It's pretty clear that Drew and I love to fly. There's nothing quite like whisping above the clouds with Chopin in the iPod while the stunning landscape flows underneath the plane. I like to think of my traveling self as a more relaxed, more gleeful, and more self-confident version of the guy that lives in a townhome and navigates downtown traffic to work everyday. When I put on my "lucky" travel shirt (poplin blue, of course) and fasten my travel pants, slip on my easy-breather travel socks, and close the door behind me with suitcase in hand, the day feels lighter. No work demands, cell phone calls, or any of the other American distractions compete for my attention. I'm away. And, more often than not, I'm alone.

My favorite distraction on a plane is to read. I've found that traveling is the only time in my apparently hectic life that I can settle down with a good drink and read for blocks of hours at once. Depending on the trip, I can graze through three, four books. My favorites are travelogues. Sure, the irony of it adds to the entertainment value, but I'm mostly mystified by the experiences of others. It's an educational journey learning how other travelers perceive their world and process their experiences. They help me see my own travel with varying perspective.

For example, today I'm reading Adventure Capitalist by Jim Rogers. Rogers is an ex-investment banker, rich enough to do as he pleases and pleased enough to spend his riches on travel. For this book, he had a Mercedes all-terrain convertible custom-built to his specifications and drove 190,000 around the globe with his fiance. Rogers relates the world to us as an investor and as an American: what strikes him first about a country's economy, who to trust -- no matter where you are in the world, who not to trust, how universally corrupt government officials are, and, most importantly, how to trek through a civil war. His is an adventure I confess I wouldn't jump at. But it is entertaining and, frankly, educational reading. When I interact with customs officials in Shanghai or sit in a restaurant in Venice, Rogers' insights help me know what to look for. I get to see another face of the world scene.

If you know of a good travel book or two, please post a comment here. I'd love to hear about it. Here are a few other good travelogue reads for the next time you board a plane:

• Paris to the Moon by Alan Gopnik. Alan is a writer for The New Yorker who moves his young family to the City of Lights for a year. The book is nearly as delightful as Paris itself.


• Take Me With You by Brad Newsham. A San Francisco cab driver travels around the world looking for a stranger to invite home with him.


• Investment Biker by Jim Rogers. An earlier trip of Rogers'. This time, he did the round-the-world trip on a motorbike.


• Educating Alice by Alice Steinbach. I haven't read this one yet, but it's on my list.


• Up in the Air by Walter Kirn. Half-fiction, half-reality, Kirn tells the story of the life of a business man. Curse words and all.


• Plane Insanity by Elliott Hester. The world of travel through the eyes of a flight attendant. Funny and down-to-earth, definitely gives a different spin to flying.
  

Reading these tales, I know that I'm not alone in my love of travel. I'm not the only one that is changed by the dry air, oval windows and strange languages that await me on the other side of the boarding ramp. Exotic safari or run-of-the-mill business trip -- it's all an adventure.