As you might have gathered, the Travel Tart blog is a fairly silly collection of travel snippets from around the globe.
Funnily enough, my taste in travel literature leans towards the funny, offbeat and downright hilarious.
Hence, I’ve compiled a list of my all time favourite Funny Travel Books below. I found these Funny Travel Books to be great reads, and a great distraction from the everyday grind.
These Funny Travel Books are listed below in no particular order.
Here we go.
1. No Shitting In The Toilet - Peter Moore.
The title is inspired from an actual sign – and I must admit, is an attention grabber. The book is a series of travel realities that are laugh-out-loud, but they are all so true. I can relate to all of these Funny Travel Tips Peter talks about.
Favourite bit: Accommodation – The Top 10 Shitholes.
2. The Wrong Way Home - Peter Moore.
This is my favourite journey piece from Peter. He needs to travel back home from London to Sydney. Instead of taking a plane, he decides to travel the entire distance overland and takes him about 8 months or so. Remember, that’s half way around the globe without taking a flight. I can relate to Peter choosing the Tight Arse option of transport all too well!
Favourite bit: Undertaking AK-47 gun lessons in Taliban Afghanistan.
3. Playing The Moldovans At Tennis – Tony Hawks.
This Funny Travel Book is a result of a drunken bet. Tony is watching England play Moldova in a soccer World Cup qualifier. He bets with his mate that he can beat the entire Moldovan Soccer Team at tennis. Tony then trys to track down the entire team in Moldova, and wherever else they live to play tennis. If he loses, he has to do a striptease at his local pub.
Favourite bit: His mate substituting one of the Moldovan soccer players with a crack tennis player to ensure Tony doesn’t win the bet.
4. Where’s Wallis? – Brian Thacker.
This Funny Travel Book is pretty much throwing a dart at a world map and travelling there without a guidebook. Brian attempts travelling in west Africa, Wallis and Futuna (some islands somewhere in the Pacific) and Kyrgyzstan without taking any guidebook whatsoever, making sure he’s totally unprepared.
Favourite bit: Meeting the old Frenchman ‘Blanc Blanc’ the sex tourist in Western Africa.
5. Molvania – A Land Untouched By Modern Dentistry.
This is where Lonely Planet meets Monty Python. Basically, it’s a satirical guidebook about the fictional country of Molvania, which I think is located somewhere around the Eastern European region. The book is structured like a guide book, but the text is a complete piss take.
Favourite bit: The ‘How To Get There’ description. ‘Most people get to Molvania either by air and by accident.’
Some of these authors also appeared in my 52 Offbeat Travel Tips!
Anyway, I highly recommend you reading these Funny Travel Books from some of my favourite Funny Travel Writers.
I guarantee that if you have a sense of humour, you will experience some good belly laughs.
So get out there and read some stuff on Funny Travel!
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May 26th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Funky post, loved it! I’ll definitely check out ‘The Wrong Way Home’ – sounds like a good read!
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May 26th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
May I be so bold as to recommend my own: More Ketchup than Salsa – Confessions of a Tenerife barman. It’s about swapping a career in fish entrails on a Lancashire market for a life as a British bar owner abroad.
I think it’s good. And so does my Mum.
http://www.joecawley.co.uk/about-more-ketchup-than-salsa
Joe Cawley’s last blog post..Canary Islands under the sea
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May 27th, 2009 at 12:01 am
you must add A.A. Gill’s hilarious (and at times incredibly moving) A.A. Gill Is Away to your list!
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May 27th, 2009 at 12:55 am
Thanks! I’ve been looking for some good summer reading and all of these look perfect.
1002things’s last blog post..A Minor Change in Plans
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August 5th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
\"Frost on my Moustache\" by Tim Moore. Probably the funniest book in any genre I\’ve ever read.
Added you to my blogroll btw.
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Twitter: inthehotspot
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August 25th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost is quite funny once you get used to his style. Thanks! Got to check some of these out.
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Lynne Reply:
February 19th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Agreed, Troost’s books are a good time. Sex Lives, Getting Stoned with Savages and Lost on Planet China were both funny and painted vivid pictures.
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October 2nd, 2009 at 12:24 pm
I haven’t read any of the above but have read “Round Ireland with a Fridge” by Tony Hawks and “Rule number 5 No sex on the bus” by Brian Thacker and both had me in fits! Awesome travel writers!
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October 20th, 2009 at 8:16 am
Sound like some good books, especially the first one. What has been your favorite vacation place yet?
-Jack
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November 18th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
What are you, on Peter Moore’s payroll? Nah, I’m joking – I love his books too. Though the Molvania guidebook is priceless. I keep my copy in the guest bathroom and I can’t tell the number of times people have come out holding the book and asking “Did you travel here?”
Gary@Bed and Breakfasts´s last blog ..Panama Ecotourism and Culture
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Twitter: entertowincoza
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February 3rd, 2010 at 8:58 pm
Tony hawks and Peter Moore are both great writers. Love their travel inspiration they bring out when your reading
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Twitter: entertowincoza
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February 3rd, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Tony Hawks and Peter Moore are both great writers.
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Twitter: JohnnyVagabond
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February 11th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
I would second the suggestion of “Round Ireland with a Fridge” — funny stuff. I’d also recommend Jeff Greenwald’s “Size of the World – One Around without Leaving the Ground” — a hilarious attempt to circumnavigate the globe without taking a flight.
Johnny Vagabond´s last blog ..Vagabond Travel Tip #3 — Don’t Forget the Friendly Hat
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Twitter: packabook
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February 14th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Have you read ‘One Hit Wonderland’ by Tony Hawks, where he sets out to get a number one song in Albania? I have had it recommended to me as I have a bit of fascination with countries from that region…but haven’t tried it yet! Though if it is anything like his others, I am sure it’s very funny.
Packabook´s last blog ..Readers Recommend – Books set in Italy, China and Japan
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