Television writer Steve Hely (The Office, 30 Rock) indulged his perpetual wanderlust by traveling from Los Angeles down through South America, then wrote a very funny book, , about it.听

In fact, we read it cover-to-cover in a day鈥攊ncluding the appendix, which is funnier than most appendices in addition to being a great list of resources on North, Central, and South American travel (with plenty of history and some conspiracy theories thrown in). In this excerpt, Hely shares a selection of the books and people that got him through his 13-country adventure.听

Female Travel Writers

Writing this book and looking at my bookshelf, it occurred to me, I have a strong bias toward travel books written by guys. That might be because men are more likely to brag or write books or publish books, or they鈥檝e historically had all the time and money and reason to travel, and most of my books are old.

But whatever, it鈥檚 like 95 percent to 5 percent. I鈥檓 sure I have all kinds of biases, but this one I noticed, and when you notice a bias, you should try to correct it, right? So I did. I tried to read books by female travel writers.

Here are, for my money, some of the best ones:

Freya Stark, . Now, that is just a baller title, by an obvious baller of a woman. Freya Stark got half her hair ripped out in a factory machine when she was a teenager. In World War I, she was a nurse. In World War II, she wrote propaganda in Arabic. In between, she wrote some twenty books about one incredible adventure after another.

Eleanor Clark, . This isn鈥檛 really a book about a trip, but it is about a place she was visiting, on the coast of Brit-tany, where the men harvest oysters and the women have all kinds of drama happening. Sometimes she goes a little nuts with it, just sometimes, just my opinion, like it can鈥檛 possibly be as heartbreaking as she describes it. But maybe I鈥檓 just getting cynical in my old age. I hope not! Anyway, great book.听

Dervla Murphy, . Here鈥檚 the first sentence of this book: 鈥淥n my tenth birthday a bicycle and an atlas coincided as presents and a few days later I decided to cycle to India.鈥� Then she did. Dervla is an Irishwoman, and she is tough and no-nonsense and sharp. I can鈥檛 help but think she鈥檇 find a lot wrong with the way I traveled, but hey: I鈥檓 not as clearheaded as she is, I鈥檓 doing the best I can.

Anyway: I love you, Dervla!

(I can picture her curtly dismissing my cheap American affection.)

Jan Morris.听When he was twenty-seven, in 1953, James Morris, a newspaper re-porter, was at the base camp of the British Mount Everest Expedition when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit for the first time. He wired the news, in code, to London and broke the story. His book about this, Coronation Everest, is pretty fun. A few years later, in 1964, James started transitioning to Jan Morris. Jan has written a bunch of great travel books: To pick one more or less at random, how about . Or . Bow down to Jan.听

Guides (Human)

Marco of . I endorse this man and his business. His patience and generosity to a traveler was one of the finer displays of coolness and good character I can remember. If in San Crist贸bal, why not check out Croozy Scooters?

Owner of , I was mad that you called TV writing pablum for the masses. But I loved being at your place, it was very special.

Captain Rich of . Awesome man.

The captain of the Jaqueline. Two captains in a row who seemed really competent and admirable.听

Walter Saxer of in Iquitos, who told me many good stories I can鈥檛 put in this book.

Juan of San Pedro. Not his real name.

The man at the bar at in Punta Arenas.

Guides (Books)

I don鈥檛 think I would鈥檝e done any of this if I hadn鈥檛 read , by Charles C. Mann (2005). This book is what got Tenochtitl谩n, the Maya, the Inca, the Amazon, and the whole world of Central and South America so deep into my head that finally I was like, I better go have a look at this.

To sort out how to get where I wanted to go, and also where I wanted to go, the number one helpful source was anonymous people in the and on听.听

The other incredibly important start was all the Lonely Planet books I used. Everyone who travels knows these books; they are amazing! Now the company is owned by an American billionaire, which can鈥檛 be good. Anyway, these guides are indispensable.听

The third-most important book I read has to be by Michael D. Coe. Just a terrific fun read packed with information that fired up my whole brain.

Oh, but maybe that book is tied with by Bernal D铆az. One of the most incredible books I鈥檝e ever read, no joke. I read the translation by John M. Cohen, who must be great at his job.

More books that were important to me:

听and by Roberto Bola帽o. All fiction, but hugely enriched my understanding and helped me build a picture of the Mexican border, Mexico City, and recent history in Chile.

by David Carrasco. Coulda been shorter.

and by John L. Stephens, engravings by Frederick Catherwood. If these guys were still alive I would want them to be my friends.

by unknown sixteenth-century Mayan writer(s). I read the version translated by Dennis Tedlock. Just a Mayan romp through the underworld with talking gourds and so on.

by Evan S. Connell. Fantastic book by a great American writer, who muses and considers the lost worlds of Mesoamerica.

by Joan Didion. Damn, this lady can write about a body dump without once breaking her cool.

by Michael Bradley. Conspiracy that has it all: the Cathars, the Holy Grail, mysterious African sailors, treasure pits, FDR and the New Deal, the Masons鈥攊t鈥檚 great.

by Walter LaFeber. Good book on all the messes we made and how we either didn鈥檛 clean them up or in cleaning them up made worse messes.

by David McCullough. This man is a complete boss and this book is astoundingly great. Something amazing on every page. I stole facts from it up to the exact level where it鈥檇 be criminal.

by Stephan Talty. Most readable book about Morgan I know of.

by Mark Bowden. A specific story about a specific moment and maybe a pulpy way in, but the fact is this book really helped me start to sort out Colombian history.

by Wade Davis. Crazily compelling story by the world鈥檚 most badass ethnobotanist/journalist.

by Julian Fitter, Daniel Fitter, and David Hosking. How you gonna tell your boobies apart without this book?

by Jonathan Weiner. A must-read for anyone curious about what it鈥檚 like to live with your wife on a remote island for twenty years measuring finch beaks.

by Rusty Young and Thomas McFadden. Amazing, entertaining, recommended.

by Ernesto Che Guevara. It鈥檚 interesting how honest Che is about his diarrhea.听

by Jon Lee Anderson. What a huge accomplishment to write this book, on top of being one of the most badass reporters ever. Jon Lee Anderson knew more about Central and South America before I was born than I ever will.

by Bruce Chatwin. Way better writer than me, went farther out, wrote a better book. But: I didn鈥檛 make anything up.

by Nicholas Shakespeare. The man鈥檚 true story is almost better than his writing.

I also read a lot of articles and websites and newspapers and pamphlets. I really tried not to get anything wrong, but if I did please let me know at helphely[at]gmail.com.

Excerpt from by Steve Hely. 听Reprinted by arrangement with DUTTON, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright 漏 2016 by Steve Hely

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