I read a lot! My favourite genre is travel writing...not guidebooks but what is sometimes called "travel adventure" or "travel biography". To my mind, the leader in the field is Paul Theroux, author of Dark Star Safari, which I just finished.
Here, from that book, is Theroux's explanation of why people travel, or at least why he travels.
The wish to disappear sends many travelers away. If you are thoroughly sick of being kept waiting at home or at work, travel is perfect: let other people wait for a change. Travel is a sort of revenge for having been put on hold, having to leave messages on answering machines, not knowing your party’s extension, being kept waiting all your working life -- the homebound writer’s irritants. Being kept waiting is the human condition.
I wish I'd written that! As it is, I can only recommend Theroux's books...well, his travel books rather more than his fiction...to you. If you'd like to get your feet wet, so to speak, check your library's catalogue for Fresh-air Fiend or To the Ends of the Earth, two compilations of excerpts from his late 20th-century books.
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