7 Life Changing Books Every Traveler Should Read for a New Perspective
Admittedly, reading wasn’t necessarily my “thing” when I was growing up. But the more I’ve been fortunate enough to travel, the more I’ve grown curious. Why is the world the way it is? What’s on both sides of a cultural conflict? How has history shaped what I see before my eyes today?
As Anthony Bourdain once stated, “It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have to still go, and how much more there is to learn.”
So, without further ado, here are 7 of the best books for travelers to expand their worldviews in 2026 and beyond.
Happy reading!
The Lemon Tree
Author: Sandy Tolan
Goodreads: 4.1/5
About this book:
Based on a true story, The Lemon Tree narrates the invisible connection between a Palestinian man and an Israeli woman who both lived in the same home at Ramla, just at separate times.
Nearly twenty years after being driven from their family home, Bashir returns to his childhood home after the Six-Day War, leading him to strike a friendship with Dalia, part of a Jewish family that had sought refuge from Bulgaria and now lived in the Bashir family home.
A story told within a deep-rooted conflict, Tolan brings humanity back to the center of it all. For those, like myself, who may not have the widest breadth of knowledge about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, The Lemon Tree is a great starting point that provides context on just how far back the narrative goes, while interweaving an unlikely friendship that formed through it all.
Why travelers should read it:
Even if you don’t plan to travel to Palestine or Israel anytime soon, this book is crucial to better understanding the world, and the disagreements within it. It’s a testament to the strings that bond us in humanity before conflict.
Get it on Amazon | Kindle | Audible
Shake Hands with the Devil
Author: Romeo Dallaire
Goodreads: 4.2/5
About this Book:
Few trips have stopped me in my tracks like a recent visit to Rwanda, the Land of a Thousand Hills. The narrative that we hear now about the country is true: it’s clean and safe, but it’s clear there’s a deeper cut that’s still healing.
Wander through Kigali long enough, and it’s inevitable to stumble upon the bullet-ridden buildings that came under siege in 1994. Pay a visit to sites like the Genocide Memorial, where 250,000 of the estimated 1,000,000 people that died are laid to rest, or the old Camp Kigali, where Belgian UN Peacekeepers were cornered and murdered. It’s clear how this premeditated chain of events changed the course of this African nation.
With little recognition and support for what was happening on the ground during the genocide, responsibility fell to Romeo Dallaire, a Canadian commander of the UN Peacekeeping mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR), to convince cooler heads to prevail and protect the most vulnerable people.
Why travelers should read it:
Narrating an international failure that still has geopolitical impact today, most notably the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Shake Hands with the Devil is Dallaire’s first-hand account of his time in command during a brutal and generational-changing 100-day genocide in Rwanda.
This book isn’t for the faint of heart, but it’s important to read to understand the region as the way it is today, especially if you plan to travel there.
Get it on Amazon | Kindle
The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World
Authors: Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Goodreads: 4.4/5
About this book:
The Book of Joy is my grounding force when I need it the most. The authors alone should add some weight to the book’s contents, but the pages speak for themselves.
The title says it all; the world is changing, distractions are plenty, crisis is everywhere, so how can humanity find happiness amongst the chaos when we feel we’re in our darkest hours?
Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama team up to reflect on their own lives and experiences, having both suffered through exile and oppression, and offer practical steps they’ve learned over time to cultivate our own joy through habits and mindset.
Why travelers should read it:
It’s an easy read, but one that’s practical and perspective-shifting. This book will help travelers of all walk of love navigate the chaos in the world, regardless of the culture within. After all, happiness and joy should be universal!
Get it on Amazon | Kindle | Audible
Long Walk to Freedom
Author: Nelson Mandela
Goodreads: 4.4/5
About this book:
I originally bought this book as a used copy from a seller at Greenmarket Square on my first trip to Cape Town back in 2010, for no reason other than it had Nelson Mandela’s name on it.
As I mentioned earlier, reading wasn’t exactly my thing, and I’m ashamed to admit the book collected dust in the basement for nearly a decade, intimidated by the 600+ pages (again, not proud of it).
It wasn’t until 2020, during overnight shifts through the COVID pandemic, that I became utterly captivated by Nelson Mandela’s story.
Long Walk to Freedom is the autobiography of Mandela, telling the story from his roots as a foster son in a traditional culture to a starving student in Johannesburg experiencing a political uprising, and onwards to twenty-seven years in prison on Robben Island before becoming South Africa’s first democratically elected president in 1994.
Why travelers should read it:
His story is nothing short of inspiring and motivating, most notably leading the way towards a peaceful transition of power in a post-apartheid society through reconciliation and forgiveness, despite his imprisonment and treatment.
This isn’t a story to pass on or a legacy I want to forget anytime soon. Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom is proof of just how much a single person can endure to unite a nation full of differences.
Get it on Amazon | Kindle | Audible
Learn more about these can’t-miss South Africa Experiences:
My Beautiful Sisters: A Memoir of Courage, Hope, and the Afghan Women’s Soccer Team
Author: Khalida Popal
Goodreads: 4.4/5
About this book:
Imagine being a young woman in a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, having to flee to neighboring Pakistan. That perspective alone is enough to shift my mind.
Enter Khalida, a young refugee turned activist who returned to Kabul with her family, only to fall more in love with the beautiful game of football. Throughout the story, Popal forms club teams in secret, infiltrates the Afghanistan Football Federation, securing a job as overseeing the women’s program, and co-captaining the first Afghanistan Women’s National Team.
No obstacle too big, no death threat too serious to stop Khalida from empowering young women through sport. That is, until the day it all came crashing down and she was forced to flee.
Why travelers should read it:
Despite her life seemingly falling apart, Khalida worked to save over 350 female football players from the rule of the Taliban, never folding and continuing to dig her feet in the sand, going to toe-to-toe with Federation officials and never losing sight of her purpose.
An unequivocally perspective-shifting story from a truly inspirational human being.
Get it on Amazon | Kindle | Audible
Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them
Author: Dan Saladino
Goodreads: 4.3/5
About this book:
BBC food journalist Dan Saladino creates a striking narrative surrounding the world’s food system.
Consider for a second that ninety-five percent of the milk drunk in the United States comes from one breed of cow, nearly all modern apple varieties can be traced back to the Tian Shan Mountains in Kazakhstan, and one in four beers drunk around the world comes from a single brewer.
As the world moved towards convenience and commercialization, we’ve sacrificed diversity, and this in turn has led to steep, sometimes irreversible effects. Less diversity means lower resilience to pests and diseases, further shrinking the food supply.
Why travelers should read it:
Eating to Extinction follows Saladino around the world, recounting fascinating stories from honey gatherers in Tanzania to wheat farmers in Turkey, and the rare highland coffee growers in Sierra Leone.
A book that is guaranteed to give you a different perspective on the interconnectedness of the world around us, especially as you continue to explore new cultures. You might look at what’s in front of you on your plate in a new lens!
Get it on Amazon | Kindle | Audible
Homegoing
Author: Yaa Gyasi
Goodreads: 4.5/5
About this book:
After living in Ghana for nearly three years and having learned about the side of the slave trade not taught in school, from the Cape Coast Castle up to the Salaga Slave Market, Homegoing proved vital to going beyond the textbooks.
A Goodreads Readers’ Favorite for Historical Fiction in 2016, Yaa Gyasi’s novel follows the strikingly different paths of two half-sisters in eighteenth-century Ghana. One is married off to an Englishman and lives amongst the comfortable confines of Cape Coast Castle, above ground. The other was captured and imprisoned in the dungeons below, unbeknownst to the other.
This stunning and emotional novel goes far beyond the castle, tracing ancestors through generations shaped by captivity, following a story through the plantations in America to the Civil War and beyond.
Why travelers should read it:
Homegoing is a rare and must-read book that helps shape the reality of a culture decimated by greed and slavery, and the very real implications in today’s world. It’s a book every traveler should read before visiting West Africa.
This is a novel that has stuck with me far beyond the pages, and I’m sure it will with you, too.
Get it on Amazon | Kindle | Audible
Explore more Ghana travel inspiration:
To finish the Bourdain quote above, “…Maybe that’s enlightenment enough – to know that there is no final resting place of the mind, no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom, at least for me, means realizing how small I am, and unwise, how far I have yet to go.”
All of these pages have played an important part in reshaping the world around me, and I’m sure they will for you, too.
What book has changed your perspective on the world and humanity the most? Let me know in the comments below. As always, stay safe and happy travels!
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