We all find travel inspiration from different places.  It could be TV shows (Rick Steves, Samantha Brown, Anthony Bourdain, etc.), Eyewitness, Lonely Planet or other travel guides, friends, or our favorite blogs and websites.

Those are all great sources but some call to each one of us more than others,  some grab our imagination more intensely than others. For me, some of those sources are books other than the standard travel guides, usually books that talk about a journey, an experience.  I’d thought I’d share over time books that have inspired me in one way or another to travel and explore.  So, for the inaugural travel-inspiring read, I present:

“The Alluring Target – In Search of the Secrets of Central Asia”

(Kenneth Wimmel)

This book, which I read in early 1999, made me hunger not only to see Central Asia but to have been one of the early companions of the early explorers the book presents (one of which is supposed to be the inspiration for Indiana Jones).  This books tells the stories of these early travelers, way before TripAdvisor, electronic boarding passes, and, heck, even BEFORE flying.   I wonder if I would have had it in me to do what these men and women did back then!

While it is a book about these explorers, it does present Central Asia in a different way than a travel book may.  It helped me learn more about the importance of the region which, at the time these explorers went, must have seen an even bigger mystery than it is today.  For helping me imagine travel to those parts so long ago, Mr. Wimmel, I thank you!

Whether here or in future post, please share with us what has inspired YOU to travel!