Jess Owen anticipates the exciting arrival of On The Road to cinema screens this week with a pick of the best books for itchy-feet.

 

1. On The Road by Jack Kerouac

This book should come with a health warning and a counselling session attached: you may never be able to settle in one place again. Through the eyes of Sal Paradise the reader is transported from New York to San Francisco to LA whilst imbibing jazz, poetry, narcotics and a salacious thirst for life.

 

2. First Overland: London-Singapore by Land Rover by Tim Slessor

Although initially a book, this expedition by six students in two land rovers recounts the first journey of this kind and was made into a feature film by Richard Attenborough. Factual and fun boys and girls: you’re welcome.

 

 

3. Fear and loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

 Not so much a quest to find the inner chi or to align your chakra but to get “bungalowed” on mind-expanding paraphernalia. This is a quest of epic proportions in the City of Sin. Content is a little more hardcore than Prince Harry and his strip billiards but could’ve easily provided the inspiration.

 

4. Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

To fit into the ever-growing quagmire of American travel narratives here is the tale of a man and his incredibly spoilt French poodle who perfectly recapture the essence of American life in this thoughtful and picaresque 1960s novel.

 

 

5. Places in between by Rory Stewart

Rory Stewart recounts a hairy journey through soon-to-be celebrity holiday destination, Afghanistan, using seal blubber for a hot water bottle. A precarious line between suicidal and dedicated perhaps, but Stewart is a lad either way.