Some recommended reads:
Bruce Chatwin - a great stylist and eclectic chronicler of the people he met: his writings are ostensibly fact but were mostly fictional. He produced a number of contemporary classics: 'The Songlines', mainly set around a trip to Australia, and the very well regarded 'In Patagonia'.
Redmond O' Hanlon - friend and executer of Chatwin's (a wonderful piece in Granta 39 describes a walk they took together) - delights in taking poet friends and terrifying them in jungles. Established a new genre with 'In the heart of Borneo' & 'In trouble again', and a journey in search of a prehistoric monster is described in 'Congo Journey'
Simon Armitage - poet: his book 'All Points North' is a tremendous mixture of pieces on what it is to be 'up North' and I feel an affinity with Huddersfield & Marsden having done my degree there..
George Mackay Brown - the master of the Orcadian landscape: in poetry, short stories and novels. Try 'Greenvoe' for a long account of the history of a village, 'Beside the Ocean of Time' canters through hundreds of years of history, and 'A Calendar of Love' for some undistilled stuff.
Colin Thubron - a 'proper' traveller: one who know the language and immerses himself in the country - his recent trip 'In Siberia' is wonderful and heart-breaking
Bill Bryson - 'I liked your earlier, funnier books..' - very popular. Redeemed himself with his current history of scientific disciplines. Produced some good articles on British regions such as the Lake District in National Geographic magazine.
Barry Lopez - the master! - the writings of Barry Lopez are without parallel in their appreciation of landscape and our relationship with it. Find all you can by him and read it, starting with 'Arctic Dreams' or the autobiographical 'About this Life' - book on the Caribbean out soon - Neil Peart didn't like him though...
Hugh Brody - a close personal relationship with Inuit people dominates his books - try 'Living Arctic' & recent 'The Other side of Eden'
Patrick Leigh Fermor - 2 books into the classic trilogy, about his walk from the UK to Constantinople in the years before the war through a landscape which no longer exists but is wonderfully recorded here. Apparently the 3rd and final leg is on its way ?
Jon Krakauer - climber and travel writer, he hit the headlines with his controversial (as far as other people who were on the mountain at the same time were concerned) account of the fateful day in May 1996 when a storm hit Mount Everest and cost 8 climbers their lives. Also get hold of 'Into Thin Air' which tells the story of Chris McCandless who walked into Alaska to his death, seemingly of his own volition
Tim Moore - 'Frost on my Moustache' retraced the steps of an earlier traveller called Dufferin to Iceland. 'Continental Drifter' retraced the steps of an earlier traveller called Thomas Coryate to Europe. Later books follow the route of the 'Tour de France', round the Monopoly properties in London, and the pilgrim trail to Santiago.
Jonathan Raban - 'Coasting' and 'Passage to Juneau' make you want to buy a boat and set sail for some far off parts, but you'll inevitably find yourself dragged back home by some family tragedy. Has also written several books on America, and various aspects of life in mid-west and along the Mississippi.
Wilfred Thesiger - tremendous integrity and wisdom based on a lifetime of living in ascetic circumstances in Africa
Sara Wheeler - an excellent account of time spent in Antarctica, and a good introduction to Chile. Biographer of Apsley Cherry-Garrard.
Chris Stewart - 'Driving over Lemons' - very popular, but I enjoyed it despite that. 'A Parrot in the Pepper Tree' offers more of the same, as does the recent 'Almond Blossom Appreciation Society' - the comments in the book say that he is so funny the readers are in tears...
William Least Heat Moon - travelled via beaten up camper van and boat through less well-trodden parts of the USA
Harry Pearson - loved his book on Britain's county fairs and festivals, and account of a journey to Belgium - recently travelled around the world without leaving home, and has a forthcoming book on boys and war...
Nicholas Crane - Clear Waters Rising: an account of an epic walk across the mountain ranges of Europe was inspiring, and the Wilderness Walk that made it to TV has created a desire to visit the Pyrenean valley that he encountered with its marvellous gorge. Also did a walk down the length of England's Meridian. A geographer made good...