One of my favourite genres is reading peoples' tales of their grand, epic, or utterly stupid journeys. I don't know why it appeals to me so much, but it also seems to trigger some great writers. I think these days I mostly enjoy long-since written pieces, travelling when it was difficult, and getting a contemporary history. I'm generally not so much a fan of modern comedic-travel writing that seems to have been triggered by Bill Bryson and feels entirely designed to be read on the radio with little vignettes lightheartedly mocking the locals. Tim Moore recreating the 1914 Giro D'Italia on a very old bike is fun enough to read, but leaves very little impression.
A sort of Top 10 (some of these are in a sort of grey zone between history, travel and politics):
A Short Walk In The Hindu Kush by Eric Newby
A Time Of Gifts - Patrick Leigh Fermor
In Xanadu - William Dalrymple
Imperium - Ryszard Kapusinski
Eastern Approaches - Fitzroy Maclean
Old Glory - Jonathan Raban
High Albania - Edith Durham
Hokkaido Highway Blues - Will Ferguson
Trieste And The Meaning of Nowhere - Jan Morris
Blood River - Tim Butcher
A sort of Top 10 (some of these are in a sort of grey zone between history, travel and politics):
A Short Walk In The Hindu Kush by Eric Newby
A Time Of Gifts - Patrick Leigh Fermor
In Xanadu - William Dalrymple
Imperium - Ryszard Kapusinski
Eastern Approaches - Fitzroy Maclean
Old Glory - Jonathan Raban
High Albania - Edith Durham
Hokkaido Highway Blues - Will Ferguson
Trieste And The Meaning of Nowhere - Jan Morris
Blood River - Tim Butcher
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