KDL Recommends

Traces the author’s recreation of Hiram Bingham III’s discovery of the ancient citadel, Machu Picchu, in the Andes Mountains of Peru, describing his struggles with rudimentary survival tools and his experiences at the sides of local guides.

Three twenty-something Manhattanites quit their jobs, abandon their boyfriends, and travel around the world for a year, chronicling a journey from Peru to Kenya to Vietnam to Australia, and everywhere in between.

An account of a Francophile’s haphazard relocation to Paris in spite of his lack of French fluency describes how the region considerably differed from his expectations and the ways in which he overcame cultural challenges.

The utterly compelling and inspirational account of how two very different writers tackle their demons walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, the legendary medieval pilgrimage across Spain.

Follows the author’s journey from being a self-described “pampered city girl” to a Peace Corps volunteer, wife, and mother living in Ecuador and Uganda.

A wry account of an adventurous and arduous trek past the Appalachian Trail’s natural pleasures, human eccentrics, and offbeat comforts.

Captures the character of the vast eastern stretches of Russia known as Siberia during Frazier’s repeated visits – from a summer trip across the Bering Strait, to a winter trip to Novosibirsk, and the arduous overland crossing from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

British journalist Grant rides through the Sierra Madre on horseback and narrates his adventures – sampling Mexican folk remedies, consorting with cocaine-snorting cops, teaching English to Guarijio Indians, and hunting for an outlaw’s buried treasure.

Author and teacher Mark Greenside recounts his struggles to fit into the life of a small Celtic village in Brittany.

Hessler investigates China’s lurch into modernity as he survives the advent of the nation’s uniquely terrifying car culture, probes the transformation of village life, and explores China’s frantic industrialization.

A writer and popular blogger describes his experiences using a nearly 50-year old travel guide, Europe on Five Dollars a Day, to explore modern-day Europe and reflects on what has changed and what has not.

Two friends take a month-long canoe trip down the Connecticut River, with one condition: no camping. Mooching their way down the river, they rely on the kindness of strangers every night during their journey of whim, humor, and self-discovery.

Describes how a midlife crisis and chance encounter prompted the author’s relocation to Bhutan, where she volunteered at the country’s first youth radio station and witnessed the rapid changes in the culture of a country just beginning to open up to the modern world.

A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach combines a women’s solo walking adventure with a ground-level view of issues facing Lake Michigan, a crucial source of fresh water.

Casey and Steven met in Morocco, moved to China then went all the way to Timbuktu. This illustrated travel memoir tells the story of their first two years out of college spent teaching English, making friends across language barriers, researching, painting, and learning to be themselves wherever they are.

Describes how the author recreated the journey of British explorer Ewart Grogan across Africa in part to secure a proposal acceptance from his future wife, revealing how Grogan’s sojourn was also performed to establish marital worthiness.

The author provides a day-by-day account of her 1600-mile journey across the Gobi Desert at the age of sixty-three.

Traveling from the megalopolis of Beijing to small, remote trails in the countryside of China and all points in between, Troost sums up the history of a complex culture while featuring visits to Chairman Mao’s remains and a rural market offering scorpion kebabs and cobra hearts as edible delicacies.