Discover Top 100 Audiobooks in Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

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Title: Reach for the Skies

Subtitle: Ballooning, Birdmen, and Blasting into Space

Author: Richard Branson

Narrator: Adrian Mulraney

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-13-13

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 25 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

"As far back as stories go, pioneers have reached for the skies. In the last 200 years, they have mastered the air and made the modern world possible. Reach for the Skies is my look at the history of flight through the stories and people who have inspired me throughout my life. It is a story of pioneers, and of course it includes the world-famous Montgolfiers and the Wright brothers, but I also want to describe some of the lesser-known trailblazers. People like Tony Jannus, who in 1914 created the first scheduled commercial flight, flying his passengers over the waters of Tampa Bay at an altitude of just 50 feet; the bird man Leo Valentin, who in the 1950s jumped from 9,000 feet with wooden wings attached to his shoulders; and my friend Steve Fossett, who dedicated his life to breaking records and having adventures.

"This is their story. It is also, in a small way, my own." (Richard Branson)

Critic Reviews:

"A quirky, eclectic history of great flights, from balloons to space shuttles." (Kirkus)

"Branson's enthusiasm for avant-garde flight and his firsthand understanding of its rigors make this a rousing - sometimes even elevating - read." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

A hero of our time

I have been a fan of Branson since I was a teenager buying 45's (you have to be the right age to know what one of those are I guess) He seems to be all that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are but without the baggage that makes them un-likeable (Give Gates his due he has come good of late). Being British I guess I could claim some bias in my views as well. I have read all that Branson has published and this book was no exception An inspirational man and an inspirational book.

five star rating

Reach for the Skies: Ballooning, Birdmen, and Blasting into Space

Richard Branson

I received the book on time and it was in good condition.

It is a great book and full of good points.

A great addition to my personal library.

Here to inspire.

Richard Branson is a very interesting man. He is not a know it all but a does it all. This mans life is amazing. He has such great interest in the world around him and it just so happens he likes what I like; Music and aviaton. This guy rocks in both. Super read. Thanks, Rick L.

Five Stars

Amazing man!

I love flying and the balloon stories...

Great book from a visionary's hand

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Title: Naples Declared

Subtitle: A Walk Around the Bay

Author: Benjamin Taylor

Narrator: Edoardo Ballerini

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-23-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 14 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

It is a city of seemingly irreconcilable opposites, simultaneously glorious and ghastly. And it is Ben Taylors remarkable ability to meld these contradictions into a whole that makes this the exciting and original book it is. He takes his stroll around the bay with the acute sensitivity of a lover, the good humor of a friend, and the wisdom of a seeker who has immersed himself in all aspects of this contrapuntal culture. His curiosity leads him to many byways, both real and metaphoric, and his passion for this ancient city and its people becomes, in his graceful prose and amusing anecdotes, irresistibly contagious.

Members Reviews:

What a ride through an amazing city.

What made the experience of listening to Naples Declared the most enjoyable?

A poetic, articulate, and entertaining journey through history exploring one of the most amazing cities in the world.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Naples....the most fascinating of characters!

What about Edoardo Ballerinis performance did you like?

He was able to enhance the poetic nature of the writing.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, easily.

Any additional comments?

It is so refreshing to read real travel literature, something of a rarity these days.

Terrible

I recently listened to Mr. Taylor's memoir ("A Hue and Cry") and thought that it was wonderful, so I was excited to listen to his book on Naples.

This was a mistake on my part.

I had to stop listening to Naples after suffering through 1.5 hours of it. It was so slow moving and rambling. Mr. Taylor is without doubt an erudite writer, but his constant use of Italian phrases was annoying (this book was printed in English, not Italian). The book is neither a travelogue nor a history and its organization follows no logical course. If you want to find out about the history of Naples there are far better books. It you want to get a travel guide for Naples, use Fodor's. In fairness to Mr. Taylor, it is difficult to write glowingly of Naples - I have been there and the city is nothing but filthy and run down. Garbage sits in the streets. It is a true cesspool.

The narrator reads the book as if he is reading to preschoolers. He has an affected habit of raising the lilt in his voice at the end of every sentence (Mr. Taylor, who narrated 'Hue and Cry', is an outstanding narrator and perhaps his voice reading this book might have helped.

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Title: Europe on Five Wrong Turns a Day

Subtitle: One Man, Eight Countries, One Vintage Travel Guide

Author: Doug Mack

Narrator: David Skeist

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-13-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 16 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

Prepare to Get Lost on the Beaten Path...

When Doug Mack picked up a 1963 edition of Europe on Five Dollars a Day, he stumbled on an inspired idea: to boldly go where millions have gone before, relying only on the advice of a travel guide that's nearly a half century out-of-date. Add to the mix his mother's much- documented grand tour through Europe in the late 1960s, and the result is a funny and fascinating journey into a new (old) world, and a disarming look at the ways the classic tourist experience has changed- and has not-in the last generation.

After a whirlwind adventure spanning eight countries-and costing way more than five dollars a day-Mack's endearing account is part time travel, part paean to Arthur Frommer's much-loved guide, and a celebration of the modern traveler's grand (and not-so-grand) tour.

Members Reviews:

Sad sap worked

It is comforting to hear another person's supposedly life-changing trip not penning out as expected, his disappointment and delights on the road echoing mine. Davis Skeist's sappy performance worked for Doug Mack's melancholic and often times melodramatic prose.

BORING!

What would have made Europe on Five Wrong Turns a Day better?

Fantastic idea for a book. Unfortantely, nothing happens even remotely interesting and you get to hear all of that nothingness with one of the most irritating voices you could imagine. Just get a hammer and beat it over your knuckles and save the $20.

Misleading title.

After listening to Europe on five wrong turns I was confused about what I listened to. It was not what I expected. But I cannot say it didn't enjoy the experience, I just haven't found this books purpose. Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's the author taking several wrong turns and finding himself changing the purpose or reason for writing this story and not editing what was already written. I can neither recommend buying Europe on Five Wrong Turns or skipping it. All I ask is, if you listen to it post your thoughts in a review. Maybe it will help me understand the authors message beyond the difference between being a tourist and a traveler. Good luck and happy travels!

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Title: The Old Ways

Subtitle: A Journey on Foot

Author: Robert Macfarlane

Narrator: Roy McMillan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-06-12

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

The unabridged, digital audiobook edition of Robert MacFarlanes The Old Ways, a major new book from one of Britains finest nature writers about landscape and the human heart. Read by Roy McMillan.

In The Old Ways, Robert Macfarlane sets off from his Cambridge home to follow the ancient tracks, holloways, drove-roads, and sea paths that form part of a vast network of routes crisscrossing the British landscape and its waters, and connecting them to the continents beyond. The result is an immersive, enthralling exploration of the ghosts and voices that haunt old paths, of the stories our tracks keep and tell, of pilgrimage and ritual, and of song lines and their singers. Above all this is a book about people and place: about walking as a reconnoiter inwards, and the subtle ways in which we are shaped by the landscapes through which we move.

Told in Macfarlanes distinctive and celebrated voice, the book folds together natural history, cartography, geology, archaeology, and literature. His tracks take him from the chalk downs of England to the bird-islands of the Scottish northwest, and from the disputed territories of Palestine to the sacred landscapes of Spain and the Himalayas. Along the way he walks stride for stride with a 5000-year-old man near Liverpool, follows the deadliest path in Britain, sails an open boat out into the Atlantic at night and crosses paths with walkers of many kinds - wanderers, wayfarers, pilgrims, guides, shamans, poets, trespassers, and devouts.

He discovers that paths offer not just means of traversing space, but also of feeling, knowing, and thinking. The old ways lead us unexpectedly to the new, and the voyage out is always a voyage inwards.

Members Reviews:

A unique book and views

Would you listen to The Old Ways again? Why?

Yes! The meditative rhythm and atmospheric reading are entrancing, while the descriptions are rich.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Old Ways?

Any of the beautiful descriptions of old traditions.

Have you listened to any of Roy McMillans other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but I look forward to.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Walking the paths and past

Not easy but worth the effort.

It took me a little while to get used to the 'voice' of this book. Very descriptive, reflective, introspective, I'm not sure how best to describe it. It conjured some rich word pictures but at times it seemed to require too much concentration and I'm sure I missed some of the detail. I don't want to be over negative; It did keep my interest and I really enjoyed the journey.

Thoughtful and insightful

Could have done without the literature review at the beginning (first hour or so) but once this is dispensed with the author explores the concept of "old ways" in a fascinating and literary manner. Part adventure, part travelogue, part natural science. Hard to define, very enjoyable.

Absolutely Brilliant. A book to be revisited

Would you consider the audio edition of The Old Ways to be better than the print version?

The audiobook was excellent.

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Title: Green Asia

Author: Green Travel Guides

Narrator: uncredited

Format: Unabridged

Length: 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-10-12

Publisher: Puttenham Ltd

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

The internet's most respected popular Green Travel Guides. Come on an eco-journey to some of the Asia's greenest, cleanest, and friendliest destinations. This is a comprehensive green tour compiled right on the scene by our hardy reporters. (It's a tough job!) You can bike through untouched countryside, stroll through vibrant local markets, and even learn how to cook an incredible fresh meal from start to finish before watching the sunset on the bend of the river. You can swim and dive with eco-friendly tour operators, explore the crazy world of Doctor Fish, and party at the full moon party with an eco-conscience - seriously! Why not make your next holiday a green one? It's so easy with our (naturally) paper-free guides.

Let us calmly navigate you around some of Asia's coolest destinations and have lots of fun in the process. Best of all - it's a chance to see a very different side to the world that you find in those boring old traditional guidebooks. Why not make your next holiday a green one? Have a holiday, have a conscience, and most of all, have fun. And do make sure to check out all our individual Green Travel Guides in audiobook format - 14 guides and counting!

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Title: Terra Incognita

Author: Sara Wheeler

Narrator: Patricia Gallimore

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-07-11

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

Sara Wheeler visited Antarctica as a guest of America's National Science Foundation and soon after her arrival fell in love with the frozen landscape and it's harsh beauty. During her seven month stay the author travelled to the various national sectors, visited several national bases and experienced four seasons. The author has a reverence for the early explorer and visits many historic landmarks in her journey across Antartica. Her writing is fresh and humorous and brings an insight into this intriguing continent.

Members Reviews:

Fabulous book, deep and hilarious all at the same time

I came to this book with zero expectations. Simply looking for a good book about Antarctica which wasn't written by yet another macho male explorer. This couldn't have been a more perfect find. Sara's descriptions and historical anecdotes make you feel like you're there with her. And paired with the occasional hilarious remark about her frequently all-male environment it makes for a great audiobook. I've sat contemplating with her, and finally found a writer who like me is sick to death of what she calls the "frozen beards" (men out to see who can get the most dead in a quest for their manliness..!). She makes the whole tale feel so alive by bringing in elements of past explorers writings :) my new favourite book by far!

enthralling

I enjoyed travelling to antarctica and Living on scientific bases with Sara. She had read extensively about antarctic exploration and shared her knowledg seamlessly with her own acutely observed experience of living and working on antarctica. I loved the book learnt a lot and gained new understanding of the world from sarah's acute observation and superb narration. I also found her observation and description of entrenched chauvinism and the continued working of privilege and the class system as seen on the BAS base to be absolutely spot on.

Oh to be Sara Wheeler

Thank you Sara for such an insightful journey. Let me know if you ever want to trade places! I loved the descriptions of Antarctica melded with snippets of science and bound in history.

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Title: On the Slow Train Again

Author: Michael Williams

Narrator: Michael Tudor Barnes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-24-11

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

Michael Williams has spent the past year travelling along the fascinating rail byways of Britain for this new collection of journeys. Here is the 'train to the end of the world' running for more than four splendid hours through lake, loch and moorland from Inverness to Wick, the most northerly town in Britain. He discovers a perfect country branch line in Londons commuterland, and travels on one of the slowest services in the land along the shores of the lovely Dovey estuary to the far west of Wales.

He takes the stopping train across the Pennines on a line with so few services that its glorious scenery is a secret known only to the regulars. Here, too, is the Bittern Line in Norfolk and the Tarka Line in North Devon as well as the little branch line to the fishing port of Looe in Cornwall, rescued from closure in the 1960s and now celebrating its 150th anniversary taking families on holiday to the seaside. From the most luxurious and historic aboard the Orient Express to the most futuristic on the driverless trains of Londons Docklands Light Railway here is a unique travel companion celebrating the treasures of our railway heritage from one of Britains most knowledgeable railway writers.

Members Reviews:

Great narration

I'm really bummed out that for some reason the second part is available as an audiobook, but not the first? I had a rough idea of where in Britain the routes were located, but having a map available would be helpful for potential readers. Not a book that can be read straight through, say a route at a time over a longer period.

Excellent

This is well read and certainly made me want to travel the UK again. This is not only for rail buffs as there is extra interesting facts all along the way. The deep tones of the narrater fit well with the subject.

Charming railway diary

The writing and recounting of the author's travels around Britain on neglected railway lines charms the listener with its mixture of scenery and wistful descriptions of a vanishing world. Recommended.

For those who enjoy Rail travel

Where does On the Slow Train Again rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

This book is for the traveller who enjoys the journey whilst gazing out the picture window at the wonderful scenery

Who was your favorite character and why?

Not applicable

What about Michael Tudor Barness performance did you like?

He's very good with the anecdotes in the local dialect.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No emotional reaction, just sheer pleasure.

Pure immersive nostalgia

Where does On the Slow Train Again rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

Like Churchill's History of the English speaking people for Railway buffs !

What was one of the most memorable moments of On the Slow Train Again?

Both technical , descriptive and humorous

What does Michael Tudor Barnes bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you had only read the book?

Very knowledgeable presented in an interesting and entertaining way... never bored with this book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Really enjoyed the narrator helped to bring the descriptive passages to life.... listened to the book three times now

Any additional comments?

If you like railways , British countryside... and not Beeching ..

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Title: Holidays in Heck

Author: P.J. O'Rourke

Narrator: Dan John Miller

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-01-11

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 21 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

P. J. ORourke is one of his generations most celebrated political humorists, hailed as the funniest writer in America by both Time and The Wall Street Journal. Twenty-three years ago he published the classic travelogue Holidays in Hell, in which he trotted the globe as a trouble tourist, a chaos rubberneck, sight-seeing at wars, rebellions, riots, political crises, and other monuments of human folly. After the Iraq War - too old to keep being scared stiff and too stiff to keep sleeping on the ground - he retired from what foreign correspondents call being a s**thole specialist. But he couldnt give up traveling to ridiculous places, often with his wife and three young children in tow. Usually he was left wishing he were under artillery fire again.

ORourkes journeys take him to locales both near (and nearly bizarre) and far (and far from normal). Having made a joke that Ski magazine takes seriously, he winds up on a family ski vacation - to Ohio. The highest point of elevation is the six-foot ski instructor his wife thinks is cute. Convinced by an old friend and one too many drinks that a horse trek is just backpacking on someone elses back, he finds himself (barely) in the saddle, crossing the mountains to a part of Kyrgyzstan so remote that the Kyrgyzs have never seen it. He visits Kabul for the food and conversation (excellent lamb chops and a droll after dinner story about the mullah and the cow). He even takes his kids to his erstwhile home away from home, the bar at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong.

Would the little ones like something to eat? asked the waiter. They serve food at the FCC? Who knew?

Holidays in Heck shows P. J. ORourke in top form - a little older, a little wiser, going to the bathroom a little more often, but just as darkly funny as he was in Holidays in Hell. Here is a hilarious and often moving portrait of life in the fast lane, as hes always lived it - only this time with the backseat driver that marriage entails and three small hostages to fortune strapped into the booster seats.

Critic Reviews:

A prolific humorist continues his outpouring of solid writing. . . some very fine travel writing, the best of which is wickedly droll O'Rourke at his very best. . . . Here's hoping there's another 15 books still to come. (Los Angeles Times)

[ORourke is] just as funny but also challenging himself when working outside of topicality. . . . a likable, brisk little brother to my favorite, 1988s Holidays in Hell. . . . This is my kind of ORourke: grouchy, quick and there to make you laugh. (San Francisco Chronicle)

In this cheeky follow-up to Holidays in Hell, former war correspondent ORourke trades battle zones for more appealing travel destinations, often with his family in tow. . . . The exotic . . . rub shoulders with the more mundane . . . and all of them share ORourkes razor wit. . . . ORourke loses none of his sly humor, finding many opportunities to lampoon American politics under his new guise as a traveling family man. (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Holidays in Boredom.

I loved Holidays in Hell and have remembered several quotes to recite over the years and still laugh at them. O'Rourke has lost his funny edge in this dreary,boring sequel. Don't waste your time and money on this turkey.

P.J.

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Title: To a Mountain in Tibet

Author: Colin Thubron

Narrator: Steven Crossley

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-01-11

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 24 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

This is the account of a journey to the holiest mountain on earth, the solitary peak of Kailas in Tibet, sacred to one-fifth of humankind. To both Buddhists and Hindus it is the mystic heart of the world and an ancient site of pilgrimage. It has never been climbed. Even today, under Chinese domination, the people of four religions circle the mountain in devotion to different gods. Colin Thubron reached it by foot along the Karnali River, the highest source of the Ganges. His journey is an entry into the culture of today's Tibet, and a pilgrimage in the wake his mother's death and the loss of his family. He undertakes it in order to mark the event, to leave a sign of their passage. He also explores his own need for solitude, which has shaped his career as a writer---one who travels to places beyond his own history and culture, writing about them and about the journey.

Critic Reviews:

"Engrossing and affecting...poignant evocations of his mother and sister, interwoven with his profound respect for the Tibetan culture and landscape, make Thubron's memoir and utterly moving [listen]." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Horrible sound

What disappointed you about To a Mountain in Tibet?

While the story appears interesting, the narrator sounds like he's speaking inside of an empty room or a metal box. There's some kind of strange echo to his voice. It's really disappointing because normally Steven Crossley is an incredible narrator. I don't understand how he could have been associated with anything that has such poor sound quality.

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Title: Travel

Subtitle: London

Author: iMinds

Narrator: Abbey Holmes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 48 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-29-10

Publisher: iMinds

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

Learn about the history of the city of London with iMinds Travel's insightful audio knowledge series.

This collection includes the story of 6 of London's most important and beautiful destinations - The Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the National Gallery of London and St Paul's Cathedral.

iMinds will tell you the story behind the place with its innovative travel series, transporting the armchair traveller or getting you in the mood for discover on route to your destination. Perfect to listen to while commuting, exercising, shopping or cleaning the house.. iMinds brings knowledge to your MP3 with 8 minute information segments to whet your mental appetite and broaden your mind.

Make your MP3 smarter with iMinds MindTracks, intersperse with music and enjoy learning a little about a lot.. knowledge of your own choice and in your own time.

Editorial Reviews:

Are you traveling to the U.K.? Are you stuck in traffic in Houston and wishing you were travelling to the U.K.? Either way, iMinds audiobook introduction to London will temporarily transport you to the land of monarchs, great buildings, foggy streets, immortal theatre, and tea in the afternoon. Narrated by Aussie Abbey Holmes, this audiobook covers the high points of any travelers most necessary stops on a first trip to "The Big Smoke", or "The Great Wen", as some disparage it. Coming in at just under an hour, London will prepare you for Buckingham Palace, St. Pauls Cathedral, and much more.

Critic Reviews:

"I'm learning all sorts of stuff about stuff I didn't even know I didn't know. And it sticks. In a nutshell: wonderful." (Jonathon Margolis, Financial Times)