Recommendation: Youth traveling/ finding oneself

[phoenixhazard]

I am looking for a book I can really relate to. I love to travel the world and have been trying to find myself for a while. I would love to read a book about this that perhaps can speak to me in some way. I have read On The Road but felt that was dated enough and only in the USA that I didn't really relate.

[Bowlie]

I don't know and probably doubt this book has much self-discovery in it, but it looks like a lot of fun (it's been on my "To Read" list for awhile and I haven't gotten to it yet):

The Ridiculous Race
by Steve Hely and Vali Chandrasekaran

It also seems to be pointed to a somewhat younger audience.

[The Mythwriter]

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is somewhat well known, though it too is in the U.S. One of the books on my shelf that I've been meaning to read is called The Only Road North by Erik Mirandette, and it describes a journey in Africa and is supposed to have a lot of introspective material.

(Both are nonfiction, I assumed that was what you were asking for)

[phoenixhazard]

Fiction would be fine too. So far I have had very few books really speak to me. The only one that truly did was the Catcher in the Rye, exactly how I felt and still feel, I'm 25 by the way. Looking for an experience like that.

[Bowlie]

Hmmm...I know both my sister-in-laws really liked the movie, Into the Wild because the main guy was such a free spirit. I thought in the book he came off as being more reckless and possibly mentally ill. I read it awhile back though so maybe I missed something.

[LauraH]

Okay, I'm about your age, and here are a few books that have spoken to me. (I also loved "Catcher in the Rye")

Catch by Will Leitch
Okay by Katherine Marple
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Calling Home by Janna McMahon

All are a little about going somewhere else in order to find yourself.

[phoenixhazard]

sweet, thanks everyone!

I just have a massive case of wanderlust and have traveled for past 6 months around Asia, including bunch of other trips. I can't seem to figure out what to do with myself and figured a book would be a great place to learn from past experiences like mine. Figure I can't be the only one that feels at home on the road :S

I went to the library and put those books on hold, got Carnet de Voyage for the mean time.

[Woodland Nymph]

Try Going Bovine by Libba Bray; that book had the wackiest road trip ever (and I've read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), but at the same time the book was quite moving, and the teenage main character, who is dying from bovine spongiform encephalopathy, changes drastically along the way.

[MoreCowbell]

Try:

Burial Brothers: From New York to Rio in a '73 Hearse by Simon Mayle
The Beach by Alex Garland
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
Bill Bryson…The Lost Continent: Travels In Small-Town America, Notes From A Big Country
Gone South by Robert McCammon
Midnight Express by Billy Hayes


I also loved Into the Wild, as well as The Catcher in the Rye. Have you ever tried fantasy? Our world is really interesting but I have gotten interested in some others, such as Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series.