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10 of the best road-trip novels

What's better than hitting the open road and going wherever the wind takes you? Well, not that much actually. But what's the second best thing? Living a road-trip vicariously through reading. Whether you're looking for some inspiration for your next journey, you’re currently on the road, or you’re just looking to get whisked away by a book, these novels are sure to deliver!

Note: the links in this story take you to the Bookshop.org storefront for our sister magazine, Oh Reader . Bookshop supports independent bookstores.

10. On the Road , by Jack Kerouac

Okay, let's get the most obvious one out of the way. On the Road more or less invented (or at least reimagined) the notion of “the great American road trip.” This novel, based on true events, reads like jazz and gives an earnest look at the beat generation of the fifties.

9. The Wangs Vs. The World , by Jade Chang

Published in 2016, Jade Chang's debut novel follows a Chinese-immigrant family as they take a road trip across America. Recently ruined by the financial crisis, the Wangs find new meaning on the road in relation to the country they live in and the bonds they have as a family. 

8. The Red Car , by Marcy Dermansky

When Leah's mentor passes away and leaves Leah her prized red sports car in her will, our main character is forced to go across the country to claim it. As she navigates this journey, she winds up questioning her life and coming to some important realizations thanks to the open road.

7. The Grapes of Wrath , by John Steinbeck

Not every road trip is about adventure for adventure's sake. In John Steinbeck's literary masterpiece, r eaders follow an Oklahoma family as they try to find work during the Great Depression. This heart-rending story takes an intimate look at one of the most difficult periods in the US, and the need for humans to go out and search for new hope.

6. Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden

This beautifully illustrated graphic novel follows two women on the run as they journey through West Texas with their mysterious cat. The dialogue is incredibly relatable, and the connection that the two form throughout the road trip is inspiring.

5. Lake Success , by Gary Shteyngart

The hilariously narcissistic character in Gary Shteyngart's Lake Success will keep you on the edge of your seat. When the main character, Barry, an extremely wealthy hedge-fund manager, faces turmoil in his family and his career, he decides to hop on the Greyhound in search of a new life.

4. Reservation Blues , by Sherman Alexie

This magical realist novel all starts when delta blues legend Robert Johnson appears on the reservation of Spokane Native American Thomas Builds and gives him an enchanted guitar. After receiving the gift, Thomas forms a band and embarks on a magical tour throughout the country.

3. The Road , by Cormac McCarthy

This one might go down as the bleakest, most depressing road trip in the history of literature. Cormac McCarthy's The Road follows a father and son as they try to survive in post-apocalypse USA. All they have is each other and the road they follow in hope that it leads to a new beginning. No matter how difficult your road trip is, this one has you beat!

2. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas , Hunter S. Thompson

There are few writers as unique as Hunter S. Thompson. Blurring the lines between fiction and reality in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thompson takes readers down the rabbit hole of a drug-addled road trip into the depths of Vegas. You don't have to be into illicit substances to enjoy this prose, and remember: Don't be like Hunter! Drive sober! 

1. The Odyssey , Homer

Okay, so there technically are no paved roads or cars in The Odyssey, but the spirit of road tripping emanates from every page of this story as Odysseus travels the globe in search of adventure. If only he were alive today… he’d definitely be a van-lifer.

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Stories for Children

Lower-intermediate level, car journey, episode 210312 / 12 mar 2021.

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Little Monsters

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“Are we nearly there yet?” asked Bella, banging her feet against the back of Mum's seat. Joe, who was sitting next to her, groaned. “That's the tenth time she's asked that. And there's still miles to go.” The Hobson family were off to Scotland to visit Nana and Gramps. It was school holidays, and they were going to spend a whole week there. They had crammed all their suitcases into the car and said goodbye to their friends and to Granny, who was going to look after their pets while they were away. Now, Bella and Joe were sitting in the back seat. But Bella was bored. “Why don't you have a nap, Bella?” suggested Dad. “I'm not sleepy!” “Why not watch another film on your tablet?” “Don't want to.” “Let's play I Spy,” said Mum. “You start, Joe.” Bella always enjoyed playing this game. Joe had to choose something that he could see, and everyone else had to guess what it was. Joe looked around and saw some cows grazing in a field. “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with C.” “Car,” guessed Mum. “No.” “Camper van,” guessed Dad. “No.” “Cloud?” guessed Bella. “No.” “What is it then?” “Cow,” said Joe. “But I can't see any cows,” said Bella, looking around. “Well, no,” Joe admitted. “We've gone past now. But there was a field of cows before.” Bella wasn't pleased. So Joe let her have a turn. The trouble was, they soon ran out of things to “I spy”. There wasn't much to see, apart from fields and hedges, the road in front of them, and the traffic going past. So it was a great relief when Dad suddenly said, “I spy coffee,” and Mum turned the car off the motorway and into a motorway service station. Having a snack cheered everybody up. Then they put more petrol in the car. “It won't be long now,” said Mum as they set off. But as Dad drove towards the motorway, they got a terrible shock. There were cars as far as the eye could see, and none of them was moving. It was a giant traffic jam. “There must be roadworks,” said Mum. “It's going to take hours,” said Joe. Dad turned the car around. “We won't go on the motorway. We'll take the small roads instead.” “But we don't know the way,” Mum said. “We'll use our phones. They will show us the way!” They drove into the hills. There were no more cars. There was no traffic at all. The trouble was, soon there was no phone reception either! “I knew this was a bad idea,” said Mum. “Nonsense,” said Dad. “I know where we're going!” Bella fell asleep. The roads grew narrower and turned into country lanes. Eventually, they arrived at a crossroads. “Now what?” said Mum. “Left or right or straight ahead?” “Hmm,” said Dad. “We're lost,” said Mum. “Admit it! There's nobody to ask, either.” Mum and Dad started squabbling. Joe sat and wondered what they should do. He had no idea which way led to Scotland. The only good thing was that Bella was still asleep, so at least he didn't have to listen to her complaining, and asking how long it would be. Suddenly, Bella woke up. “Are we nearly there yet?” “No,” said Joe. “We don't know which way to go.” Bella pointed out the window. “That way!” she said firmly. Dad started the car and drove the way that Bella had pointed. “But she's just guessing!” Joe said. “She sounds very sure,” said Dad. “After all, we have to go somewhere!” They hadn't travelled far when Mum gave a cry. “Look! A signpost! Bella was right!” Joe had to laugh. It might have been a lucky guess, but still, if it weren't for Bella, they would still be arguing at the crossroads. “Are we nearly there yet?” Bella asked. “Yes,” said Joe, “this time we really are!” 

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In this episode, Bella and Joe go on a car journey and get lost on the way – can Bella help them find their way?

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In this episode, Joe struggles in his exam but gets a little help from his sister, Bella, and a magic pencil!

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Episode 210226 / 26 feb 2021.

In this episode, Bella and Joe’s family go on a shopping trip – but Bella goes missing! Where could she be?

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In this episode, a rainy day spoils Bella and Joe’s plans for the day so they have to make their own fun.

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In this episode, Bella goes on her first camping trip and Joe gets a fright!

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Episode 210129 / 29 jan 2021.

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Episode 210122 / 22 Jan 2021

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Episode 210115 / 15 jan 2021.

In this story for children, Bella helps her big brother, Joe, make the most of a golden opportunity.

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Episode 210108 / 08 jan 2021.

Bella has her first day in school but needs some help from her big brother, Joe! Find out what happens in 'Back to School'

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Episode 191125 / 25 nov 2019.

Can Nell convince her friends and you that a book is more exciting than a mobile phone or a tablet? Find out in Nell's Book.

Episode 191118 / 18 Nov 2019

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Episode 191111 / 11 nov 2019.

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Episode 191014 / 14 oct 2019.

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Milly and the Rainbow

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Milly finds a rainbow at the bottom of her garden. What happens when Milly tries to touch the rainbow?

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Drive My Car: 20 Must-Read Road Trip Books

Isabelle Popp

Isabelle Popp has written all sorts of things, ranging from astrophysics research articles and math tests to crossword puzzles and poetry. These days she's writing romance. When she's not reading or writing, she's probably knitting or scouring used book stores for vintage gothic romance paperbacks. Originally from New York, she's as surprised as anyone that she lives in Bloomington, Indiana.

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An apocryphal quote floating around dictates that all great literature is either a man going on a journey or a stranger coming to town. Leaving aside the limited thinking evident in this quote — what about the great literature where an animal goes on a journey??? — I am inclined to agree with one part of it. Road trip books make for some of the best literature around. The setting provides so much opportunity for discovery: of landscapes, fellow travelers, and of characters’ true selves. Traveling inevitably creates unforeseen problems to solve and prompts vulnerability for characters out of their element. Road trip books typically have a goal, even if the real treasure ends up being the friends made along the way.

I wanted to dig a little deeper than some of the obvious standards, like On the Road or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas . I’ve toured the world of books by car, picking roadside stops among fiction and nonfiction, middle grade books and historical romance novels. Many people think of road trip books as a distinctly American genre, so I wanted to challenge that notion as well. In the end, I have a very special vacation slideshow to share with you, if I do say so myself. 

In the Face of the Sun by Denny S. Bryce

A dual timeline is one of my favorite formats for a novel, so one with a road trip woven in is sure to catch my attention. This novel alternates between 1968 and 1928. In the latter timeline, audacious Aunt Daisy is rescuing her pregnant niece, Frankie, from her abusive marriage by escaping along Route 66. Meanwhile, we follow young Daisy in 1928 Hollywood, chasing her journalism dreams by writing for Black-owned papers. This compelling story is ideal for anyone who enjoys a family saga steeped in Black history.

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

A YA romance road trip story that takes place on an influencer tour bus? Yes. Moon Fuentes is in the shadow of her famous twin sister, but agrees to sling merch for her over a summer. The forced proximity with her new nemesis, Santiago, blooms into something unexpected in this gorgeous book tinged with magical realism.

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal

This book highlights the ways religious pilgrimage intersects with the road trip format. Following three sisters who’ve drifted apart in adulthood, the novel reunites them in India. There they are carrying out their mother’s last wish to carry out her final rites at the ​​Golden Temple in Amritsar. This poignant novel navigates the complexities of tradition and modernity for the three British-born women while providing them with unexpected moments of discovery that are by turns humorous and heartbreaking.

In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse by Joseph M. Marshall III

The sad truth is that most road trip books set in America forget whose land they’re driving through. This heartwarming novel, however, provides readers an education in Indigenous history as the main character, Jimmy McClean, gets a lesson in his Lakota roots from his grandfather. Their travels bring them to sites relevant to the life of Tasunke Witko, better known as Crazy Horse.

A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare

This might be my desert island romance novel. Minerva and Colin’s journey from Spindle Cove to Scotland, with Minerva’s fossil in tow, is the very best in historical road trip romance. It’s a nerdy woman meets charming rake story, and even writing this little blurb makes me sure it’s time for another reread. The entire Spindle Cove series is top tier romance, but it’s perfectly fine to start with this one.

Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden

Road trip books do turn up among graphic novels as well. Are You Listening? chronicles the journey across West Texas for Lou and Bea, two women struggling with grief and trauma. There’s a touch of magic in this book, represented by a cat who joins the trip. This is a demonstration of the opportunities for connection and real listening provided by a long, lonely road.

Getting Mother’s Body by Suzan-Lori Parks

I love when novels can provide two opposing characters with equally compelling motivations. When a letter arrives notifying Billy Beede, poor and pregnant, that a supermarket is going in where her mother’s body is currently resting, Billy takes action. She needs to find out whether Willa Mae Beede really was buried with a fortune’s worth of gems. Meanwhile, Dill Smiles, Willa’s love, wants to keep her in the ground. It’s a twist on William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying that deeply examines desire, need, and greed.

All My Mother’s Lovers by Ilana Masad

While road trips are one of my favorite settings for books, characters discovering they never really knew someone close to them is one of my favorite plots. So All My Mother’s Lovers is right in my wheelhouse. In it, Maggie hand delivers letters on behalf of her suddenly deceased mother. The recipients of these letters upturn everything Maggie thought she knew about her family. This story’s meditation on grief, identity, and family is powerful and bittersweet.

The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño

There is a simple way to describe the road trip in this novel. Two poets in Mexico City, ​​Arturo Belano and Ulises Lima, travel to the desert to find another poet who has vanished. But that simple goal turns into a much more complex story that tracks Belano and Lima’s lives 20 years later. This novel, jam-packed with characters and ideas, is the ideal book for when you want a challenging book whose impact will travel with you through the decades.

Somewhere in the Darkness by Walter Dean Myers

Walter Dean Myers knew that kids deserve stories with real complexity, filled with believable characters and symbolism younger readers can grasp. Somewhere in the Darkness features the cross-country trip of 14-year-old Jimmy and his father Crab. Crab’s on the run from the law, but he’s seeking the man who can exonerate him. The road trip does not magically fix their troubled relationship, but it shows how understanding can blossom into forgiveness.

Nevada by Imogen Binnie (June 7)

As the old saw says, wherever you go, there you are. This is true for Maria Griffiths, a trans woman living in Brooklyn. When she feels like her life is falling apart, she steals her ex’s car and heads west. When she meets someone at a pivotal moment in their life, she finally realizes what she’s avoiding. This is a book that resonates with many trans readers for its honest depiction of the experiences, emotions, and thought patterns of its trans main character. Likewise, cis people can benefit from reading such a nuanced character study. 

Love Is an Ex-Country by Randa Jarrar

Among nonfiction road trip books, Love Is an Ex-Country is vital for showing how travel in the United States functions very differently depending on what you look like. Jarrar is a fat, queer, Muslim, Arab American who recounts her trip from California to Connecticut in 2016. She encounters hostility, but as a victim of abuse as well as online threats against her life, she knows well how survival mode functions. It’s a brazen book that doles out plentiful laughs along with copious tears.

Night Hawk by Beverly Jenkins

One of the great things about Beverly Jenkins’s bibliography is that so many readers have different favorite books. Another of the great things about her work is that characters connect across series and time periods. So once you read Night Hawk , the historical romance in which bounty hunter Ian Vance is tasked with bringing sassy Maggie Freeman to justice, you’ll have to read everything else she’s ever written.

The Aeneid by Virgil

If it’s possible to underappreciate a classic, I dare say The Aeneid has met this fate. Retellings and adaptations of Homer’s epic poems abound. I say The Aeneid is due for such a treatment! The tale of Aeneas follows his journeys from the fall of Troy until he winds up in Italy, the ancestor of Romans. I love a good journey to the underworld, and The Aeneid has an especially heartbreaking one.

The New Life by Orhan Pamuk

Books about books! I can never get enough. Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk’s entry in the road trip canon chronicles the journey of Osman. He becomes enchanted by a novel and sets out to create for himself the life it promises. Reading this, you’ll wonder whether Osman has lost his grip on reality while you vicariously experience his travel from Istanbul to the Anatolian steppes.

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

The stories of the assassinations of U.S. presidents are so much wilder than what I was ever taught in school. Sarah Vowell has an incredible knack for storytelling and inspiring her readers to take an interest in the rich details in history. She uncovers fascinating stories wherever she goes. Because of reading her books, I find myself pausing to read the signs whenever I come across a historic place in my travels, a habit I have found deeply enriching.

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

Jesmyn Ward’s novel, at its essence a road trip Leonie takes with her children to reunite with their father, just released from the Mississippi State Penitentiary, is a true southern gothic Odyssey. This is a road trip book that nods to hallowed literature while investigating the claustrophobia that can accompany being enclosed in a car. Cars can be haunted houses, too.

Girls on the Verge by Sharon Biggs Waller

While many road trips are undertaken for fun, plenty come out of brutal necessity. Girls on the Verge follows Camille, who is pregnant in Texas and needs an abortion. When her best friend disagrees with her decision to end the pregnancy, she reaches out to a near-stranger for a ride. Then her friend has a change of heart, and the three end up in the car together on a journey demonstrating the lengths pregnant people have to go to to have control over their bodies.

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli

Here’s an ambitious and multi-media road trip book. Following a family traveling to the Southwest to learn more about Apache history, their story becomes embroiled with those of refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border. If you’re looking for a novel that is both incredibly daring while remaining true to its road trip roots, this one is timely and thought-provoking.

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

I’m sure I’m not the only one who loves books about animal journeys, as I mentioned up top. The Incredible Journey hit me at a very formative time. The Travelling Cat Chronicles feature a man named Satoru and his adopted stray, Nana, traveling around Japan in a silver van to visit some friends. You will not be surprised to find that the journey ends up having deeper meaning, as journeys always do. Yes this book does feature the cat’s perspective and — spoiler alert — yes, the book does follow to the end of the cat’s long and happy life.

I come by my love of road trips honestly. As a kid, all of my travel was by car, and I’ve driven in 48 of 50 states — I’m coming for you, Wisconsin and North Dakota! I’m even planning a couple of road trips for this summer. If you, like me, truly love a road trip, you’ll want even more suggestions, I’m sure. We’ve got thought-provoking and feel-good road trip books . And if you need an audiobook while you’re on a trip , pass me that aux, we’ve got some listening to do. Let’s hit the road.

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Stories for Car Journeys

By: Ladybird

• Narrated by: Katie Leung , Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
• Length: 1 hr and 23 mins
• 3.0 out of 5 stars 3.0 (1 rating)

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Stories for Four-Year-Olds

• Narrated by: Nigel Pilkington, Sophie Aldred
• Length: 32 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 9
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 6
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 6

Ideal for sharing on a journey or at bedtime, this audio collection of six entertaining animal stories includes: 'Ernest Takes a Ride', 'The Jumble Sale', 'Noisy Norman', 'Mervyn's Glasses', 'The Queue' and 'The up and down Story'.

Ladybird Stories for Rainy Days

• Narrated by: Michael Obiora, Pearl Mackie
• Length: 1 hr and 19 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 1
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 1
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 1

A collection of original audio stories for those days when it is too wet for outdoor adventures. Especially written for little dreamers and young explorers who never let the weather get in the way of their next adventure. This edition is filled with creative and engaging sound effects and is the perfect wet weather companion for little listeners everywhere. 

Ladybird Funny Stories for 4 Year Olds

• Narrated by: Katy Wix, Rhashan Stone
• Length: 1 hr and 16 mins
• Performance 0 out of 5 stars 0
• Story 0 out of 5 stars 0

A collection of hilarious original audio stories for raising lots of laughs and giggles. These new stories are especially written for families to listen to, publishing to coincide with April Fool's Day! With more than an hour of audio, this edition is filled with funny and engaging sound effects, guaranteed to raise laughs from little listeners everywhere. This audiobook is aimed at children aged four and over, for family listening and learning and development for young minds.

Ladybird Spooky Stories

• Narrated by: Tyger Drew-Honey, Rameet Rauli
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 3
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 2
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A collection of 10 original spooktacular original audio stories for three- to seven-year-olds. These new stories are especially written for family or independent listening and contain fun sound effects and specially commissioned music to entertain young minds! 

Ladybird Sleepy Tales

• Ten Calming Stories to Help Little Children Relax at Bedtime
• Narrated by: Candida Gubbins
• Length: 2 hrs and 30 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 9
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 7
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 7

Create a relaxing environment for your child's bedtime routine with this calming audio collection. Developed with The Children's Sleep Charity, and parent-tested, Ladybird Sleepy Tales are specially designed to help 3- to 6-year-olds wind down after a day's activity. They're the perfect calming tool to share before or after your bedtime story, as part of your nightly routine. Each tale is 15 minutes long, so you can put your audiobook sleep timer on with no need to return to the screen.   

• 5 out of 5 stars
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Stories for Three-Year-Olds

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• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 13
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This charming collection of audio stories is perfect for your three-year-old. Ideal for sharing on a journey or at bedtime, this collection includes eight entertaining animal stories: 'Christine's Cornflake', 'The Dirty Dinosaur', 'The Race', 'Where's Teddy?', 'Stop It!', 'No Room for Panda', 'Nigel's Toothache' and 'Indoor Sports'.

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Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Ladybird.

A collection of original audio stories for little adventurers and bold travellers. These new stories are especially written for families to listen to in the car, at the airport, on the train or while they are on their way to their next adventure!

This edition is filled with creative and engaging sound effects and is the perfect travel companion for little listeners everywhere.

Narrated by award-winning voice actor Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Katie leung, best known for her portrayal of Cho Chang in the Harry Potter films.

This audiobook is aimed at children aged 4+, for family listening and learning and development for young minds.

Other audiobooks in the Ladybird Audio Original series include Ladybird Stories for Rainy Days , I'm Ready for Big School and the Ladybird Audio Adventures .

• Unabridged Audiobook
• Categories: Children's Audiobooks

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• Overall 0 out of 5 stars 0

Immerse yourself in the wonderful worlds of witches, wizards and unicorns and meet some incredible magical creatures in five new adventures! These new magical stories are the perfect listen for young children with big imaginations. This fun audiobook is filled with creative and engaging sound effects and is the perfect listening experience for little listeners everywhere.

Ladybird Tales: The Complete Audio Collection

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Ladybird presents Ladybird Tales , a bright, richly adventurous audio storytelling experience. Reimagining classic fairy tales in a magical audiobook collection. Perfect for entertaining the little ones aged five and up. Featuring immersive sound design and beautifully composed music to whisk the whole family away on a magical adventure.

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Ladybird Tales of Adventurous Girls

• Narrated by: Jacqueline Wilson, Vanessa Kirby
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Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Ladybird Tales of Adventurous Girls retold by Julia Bruce, read by Jacqueline Wilson and Vanessa Kirby. Girls can save the day too, and they always have.... Join six adventurous girls from around the world as they use their wits, courage and strength to overcome the odds. With an introduction from award-winning author Jacqueline Wilson. Perfect for bedtime, these empowering tales show that girls can be the heroes of any story. 

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• Drive & Learn: Must-Have Educational Audio Books for Car Journeys

By Stacy Porter | Blog

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Making Car Journeys Educational and Entertaining

When embarking on a long car journey, I find that audio books are a fantastic way to make the trip both educational and entertaining. By immersing myself in a captivating story or engaging non-fiction content, I can pass the time while expanding my knowledge and stimulating my imagination. There are several reasons why I choose educational audio books for my car journeys.

The Power of Audio Books for Car Journeys

Audio books have the unique ability to transport me into a world of words and ideas, allowing me to explore new topics and perspectives even while on the road. The spoken narration brings the story or information to life, creating a captivating experience that keeps me engaged throughout the journey.

One of the key advantages of audio books for car journeys is that they require minimal effort. Unlike reading a physical book, I can simply sit back, relax, and listen to the narration without the need for any visual focus. This makes audio books an ideal choice for those who may experience motion sickness or prefer a more relaxed driving experience.

Additionally, audio books provide a wonderful opportunity for multitasking . While driving, I can listen to educational content and make the most of my time by learning something new. Whether it’s delving into a historical biography or exploring a scientific concept, I can expand my knowledge and intellectual horizons while reaching my destination.

Why Choose Educational Audio Books

Choosing educational audio books for car journeys offers numerous benefits. Not only do they entertain and educate, but they also provide valuable learning opportunities for people of all ages. Here are a few reasons why I find educational audio books to be a great choice:

Learning on the Go : Educational audio books allow me to continue learning even when I’m away from traditional learning environments. Whether I’m commuting to work, going on a road trip, or running errands, I can utilize this time to enhance my knowledge and stay intellectually engaged.

Expanding Knowledge : Educational audio books cover a wide range of topics, from history and science to personal development and business. By choosing books that align with my interests or areas I want to explore, I can expand my knowledge in a way that is both enjoyable and convenient.

Engaging Narration : Many educational audio books are narrated by professional voice actors who bring the content to life with their expressive voices and engaging storytelling techniques. This makes the learning experience more enjoyable and helps to maintain my attention and focus.

Suitable for All Ages : Educational audio books cater to a diverse audience, including children, teenagers, and adults. There are age-appropriate options available, allowing everyone in the family to enjoy an educational and entertaining journey together.

By selecting educational audio books for car journeys, I can make the most of my travel time and transform it into a valuable learning experience. Whether I’m interested in historical biographies, scientific discoveries, or personal development, there are plenty of educational audio books to choose from that cater to my specific interests and preferences.

Educational Audio Books for Young Children

When it comes to car journeys, educational audio books can be a fantastic way to keep young children engaged and learning while on the go. These audio books offer a combination of entertaining stories and educational themes , making them both enjoyable and beneficial for young minds. Here are a few types of educational audio books that are particularly well-suited for young children:

Engaging Stories with Educational Themes

Educational audio books for young children often feature captivating stories that are designed to entertain and engage their imagination. These stories may revolve around themes such as friendship, problem-solving, or environmental awareness. By incorporating educational elements into the narrative, children can learn important life lessons and develop their moral compass while enjoying an entertaining story.

Learning Alphabet, Numbers, and Colors

For preschoolers and younger children, audio books that focus on teaching fundamental concepts like the alphabet, numbers, and colors can be highly beneficial. These audio books often use catchy songs, rhymes, and repetitive patterns to help children memorize and recognize these essential building blocks of learning. Through listening and repetition, children can reinforce their understanding of these concepts while having fun on the journey.

Developing Vocabulary and Language Skills

Audio books that introduce new vocabulary and promote language development are particularly valuable for young children. These books expose children to a wide range of words and phrases, helping to expand their vocabulary and improve their language skills. As they listen to the audio books, children can learn new words, understand their meanings in context, and enhance their overall language comprehension.

By incorporating educational audio books into car journeys, young children can enjoy the entertainment value of stories while simultaneously benefiting from the educational content. These audio books can foster a love for learning and contribute to the development of essential skills in a fun and engaging manner.

Remember to choose audio books that are appropriate for the age group of your child. Narration and voice acting quality, as well as the duration and format options, should also be considered when selecting the right audio book. For more information on audio books for different age groups and genres, check out our article on educational audio books for long drives .

Educational Audio Books for Older Children and Teens

When it comes to older children and teens, there are various educational audio books available that can both entertain and educate. These audio books cover a range of subjects and topics, catering to different interests and learning preferences. Here are three categories of educational audio books that are popular among older children and teens: historical and biographical audiobooks , science and nature audiobooks , and language learning and skill development .

Historical and Biographical Audiobooks

Historical and biographical audiobooks offer a captivating way for older children and teens to learn about significant events, figures, and time periods. These audio books bring history to life, providing an immersive experience that engages young listeners. From ancient civilizations to modern-day events, historical audiobooks allow listeners to delve into the past and gain a deeper understanding of different cultures and societies.

Biographical audiobooks, on the other hand, introduce young listeners to the lives and achievements of notable individuals. By listening to the stories of inspiring people, such as scientists, artists, activists, and leaders, children and teens can broaden their knowledge and be inspired by the achievements and struggles of these individuals.

Science and Nature Audiobooks

For young enthusiasts with a curiosity about the natural world, science and nature audiobooks are a great choice. These audio books cover a wide range of scientific topics, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, and more. By listening to these educational audio books, older children and teens can explore the wonders of the universe, learn about the diversity of life on Earth, and understand scientific concepts in an engaging and accessible way.

Science and nature audiobooks often incorporate fascinating facts, real-life examples, and captivating stories to make complex scientific subjects more relatable and enjoyable. Whether it’s learning about the mysteries of the deep sea, the intricacies of the human body, or the wonders of the cosmos, these audio books provide an educational and entertaining journey into the world of science.

Language Learning and Skill Development

Audio books are an excellent tool for language learning and skill development. Older children and teens can enhance their language skills, whether it’s learning a new language or improving their vocabulary and grammar in their native language. Language learning audio books often include interactive exercises, dialogues, and pronunciation guides to help listeners develop their language proficiency.

In addition to language learning, audio books can also help older children and teens develop various other skills, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and communication. Some audio books focus on specific skills, such as public speaking, writing, or effective communication, providing practical tips and techniques to improve these abilities.

By choosing educational audio books that align with the interests and learning goals of older children and teens, parents and educators can make long car journeys both entertaining and educational. These audio books offer an opportunity for young listeners to expand their knowledge, explore new subjects, and develop valuable skills, all while enjoying the journey.

Educational Audio Books for Adults

When it comes to educational audio books for car journeys, there is a wide range of options available for adults. These audio books provide an opportunity to learn and expand knowledge while enjoying a long drive. Let’s explore three popular categories: non-fiction audiobooks , personal development and self-help audiobooks , and business and finance audiobooks .

Non-Fiction Audiobooks

Non-fiction audiobooks cover a diverse range of topics, including history, science, biographies, and more. These books offer a wealth of knowledge and insights, allowing listeners to immerse themselves in fascinating subjects. Whether you’re interested in exploring ancient civilizations, understanding scientific breakthroughs, or delving into the lives of influential individuals, non-fiction audiobooks provide a valuable learning experience.

From gripping historical accounts to thought-provoking scientific discoveries, non-fiction audiobooks offer an engaging way to acquire new knowledge and broaden your horizons. Look for titles that align with your interests and embark on a journey of discovery during your car ride.

Personal Development and Self-Help Audiobooks

Personal development and self-help audiobooks focus on empowering individuals to enhance their personal and professional lives. These books provide valuable insights, strategies, and tools to improve various aspects of life, such as relationships, communication, productivity, and mindfulness.

Listening to personal development and self-help audiobooks during car journeys allows you to transform your commute into a productive and enriching experience. Whether you’re seeking inspiration, guidance, or practical tips for personal growth, these audiobooks can provide valuable insights and help you develop new skills. Consider exploring topics like goal setting, positive mindset, stress management, and effective communication.

Business and Finance Audiobooks

If you’re looking to expand your knowledge in the realm of business and finance, audio books in this category can be both educational and insightful. These audiobooks cover a wide range of topics, including entrepreneurship, investing, leadership, and financial management.

By listening to business and finance audiobooks during your car journey, you can gain valuable insights into various aspects of the business world. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, a seasoned professional, or simply interested in understanding the dynamics of the financial world, these audiobooks offer practical advice, case studies, and strategies to help you navigate the business landscape.

Remember to choose audiobooks that align with your interests and goals, and consider the duration and format options to ensure they fit within the timeframe of your car journey. With a wide array of educational audio books available for adults, you can make your car journey a productive and enriching experience.

Considerations for Choosing Educational Audio Books

When selecting educational audio books for your car journeys, there are a few important considerations to keep in mind. These factors will help ensure that the audio books you choose are suitable for your specific needs and preferences. Here are three key considerations to consider:

Appropriate Content for the Age Group

The first consideration when choosing educational audio books is to ensure that the content is appropriate for the age group of the listeners. Different age groups have varying interests, reading levels, and cognitive abilities. It’s important to select audio books that align with the age and developmental stage of the listeners.

For young children, look for engaging stories with educational themes that can help expand their knowledge and imagination. These audio books often focus on teaching alphabet, numbers, colors, and developing vocabulary skills. Check out our article on children’s audio books for road trips for some recommendations.

Older children and teens can benefit from historical and biographical audio books that provide insights into important events and individuals. Science and nature audio books can also capture their interest and expand their scientific knowledge. Additionally, language learning audio books can help older listeners develop new language skills. Explore our article on educational audio books for long drives for more options.

For adults, consider non-fiction audio books that cover a wide range of topics, including personal development, self-help, business, finance, and more. These audio books can provide valuable insights and knowledge during your car journeys. Browse through our article on motivational audio books for car journeys for some recommendations.

Narration and Voice Acting Quality

Another important factor to consider is the narration and voice acting quality of the audio book. A skilled narrator can bring the story to life, making it more engaging and enjoyable for the listeners. Clear and expressive narration helps in capturing the attention of the listeners, especially during long car journeys.

Before selecting an audio book, consider listening to a sample or reading reviews to gauge the quality of the narration. Look for narrators who have a pleasant voice, good pacing, and the ability to convey emotions effectively. This will enhance the overall listening experience and make the educational content more captivating.

Duration and Format Options

The duration of the audio book is worth considering, especially for long car journeys. You may want to choose audio books that align with the duration of your journey or have multiple shorter audio books that can be enjoyed during different segments of your trip.

Additionally, consider the format options available for the educational audio books. Some audio books are available as CDs, while others can be downloaded or streamed from online platforms. Choose a format that is convenient for you and compatible with your preferred audio device.

By considering the appropriate content for the age group, narration and voice acting quality, and duration and format options, you can select educational audio books that are both informative and entertaining for your car journeys. Remember to explore our articles on audio book reviews for long car journeys for more insights and recommendations.

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Horrid Henry's Car Journey by Francesca Simon - review

This book is about a long drive that Horrid Henry and his family take to his cousin, Vomiting Vera's, christening. Henry doesn't want to go, because his friend, Rude Ralph, is having a Goo-Shooter party on the same day, which he would much prefer to go to. He does everything he can to delay his parents from going to the christening, refusing to come downstairs and being horrid to his little brother, Perfect Peter.

The book has lots of funny bits, especially all the squabbling between Henry and Peter, who both want to be on the right hand side of the car so they can watch the speedometer. Usually, when Henry fights in the car his mother says: "If you don't stop fighting I'm going to turn around and go home" so Henry thinks that if he fights enough he might get to go home and miss the boring christening!

What really made me laugh was when both Henry and Peter get car sick and vomit all over their parents and it goes all over their nice clothes! The book has six chapters and lots of good pictures on every page, the best one is the people fighting with goo shooters! I think that anyone who's ever been on a long car journey will find this book funny. Some four or five year olds may enjoy it, but definitely for children of six plus.

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by Edith Wharton

As she lay in her berth, staring at the shadows overhead, the rush of the wheels was in her brain, driving her deeper and deeper into circles of wakeful lucidity. The sleeping-car had sunk into its night-silence. Through the wet window-pane she watched the sudden lights, the long stretches of hurrying blackness. Now and then she turned her head and looked through the opening in the hangings at her husband's curtains across the aisle....

She wondered restlessly if he wanted anything and if she could hear him if he called. His voice had grown very weak within the last months and it irritated him when she did not hear. This irritability, this increasing childish petulance seemed to give expression to their imperceptible estrangement. Like two faces looking at one another through a sheet of glass they were close together, almost touching, but they could not hear or feel each other: the conductivity between them was broken. She, at least, had this sense of separation, and she fancied sometimes that she saw it reflected in the look with which he supplemented his failing words. Doubtless the fault was hers. She was too impenetrably healthy to be touched by the irrelevancies of disease. Her self-reproachful tenderness was tinged with the sense of his irrationality: she had a vague feeling that there was a purpose in his helpless tyrannies. The suddenness of the change had found her so unprepared. A year ago their pulses had beat to one robust measure; both had the same prodigal confidence in an exhaustless future. Now their energies no longer kept step: hers still bounded ahead of life, preempting unclaimed regions of hope and activity, while his lagged behind, vainly struggling to overtake her.

When they married, she had such arrears of living to make up: her days had been as bare as the whitewashed school-room where she forced innutritious facts upon reluctant children. His coming had broken in on the slumber of circumstance, widening the present till it became the encloser of remotest chances. But imperceptibly the horizon narrowed. Life had a grudge against her: she was never to be allowed to spread her wings.

At first the doctors had said that six weeks of mild air would set him right; but when he came back this assurance was explained as having of course included a winter in a dry climate. They gave up their pretty house, storing the wedding presents and new furniture, and went to Colorado. She had hated it there from the first. Nobody knew her or cared about her; there was no one to wonder at the good match she had made, or to envy her the new dresses and the visiting-cards which were still a surprise to her. And he kept growing worse. She felt herself beset with difficulties too evasive to be fought by so direct a temperament. She still loved him, of course; but he was gradually, undefinably ceasing to be himself. The man she had married had been strong, active, gently masterful: the male whose pleasure it is to clear a way through the material obstructions of life; but now it was she who was the protector, he who must be shielded from importunities and given his drops or his beef-juice though the skies were falling. The routine of the sick-room bewildered her; this punctual administering of medicine seemed as idle as some uncomprehended religious mummery.

There were moments, indeed, when warm gushes of pity swept away her instinctive resentment of his condition, when she still found his old self in his eyes as they groped for each other through the dense medium of his weakness. But these moments had grown rare. Sometimes he frightened her: his sunken expressionless face seemed that of a stranger; his voice was weak and hoarse; his thin-lipped smile a mere muscular contraction. Her hand avoided his damp soft skin, which had lost the familiar roughness of health: she caught herself furtively watching him as she might have watched a strange animal. It frightened her to feel that this was the man she loved; there were hours when to tell him what she suffered seemed the one escape from her fears. But in general she judged herself more leniently, reflecting that she had perhaps been too long alone with him, and that she would feel differently when they were at home again, surrounded by her robust and buoyant family. How she had rejoiced when the doctors at last gave their consent to his going home! She knew, of course, what the decision meant; they both knew. It meant that he was to die; but they dressed the truth in hopeful euphuisms, and at times, in the joy of preparation, she really forgot the purpose of their journey, and slipped into an eager allusion to next year's plans.

At last the day of leaving came. She had a dreadful fear that they would never get away; that somehow at the last moment he would fail her; that the doctors held one of their accustomed treacheries in reserve; but nothing happened. They drove to the station, he was installed in a seat with a rug over his knees and a cushion at his back, and she hung out of the window waving unregretful farewells to the acquaintances she had really never liked till then.

The first twenty-four hours had passed off well. He revived a little and it amused him to look out of the window and to observe the humours of the car. The second day he began to grow weary and to chafe under the dispassionate stare of the freckled child with the lump of chewing-gum. She had to explain to the child's mother that her husband was too ill to be disturbed: a statement received by that lady with a resentment visibly supported by the maternal sentiment of the whole car....

That night he slept badly and the next morning his temperature frightened her: she was sure he was growing worse. The day passed slowly, punctuated by the small irritations of travel. Watching his tired face, she traced in its contractions every rattle and jolt of the tram, till her own body vibrated with sympathetic fatigue. She felt the others observing him too, and hovered restlessly between him and the line of interrogative eyes. The freckled child hung about him like a fly; offers of candy and picture- books failed to dislodge her: she twisted one leg around the other and watched him imperturbably. The porter, as he passed, lingered with vague proffers of help, probably inspired by philanthropic passengers swelling with the sense that "something ought to be done;" and one nervous man in a skull-cap was audibly concerned as to the possible effect on his wife's health.

The hours dragged on in a dreary inoccupation. Towards dusk she sat down beside him and he laid his hand on hers. The touch startled her. He seemed to be calling her from far off. She looked at him helplessly and his smile went through her like a physical pang.

"Are you very tired?" she asked.

"No, not very."

"We'll be there soon now."

"Yes, very soon."

"This time to-morrow--"

He nodded and they sat silent. When she had put him to bed and crawled into her own berth she tried to cheer herself with the thought that in less than twenty-four hours they would be in New York. Her people would all be at the station to meet her--she pictured their round unanxious faces pressing through the crowd. She only hoped they would not tell him too loudly that he was looking splendidly and would be all right in no time: the subtler sympathies developed by long contact with suffering were making her aware of a certain coarseness of texture in the family sensibilities.

Suddenly she thought she heard him call. She parted the curtains and listened. No, it was only a man snoring at the other end of the car. His snores had a greasy sound, as though they passed through tallow. She lay down and tried to sleep... Had she not heard him move? She started up trembling... The silence frightened her more than any sound. He might not be able to make her hear--he might be calling her now... What made her think of such things? It was merely the familiar tendency of an over-tired mind to fasten itself on the most intolerable chance within the range of its forebodings.... Putting her head out, she listened; but she could not distinguish his breathing from that of the other pairs of lungs about her. She longed to get up and look at him, but she knew the impulse was a mere vent for her restlessness, and the fear of disturbing him restrained her.... The regular movement of his curtain reassured her, she knew not why; she remembered that he had wished her a cheerful good-night; and the sheer inability to endure her fears a moment longer made her put them from her with an effort of her whole sound tired body. She turned on her side and slept.

She sat up stiffly, staring out at the dawn. The train was rushing through a region of bare hillocks huddled against a lifeless sky. It looked like the first day of creation. The air of the car was close, and she pushed up her window to let in the keen wind. Then she looked at her watch: it was seven o'clock, and soon the people about her would be stirring. She slipped into her clothes, smoothed her dishevelled hair and crept to the dressing-room. When she had washed her face and adjusted her dress she felt more hopeful. It was always a struggle for her not to be cheerful in the morning. Her cheeks burned deliciously under the coarse towel and the wet hair about her temples broke into strong upward tendrils. Every inch of her was full of life and elasticity. And in ten hours they would be at home!

She stepped to her husband's berth: it was time for him to take his early glass of milk. The window-shade was down, and in the dusk of the curtained enclosure she could just see that he lay sideways, with his face away from her. She leaned over him and drew up the shade. As she did so she touched one of his hands. It felt cold....

She bent closer, laying her hand on his arm and calling him by name. He did not move. She spoke again more loudly; she grasped his shoulder and gently shook it. He lay motionless. She caught hold of his hand again: it slipped from her limply, like a dead thing. A dead thing? ... Her breath caught. She must see his face. She leaned forward, and hurriedly, shrinkingly, with a sickening reluctance of the flesh, laid her hands on his shoulders and turned him over. His head fell back; his face looked small and smooth; he gazed at her with steady eyes.

She remained motionless for a long time, holding him thus; and they looked at each other. Suddenly she shrank back: the longing to scream, to call out, to fly from him, had almost overpowered her. But a strong hand arrested her. Good God! If it were known that he was dead they would be put off the train at the next station--

In a terrifying flash of remembrance there arose before her a scene she had once witnessed in travelling, when a husband and wife, whose child had died in the train, had been thrust out at some chance station. She saw them standing on the platform with the child's body between them; she had never forgotten the dazed look with which they followed the receding train. And this was what would happen to her. Within the next hour she might find herself on the platform of some strange station, alone with her husband's body.... Anything but that! It was too horrible--She quivered like a creature at bay.

As she cowered there, she felt the train moving more slowly. It was coming then--they were approaching a station! She saw again the husband and wife standing on the lonely platform; and with a violent gesture she drew down the shade to hide her husband's face.

Feeling dizzy, she sank down on the edge of the berth, keeping away from his outstretched body, and pulling the curtains close, so that he and she were shut into a kind of sepulchral twilight. She tried to think. At all costs she must conceal the fact that he was dead. But how? Her mind refused to act: she could not plan, combine. She could think of no way but to sit there, clutching the curtains, all day long....

She heard the porter making up her bed; people were beginning to move about the car; the dressing-room door was being opened and shut. She tried to rouse herself. At length with a supreme effort she rose to her feet, stepping into the aisle of the car and drawing the curtains tight behind her. She noticed that they still parted slightly with the motion of the car, and finding a pin in her dress she fastened them together. Now she was safe. She looked round and saw the porter. She fancied he was watching her.

"Ain't he awake yet?" he enquired.

"No," she faltered.

"I got his milk all ready when he wants it. You know you told me to have it for him by seven."

She nodded silently and crept into her seat.

At half-past eight the train reached Buffalo. By this time the other passengers were dressed and the berths had been folded back for the day. The porter, moving to and fro under his burden of sheets and pillows, glanced at her as he passed. At length he said: "Ain't he going to get up? You know we're ordered to make up the berths as early as we can."

She turned cold with fear. They were just entering the station.

"Oh, not yet," she stammered. "Not till he's had his milk. Won't you get it, please?"

"All right. Soon as we start again."

When the train moved on he reappeared with the milk. She took it from him and sat vaguely looking at it: her brain moved slowly from one idea to another, as though they were stepping-stones set far apart across a whirling flood. At length she became aware that the porter still hovered expectantly.

"Will I give it to him?" he suggested.

"Oh, no," she cried, rising. "He--he's asleep yet, I think--"

She waited till the porter had passed on; then she unpinned the curtains and slipped behind them. In the semi-obscurity her husband's face stared up at her like a marble mask with agate eyes. The eyes were dreadful. She put out her hand and drew down the lids. Then she remembered the glass of milk in her other hand: what was she to do with it? She thought of raising the window and throwing it out; but to do so she would have to lean across his body and bring her face close to his. She decided to drink the milk.

She returned to her seat with the empty glass and after a while the porter came back to get it.

"When'll I fold up his bed?" he asked.

"Oh, not now--not yet; he's ill--he's very ill. Can't you let him stay as he is? The doctor wants him to lie down as much as possible."

He scratched his head. "Well, if he's _really_ sick--"

He took the empty glass and walked away, explaining to the passengers that the party behind the curtains was too sick to get up just yet.

She found herself the centre of sympathetic eyes. A motherly woman with an intimate smile sat down beside her.

"I'm real sorry to hear your husband's sick. I've had a remarkable amount of sickness in my family and maybe I could assist you. Can I take a look at him?"

"Oh, no--no, please! He mustn't be disturbed."

The lady accepted the rebuff indulgently.

"Well, it's just as you say, of course, but you don't look to me as if you'd had much experience in sickness and I'd have been glad to assist you. What do you generally do when your husband's taken this way?"

"I--I let him sleep."

"Too much sleep ain't any too healthful either. Don't you give him any medicine?"

"Don't you wake him to take it?"

"When does he take the next dose?"

"Not for--two hours--"

The lady looked disappointed. "Well, if I was you I'd try giving it oftener. That's what I do with my folks."

After that many faces seemed to press upon her. The passengers were on their way to the dining-car, and she was conscious that as they passed down the aisle they glanced curiously at the closed curtains. One lantern- jawed man with prominent eyes stood still and tried to shoot his projecting glance through the division between the folds. The freckled child, returning from breakfast, waylaid the passers with a buttery clutch, saying in a loud whisper, "He's sick;" and once the conductor came by, asking for tickets. She shrank into her corner and looked out of the window at the flying trees and houses, meaningless hieroglyphs of an endlessly unrolled papyrus.

Now and then the train stopped, and the newcomers on entering the car stared in turn at the closed curtains. More and more people seemed to pass--their faces began to blend fantastically with the images surging in her brain....

Later in the day a fat man detached himself from the mist of faces. He had a creased stomach and soft pale lips. As he pressed himself into the seat facing her she noticed that he was dressed in black broadcloth, with a soiled white tie.

"Husband's pretty bad this morning, is he?"

"Dear, dear! Now that's terribly distressing, ain't it?" An apostolic smile revealed his gold-filled teeth.

"Of course you know there's no sech thing as sickness. Ain't that a lovely thought? Death itself is but a deloosion of our grosser senses. On'y lay yourself open to the influx of the sperrit, submit yourself passively to the action of the divine force, and disease and dissolution will cease to exist for you. If you could indooce your husband to read this little pamphlet--"

The faces about her again grew indistinct. She had a vague recollection of hearing the motherly lady and the parent of the freckled child ardently disputing the relative advantages of trying several medicines at once, or of taking each in turn; the motherly lady maintaining that the competitive system saved time; the other objecting that you couldn't tell which remedy had effected the cure; their voices went on and on, like bell-buoys droning through a fog.... The porter came up now and then with questions that she did not understand, but that somehow she must have answered since he went away again without repeating them; every two hours the motherly lady reminded her that her husband ought to have his drops; people left the car and others replaced them...

Her head was spinning and she tried to steady herself by clutching at her thoughts as they swept by, but they slipped away from her like bushes on the side of a sheer precipice down which she seemed to be falling. Suddenly her mind grew clear again and she found herself vividly picturing what would happen when the train reached New York. She shuddered as it occurred to her that he would be quite cold and that some one might perceive he had been dead since morning.

She thought hurriedly:--"If they see I am not surprised they will suspect something. They will ask questions, and if I tell them the truth they won't believe me--no one would believe me! It will be terrible"--and she kept repeating to herself:--"I must pretend I don't know. I must pretend I don't know. When they open the curtains I must go up to him quite naturally--and then I must scream." ... She had an idea that the scream would be very hard to do.

Gradually new thoughts crowded upon her, vivid and urgent: she tried to separate and restrain them, but they beset her clamorously, like her school-children at the end of a hot day, when she was too tired to silence them. Her head grew confused, and she felt a sick fear of forgetting her part, of betraying herself by some unguarded word or look.

"I must pretend I don't know," she went on murmuring. The words had lost their significance, but she repeated them mechanically, as though they had been a magic formula, until suddenly she heard herself saying: "I can't remember, I can't remember!"

Her voice sounded very loud, and she looked about her in terror; but no one seemed to notice that she had spoken.

As she glanced down the car her eye caught the curtains of her husband's berth, and she began to examine the monotonous arabesques woven through their heavy folds. The pattern was intricate and difficult to trace; she gazed fixedly at the curtains and as she did so the thick stuff grew transparent and through it she saw her husband's face--his dead face. She struggled to avert her look, but her eyes refused to move and her head seemed to be held in a vice. At last, with an effort that left her weak and shaking, she turned away; but it was of no use; close in front of her, small and smooth, was her husband's face. It seemed to be suspended in the air between her and the false braids of the woman who sat in front of her. With an uncontrollable gesture she stretched out her hand to push the face away, and suddenly she felt the touch of his smooth skin. She repressed a cry and half started from her seat. The woman with the false braids looked around, and feeling that she must justify her movement in some way she rose and lifted her travelling-bag from the opposite seat. She unlocked the bag and looked into it; but the first object her hand met was a small flask of her husband's, thrust there at the last moment, in the haste of departure. She locked the bag and closed her eyes ... his face was there again, hanging between her eye-balls and lids like a waxen mask against a red curtain....

She roused herself with a shiver. Had she fainted or slept? Hours seemed to have elapsed; but it was still broad day, and the people about her were sitting in the same attitudes as before.

A sudden sense of hunger made her aware that she had eaten nothing since morning. The thought of food filled her with disgust, but she dreaded a return of faintness, and remembering that she had some biscuits in her bag she took one out and ate it. The dry crumbs choked her, and she hastily swallowed a little brandy from her husband's flask. The burning sensation in her throat acted as a counter-irritant, momentarily relieving the dull ache of her nerves. Then she felt a gently-stealing warmth, as though a soft air fanned her, and the swarming fears relaxed their clutch, receding through the stillness that enclosed her, a stillness soothing as the spacious quietude of a summer day. She slept.

Through her sleep she felt the impetuous rush of the train. It seemed to be life itself that was sweeping her on with headlong inexorable force-- sweeping her into darkness and terror, and the awe of unknown days.--Now all at once everything was still--not a sound, not a pulsation... She was dead in her turn, and lay beside him with smooth upstaring face. How quiet it was!--and yet she heard feet coming, the feet of the men who were to carry them away... She could feel too--she felt a sudden prolonged vibration, a series of hard shocks, and then another plunge into darkness: the darkness of death this time--a black whirlwind on which they were both spinning like leaves, in wild uncoiling spirals, with millions and millions of the dead....

She sprang up in terror. Her sleep must have lasted a long time, for the winter day had paled and the lights had been lit. The car was in confusion, and as she regained her self-possession she saw that the passengers were gathering up their wraps and bags. The woman with the false braids had brought from the dressing-room a sickly ivy-plant in a bottle, and the Christian Scientist was reversing his cuffs. The porter passed down the aisle with his impartial brush. An impersonal figure with a gold-banded cap asked for her husband's ticket. A voice shouted "Baig- gage express!" and she heard the clicking of metal as the passengers handed over their checks.

Presently her window was blocked by an expanse of sooty wall, and the train passed into the Harlem tunnel. The journey was over; in a few minutes she would see her family pushing their joyous way through the throng at the station. Her heart dilated. The worst terror was past....

"We'd better get him up now, hadn't we?" asked the porter, touching her arm.

He had her husband's hat in his hand and was meditatively revolving it under his brush.

She looked at the hat and tried to speak; but suddenly the car grew dark. She flung up her arms, struggling to catch at something, and fell face downward, striking her head against the dead man's berth.

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Embarking on a solo motorcycle journey around the world is a testament to the human spirit of adventure and exploration. Throughout history, courageous individuals have set out on incredible quests, traversing continents, and documenting their experiences.

Here, we present 17 remarkable motorcycle travelers who have left their tire tracks on the global map, shared their stories through books, and even inspired cinematic adaptations.

Carl Stearns Clancy – The first person to circumnavigate the world on a motorcycle.

Carl Stearns Clancy was a pioneering adventurer and author who made history as the first person to travel the world by motorbike. Born in 1890, Clancy’s life was characterized by a thirst for exploration and a love for motorcycles. His groundbreaking journey and written account have left an indelible mark on the world of motorcycle travel literature.

In 1912, at the age of 21, Clancy embarked on a daring motorcycle adventure that took him on an epic journey around the globe. Riding a 1912 Henderson Four , Clancy set out to conquer the unknown, traversing continents and overcoming countless challenges along the way. His journey spanned approximately 18,000 miles, covering Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Clancy chronicled his remarkable expedition in “ The Bicycling World and Motorcycle Review ”, a popular American magazine that covered topics related to bicycling and motorcycles during the early 20th century. 

Clancy’s chronicles became a seminal piece of motorcycle travel literature. Years later in fact, Dr. Gregory Frazier, an avid motorcycle adventurer and author, recognizing the historical significance and captivating nature of Clancy’s journey, meticulously compiled and edited the chronicles to create a comprehensive book titled “ Motorcycle Adventurer: Carl Stearns Clancy’s Record-Setting Ride Around the World 1912-1913 “. 

While no films or documentaries have been specifically made about Carl Stearns Clancy or his book, his incredible feat has undoubtedly influenced and inspired countless motorcycle enthusiasts and travelers over the years. His story remains an enduring testament to the spirit of adventure and the boundless possibilities of motorcycle travel.

Dr. Gregory Frazier – Over 1,000,000 miles on two wheels.

Dr. Gregory Frazier is a renowned motorcycle adventurer and author known for his captivating journeys across various continents. With a deep passion for exploration, Frazier has spent a significant part of his life embarking on thrilling motorcycle expeditions.

Born in the United States, Frazier’s adventurous spirit led him to undertake his first notable motorcycle journey in 1973. This expedition took him across Europe, Asia, and Africa, as he traversed numerous countries and encountered diverse cultures and landscapes. It was during this transformative journey that Frazier’s love for motorcycle travel and exploration truly blossomed.

Throughout his extensive travels, Dr. Gregory Frazier has ridden a variety of motorcycles, each chosen for its durability, versatility, and suitability for different terrains. Some of the motorcycles he has used include the BMW R80G/S, Yamaha XT500, and Honda Africa Twin . These reliable and rugged machines have accompanied him on his daring escapades, allowing him to navigate challenging roads and conquer remote destinations.

Frazier’s motorcycle voyages have been chronicled in several books, showcasing his experiences and providing valuable insights for fellow adventurers. Some of his notable works include “ Motorcycle Voyaging “, “ Motorcycle Camping Made Easy “, and “ Motorcycle Adventurer’s Handbook “. Published at different times throughout his career, these books offer practical advice, inspiring stories, and an abundance of knowledge for motorcycle enthusiasts seeking their own thrilling journeys.

His books serve as essential guides and sources of inspiration for riders around the world, fostering a spirit of exploration and encouraging others to embark on their own two-wheeled adventures. Frazier’s contributions to the genre of motorcycle travel literature have solidified his reputation as a respected authority and a beloved figure among adventure-seeking riders.

Anne-France Dautheville – The first woman to ride solo around the world

In 1973 , Anne-France Dautheville embarked on a groundbreaking motorcycle expedition, becoming the first woman to ride solo around the world. Riding a Moto Guzzi 750cc , she embarked on an epic journey that took her through diverse landscapes, cultures, and challenging terrains across continents. Her fearless attitude and resilience were evident as she conquered new frontiers and defied societal expectations.

Anne-France chronicled her incredible journey in her book “ Et j’ai suivi le ven t ” (“And I Followed the Wind”), published in 1975. The book captures her exhilarating experiences, the encounters she had with locals, and the personal transformations she underwent during her extraordinary adventure. Through her writing, she shares not only the physical challenges of motorcycle travel but also the emotional and spiritual growth that comes with pushing one’s boundaries.

Anne-France’s groundbreaking journey and her captivating storytelling have inspired countless individuals, especially women, to embrace their own adventurous spirit and pursue their dreams fearlessly. Her trailblazing achievement as a female solo motorcycle traveler has left an indelible mark on the world of travel and continues to inspire generations of adventurers.

While her journey may not have been adapted into film or television, Anne-France Dautheville’s extraordinary feat and her unwavering determination have made her an iconic figure in the realm of motorcycle travel. Her legacy serves as a reminder that the open road holds endless possibilities for those who dare to embark on their own extraordinary adventures.

Ernesto Che Guevara – The Motorcycle Diaries

Che Guevara, born as Ernesto Guevara de la Serna on June 14, 1928, in Rosario, Argentina, was an iconic figure of the 20th century. He was a Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, and guerrilla leader, and he played a significant role in the Cuban Revolution. Che Guevara’s book “ The Motorcycle Diaries ” provides a glimpse into his early life and the experiences that shaped his revolutionary ideology.

“The Motorcycle Diaries” is a memoir written by Che Guevara based on his journey across South America in 1952 with his friend Alberto Granado. The two young men set out on a 9,000-kilometer trip on a dilapidated Norton 500 motorcycle , affectionately called “ La Poderosa ” (The Mighty One). This transformative journey took them through Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela.

The book depicts Guevara’s observations of the poverty, inequality, and social injustices he encountered during the trip. It explores his evolving political consciousness and his growing empathy for the marginalized and oppressed. Through encounters with indigenous people, lepers, and workers in various occupations, Guevara’s worldview is shaped, setting the foundation for his later revolutionary activities.

“The Motorcycle Diaries” offers an intimate account of Che Guevara’s youthful adventures, his reflections on societal issues, and his personal growth as a young man. It captures his encounters with diverse landscapes, cultures, and people, providing readers with a deeper understanding of the social and political conditions in Latin America during that time.

The book was published posthumously in 1993, over three decades after Guevara’s assassination in 1967. It became a bestseller and achieved widespread acclaim for its vivid storytelling and its portrayal of Guevara’s formative years. The book’s publication led to a renewed interest in Guevara’s life and ideas.

In 2004, “The Motorcycle Diaries” was adapted into a critically acclaimed film directed by Walter Salles. The movie, also titled “The Motorcycle Diaries,” starred Gael García Bernal as Che Guevara and Rodrigo de la Serna as Alberto Granado. It captured the essence of the book, showcasing the youthful spirit of adventure, the social awakening, and the transformative journey that influenced Guevara’s revolutionary path.

Walter J. Colebatch – The Siberian Extreme Project

In 2009, Motorcycle adventurer Walter J. Colebatch led “ The Sibirsky (Siberian) Extreme Project ”, a remarkable testament to human exploration and the pursuit of adventure. This audacious undertaking sought to delve into the very heart of Siberia, unearthing the untamed beauty and rugged landscapes that lay hidden within. With an unwavering spirit of discovery and a deep passion for motorcycling, Colebatch embarked on a quest that would push the boundaries of what was known and what was possible in the realm of two-wheeled exploration.

Within the pages of his book, Colebatch takes readers on an enthralling journey, delving into the intricate planning, the adrenaline-fueled riding, the hardships faced, the triumphant moments, and the heart-wrenching disappointments that defined this extraordinary odyssey. With vivid descriptions, poignant reflections, and an unwavering honesty, he captures the essence of the Sibirsky Extreme Project and offers readers a front-row seat to witness the immense courage, unwavering determination, and unyielding spirit of adventure that propelled him through this epic expedition.

Through his eloquent prose and meticulous attention to detail, Colebatch not only invites us to embark on an unforgettable journey across the vast and untamed landscapes of Siberia but also imparts invaluable insights into the human spirit and the relentless pursuit of dreams. The Sibirsky Extreme Project serves as a testament to the resilience of the human soul, reminding us that, with unwavering determination, even the most daunting challenges can be conquered and the wildest dreams can be transformed into remarkable realities.

Ted Simon – 4 years, 45 countries, 64,000 miles

Ted Simon is a renowned British author and adventurer who gained worldwide acclaim for his remarkable motorcycle journey around the world. Born in 1931, Simon’s life has been defined by a deep passion for exploration and a thirst for adventure.

In 1973, at the age of 42, Ted Simon embarked on an extraordinary solo motorcycle expedition that would become the foundation of his literary career. Riding a 500cc Triumph Tiger 100 , he set out on a four-year journey across 45 countries, covering a staggering distance of 64,000 miles. His travels took him through diverse landscapes, cultures, and challenging terrains, providing him with a wealth of experiences to share with the world.

Simon’s most famous book, “ Jupiter’s Travels “, was published in 1979 and has since become a classic in the genre of motorcycle travel literature. The book encapsulates his transformative journey, delving into the essence of his encounters, personal growth, and the profound impact of his odyssey. “Jupiter’s Travels” has inspired countless readers and remains a seminal work in the realm of adventure writing.

While Ted Simon’s journey and book have not been adapted into a feature film, his story was documented in the television series “The Long Way Round.” This series, featuring actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, showcased their own motorcycle expedition but drew inspiration from Simon’s original journey. It aired in 2004 and captivated audiences with its portrayal of motorcycle travel and the spirit of adventure.

Ted Simon’s legacy extends beyond his literary achievements. He continues to inspire aspiring adventurers and is celebrated as a true pioneer in the world of motorcycle exploration. His life’s work serves as a testament to the transformative power of travel and the enduring spirit of human curiosity.

Elspeth Beard – The first British women around the world on two-wheels

In 1982, at the age of 23, Elspeth embarked on an ambitious solo motorcycle journey around the world, becoming one of the first British women to achieve such a feat. Riding a BMW R60/6 , she set off on a multi-year adventure that took her across continents, through diverse landscapes, and into the hearts of countless people she met along the way. Her journey spanned more than 35,000 miles and covered various countries, offering her a unique perspective on the world.

Elspeth documented her incredible odyssey in her captivating memoir, “ Lone Rider: The First British Woman to Motorcycle Around the World “, published in 2017. The book chronicles her physical and emotional challenges, the triumphs and setbacks she faced, and the personal growth she experienced throughout her extraordinary journey. Through her honest and engaging narrative, Elspeth not only provides a vivid account of her travels but also delves into her own introspection and self-discovery.

Although Elspeth Beard’s remarkable journey has yet to be adapted into film or television, her story has resonated with countless readers and aspiring adventurers around the world. Her courage, resilience, and determination serve as an inspiration for those seeking to break free from societal norms and explore the vast wonders of the world on two wheels.

Sam Manicom – From corporate life to journeying around the world

Born in the United Kingdom, Sam Manicom left his corporate job in 1993 and embarked on a life-changing journey around the world on his trusty motorcycle. He has traversed continents, encountered diverse cultures, and faced numerous challenges along the way.

Throughout his travels, Manicom has used multiple motorcycles to navigate various terrains. In his earlier journeys, he rode a heavily customized 1982 BMW R80G/S , which became his reliable companion as he explored remote corners of the world. Later, he switched to a more modern and versatile 2003 BMW R1150GS Adventure , allowing him to tackle both on-road and off-road adventures with ease.

Sam Manicom has authored several captivating books that chronicle his motorcycle journeys. His first book, “ Into Africa “, was published in 1996 and recounts his thrilling ride across the African continent. It offers a vivid portrayal of the landscapes, people, and challenges he encountered during his solo expedition.

Following the success of his debut, Manicom continued his explorations and penned subsequent books. “ Under Asian Skies ” (2005) details his journey through Asia, exploring countries like India, Nepal, and Thailand, while “ Distant Suns ” (2009) takes readers on an adventure across the Americas, from Alaska to Argentina.

His engaging storytelling style and genuine reflections on the human experience make his books a captivating read for anyone seeking adventure, inspiration, and a deeper understanding of the world we live in.

Lois Pryce – Captivating expedition across Africa

Originally from the UK, Lois Pryce left her job as a graphic designer in 2003 to embark on a remarkable journey that has since inspired many.

Lois Pryce has undertaken several noteworthy motorcycle expeditions. She has traveled extensively through remote and challenging regions such as the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East. Throughout her travels, she has documented her experiences with wit, humor, and a deep sense of adventure.

One of her acclaimed books is “ Lois on the Loose: One Woman, One Motorcycle, 20,000 Miles Across the Americas ” (2007). In this memoir, Pryce recounts her solo motorcycle journey from Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina, encountering diverse landscapes, cultures, and personal challenges along the way.

Another notable work by Lois Pryce is “ Red Tape and White Knuckles: One Woman’s Motorcycle Adventure through Africa ” (2010). In this book, she shares her captivating expedition across the African continent, navigating bureaucratic hurdles, treacherous roads, and unique encounters that showcase the beauty and complexities of Africa.

Lois Pryce has made appearances in travel and adventure documentaries. She has been featured in various media outlets and has shared her experiences through public speaking engagements, inspiring others to embrace adventure and explore the world on two wheels.

Lois Pryce’s writing style, combined with her daring spirit and passion for exploration, has earned her a loyal following among adventure enthusiasts and readers seeking immersive travel narratives. Her works continue to inspire and encourage others to pursue their own dreams of motorcycle travel and discovery.

Austin Vince – Adventure motorcyclist, film-maker and author

Austin Vince is a renowned adventure motorcyclist, filmmaker, and author who has left an indelible mark on the world of motorcycle travel. Known for his daring expeditions and entertaining storytelling, Vince has become a prominent figure in the motorcycle adventure community.

Hailing from the United Kingdom, Austin Vince gained widespread recognition for his epic journey documented in the book and film “ Mondo Enduro ” (1995). Alongside a group of fellow riders, he embarked on an audacious round-the-world motorcycle expedition, traversing challenging terrains and encountering various cultures and obstacles along the way. “Mondo Enduro” captures the spirit of their remarkable adventure, showcasing their triumphs, mishaps, and the sheer thrill of exploration.

In addition to “Mondo Enduro,” Austin Vince has co-authored another captivating motorcycle travel book titled “ Terra Circa: Around the World through the Backroads of 47 Countries ” (2013). This book details his second global expedition, where he and his team explored lesser-known routes and off-the-beaten-path destinations across the globe, creating an engaging narrative of their discoveries and encounters.

Aside from his books, Austin Vince has also produced notable adventure motorcycle documentaries. One of his acclaimed works is “Terra Circa” (2008), a documentary series that follows the thrilling journey chronicled in the book of the same name. The series showcases the team’s adventures, challenges, and the breathtaking landscapes they encountered during their global exploration.

As a filmmaker and presenter, Austin Vince has contributed to numerous television programs, sharing his passion for motorcycle travel and adventure. He has also organized adventure motorcycle events and workshops, inspiring and empowering others to embark on their own two-wheeled adventures.

With his adventurous spirit, infectious enthusiasm, and unique storytelling abilities, Austin Vince has become a prominent figure in the motorcycle adventure world. His books, films, and contributions to the community continue to inspire and entertain motorcycle enthusiasts, encouraging them to embrace the spirit of exploration and seek their own extraordinary adventures.

Ewan McGregor & Charley Boorman – Actors, adventurers and motorcycle enthusiasts

Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman are internationally acclaimed actors, adventurers, and motorcycle enthusiasts who have captivated audiences with their thrilling motorcycle journeys around the world. Their collaborative expeditions have showcased not only their love for motorcycles but also their deep appreciation for diverse cultures and breathtaking landscapes.

In 2004, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman embarked on their first iconic journey, chronicled in the book and television series “ Long Way Round “. Riding BMW R 1150 GS Adventure motorcycles, they embarked on an epic 20,000-mile motorcycle odyssey from London to New York, traversing through Europe, Central Asia, Siberia, and North America. The journey tested their endurance, pushing them to their limits as they encountered rugged terrains, extreme weather conditions, and fascinating encounters with locals along the way.

Their next adventure, “ Long Way Down ” (2007), took them from John O’Groats in Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa. Riding BMW R 1200 GS motorcycles, they covered over 15,000 miles, exploring diverse landscapes and cultures across Africa. The expedition offered them thrilling experiences, from encountering wildlife on safari to navigating challenging off-road tracks.

In addition to their books documenting these expeditions, both “ Long Way Round ” and “Long Way Down” were adapted into television series. Directed by David Alexanian and Russ Malkin, the shows became hugely popular, capturing the imaginations of viewers worldwide. The series provided a captivating visual experience, showcasing the duo’s camaraderie, the challenges they faced, and the remarkable sights they encountered along their journeys.

Tiffany Coates – Alaska to Argentina, Cairo to Cape Town

In 1999, Tiffany Coates embarked on her first solo motorcycle journey, riding a Yamaha XT225 Serow , from Alaska to Argentina. This epic adventure, chronicled in her book “ Alaska to Argentina: Riding the Pan American Highway ,” took her through breathtaking landscapes, diverse cultures, and challenging terrains spanning the entire length of the Americas. Her fearless spirit and determination shone through as she overcame obstacles and embraced the incredible experiences along the way.

Continuing her global motorcycle explorations, Tiffany embarked on another notable expedition, riding across Africa from Cairo to Cape Town. Documented in her book “ Africa Solo: My World Record Race from Cairo to Cape Town “, she conquered over 20,000 miles on her BMW F650GS motorcycle, navigating through deserts, savannas, and rugged terrains. The journey was a test of her endurance, showcasing her unwavering determination and deep connection with the African continent.

Tiffany Coates’ incredible adventures have not only been documented in her books but also featured in various media platforms. Her journeys have inspired many and have been covered in television programs and documentaries, bringing her inspiring tales to a broader audience. Through her storytelling, she shares her experiences, the challenges she faced, and the incredible people she encountered along the way.

Dr. Gaurav Jani – From the Himalayas to the Artic

Dr. Gaurav Jani is a renowned adventurer, filmmaker, and author whose remarkable motorcycle journeys have captivated audiences around the world. With an insatiable passion for exploration and a desire to experience the raw beauty of remote places, he has embarked on daring expeditions that have pushed the boundaries of adventure.

Dr. Gaurav Jani’s motorcycle journeys have taken him to some of the most breathtaking locations on the planet. From traversing the desolate landscapes of the Himalayas to navigating the rugged terrains of the Arctic, he has fearlessly ventured into uncharted territories, documenting his experiences along the way.

In his critically acclaimed documentary series “ Riding Solo to the Top of the World “, released in 2006, Dr. Jani chronicles his awe-inspiring solo motorcycle expedition to the Changthang Plateau in Ladakh, India. The film showcases not only the breathtaking landscapes but also delves into the inner journey of self-discovery and solitude that comes with such an audacious adventure. Driven by his passion for filmmaking and a desire to share his experiences, Dr. Jani’s documentary has become an inspiration for aspiring adventurers and a testament to the indomitable human spirit.

Dr. Gaurav Jani’s expeditions and films have garnered international recognition and have been celebrated for their authenticity and raw storytelling. Through his lens, he has captured the beauty of nature, the resilience of the human spirit, and the power of solitude in a way that transports viewers to the very heart of his journeys.

In addition to his filmmaking endeavors, Dr. Jani is also an accomplished author. His book “ The Trail of Gods and Mankind: An Odyssey on Two Wheels “, published in 2010, offers a deep dive into his motorcycle expeditions and provides a compelling account of his encounters with diverse cultures, stunning landscapes, and the challenges that come with traveling off the beaten path. Dr. Jani’s writing is imbued with a sense of wonder and reverence for the world, inspiring readers to embrace their own spirit of adventure and explore the unknown.

Carla King – Solo adventure across America

Carla’s motorcycle travels began in the late 1990s when she set off on a solo adventure across America, riding a Kawasaki KLR650 . This transformative journey ignited her wanderlust and sparked a lifelong passion for motorcycle exploration. Inspired by the freedom and exhilaration of the road, she continued to push her boundaries, undertaking thrilling expeditions in various parts of the world.

In her book “ American Borders: A Solo Circumnavigation of the United States on a Russian Sidecar Motorcycle “, published in 2002, Carla chronicles her daring expedition along the U.S. borders. The book offers a fascinating glimpse into the diverse landscapes, captivating encounters, and personal reflections that colored her epic journey.

Carla’s indomitable spirit and zest for adventure have also led her to explore other parts of the world. From traversing the treacherous mountain passes of the Himalayas to riding through remote regions of Africa, she has embraced the challenges and joys of motorcycle travel on a global scale.

Heather Ellis – 15 months through Africa

Heather’s journey began in the late 1980s when she made the bold decision to ride her motorcycle from her home country of Australia to London. Setting off on a Yamaha TT600 , she embarked on an epic solo adventure that spanned continents and pushed the boundaries of what was deemed possible. Throughout her travels, she encountered breathtaking landscapes, diverse cultures, and a myriad of challenges that tested her resilience and determination.

In her captivating book “ Ubuntu: One Woman’s Motorcycle Odyssey Across Africa “, published in 2016, Heather recounts her incredible 15-month journey through Africa. From the deserts of Sudan to the savannahs of Kenya, she weaves a compelling narrative of her encounters with local communities, wildlife, and the harsh realities of life on the road. The book not only offers a glimpse into the awe-inspiring landscapes of Africa but also delves into the personal growth and transformative experiences that shaped Heather’s adventure.

Heather’s motorcycle expeditions have not only provided her with unforgettable experiences but have also allowed her to connect with people from diverse backgrounds and gain a deeper understanding of the world. Her stories of resilience, compassion, and the triumph of the human spirit have resonated with readers, inspiring them to embrace their own sense of adventure and explore the unknown.

Beyond her travels, Heather is a passionate advocate for women in motorcycling and has become a role model for aspiring female adventurers. Her determination to challenge stereotypes and break barriers has paved the way for others to follow their dreams, regardless of gender or societal expectations.

Nick Sanders – From Alaska to Tierra del Fuego in record time

Nick Sanders is a legendary figure in the world of motorcycle travel, known for his daring expeditions and remarkable achievements. With a thirst for adventure and a passion for pushing boundaries, he has embarked on incredible journeys that have solidified his status as one of the most accomplished long-distance motorcyclists of our time.

Born in 1959 in England, Nick Sanders discovered his love for motorcycles at a young age and quickly realized that two wheels would be his preferred mode of transportation for exploring the world. In 1984, he set out on his first major expedition, riding solo from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego in record time. This monumental feat marked the beginning of a series of extraordinary adventures that would define his career.

Over the years, Nick Sanders has undertaken numerous epic motorcycle expeditions, crisscrossing continents and conquering vast distances. From circumnavigating the globe multiple times to setting speed records on various routes, his accomplishments have captivated the imagination of motorcycle enthusiasts worldwide.

Throughout his travels, Nick Sanders has relied on a range of motorcycles, each chosen for its suitability to the terrain and the challenges that lay ahead. He has tackled rugged off-road tracks on dual-sport bikes, conquered high-speed stretches on sport motorcycles, and navigated through diverse landscapes on adventure tourers. His choice of motorcycle is a testament to his expertise in selecting the right machine for the job, ensuring both performance and reliability on his demanding expeditions.

In addition to his impressive motorcycle journeys, Nick Sanders is also an accomplished author and filmmaker. He has written several books, including “ Jupiter’s Travels ” and “ Condor and the Cows “, in which he shares his thrilling experiences and provides a glimpse into the trials and triumphs of his adventures. His storytelling prowess and candid writing style allow readers to join him on his extraordinary quests, immersing themselves in the challenges, the beauty, and the sheer thrill of the open road.

Nick Sanders’ accomplishments have not gone unnoticed in the world of film and television. His expeditions have been documented in various media productions, including the acclaimed series “ Ultimate Motorcycling: Legends of the Road “, which showcases his incredible feats and introduces viewers to the man behind the extraordinary journeys. Through his appearances on screen, Nick Sanders has inspired countless individuals to embark on their own motorcycle adventures and embrace the spirit of exploration.

Each of these remarkable individuals has left an indelible mark on the world of motorcycle travel. Through their captivating books and, in some cases, other media platforms, they have shared their extraordinary journeys, triumphs over adversity, and profound insights, igniting a spark of inspiration within those who long to embark on their own two-wheeled odysseys. 

Their stories stand as a testament to the boundless possibilities that await those brave enough to embrace the freedom of the open road.

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Really interesting post thank you. I have heard of most of these folks and read a few books, seen their films. But some new adventures to explore here as well. I met Sam Manicom once, nice chap and also met another writer who I also recommend. Derek Mansfield. Quite a few adventures in his books. I did a video interview with him over lockdown. http://derekmansfield.com/ https://youtu.be/lYDWyUbt0O8

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Horrid Henry's Car Journey (story)

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" Horrid Henry's Car Journey " is a short story by American children's author Francesca Simon .

Synopsis [ ]

Horrid Henry hates car journeys – especially when it means going to visit Prissy Polly and Pimply Paul, and missing Rude Ralph’s birthday party. Watch out, Mum and Dad, because Henry is prepared to do whatever it takes to get out of this trip.

Characters [ ]

• Horrid Vulture
• Perfect Peter
• Prissy Polly
• Vomiting Vera (debut)
• Pimply Paul (not seen)
• Rude Ralph (mentioned)
• Dizzy Dave (referenced)
• Jolly Josh (referenced)

Appears In [ ]

• Horrid Henry: Bogey Babysitter (2002)
• Horrid Henry's House of Horrors (2008)
• 1 Horrid Henry
• 2 Perfect Peter
• 3 Rude Ralph

9 Essential Car Books You Should Read

These are some of the most engrossing stories to come out of the automotive industry.

5 Series Sedan

If you really want to dive deep into automotive subjects, forget YouTube, podcasts, automotive websites, and magazines. There are over a hundred years' worth of car books to read, so we've whittled the list down to what we consider to be the essential reads. If you prefer to listen rather than read, many of these stories are also available as audiobooks. To count as essential on this list, we consider them the definite works on their subjects, whether that's history, car culture, racing, autobiographies, or the bizarre history of an automotive brand.

1. Go Like Hell - A.J. Baime

Ford v Ferrari is a great movie, but it's a Hollywood production that takes liberties to tell a story that will appeal to the masses. It's also just a couple of hours long, which means there is a lot of detail missed, characters left out, and insane parts of the story left untold. Seriously, the full story is extraordinary, and more than a few people lost their lives between the moment Enzo Ferrari snubbed Ford in 1963 , and the moment the GT40 dominated at Le Mans and humiliated the Ferrari race team.

Go Like Hell is the full story covering all the people that played a part and also tells Ferrari's side of the story. It all happened at a time when the safety of the drivers wasn't even a secondary concern when it came to going faster, and engineers were working from pen and paper and trailblazing the technology we take for granted today. A.J. Baime paces the story perfectly and captures the feelings and excitement of one of automotive history's great stories in the golden age of car racing.

2. Driven: Inside BMW, The Most Admired Car Company In The World - David Kiley

The start of Driven sounds like a long advertisement for BMW, in particular the 5 Series , and is full of cliches. But then it becomes one of the best automotive books we've read. Suddenly, it's as if a different author took over and starts telling the full story of BMW. It's as if David Kiley figured BMW would read the intro and the first chapter and be happy so he could get into the meat of the story. There are some fascinating chapters on the thinking behind the cars, the ups and downs of the brand, the innovation and successes, and the struggles to maintain an identity. However, the story of the family that has owned BMW since the 1950s, the Quandts, stands out. It's an epic story and almost a book in itself that doesn't hold back in talking about the family's entire Nazi period, which is eye-opening.

3. How To Drive - Ben Collins

One of the best car books an enthusiast can read is How To Drive: The Ultimate Guide, From The Man Who Was The Stig, by Ben Collins. He might have pulled a questionable move that got him fired from Top Gear , but the man can wheel a car. Collins has been racing at a high level since 1994 and has gigs as a writer, TV presenter, and precision driver for movies. No matter how experienced you are, you always learn something when you re-read, while Collins also manages to be inspirational, instructive, and entertaining.

4. Memoirs Of A Hack Mechanic - Rob Siegel

During business hours, Rob Siegel is a geophysicist. For the rest of the time, he is a man obsessed with owning, fixing, and driving cars. The book is a spin on Siegel's The Hack Mechanic column for BMW Car Club of America's magazine, Roundel . Memoirs Of A Hack Mechanic blends advice, stories, cautionary tales, history, and irreverent humor into one neat book and will hit home with car enthusiasts of any age. To us, any person that has managed to own 25 BMW 2002s while not getting divorced or spending the kid's college money is somebody worth listening to.

5. Cannonball! - Brock Yates

Brock Yates was a legend and a maverick in automotive journalism. If you haven't heard of him, then strap in. He was a longtime executive editor of Car and Driver , wrote a string of great books, co-wrote the movie Smokey And The Bandit II with stunt driver Hal Needham, and came up with the Cannonball Ball run with fellow editor Steve Smith.

It was an unsanctioned speed record drive from Los Angeles to Darien, Connecticut, born out of a love for America's highway system and as a middle finger to the highway laws being imposed at the beginning of the 1970s. Then he wrote the screenplay for the movie, The Cannonball Run , starring Burt Reynolds again. The movie hasn't aged well in so many ways, but the initial record is still being improved upon. The book is more grounded, but still crazy, and gives an inside look at how coast-to-coast racing became national news and a car culture fixture. It's a book about cars that should be in every enthusiast's collection.

6. How To Build A Car - Adrian Newey

If you're into books about how cars work and Formula 1, then How To Build A Car by Adrian Newey is a must-read. While the name isn't as famous as Bruce McLaren, Colin Chapman, or Gordon Murray, Newey is responsible for more Constructor Championship titles than all of them. He's one of the UK's most outstanding engineers, and How To Build A Car covers a lifetime of experience that started with drawing cars at age 12. The book gets into the nuts and bolts of how a car works with entertaining and engaging detail.

7. And On That Bombshell - Richard Porter

If you've ever wondered if Top Gear under Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May was the same behind the scenes as it was in front, then this is the book to read. Richard Porter came in when rebooting Top Gear was an idea being put into motion by Clarkson and producer Andy Wilman. His title was Script Editor on a show that won awards for being an unscripted show, which sets the tone perfectly. Porter is a brilliant writer and a funny one, which shows through Top Gear , his satirical website that got him hired, and the book And On That Bombshell , which charts the rise and fall of Top Gear hosted by the trio that made it a worldwide success. It includes the highs and lows with plenty of insight and stories nobody could make up, like being the script editor and accepting an award for Best Unscripted Show. We would file this one under good car books for adults.

8. Engines of Change - Paul Ingrassia

One of the best automotive books that will satisfy the general public and enthusiasts alike is Engines of Change: A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars by Paul Ingrassia. It's also one of the best classic car books anyone can pick up, read, and enjoy as he gets into the culture and the people that shaped the car industry - not just the American car industry. Each subject focuses on one car, but in cases like the Corvette, it gets into the story behind them. Highlights include the Corvette and the incredible story of Zora Arkus-Duntov, the rise of Harley Earl and the weird and wonderful period of automotive history that was the war of the giant fins, and the unlikely rise of the Prius. It's as entertaining as it is insightful and educational on American car culture.

9. Electric Cars - James Taylor

James Taylor has been writing about cars since the 1970s, and his book Electric Cars is the latest entry on this list. There aren't many great books about electric cars, but we love this one as it charts the history of the electric car, which predates the development of the internal combustion engine. It's a comprehensive history that brings us up to date as the book was released in 2022. If you want to understand the electric car and its journey before EVs fully take over from ICE cars, this is well worth a look.

The Best Of The Rest

We could write a book about all the great car books out there, but you should go read them. If you're into biographies and Formula One or racing in general, check out Aussie Grit: My Formula One Journey by Mark Webber and Life to the Limit by Jenson Button.

A deeply engrossing book on Formula 1 is Racing with Rich Energy: How a Rogue Sponsor Took Formula One for a Ride by Alanis King and Elizabeth Blackstock. In fact, if you're into Formula 1, that's a recent book that should be required reading. If you like your race car driver autobiographies to mainly drive in circles, there's Swerve or Die: Life at My Speed in the First Family of NASCAR Racing by Kyle Petty and Ellis Henican.

If you're interested in the second golden age of the American automotive industry, there's Car Guys Vs. Bean Counters by one of America's larger-than-life automotive CEOs, Bob Lutz, and Iacocca: An Autobiography by Lee Iacocca and William Novak. If we've missed any must-read car books, let us know in the comments.

8 Epic Journeys in Literature

Reading Lists

Micheline aharonian marcom, author of "the new american," recommends quest stories.

The journey story, where the hero must venture out into the world for reasons not necessarily entirely of his/her own devising, is likely as old as recorded literature.

Of course the journey story can also be understood as an allegory of the self, or soul, and its evolution in a lifetime, for storytelling is always an act, as Ann Carson says, “of symbolization.” In this sense, the journey story not only narrates the material events of a life, but also the interior transformations an individual undergoes.

As I wrote my seventh novel, The New American —which takes up the story of a young Guatemalan American college student at UC Berkeley, a DREAMer who is deported to Guatemala and his journey back home to California—I thought a lot about these kinds of archetypal stories in imaginative literature. Here are a few of my favorites. 

The Epic of Gilgamesh, or He Who Saw Deep translated by Andrew George

The epic poem, one of oldest works of world literature, was composed in its earliest versions over 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia and written in Babylonian cuneiform on clay tablets. Much of the reason it is lesser known than the younger works of Homer is because the epic itself was not rediscovered until 1853, cuneiform was not deciphered until 1857, and it wasn’t well translated until 1912. Fragments of the story on stone tablets continue to be found in modern-day Turkey, Iraq and Syria.

The basic story follows the King Gilgamesh of Uruk (modern-day Warka, Iraq) and his friendship with the wild man Enkidu. They undergo various battles including fighting and defeating the bull of heaven. Later, upon Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh journeys to the edge of the earth where he goes in search of the secret of eternal life and, not finding it, returns home to Uruk having in some manner, in spite of life’s sorrows and travails, made peace with his own mortality.

“Ever do we build our households, ever do we make our nests, ever do brothers divide their inheritance, ever do feuds arise in the land. Ever the river has risen and brought us the flood, the mayfly floating on the water. On the face of the sun its countenance gazes, then all of sudden nothing is there!”

The Odyssey by Homer

Written down, along with the Iliad , soon after the invention of the Greek alphabet around the 8 th -century BCE, the epic poem sings of Odysseus’ return home after the Trojan War and his encounters with monsters, the Sirens, shipwrecks, and captivity by Calypso on her island until he finally makes it back to Ithaca. Because the poem survived more or less continuously until modern times and has had influence in so many cultures for millennia (unlike the more recently rediscovered and older Gilgamesh ), there’s no need to reiterate a narrative which so many of us already know, either directly or through the many stories the poem has inspired and influenced. One of my favorite moments comes in Book 14 when Odysseus finally makes it to Ithaca after ten years of traveling and, disguised as a beggar, seeks out Eumaeus the swineherd, who, not recognizing Odysseus, asks “But come…tell me of thine own sorrows, and declare me this truly, that I may know full well. Who art thou among men, and from whence?” These lines have seemed to me to in some way encapsulate some of storytelling’s most basic questions across the ages. 

The Divine Comedy by Dante

Written after Dante had been sent into exile from his beloved city of Florence, the Commedia tells of the pilgrim’s descent into hell, his travel through purgatory, and eventually his ascent to paradise, with the Roman poet Virgil as his first guide, and later his beloved, Beatrice. The Commedia —the adjective “divine” in the title wasn’t added for several hundred years—begins with “Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita/mi ritrovai per una selva oscura” which can be translated from the Italian to “Midway through the road of our life I found myself in a dark wood.” This is another line from literature that has haunted me for years, not only for the allegorical  “dark wood” many of us might at times find ourselves lost in, but at Dante’s strange use of the word “our” even though the Commedia will tell of one pilgrim’s journey and search for the right way. The first person plural points, I think, to the common story of seeking meaning, understanding, and wisdom, and how in the case of this beautiful work, the company of literature with its manner of encoding in the song of language (even if you don’t speak Italian, read a few lines out loud and you can hear the poem’s rhythms) is a blessing in any reader’s life’s journey. 

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, translated by John Rutherford

Alfonso Quixano has read too many chivalric romances (popular in 15 th and 16 th -century Europe), has gone mad from his reading, and now confuses reality with fantasy: he imagines himself the knight-errant Don Quixote and he determines to set off in search of adventure. From that premise, we journey through the countryside with our knight errant and his squire, Sancho Panza, as they slay giants (windmills) and defend the honor of his lady-love, Dulcinea del Toboso (a neighboring farm girl), who doesn’t actually ever appear in the story. In addition to being an amusing, laugh-out-loud tour de force of strange encounters as the pair travel across La Mancha, the reality of the violence, ignorance, and venality—not of Don Quixote, but of the society in which he lives in 17 th -century Spain—of corrupted clergy, greedy merchants, deluded scholars, and the like, is on full display. To this day, Don Quixote continues to reveal the joyous role of reading in our lives, how fictions make for all kinds of realities, and how very often it is the fool who sees the truth.

“When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams—this may be madness. Too much sanity may be madness—and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”

Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih

Tayeb Salih’s mid 20th-century masterpiece is narrated by an unnamed young scholar who returns from England to his village on the Nile after seven years of study abroad and encounters a mysterious newcomer, Mustafa Sa’eed, who also lived for many years in the north. The novel takes up the many complexities and legacies of colonialism in post 1960s Sudan, the difficulties of encroaching modernity, the tragedy of Sa’eed’s life in England, and the intricate web of communal relationships in a traditional village. It is some of the women characters, especially the irreverent and bawdy storyteller, Bint Majzoub, very much like a storyteller out of the Nights , who regales the elder male listeners with bawdy tales, that has stayed in my imagination since I first read the book a decade ago. But it is the style of the book, its formal narrative complexity and interplay, the beauty of its prose, its deep and complex interrogation of the self in the world, that have made it a book I continue to return to. “How strange! How ironic! Just because a man has been created on the Equator some mad people regard him as a slave, others as a god. Where lies the mean?”

The Bear by William Faulkner

The journey here is into the woods to hunt Old Ben, the last remaining brown bear of his kind and stature in the quickly diminishing woods of Mississippi at the turn of the 19 th -century. As with so much of Faulkner’s work, the writing is sublime, the form strange, the land is a character, and we witness the maw of industrial capitalism as it reduces everything—animals, the land, people—to a ledger of profits and loss. The last scene of the illiterate woodsman, Boon, in a clearing—the land by then has been sold, Old Ben is dead, and loggers will imminently cut the remainder of the old woods down—sitting beneath a lone tree with squirrels running up and down its trunk screaming “They’re mine!” has long haunted me.  

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

Italian writer Italo Calvino’s fantastical novel is about the imagined conversations between the 13th-century Venetian traveler, Marco Polo, and the Tartar Emperor Kublai Khan of the cities Polo has seen during his travels. The book, however, is mostly made up of descriptions of cities—fantastical forays not into any visible or historical cities, but imaginary invented ones: both ones that might have been and could be, and ones which perhaps did or do exist but are now transformed by the lens of story and distilled to their strange often wondrous essences. Calvino reminds us in this glorious book how the stories we tell greatly shape our thinking, our cultural formations, our views. “You take delight not in a city’s seven or seventy wonders, but in the answer it gives to a question of yours.”

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

When I think of Hurston I recall her description in her essay “ How It Feels to Be Colored Me ” of the “cosmic Zora” who would emerge at times as she walked down Seventh Avenue, her hat set at a certain angle, who belonged “to no race nor time. I am the eternal feminine with its string of beads.” In Hurston’s extraordinary novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God , the eternal and timeless qualities of imaginative literature are on full display in the very specific groundings of place and time, spoken language and culture. The book opens with Janie Crawford recounting her life story to her friend Pheoby upon her return to the all-Black town of Eatonville, Florida. The book, set in the 1930s, follows Janie’s narration of her early life, her three marriages (the last for love), and the many trials she undergoes including the death of her beloved during her travels, before she finally returns changed, wiser, independent. “You got tuh go there tuh know there…Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves.”

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10 of the Best Poems about Cars

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

It was Marinetti and the Futurists who perhaps made the definitive statement about the poetic potential of the motorcar: ‘We declare that the splendor of the world has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed … a roaring motor car which seems to run on machine-gun fire, is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.’

But in fact, ever since the automobile or motorcar began to appear on our roads, poets have been trying to find a means of poetic expression appropriate to this new invention. Here are ten of the greatest automobile or car poems.

Rudyard Kipling, ‘ To Motorists ’.

It’s fitting that Kipling heads this pick of the best poems about cars for several reasons: first, in being born in 1865 and having made his name as a writer in the 1880s, Kipling was perhaps the oldest writer to see the potential of this new invention for the poet; second, Kipling wrote a whole collection, The Muse among the Motors , in which he parodied the styles of earlier poets and wrote poems about cars as Robert Herrick etc. would have written them.

And here it is the short, pithy style of Herrick’s poetry that he pastiches as he offers a warning to motorists:

Since ye distemper and defile Sweet Herè by the measured mile, Nor aught on jocund highways heed Except the evidence of speed …

Banjo Paterson, ‘ The Lay of the Motor Car ’.

Andrew Barton ‘Banjo’ Paterson (1864-1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist, and author – one of two Australian poets to feature on this list. Paterson pays tribute to the thrill of ‘We’re away! and the wind whistles shrewd / In our whiskers and teeth; / And the granite-like grey of the road / Seems to slide underneath.’

Henry Lawson, ‘ The Motor Car ’.

Lawson was another Australian bush poet. Published in 1907, ‘The Motor Car’ – unlike Paterson’s poem – doesn’t exactly sing the praises of this new technological invention:

The motor car is sullen, like a thing that should not be; The motor car is master of Smart Society. ’Twas born of sweated genius and collared by a clown; ’Twas planned by Retribution to ride its riders down …

Percy MacKaye, ‘ The Automobile Poem ’. MacKaye (1875-1956) was an American playwright and poet, who in this sonnet captures the rapturous feeling of speed as the world rushes past us while we take to the roads in a car. Probably the first ever Petrarchan sonnet about the car!

Guillaume Apollinaire, ‘ The Little Car ’. Apollinaire (1880-1918), a French avant-garde poet, was one of the first to incorporate the recent invention of the motorcar into his poetry.

In this poem he recalls a car journey he made in August 1914 – the month of the outbreak of the First World War. The poem was written two years ago and is haunted by war: that fateful car journey saw Apollinaire and his friends heading off to fight.

T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land .

Eliot’s 1922 masterpiece contains several references to motorcars, such as the ‘sound of horns and motors’ that signal Sweeney’s arrival at Mrs Porter’s brothel in the spring, and the ‘closed car at four’ the nervous woman and her husband will take when it rains. So the poem as a whole deserves to make this list, especially when we consider the taxi that throbs and waits in the third section, too …

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, ‘ Driving A Cardboard Automobile Without A License ’.

An entertaining ‘just-so story’ of a poem from one of America’s finest contemporary poets (b. 1919), about how the poet’s own parents supposedly met – while his father was driving a cardboard automobile without a licence on ‘a fun-ride at Coney Island’. The final three lines are wonderfully tender.

Gregory Corso, ‘ Last Night I Drove a Car ’.

A lesser-known figure in the Beat movement, Corso (1930-2001) offers a short poem about reckless driving – as one might expect from a poet associated with the Beat movement…

Mark Vinz, ‘ Driving Through ’.

The American poet Mark Vinz (b. 1942) here uses the car journey through a nondescript town as a metaphor for deeper emotions relating to nostalgia and unfulfilled potential. Never has the expression ‘you’re only driving through’ been quite so poignant.

Simon Armitage, ‘ Hitcher ’.

A masterly poem from the current UK Poet Laureate, ‘Hitcher’ is a dramatic monologue spoken by a man who hires a Vauxhall Astra car and picks up a hitchhiker, whom he promptly beats up and throws out of the car.

Why he does it he doesn’t reveal, making this a dramatic monologue in the truly unsettling tradition of nineteenth-century poets like Robert Browning. It’s also a fine conclusion to this pick of the best poems about motorcars.

5 thoughts on “10 of the Best Poems about Cars”

Whew! That Apollinaire poem is a corker! Interesting to see what the translator did with the typographically free section that I’m guessing was a huge challenge to the translator’s task. I’m off in search of the original.

And so pleased to see Mark Vinz making his way into this selection with his fine poem about midwestern American driving.

Well I finished my shot at a new English translation, and since I was focused on performance I left out much of the Calligrammes section.

Learned some history looking at the situation in France at the end of August 1914. From the poem’s three points on the journey (Deuville, Fontainebleau, and then Paris) it looks like Apollinaire may have been trying to avoid the advancing German army, only to end up after all in a Paris that was the objective of their advance!

https://frankhudson.org/2019/08/29/the-little-car/

Thanks again for introducing me to a poem I hadn’t known. Somewhat comparable to Auden’s “September 1 1939” I think.

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And there’s this one by Robert Creeley: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42839/i-know-a-man

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By Mark Abley

A review of A Short Journey By Car by Liam Durcan

A Short Journey By Car Liam Durcan

Vehicule Press $16.95 paper 204pp 1-55065-189-7

None of these characters, on the surface, would seem to have much in common with the life of a Montreal neurologist – which is Liam Durcan’s day job. Presumably his work demands both insight and precision: hopefully it also requires compassion (an overused word, but in this case hard to avoid). Those are, I’m delighted to say, the exact qualities – rather than any easy similarities of setting or plot – that distinguish A Short Journey by Car . Its sixteen tales cover an astonishing amount of physical and emotional territory, in which the author is conspicuous by his gifted absence. As you turn the page onto a new Durcan story, you have absolutely no idea where he’s about to fling you.

I speak, by the way, as someone who tends to prefer novels to short fiction. As a reader, I often find the short-story form frustrating. But the authority of Durcan’s voice, along with its galloping unexpectedness, soon won me over. Admittedly, a few of the briefer pieces in this book seem little more than technical exercises – a bit like piano studies in an unusual and difficult key. (In his next collection, perhaps Durcan should make sure that the stories are all more than seven pages long.) When he gives his imagination room to take flight, the results can be dazzling.

In “Lumière,” for example, Durcan speaks in the voice of a Parisian maître d’hôtel at the Grand Café on boulevard des Capucines in 1895, a man who watches what’s generally described as the first public showing of motion pictures (all of them very short, of course). At first the man thinks “that these are certainly ghosts and that I must avert my eyes to save my eternal soul, but I cannot look away.” Before long, “the ghosts are no longer threatening but now enchant us,” and the kitchen staff have rushed off to see for themselves, leaving “not a soul to witness pots still on the boil and the smell of meals imminently becoming cinders. It has been abandoned as though to an invading army.” The story is a triumph in miniature – not only does it brilliantly recreate a key moment in cultural history, it also suggests the impact of that moment on human perception.

Durcan is already a master of relinquishing information slowly – which is a fancy way of saying that he likes to keep his readers on their toes. The surprises at the end of “Control” are eminently guessable; alas, I failed to guess them. Likewise, I was four pages into “dollyclocks” before it dawned on me that the little boy in the story has Down’s syndrome. When I looked back at what I’d just read, I wondered how I could have been so stupid. (Despite that stupidity, I could still take pleasure in the story.)

All in all, A Short Journey by Car is a remarkably intelligent collection. It’s also remarkably humane. mRb

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Book Title Generator

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If your central character has a quirky name or a title (like Doctor or Detective) you can definitely incorporate this into your book title. Just look at Jane Eyre, Percy Jackson, or Harry Potter, for instance — working with one or more or your characters’ names is a surefire way to get some title ideas down. Equally, you can add a little detail, like Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, to add a little color to a name and make it title-worthy.

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You might be surprised at how many books refer to other works in their titles ( The Fault in Our Stars by John Green comes from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar , and Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men takes its inspiration from a Robert Burns poem). Going this route allows authors to use an already beautiful and poetic turn of phrase that alludes to a theme in their own book. From Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls to Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials , so many books have used this technique that might also work for you.

7. Don’t forget the subtitle

In non-fiction publishing, there’s a trend of evocative or abstract titles, followed by a subtitle that communicates the content (and is packed with delicious keywords that the Amazon search engine can’t resist). This is also another way to get around long titles — and to add a little panache to an otherwise dry subject matter. In the United States, it’s also quite common to have “A Novel” as a subtitle (if, you know, it’s a novel). In the United Kingdom, this practice is much rarer.

8. Generate a book name through a book title generator

If you’ve gone through all of the above and are still wringing out your brain trying to come up with the golden formula — fear not! There are other ways to get the cogs whirring and inspiration brewing, such as title generators.

And speaking of cogs whirring, let us present you with the...

15 best book titles of all time

Witty, eye-catching, memorable — these famous book titles have it all. Without further ado, here are 15 best book titles you can take inspiration from.

• I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
• The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
• Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
• And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
• The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
• The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

Looking for even more story title ideas?

If you’re agonizing over your book title, you’re not alone! Some of the best book titles today emerged only after much teeth gnashing. The Sun Also Rises was once titled Fiesta ; Pride and Prejudice was once First Impressions . Then there was F. Scott Fitzgerald, who reportedly took forever to think of a good title. He ultimately discarded a dozen ( Gold-Hatted Gatsby , The High-Bouncing Lover , and Trimalchio in West Egg included) before reluctantly picking The Great Gatsby .

So it’s tough out there for a novelist, which is why we built this generator: to try and give you some inspiration. Any of the titles that you score through it are yours to use. We’d be even more delighted if you dropped us the success story at [email protected] ! If you find that you need even more of a spark beyond our generator, the Internet’s got you covered. Here are some of our other favorite generators on the web:

Fantasy Book Title Generators : Fantasy Name Generator , Serendipity: Fantasy Novel Titles

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The 20 classic car stories you wanted to read about in 2022

2022 has been nothing if not varied, and while international events have somewhat occupied our thoughts, this corner of society we call the car hobby seems to have gone from strength to strength, despite external pressures.

For us here at Hagerty, that doesn’t just mean popular shows and a nine-to-five spent thinking about, talking about and enjoying cars, but more of you visiting the Hagerty website than ever to read about them too.

Below we’ve compiled the twenty most-read stories of the year, in no particular order, and can assure you there’s much more to come next year too. Here’s to 2023, and more car adventures…

8 inflation-busting roadsters for summer fun

If the prospect of a few more months of winter is making you gloomy, perhaps now is the time to re-read the most popular story we published this year: our list of eight roadsters with strong value prospects and even higher chances of putting a smile on your face.

“Inflation-busting” was perhaps a little premature given just how high inflation has got since April, but it’s a lot easier to forget about macroeconomics when you’re blatting along with the top down.

Concept Cars That Never Made The Cut: MG Rover RDX60

The slow death of MG Rover is still a talking point two decades on, as much for what might have been as for the repercussions of the situation itself.

One of those might-have-beens was the RDX60, a family car designed to replace the Rover 45 with something a lot more modern. Ben Hodges delved into the story back in November.

Cats in disguise: 10 Italian cars that were actually a Jaguar

British brands have a long history of working with Italian design houses, from Pininfarina-penned Austin A40s to Zagato-bodied Astons.

But Richard Heseltine’s list was a little more literal, with ten cars, comprising coachbuilt models and concepts, either based on Jaguars or proposing new models. A great number seem to have been created by Bertone, but the unusual Italdesign Kensington is in there too – which subsequently became a Daewoo.

2023 UK Bull Market List: 10 collectable cars primed to take off this year

The Bull Market List is a Hagerty flagship, and happily our readers seem to agree, comfortably landing it in our top twenty stories of 2022.

2023’s list really should have something for everyone, with a pre-war favourite rubbing shoulders with a supercar icon, design classics from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and one of the world’s best sports cars, among others. Which would you buy?

London’s ULEZ zone to expand to M25 in 2023

We realise that not all of our readers live within London, but for those that do, some of the capital’s policies are making car ownership increasingly difficult and expensive – and that’s an issue we can all get behind.

The latest plans to significantly expand the ultra-low emission zone, or ULEZ, probably won’t greatly affect older classics, but plenty of modern classics from the 80s, 90s and early 2000s will be impacted – and our beloved “unexceptional” motors more than most.

Blame the Nissan Qashqai for the end of the world

Few articles we’ve published this year have seen such a division in the comments. Author Matt Master argued that the Qashqai has been the figurehead of today’s homogenised car industry, and representative of its ignorance of environmental issues.

And while plenty of you agreed, plenty didn’t: the car’s practicality and ease of use justifying it to many of you, and perhaps making it clear why Nissan built it in the first place. This one, we suspect, will go on and on.

£911,000 for a pile of rusty race-car parts? Not crazy, and here’s why

We’ll concede, the number attached to this pile of scrap metal certainly looks crazy, even when you learn it’s a Cooper-Zerex race car previously owned by Bruce McLaren.

But as John Mayhead explains, this collection of parts has a spectacular history, as the first model to wear the Bruce McLaren Racing Team name in competition, and once rebuilt, every historic racing door in the world will be open to it.

9 stunning coupés we were cruelly denied

The coupé body shape is nearly extinct in today’s market, but it’s always been a favourite among enthusiasts – cars often don’t come much prettier, but with fixed roofs and often a 2+2 layout and proper boot, they can still be practical and usable too.

In this popular article we looked at several that never made it to production, or if they did, only in very limited numbers. We’re still smarting that Rover never built its 75 coupé certainly, and Mazda could really have done with turning out a few more MX-5 Roadster Coupés too…

The fastest Ford the world never saw

Steve Saxty has become the guru on old Fords, and has written some fascinating pieces for Hagerty in recent years. But perhaps none more so than January’s story on the GN34.

This was to be Ford’s supercar of the 1980s and 1990s, but as Saxty explains, it wasn’t to be, eventually given the boot so the ultra-profitable Explorer SUV could be built. We know which we’d have preferred…

Once labelled untamable, the Cooper-Buick V8 Mini is restored – and meaner than ever!

If you’ve ever driven a classic Mini with a few tweaks, you’ll realise how quick they can feel when you’re skimming along in something quite so small.

What this Mini with a Buick V8 engine feels like then is anyone’s guess, particularly as the engine is in the back. But this year saw it return, fully restored – and we’ll no doubt see it along at some events in 2023.

The cars of Queen Elizabeth II

The death of The Queen was one of 2022’s more significant stories – a great many of us simply cannot remember a time when she wasn’t around.

For our tribute to the monarch, Giles Chapman went into detail on some of the cars most closely associated with our head of state, from those she worked on during her military service, to unexpected models like a Renault Dauphine presented to her on a state visit to France.

BMW considers legal action as Chinese Mini rip-off uncovered

The Chinese car industry has changed massively in recent years, to the extent where you can now buy several Chinese models, mostly electric, on the UK market – and some are pretty competitive with European, Japanese and Korean equivalents.

The country is unlikely to shake off its reputation for copycats with things like this though, when patent drawings for what is clearly an Issigonis Mini appeared in May. Unsurprisingly BMW, rights holders to the Mini likeness and name, were not amused.

Horses for courses? Why slow old cars are just better

Here’s one that really resonated with you folks, sneaking into our top 20 despite being published as recently as early December. And it’s perhaps no surprise, as Paul Cowland touched on a subject that’s close to all our hearts.

As fast driving gets harder, more expensive, and less socially acceptable, he argues, the solution is to embrace the joys of slower cars. There’s nothing quite like pushing a car to its modest limits, and still being entirely on the right side of the law.

After 25 years, the 996 Porsche 911 has come of age

The Porsche 996 has an interesting history, praised highly at launch but derided by certain kinds of enthusiast for changing the 911’s formula – and then shunned by used buyers for well-publicised mechanical maladies.

But a quarter-century on it’s both the most affordable 911 to buy, and still one of the best to drive. Steve Bennett’s story explains why you should give it another chance.

The Grand Tour: James May on his Scandi Flick crash

The most recent episode of The Grand Tour saw the three former Top Gear presenters driving across Scandinavia in rally-inspired all-wheel drive performance cars. And predictably, one of them crashed.

Surprisingly though it wasn’t Richard Hammond this time, but James May. Captain Slow was fine, after a check-up, but his Mitsubishi Evo looked a little worse for wear afterwards.

11 forgotten hot hatchbacks of the ‘80s

Most of us can reel off a long list of 1980s hot hatchback stars, but beneath the 205 GTIs, Golf GTIs and Renault 5 GT Turbos, there were plenty more models to attract fans of practical fun.

So if you ever think the Citroën Visa GTi or Fiat Strada Abarth 130TC don’t get the attention they deserve, this is probably the article for you.

What’s all this then? Ex-undercover police Range Rover Commercial for sale

Quite unsurprisingly our readers seem to love British cars, and unique, unusual versions of British cars even more so – which perhaps explains your appetite for this ex-plod Rangie.

The police connection is interesting, but one look at the images and it’s probably the sight of a Range Rover van that has most of us wondering what we’d use it for. And who can resist a bit of Russet Brown?

10 strange seating arrangements that left us uncomfortably numb

We appreciate when a car manufacturer does something a little different from the norm – even more so given how little variety there is in the modern automotive market.

Perhaps it’s time someone brought some of these unusual seating arrangements back, such as the slide-out seats of a Skoda Felicia Fun, or the three-abreast layout of some Matra sports cars?

The One That Got Away: John Illsley of Dire Straits and the Aston DB5 bought with his first royalty cheques

It’s always a joy to see who Charlotte Vowden has been speaking to about their “one that got away” – cars celebrities wish they’d never let go of.

But the one that really caught your attention this year was the Aston Martin DB5 of John Illsley from Dire Straits. It’s a classic tale of a rock star’s car.

The Ford Sierra XR8 was a ‘real muscle car’ from South Africa, built to beat Alfa and BMW

You’ll be familiar with the Ford Sierra XR4i, but what about the Sierra XR8? This South African special packed something rather more potent than a Cologne V6 under its bonnet.

This V8-engined Sierra came up for sale in November, and eventually sold for £19,500. Gavin Braithwaite-Smith’s story on the model’s history is well worth checking out if you haven’t already.

Check out the  Hagerty Media homepage  for daily news, features, interviews and buying guides, or better still,  bookmark it.

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Ambassador Caroline Kennedy’s Drive for Cancer: A Philanthropic Journey

T he Ambassador is set to raise the bar by joining next week’s boldly named Shitbox Rally, taking the wheel for a grueling journey from Adelaide to Perth.

This challenging trek, through the unforgiving outback, is undertaken in a car notorious for its tendency to break down, all in the name of supporting cancer research, prevention, and treatment efforts.

In accordance with the rally’s guidelines, the Ambassador’s vehicle must be valued at under $1500. Her chosen steed? A 2004 Ford Falcon lovingly christened “Moonshot.”

“I’ve been so inspired by the people that I’ve met and across Australia working in the field of cancer research and treatment,” Kennedy told  60 Minutes. “The rally is obviously, kind of a way for people to come together and recommit, raise funds, support the research.”

The fight for a cure for cancer is a cause close to Kennedy’s heart. 

As the sole surviving child of former US President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, she has tragically not been spared from the devastating impact of cancer.

Her mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, passed away in 1994 after battling Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, while her uncle, Ted Kennedy, lost his life to aggressive brain cancer in 2009.

“I’m sure that were they diagnosed today, maybe things would have evolved differently,” Kennedy said. “I feel like it was one of the life-changing experiences for me as well. And of course I miss them every day, but I try to go forward with them in mind and they’re always with me.”

The Ambassador’s car is aptly named after her father’s iconic and visionary declaration in 1962 to land a man on the moon before the decade’s end.

President John F. Kennedy allocated substantial funds to this monumental endeavor, dubbing it the “Moonshot” initiative.

Echoing JFK’s spirit, US President Joe Biden introduced his own ambitious Moonshot initiative, inspired by his late son Beau’s battle with a brain tumor.

The Cancer Moonshot Initiative aims to honor Beau’s memory by striving to find a cure for cancer.

The overarching goal of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative is to reduce cancer mortality rates by at least 50 percent within the next 25 years.

“We’ve already made so much progress and I’ve met people who are alive today who never would have survived this long in the past,” Ambassador Kennedy explains. “This is a really exciting time and we’re going to start to see the benefits of all these breakthroughs.”

The remarkable strides made in the quest for a cancer cure will be forefront in the Ambassador’s thoughts as she navigates the vast expanses of desert highway.

“The air conditioning works … the radio doesn’t work but that’s why we have our playlist,” she reassures us, of her car.

Indeed, even if “Moonshot” encounters mechanical issues, there will be a compelling soundtrack accompanying the journey, all in support of a noble cause.

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Short Story: a Car Journey

Write a short story that centres on two characters and a car journey.

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… A storm of turmoil erupted from Visu, causing devastation across the river in the once peaceful streets of Buela. This instability began before the Laboot franchise landed in BuelaVisu, but was triggered by the Laboot City delegation, which included Icorante, Belak Laboot, and Aken. The riot disillusioned BuelaVisu and the franchise delegation.

Leading up to the confrontation in BuelaVisu is an engaging journey across the continental divide ridge lands, where the team faces beasts, delaying tactics, sabotage and full-scale attacks. The discovery of a hidden culture brightens an otherwise terrifying passage. These challenges test the mettle of team members and strengthen their cohesion. Belak’s cluelessness toward his little sister lightens the narrative. Laboot City responds to the warning, sending troops just in time to rescue the delegation …

This dramatic tale, taken from “Ridgelands Franchise Journey” by Vic Lindblom, is an engaging story pertaining to the riot and dispute that seizes Visu, as well as the justice and diplomacy that follows.

The newest entry in the series, “Continental Divide,” is an exciting new book by the author, a retired mechanical engineer with an affinity for visual storytelling that extends beyond the confines of common literature.

His stories are infused with a unique combination of technical acumen and a keen knowledge of human nature, owing to his considerable experience in engineering, service in the military and Christian ministry. His skill in capturing a chaotic scene and the accompanying judicial process has an eye for detail and emotional entanglement, adding credibility to the narrative.

Vic Lindblom expertly negotiates legal complexities, giving readers a front-row seat to the hearing, where dynamic characters Icorante, Belak, and Aken must face the costs of confronting the judge.

The turbulent story climaxes with the Laboot City delegation caught in the middle of the riot, their purpose to establish an alliance obscured by the city’s internal struggle. The situation in Visu becomes personal when the Laboot City delegation testifies, demanding justice to tamp down the fires of rebellion and creating a path for the story to extend beyond “Ridgelands Franchise Journey.”

The judge’s decision is a watershed event, demonstrating his capacity to enter into the complexity of justice and the major repercussions upon the city of BuelaVisu.

The author creates an ensemble of discussions about diplomacy, looking into the delicate equilibrium between Laboot City, its rivals, and its supposed collaborator. The story also delves deeply into broader issues of understanding, collaboration and the difficulties that come when differing cultures encounter one another.

Lindblom’s exceptional depiction of the riot and struggle in Visu in “Ridgelands Franchise Journey” demonstrates his ability to capture the very essence of turbulence and resolution, along with his incisive analysis of human dynamics, lifting the story from a basic narrative to a profound assessment of social complications and the spirit of diplomacy in catastrophic situations.

Learn more about what happens on the journey in the book, which is currently available on Amazon and on the author’s official website .