Travel and reading are intertwined, and I cannot imagine a trip without a paperback – at once a familiar friend and a stimulant of mind-trips.
I like my books to be about somewhere completely opposite of where I am. For example, in Central America, I might read about somewhere cold and dark. In this way, reading keeps your mind floating between where you are, where you’re from, and somewhere completely different altogether.
When I travel, I often read between breaks of staring out the window of a plane or boat or café. The setting is a spark plug for the words you’re reading. Books we read in far flung destinations stick with us longer and the words stand out more.
In this way, I find the marriage of story and drawings so suitable for travel. At home, I might zip through a graphic novel in an hour or two. But on a train, I spend more time with each panel. Again, the travel makes it a richer experience.
There are several genres of travel-related graphic novels that make for great travel reads: the travel memoir graphic novel, the science and history graphic novel, the foreign setting graphic novel, and the travel journalism graphic novel.
Here are some of my favorite graphic novel reads for travelers:
Ruins
by Peter Kuper
Oaxaca, Mexico comes to life in this exquisitely drawn and illustrated brick of a graphic novel.
Ruins is one of the most beautiful and exquisitely drawn travel graphic novels ever produced. It's also a dense, thick hardcover and a long read. Ruins is about an American couple who, on a sabbatical year in Oaxaca, Mexico, fall into political and personal conflicts that sets the stage for the story. The journey of a Monarch from the East Coast of the United States, into Mexico serves as an allegory for the journey made by Samantha and George.
Daytripper
by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba
Brazil is expertly captured in this amazing graphic novel that imagines a man's life by imagining his death.
In Daytripper, fabled Brazilian graphic novel artists Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá imagine Brás de Oliva Domingos, a young Brazilian man who writes obituaries, dreams of becoming a well-known writer, and imagines his own death at different stages in his life. Through this story, we are taken on a journey throughout Brazil, offering an intoxicating and exotic journey into questions about what our life would be like on the very day we die. As a paperback, Daytripper makes a taut graphic novel for carry-on weight conscious travelers.
Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea
by Guy Delisle
Guy Delisle captures day-to-life as a rare western expat in North Korea.
Any of the travel journalism graphic novels by Guy Delisle are recommended, but I particularly enjoy Pyongyang, which follows Delisle's family during their work visa days living in Pyongyang. Through simple drawings of his family's encounters with North Koreans, he captures the strange experience of life in the Hermit Kingdom.
Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas
by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks
Maris Wicks drawings capture Jim Ottaviani's biographies of the world's most famous female primatologists.
Primates offers biographies of the 'trimates', the three famous female primatologists of the 20th century, through their research in the Kenyan Highlands, Tanzania, Congo and Borneo. The graphic novel is exotic, enjoyable and educational, with memorable illustrations.
The Venice Chronicles
by Enrico Casarosa
Vibrant watercolors and rich encounters with locals fill the pages of The Venice Chronicles.
My favorite travel graphic novel is the personal travelogue. Enrico Casarosa, a Pixar artist, captures both his own travel experiences in Italy, filled with humor and romance, as well as his own personal journey in The Venice Chronicles. The watercolor sketches and the encounters with locals truly come to life in this packable hardcover.
The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984: A Graphic Memoir
by Riad Sattouf
The Arab of the Future is a rich and humorous travel read.
Riad Sattouf spent his early years in rural France, Libya under Gaddafi, and Syria under Assad. This 5 volume graphic novel (4 volumes are currently published in English) captures the genuine absurdity of growing up as an outsider in two of the dimmest countries, at some of their darkest times. Sattouf does so with personality and humor. The Arab of the Future series, is a master of travel memoir storytelling and makes a taut, paperback read perfect as a slim carry-on. I consider this masterpiece series my favorite graphic novels of all-time.
Link to Volume 1
Link to Volume 2
Link to Volume 3
Link to Volume 4
Terra Tempo: The Four Corners of Time
by David R. Shapiro and Christopher Herndon
The Terra Tempo series covers regional prehistory in an exciting and kid-appropriate manner.
The Terra Tempo series by David R. Shapiro and Christopher Herndon, imagines three children as time travelers who are able to travel back into different ages of prehistory. This series is designed for children, and I read these to my son while traveling.
However, the science of geological epochs is so important as a travel subject that I could recommend this graphic novel and its sequals to adults as well. The Four Corners of Time dives into the prehistory of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado Plateau, a perfect compliment to travels in Utah and Arizona. The other books in the series cover prehistoric Cascadia and the Great Plains during the Cenozoic.
Link
Illegal: A Graphic Novel
by Eoin Colfer & Andrew Donkinp
Stunning, magical drawings complement a fictionalized story of migration from Africa to Europe based on interviews with survivors of Mediterranean crossings.
This graphic novel, the story of a boy who crosses the Mediterranean, beautifully illustrates the human and natural landscapes that play a central role in the terrifying migrations being made by Africans. A subject few choose to consume, this graphic novel vividly makes alive one of today's biggest human stories.
Link
Manabeshima Island Japan
by Florent Chavouet
Stunning, magical drawings complement a fictionalized story of migration from Africa to Europe based on interviews with survivors of Mediterranean crossings.
This graphic novel, the story of a boy who crosses the Mediterranean, beautifully illustrates the human and natural landscapes that play a central role in the terrifying migrations being made by Africans. A subject few choose to consume, this graphic novel vividly makes alive one of today's biggest human stories.
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
by Kate Beaton
This thick graphic novel was selected by the New York Times in the 100 notable books of 2022.
Kate Beaton's award-winning Ducks is the account of her experience working in Canada's oil sands. It is a fantastic, raw account of the crossroads of environmental destruction and cheap labor. This book brings its many characters to vivid life.
Memories from Límon
by Edo Brenes
The fashion and styles of each era in Costa Rica are represented in this warm, tropical account of family history.
How often do you get to learn about a city in Central America in graphic novel form? This beautifully drawn graphic novel describes the mission of a Costa Rican man to uncover his family history in the Costa Rican city of Límon. The drawings depict different eras in 20th century Costa Rica.
Factory Summers
by Guy Delisle
The clear lines and unique gray and orange color coding of the graphic novel are used expertly to illustrate the author's path toward his future career.
Guy Delisle, who authored many of my favorite travel graphic novels, takes a look at his youth in this graphic novel about working at a paper pulp factory for his distant, white collar dad. The account moves us through Delisle's path to art and comics.
Twists of Fate
by Paco Roca
Every panel in this well researched account of World War II is rich with detail.
This beautifully drawn doorstopper of a graphic novel is filled with color panels. It is a fictional, but well researched and accurate account of a Spanish volunteers in a French unit that fought fascism in Europe during World War II. This account describes a part of the second world war that is often untold, especially on this side of the Atlantic.
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