Books that took us to another country

It’s not just TV shows that get you on a plane

After months of pre planning and writing these weekly newsletters, I’m trying to not be too prescriptive and instead go in the direction of what I’ve read, loved and am dying to share with you.

On my mind this week: books that inspired me to travel.

The best book I read over the Christmas 2023 break

I had this most recently with Still Life, which had me hook, line and sinker on the idea of Florence. It’s a beautiful read, and whilst the characters are utterly charming the stand out character for me was the city of Florence. Travelling there has been floating around in my mind for months and months, and on our recent ‘no plan’ holiday what can I say, we were just carried to Florence. And marvellous it was. I could happily happily move there for a period, and everyone I’ve spoken to since has declared it their favourite European city.

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A bit more about our trip 👆

I sadly don’t have a pic with the book in it, but this is where I read A Little Life. Poolside in Johannesburg (where I was living at the time), sobbing into this book despite having been taken out by my now husband for a very nice hotel lunch.

This week I am heading to part 2 of my sister’s hen: walking the Camino de Santiago. This has been on ‘a back of my mind bucket list’ ever since reading A Little Life. I can’t say how aware of it I was until it came to planning a trip that fit a range of interests and suddenly this felt like the perfect fit. We’re taking the Portuguese route and I just can’t wait to celebrate my lovely sister on what will be a very memorable experience and trip. I have little to add about the book itself that you won’t have already heard, other than noting that, like the rest of the world, it’s one of my all time favourite books. I thought you might enjoy though that it had me heading for Europe rather than New York, where it is set.

If you’re interested in the walk, you can follow our pilgrimage on @weare.verse.

Up in the mountains, Switzerland.

A recent trip add would be Riga, Latvia as inspired by Caroline Eden’s Cold Kitchen. Food is often the primary inspiration for our holidays, much aided by Munchies (we like chefs night out) and Action Bronson. We’ve had amazing self-guided food tours around everywhere from New Orleans to Paris as a result of these shows. Eden’s descriptions hit a similar note, and her round up of Riga’s cafes and bistros had me heading to the grocery shop to try to recreate some of the items she mentioned. Her food writing is so evocative that it’s gone straight to the top of my travel list. It’s such a beautiful read, I would highly recommend it.

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A pass on from Tom and currently on my ‘to read’ physical bookshelf

I asked Tom which books had made him travel as a result and he mentioned Between Meals by A. J. Liebling. This had him chuckling whilst reading and he gave it the high praise of “making me feel like giving Paris another go”. I am packing it to take away with me this week.

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