding us that every trip, no matter how long or short, leads to self-discovery.
XO,
Anna
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Anna is a traveler, blogger, and entrepreneur who can’t keep herself still. She’s always on the move, whether working hard on a new passion project or exploring a new city as a part-time digital nomad. Dare to keep up? Check out The Tatted Nomad for everything digital nomad, social media marketing, mental health, and travel (and to see her latest addition, Novah, her service dog and travel companion). As a psychotherapist (to be) she also offers insights about your mental health related questions – anything you see that isn’t covered but you have questions about? Let her know!
Ohh fun! Great list of books. I want to check out the Rosie Project.
These sound like good books to read if you want to escape reality. I liked Eat.Pray.Love.
Author
Oh yes!! I love Eat.Pray.Love! It’s a classic!! Have you read any of the other ones yet?