Learn more about Travelreads
The purpose of this website is to celebrate the very best in travel writing and to inspire a passion for exploring, dreaming, discovering the world around us. And of course, reading. Our carefully curated collection of recommendations and reviews showcases what we consider to be the finest examples of travel literature, hand-picked to satisfy both seasoned globetrotters and armchair adventurers alike. We love travel books and aspire to create the world’s largest online travel bookstore. Whether you're planning your next journey or simply seeking to escape through the pages of a book, we hope you find something you will enjoy.
Meet the Founder
Welcome to Travelreads! I started building this website (previously called A5 Travel Books) in 2011 while brainstorming on a how-to-build-a-website project with my oldest daughter. One of my favorite books as a kid was The Boy Who Sailed Around the World Alone, a story of a 16-year-old boy named Robin Lee Graham who set out to sail around the world alone, returning five years later. Not sure if it was the independence or the adventure that appealed to me, but it certainly was the start of a lifelong love of travel and of travel writing.
Our selection spans a diverse range of travel reads including globally acclaimed bestsellers, gems from niche categories like adventure and funny travel books, travel writing collections, timeless classics of travel literature, and even a few captivating choices for younger readers. We can personally vouch for each book we have included, having read them ourselves, and you can trust that our reviews are independent. We will accept free books from authors to read, but we do not take any other direct compensation and we don’t promise any positive reviews. You won’t find negative reviews here, as we just don’t share information on books that we don’t really love. If someone buys a book on Amazon after clicking through our links, we may earn a small commission, but that is no something that affects our editorial independence.
My first travel guidebook remains one of the loves of my life. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to backpack around Europe in the summer of 1989 with two close friends, a Eurail train pass, and a book called Let’s Go Europe. This was before cell phones, and so we lived and died with the recommendations in that guide.
Thank you for visiting, and I sincerely hope you find a travel read that gets you to explore, dream and discover. Please feel free to follow us on social media and to help the community with your own suggestions. Happy reading!
Alan Josephs