Part memoir, part biography, this book manages to examine a city that has immortalised in art more times than anyone could count, from a new angle. Anyone who has moved to a big city will surely be able to relate \u2013 it is indeed a lonely endeavour and wholly baffling how one can feel so alone, when surrounded by millions of people.<\/p>\n
How Not to Travel the World: Adventures of a Disaster-Prone Backpacker \u2013 Lauren Juliff (2016)<\/h2>\n
It might not seem like the smartest move for the anxiety-ridden and very sheltered Juliff to leave her home country of the UK and begin to navigate the world \u2013 solo. Naturally, she ends up in a series of negative scenarios, incorporating extremely bad luck and even, near-death scenarios. Yet, she perseveres, and you\u2019ve got to take your hat off to her as she overcomes obstacle after obstacle.
\nJuliff has not only written this book but maintains a successful blog and is still on the road with her Kiwi boyfriend, navigating through her anxiety and running into occasional trouble, more than five years later.<\/p>\n
Almost French \u2013 Sarah Turnbull (2004)<\/h2>\n
This book tells the story of Australian journalist Sarah Turnbull\u2019s move to Paris<\/a>, after meeting a Frenchman while travelling. Each chapter focuses on a specific challenge of her life in France, including her struggles with the language, making friends, knowing the right way to dress in the capital, and surviving French dinner parties. Solnit wears many hats; activist, historian, feminist, writer, philosopher but, at heart, she\u2019s a wanderer. In this memoir, she muses upon the concept of \u201cgetting lost\u201d, intertwining history with introspection. Whilst Schuman did spend time both after school and during University in Germany<\/a>, this book is more about living life through another language, rather than the experience of residing in a foreign country. Schuman speaks of her love affair (and continual confusion) with the German language with a sarcastic wit, stacks of self-deprecation and a fresh perspective. This book will have you chuckling the whole way through.<\/p>\n After getting laid off from her copywriting job, DeRuiter decided that she\u2019d take the opportunity to follow the love of her life all around the world \u2013 and blog about it. The Everywhereist has won award after award, and eventually lead to the publishing of this book, regaling her stories of travelling just about everywhere, when she believes she\u2019s much better suited to staying at home and eating snacks in her pyjamas. Twenty-two-year-old Strayed\u2019s life has hit rock bottom. Her mother has died young from cancer, she herself has become addicted to heroin and she no longer wants to be married to the man she loves. Strayed impulsively decides to don a backpack and walk 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, despite a complete lack of hiking experience\u2026 by herself. Step by step, she heals.<\/p>\n Kristin Newman might just have the perfect job. As a sitcom writer, she works nine months of the year and has three months off to do as she pleases. As everyone around her starts shacking up and spawning, she travels all over the world, falling in love with both countries and their intriguingly sexy locals as she goes. Newman writes comedy, so expect to split your sides with laughter at several points during a reading of this book.<\/p>\n Lisa Dempster had reached a crossroads of many sorts in her life. Overweight, depressed and lacking direction, she decides to travel to Japan<\/a> to walk the Henro Michi trail; a 1200-kilometre Buddhist pilgrimage through the mountains of Shikoku, Japan\u2026 in the blistering summer heat. The book is written with humour and has a lot of heart. After reading this memoir, don\u2019t be surprised if you find yourself considering walking the 1200km journey someday yourself.<\/p>\n A young Friedman does something completely uncharacteristic when she packs up and moves to Ireland<\/a> for four months. Here, she meets travel-addict, Carly. The girls instantly bond and their friendship lead them to Carly\u2019s native country of Australia for a money-saving stint, before they journey to South America to travel together for a year. In the late 1970s, at a time when feminism was still in its formative years, a young Davidson procures some feral camels, domesticates and trains them and walks 1,700 miles across the Australian Outback, with mostly only them and her dog for company. She experiences a plethora of emotions along the way and countless obstacles. But \u2013 spoiler alert! – she finishes the track. When Russell\u2019s husband gets his dream job at Lego, the duo packs up their busy London<\/a> lives and move to rural Jutland in Denmark<\/a> \u2013 allegedly the happiest country in the world. A journalist by trade and nature, Russell decides to explore just why the Danish are reputedly so delighted with their lot, in a country that is dark and grey for an alarming portion of the year. She does this through interviews with Danes, undertaking research and musing on her own experiences. Russell\u2019s reflections are delightfully humorous and don\u2019t be surprised if upon finishing the book, you start to look at life a little more \u2018Danishly\u2019 yourself.<\/p>\n After backpacking through India<\/a> in her twenties, Australian Sarah MacDonald was left with, let\u2019s say, not the best memories of what she viewed as a polluted and poverty-ridden country. 11 years later, her boyfriend gets posted to New Delhi<\/a> and she quits her dream job to follow him there. Here she documents what life in India is really like, from both sides of the coin. This is the book for you if you\u2019ve ever made a return (or perhaps an extended) visit to a country that wasn\u2019t quite your cup of tea the first time around. Yet, on the second visit, you start to see it in a different light and realise that every place has its good and bad points. After all, it\u2019s what you make of your time there that has all the difference.<\/p>\n Eaves memoir is not everyone\u2019s cup of tea, as she tends to focus more on the people she meets and relationships she has during her time abroad than the adventures themselves. Her adventures include; trekking through the jungle in Papua New Guinea, navigating the chaos of Cairo<\/a> and living in a boat shed on the Queensland<\/a> coast with a group of surfer boys. Stevens wants to write a novel. Stevens wants to be free of distractions whilst writing said novel. Upon winning an all-expenses-paid fellowship to write anywhere in the world, Stevens chooses the remotest part of the Falkland Islands. She will be the only guest in a house, with nothing to bother her as she writes every day. There are some places you may travel to or even live in where you try your best to make it work\u2026 but it\u2019s almost like that place doesn\u2019t want anything to do with you. Although Kate is an artist, in her memoir she uses words as well as images to sketch her life in Kyoto<\/a>. Rather than a traditional memoir or travelogue, this reads more like a travel journal. It comprises a collection of watercolours with notes observing the idiosyncrasies of Japanese culture from an outsider\u2019s perspective. If you love art or you\u2019re after something a little bit different from the other travel memoirs on this list, then Williamson\u2019s beautiful illustrations may appeal to you.<\/p>\n A wanderer at heart and American-Korean by nationality, Kim journeys to North Korea under the guise of working as a Christian missionary, to educate the sons of high-ranking officials in the country. Kim secretly takes extensive notes on what she hears, feels and experiences, despite being heavily monitored. This memoir is the result of her brave efforts. After a heart-wrenching breakup with her husband \u201cPig\u201d, Jobbins decides rather than mooning around her flat in self-pity, to move to LA<\/a>, purchase a flashy car and take a round trip around America. She may not have any money at her disposal to do so\u2026 but that\u2019s what credit cards are for, right? Are you the kind of traveller who takes to a city by foot? Do you walk along cobblestone streets, wondering what the lives were like of those who took this same path beyond you? Then, you can happily call yourself either a Fl\u00e2neur (a man who saunters around whilst observing the world) or the feminine, made up term Fl\u00e2neuse – which technically doesn’t exist although it most certainly should.<\/p>\n Author Lauren Elkins herself has always felt more at home in cities, seeing them as a setting which inspires thinking and creativity. As she explores her adopted home city of Paris<\/a> and other sprawling metropolises such as London<\/a>, Tokyo<\/a>, Venice<\/a> and New York<\/a>, she consciously follows in the footsteps of notable women such as novelist George Sand, artist Sophie Calle and film-maker Ages Varda. Part biography, part memoir, this book explores the lives of women who have taken to the streets throughout history and so proven that urban rambles are far from being a solely masculine pursuit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Feeling inspired? Book your next adventure here<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n LC Hunter is an ex-expat, who is currently exploring her home country of Australia. She has two ambitions in life \u2013 to travel plastic-free and to one day live on a farm in Tasmania with 11 dogs, a miniature pig and several pygmy goats.\u00a0Follow her travels around Oz and attempts to embrace a greener lifestyle on her blog\u00a0Birdgehls<\/a>\u00a0and on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Simple backpacking tips<\/a><\/p>\n What to do after a break-up<\/a><\/p>\n
\nTurnbull covers how hard it is to acclimatise to a new country, with all its cultural quirks and oddities, whilst dealing with homesickness. On a return visit to Australia<\/a>, she\u2019s struck by a thought that most expats find themselves thinking about \u2013 falling in love with both your country of origin and your new home. \u201cIt\u2019s a curse to love two countries. A blessing and a curse.\u201d Anyone who has ever moved overseas or felt alien whilst travelling in a new country will be able to relate to this book.<\/p>\nA Field Guide to Getting Lost \u2013 Rebecca Solnit (2005)<\/h2>\n
\nThis is not a beach read, her prose is thoughtful and requires all of one\u2019s concentration. Yet, it is the perfect book to read after a journey, when reflecting on different travel adventures and what they have meant to you.<\/p>\n![\"20](\"https:\/\/www.hostelworld.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20-Travel-Memoirs-Written-by-Inspiring-and-Fearless-Women.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSchadenfreude, A Love Story: Me, the Germans, and 20 Years of Attempted Transformations, Unfortunate Miscommunications, and Humiliating Situations That Only They Have Words For \u2013 Rebecca Schuman (2017)<\/h2>\n
All Over the Place \u2013 Geraldine DeRuiter (2017)<\/h2>\n
\nDeRuiter writes not only about her travels, but also her relationships with her Russian father, Italian mother and American brother, her recovery from brain surgery and the highs and lows that one encounters even if they are lucky enough to find the love of their life. And that just is how life goes, isn\u2019t it? As she points out in the close of the book: \u201cEven if you don\u2019t end up where you planned, you still might end up somewhere great.\u201d<\/p>\nWild \u2013 Cheryl Strayed (2012)<\/h2>\n
![\"20](\"https:\/\/www.hostelworld.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20-Travel-Memoirs-Written-by-Inspiring-and-Fearless-Women-Wild.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhat I Was Doing While You Were Breeding \u2013 Kristin Newman (2014)<\/h2>\n
Neon Pilgrim \u2013 Lisa Dempster (2009)<\/h2>\n
The Good Girl\u2019s Guide to Getting Lost \u2013 Rachel Friedman (2011)<\/h2>\n
\nUnlike many books on this list, this memoir is less about personal relationships (although Friedman does meet future Kiwi hubby on her South American trip) and more about a rad friendship, as the two girls learn and grow together, whilst navigating what it means to be a twenty-something woman in the modern world.<\/p>\nTracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback \u2013 Robyn Davidson (1995)<\/h2>\n
\nThis is no easy feat. The Outback is massive and wild, with a range of predators from other feral camels and snakes, to the relentless Australian sun. This is a memoir with a difference, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n![\"20](\"https:\/\/www.hostelworld.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20-Travel-Memoirs-Written-by-Inspiring-and-Fearless-Women-Australian-outback.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Year of Living Danishly \u2013 Helen Russell (2015)<\/h2>\n
Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure \u2013 Sarah MacDonald (2004)<\/h2>\n
Wanderlust: A Love Affair with Five Continents \u2013 Elisabeth Eaves (2011)<\/h2>\n
\nRegardless, Eaves writing is beautiful and melodic and is the perfect read for women wishing to rally against the gender lines that bind us and push out into the world for something a little bit better, a little more spectacular than the path laid down for us.<\/p>\nBleaker House: Chasing My Novel to the End of the World \u2013 Nell Stevens (2017)<\/h2>\n
\nIn these three months, Stevens discovers that she can cut herself off from the people. She can cut herself off from the world. But in the end, it\u2019s her own mind, which proves to be her worst enemy. She may not have written the book she intended to write, but this interesting memoir is what ended up being birthed out of the experience.<\/p>\nThe Thing About Prague \u2013 Rachael Weiss (2014)<\/h2>\n
\nThis was Weiss\u2019 experience in Prague<\/a>. She leaves a good job, her flat, and cat in her hometown of Sydney to travel to the Czech capital, intent on living out the rest of her life there. Despite her best efforts, she lasts just three years.
\nAlthough the book offers up a few insights about life in Prague (there\u2019s an awful lot about dealing with bureaucracy!), it\u2019s more about Weiss\u2019 experience of coming to terms with not being exactly where you envisioned yourself by your 40s and being willing to uproot your comfy life to try and shake things up. To quote wordsmith JK Rowling here, \u201cIt is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all \u2013 in which case, you fail by default.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Travel](\"https:\/\/www.hostelworld.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20-Travel-Memoirs-Written-by-Inspiring-and-Fearless-Women-The-Thing-About-Prague.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA Year in Japan \u2013 Kate T. Williamson (2006)<\/h2>\n
Without You, There is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea’s Elite – Suki Kim (2014)<\/h2>\n
\nKim herself has been hurt by the separation of Korea, where members of her own family were kidnapped or disappeared into the night, never to be heard from again (presumably taken over the border into North Korea). She takes time to consider her own cultural understanding of the fractured Korea, particularly as someone who was born in South Korea<\/a> but grew up American from her early teens onwards.
\nPart memoir, part investigative journalism, this is a fascinating look into how a dictatorship can isolate its subjects from the world, completely control their lives and warp their minds. This book offers unique glimpses into a country and culture that few know much about.<\/p>\nWish You Were Here \u2013 Sheridan Jobbins (2017)<\/h2>\n
\nAlthough at the beginning of her journey Jobbins is determined to drive away from love, she ends up finding it instead \u2013 in the form of a dashing Englishman, half her age (that\u2019s an exaggeration, but he is quite younger). Power to her!
\nThis memoir won\u2019t change your life in any way (or maybe you\u2019ll find yourself booking a one-way trip to LA \u2013 who knows) but Jobbins\u2019 various antics are highly amusing. There\u2019s a lot of fun between these pages.<\/p>\n![\"Travel](\"https:\/\/www.hostelworld.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20-Travel-Memoirs-Written-by-Inspiring-and-Fearless-Women-Wish-you-were-here.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFl\u00e2neuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London – Lauren Elkin (2016)<\/h2>\n
About The Author<\/h3>\n
\ud83d\udc4c\u00a0You might also enjoy;<\/h4>\n
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