If you have caught the travel bug, chances are you don’t travel as much as you would like to (unless you are a perpetual nomad). In between trips, continue your journeys with these books. Pair with wines from the area for an especially transcending experience.
The Sun Also Rises
I first read this Ernest Hemingway classic while drinking my first bottle of wine (irony much?). It was an Austrian strawberry wine that my roommate brought home for me from her summer travels, and the combination was just enough to get me hooked on both for a lifetime. Now that I’ve expanded my wine palette quite a bit, however, I would pair this book with a Garnacha Rosado. Other wines native to Spain include dry reds such as Tempranillo, cava (sparkling wine), and Moscatel (dessert wine).
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
“A story of love and fear — of growth, discovery, and acceptance — that becomes a profound personal and philosophical odyssey into life’s fundamental questions, this uniquely exhilarating modern classic is both touching and transcendent, resonant with the myriad confusions of existence . . . and the small, essential triumphs that propel us forward.”
Travel transforms us in ways that our home cannot. It reminds us that the world is so much bigger than our problems, it opens our eyes and hearts to better understand ourselves and those around us. This book does much the same. Pair with a pinot noir from Oregon.
Paris: The Novel
Few other novels are regarded as being able to capture the City of Light’s atmosphere and mirror its beauty in the words of its pages. No other wine would pair better with this book, then, than champagne. The Champagne wine region of France is roughly 60 miles northeast of Paris, thus why it has been a historical staple in the city.
The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey
Che Guevara made an impact on this world and especially Latin America in ways that very few others have before or since. His legend is well known, but the details of his journey, purpose, and personality are not as well known. Pair this book with a Chilean Carmenere.
Eat, Pray, Love
Combining travel, humor, and insightful experience, this book is one that you typically either love or hate. Some have described it as being “too zen”, but for others there isn’t such a thing. Pair this book with a Moscato d’Asti from the Piedmont region of Italy. Light and fruity, it will balance well with this fun book as well as the complexity of the subtle metaphors.
