Books by Phoebe Smith
“She’s a travel writer by profession and she is sent to walk the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain, a very famous pilgrimage—probably one of the most famous in the world. During it, she has something like an existential crisis and begins to reexamine her life. She gives up a job, ends a long-term relationship, goes back to Wales, where she’s from, and begins to explore some of Britain’s pilgrim paths. She explains from the outset that she’s not a religious soul, but she ends up finding these journeys are a way of confronting and processing troubling moments in her life. These are very serious things—toxic relationships, depression, an eating disorder. So it’s an honest and heartfelt exploration of how place and travel can act as a palliative force.” Read more...
Tom Parfitt, Journalist
Interviews where books by Phoebe Smith were recommended
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1
Black Ghosts: A Journey Into the Lives of Africans in China
by Noo Saro-Wiwa -
2
On the Shadow Tracks: A Journey through Occupied Myanmar
by Clare Hammond -
3
Slow Trains to Istanbul: ...And Back: A 4,570-Mile Adventure on 55 Rides
by Tom Chesshyre -
4
The Place of Tides
by James Rebanks -
5
Wayfarer: Love, loss and life on Britain’s ancient paths
by Phoebe Smith -
6
Wild Twin
by Jeff Young
The Best Travel Books of 2025, recommended by Tom Parfitt
The Best Travel Books of 2025, recommended by Tom Parfitt
Every year, the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards highlight the very best of recently published place writing, and select their ‘travel book of the year.’ We asked judge Tom Parfitt, the author and former foreign correspondent, to talk us through the six travel books that made the 2025 shortlist.
