Dropping cash at Stanfords: A trip to travelers’ mecca.

“I couldn’t live without Stanfords. You can buy books and maps there that will change your life.”

— Michael Palin

I’m not the only one I know taking part in an Adventurist trip sometime soon. Another friend will be setting off on the Mongol Rally in July–driving 10,000 miles from London to Mongolia in a car that probably has little hope of making it around the block. A few weeks ago, he told me about a bookshop in Covent Garden where he was able to find the maps he needed for the trip, for places like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan…

You know, maps that are obviously in pretty high demand.

And so I decided to make my own trip to the illustrious Stanfords bookshop last night to stock up on maps…and maybe a book or two to keep me busy over the summer. Founded in 1853 by Edward Stanford, the names listed on the bookshop’s door of previous customers run like an all-star line-up of travellers and travel writers: Livingstone, Nightingale, Stanley, Scott, Shackleton, Newby, Palin and even my beloved Bill Bryson. Crossing the brick threshold felt like stepping into history.

I’ve never felt more at home than in that bookshop…and it wasn’t just the thousands of books that lined the walls. It was the blown-up National Geographic world map that covered the floor; it was the whole display of Moleskin journals and notebooks that could have easily wiped out my savings account; and even the stand of Wallpaper city guides I’ve had the great chance of working on this spring. It was like Stanfords has gone so far beyond books and identified exactly what makes travellers tick, from the globes and guidebooks to postcards and clothing. They had it all.

When I was downstairs in the maps section picking out two for northeast and northwest India, I mistakenly had a browse through travel narratives and books on India. By that point my self-control had completely melted, so here’s what I walked away with:

1. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

I first came across this book in New Zealand. The owner of a hostel kept walking around asking, “Has anyone seen Shantaram?” But recently another friend who’s also done the Rickshaw Run told me this book is a must-read before travelling to India. It’s a largely autobiographical novel, following the story of a man named Mr. Lindsay, who escapes from a 19-year sentence at an Australian prison, makes his way to Bombay with false papers and little money, and sets up shop in a slum. Sounds like I’m in for quite the ride.

2. A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby

Newby is one of those names that hangs in the background for every hopeful travel writer–one of “The Greats” that’s come before. In 1956, after ten years in the British fashion industry, he decided he’d had enough of rail-thin models and took off to a remote corner of Afghanistan for a wee stroll through the mountains. Although it isn’t technically set in India, this book is such a classic I felt I couldn’t pass it by. Plus, Newby went on to write Slowly Down the Ganges about a 1,200-mile river journey with his wife.

3. The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian Culture, History and Identity by Amartya Sen

As much as I love travel narratives, I wanted a little background reading to do as well, and this one looks like it’ll do the trick. Written by a Nobel-prize winning economist, the chapters range wildly in subject, from India’s nuclear arms policy and ancient calendars to class inequality and the country’s relationship with China. Given the large Indian presence you can feel in London, I’m especially interested in a chapter called “The Diaspora and the World,” and looking at how India is perceived elsewhere.

Thumbnails courtesy of PhaseLoop, Holmesdale, and Trainee Teachers’ Blog