So here’s the thing: I didn’t actually plan on googling “books that make you want to quit your job and travel” at 2am on a Wednesday night. But you know how the internet works—you start with “how much PTO do Americans actually get compared to Europe” (depressing, btw) and end up in a rabbit hole of Eat, Pray, Love memes and people posting backpacking selfies from places you can’t even spell without autocorrect.
But then I remembered something: sometimes books hit you harder than real life. Like, one chapter in and suddenly you’re wondering why you’re not barefoot on a Thai beach drinking a coconut instead of staring at your Outlook calendar that looks like it’s plotting your slow death.
That’s the magic of these books. They sneak up on you, whispering you could be somewhere else right now.
And I’ve got a list. A messy, personal, not-at-all-official list of the books that straight up make you want to pack your stuff, email your boss “brb finding myself,” and book a one-way ticket.
1. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Yeah, yeah. I know. Obvious. Basic. Whatever. But you know what else? Still works.
I read it when I was 24 and living in a tiny apartment where my bedroom was basically just a mattress shoved against a wall. My “vacation” at that point was going to Target without checking my bank account balance first. But reading Gilbert slurping pasta in Rome like it was a religious experience? I swear I tasted marinara just flipping the pages.
The book kinda tricks you—like, one second you’re thinking “good for her” and the next you’re pricing flights to Bali. You don’t even like yoga that much but suddenly you’re like, yeah, maybe I need a guru too.
2. The Beach by Alex Garland
Okay, picture this: I’m 19, broke, and working in the stockroom at Old Navy (folding cargo shorts should be considered cruel and unusual punishment). A friend shoves The Beach into my backpack with a “you’ll thank me later.”
She was right.
This book makes you believe there’s some secret island community out there—away from fluorescent lights and customer service smiles—where people are just living, surviving, swimming in turquoise water. Of course, it’s not exactly paradise (machetes, drama, the whole deal), but it still scratches at your brain: what if there’s something more?
Honestly, I think it ruined me. I kept imagining that every flight delay at the airport was a chance to meet someone who’d hand me a map with an X on it. Spoiler: that never happened. I just got overpriced airport pretzels.
3. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
This one is like if “life is hard” got drunk and then dared you to hike a thousand miles with blistered feet and zero survival skills.
I picked it up during what I like to call my “Pinterest crisis”—you know, when you’re saving quotes like just breathe and wanderlust in curly fonts, pretending it’s self-care. Strayed’s story made me think maybe the only way out of feeling stuck was to do something ridiculously hard, like walking until my toenails gave up.
Spoiler: I did not hike the Pacific Crest Trail. But I did start going on long, aimless walks around my neighborhood. (Which, okay, doesn’t sound heroic, but sometimes I’d go for like… four miles. In flip-flops. So, basically, the same.)
Still, it made me believe that adventure doesn’t have to be fancy or Instagrammable—it can be sweaty, messy, and slightly painful, and that’s still worth it.
4. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
I gotta confess: I read this partly to look cool. I was dating a guy who wore thrifted leather jackets and said things like “you don’t really read Kerouac, you feel him.” He smoked clove cigarettes. You get the picture.
But damn if this book didn’t worm its way in. It’s chaotic and kinda exhausting—people driving across America, chasing experiences, jazz music spilling out of bars, conversations that feel both profound and nonsensical.
And suddenly I wanted to drive too. To anywhere. Didn’t matter where, just not here.
(That relationship ended, by the way. Turns out “feeling Kerouac” doesn’t pay rent. But the book stuck.)
5. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
This one’s sneaky. It’s like reading a fortune cookie that somehow got stretched into a novel. But man, it messes with you.
I was in my first “real” job—cubicle, ID badge, all that—and I’d read a chapter during lunch breaks. Suddenly my turkey sandwich felt like a metaphor. The whole idea that maybe we all have a “personal legend” we’re supposed to follow? Dangerous. You can’t just tell someone who’s already googling “cheap hostels in Lisbon” that the universe will help them if they take the leap.
By the time I finished, I had a list of places I wanted to go that looked suspiciously like a Buzzfeed quiz result: “Where Should You Travel Based on Your Soul?”
6. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
This one hit me hard. It’s not exactly a “quit your job and everything works out” story. It’s more like, quit your job, wander into Alaska, and maybe realize nature doesn’t care about your college essays. But still—Chris McCandless’ story feels like a dare.
It makes you want to test yourself, to strip away the nonsense and see what’s left. Even if, in my case, “testing myself” was camping once and realizing I hate mosquitos more than I hate deadlines.
But there’s something about it that makes you wonder if we’re all just a little too comfortable, a little too plugged in, and maybe, just maybe, we’d be happier with fewer shoes and more stars.
Random Honorable Mentions: books that make you want to quit your job and travel
Because apparently I can’t shut up:
- Tracks by Robyn Davidson (woman walks across Australia with camels. CAMELS. I can’t even walk across Target without buying things I don’t need.)
- Vagabonding by Rolf Potts (practical, yes, but also kinda dreamy. Like a TED talk that makes you consider selling your furniture.)
- A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (hilarious. Also proves you can travel and still complain a lot—very relatable.)
So… do books actually make us do it: books that make you want to quit your job and travel
Here’s my theory: books are the safest way to run away. You can escape without buying a plane ticket. But sometimes—sometimes—they plant a seed.
I didn’t quit my job after reading Eat, Pray, Love. But I did save up for Italy later. I didn’t walk the PCT like Cheryl, but I stopped thinking “I could never” and started thinking “maybe I could.”
And honestly? That’s enough to change how you look at the world.
So yeah, maybe these books won’t actually make you slam your laptop shut and move to a beach hut tomorrow. But they’ll make you feel that itch. That restlessness. That weird, buzzing energy that whispers: there’s more out there.
And sometimes that’s all you need.
Suggested Outbound Links:
- A fun piece on travel-inspired movies to pair with these books
- A quirky personal blog about [accidentally booking the wrong flight](https://www.the Everywhereist.com/)
