Real life journey travel books

[BrieHugger]

I’m looking for books about travel journeys by people who’ve done them, like journals or diaries. I’m not explaining this very well!

I’ve read one about a fella who rode an old postal service bike from Australia to U.K., another about a bunch of lads in a London cab driving across Europe/Asia, a couple about backpackers. I really fancy a SE Asia one, but everything I Google just brings up travel guides!

Can anyone recommend anything, please?

Bill Bryson’s Notes From a Small Island is a great read. If you like his style, he’s written some other travel books too. I enjoyed A Walk In The Woods & Bill Bryson Down Under.

Pretty much anything Dervla Murphy wrote - travels on foot/bike/public transport in Africa/S. America/Asia.

What you want OP is travel writing and travelogues, rather than guide books. I've read loads over the years, but not many set in SE Asia. Off the top of my head (and some of these are quite old!):
Full Tilt: Dervla Murphy
A Bike Ride and Lone Traveller: Anne Mustoe
The Wind in my Wheels: Josie Dew
The Great Railway Bazaar and Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: Paul Theroux
Catfish and Mandala: Andrew X. Pham

Link to Stanfords (the travel bookshop) in London's website. There should be plenty of books here to entice you:
https://www.stanfords.co.uk/books/travel-writing-and-other-literature

Thank you so much! I’m going to have a good look through all of these suggestions, see what grabs me.

Seconding Dervla Murphy and Paul Theroux. Also a favourite of mine, Irma Kurtz’s The Great American Bus Ride. She goes around the US on Greyhound buses.

This is one of my favourite genres! I particularly love:

Any of Michael Palin’s - Around The World in 80 Days, Full Circle, Pole to Pole, Sahara

Patrick Leigh Fermor - A Time of Gifts trilogy

Bruce Chatwin - In Patagonia

Any by Paul Theroux. He is entertainingly grumpy

Rory Stewart has several walking books, I like the one based on a long walk through Afghanistan.

I find Bill Bryson an easy funny read.

Cheryl Strayed Wild is someone walking the Appalachian Way to deal with loss and addiction.

Enchanted Islands by Laura Coffey.

Yes, Bryson is a wonderful, underrated writer.

Yes, yes, yes. I give a treble thumbs up to Patrick Fermor's A Time of Gifts. Not only one of my favourite travel books but one of my favourite books full stop.

Bruce Chatwin is great as well. Not a fan of Theroux at all.

Rosie thomas.....border crossing. It's about the Peking to Paris classic car rally, really enlightening. Also Bill Bryson is very very funny, dry sense of humour which I love x

I haven't read many but did read Round Ireland with a Fridge many years ago.

Jupiter's Travels is by a journalist who went round the world on a motorbike. He's an excellent writer and I loved it.

A Bird Too Far much more about the journey around Europe than birds.

Travels Without my aunt - can’t remember author but that was a good read

Lois Pryce's books are great, and Monica Rajesh