Few activities seem to promise us as much happiness as going travelling: taking off for somewhere else, somewhere far from home, a place with more interesting weather, customs, and landscapes. But although we are inundated with advice on where to travel to, we seldom ask why we go and how we might become more fulfilled by doing so.With the help of a selection of writers, artists, and thinkers, including Flaubert, Edward Hopper, Wordsworth, and Van Gogh, Alain de Botton's best-selling The Art of Travel provides invaluable insights into everything from holiday romance to hotel minibars, airports to sightseeing.
The perfect antidote to those guides that tell us what to do when we get there, The Art of Travel tries to explain why we really went in the first place, and helpfully suggests how we might be happier on our journeys.