Armchair Travels: A Thursday Thirteen

I keep seeing lists of travel books popping up all over the place for another reading challenge.  I love travel narratives, so this challenge would normally be right up my alley.  Unfortunately, I have too much on my reading plate at the moment, so I will have to watch from the sidelines (and write down any promising titles I spot).  However, as it is summer, and in the spirit of the challenge, I thought I would broswse my shelves and see what interesting books I might have on hand and make a little list of my own.  I'd love to pick one or two to read some time this summer (since armchair traveling is the closest I am going to come to a real vacation).  I tend to forget how many excellent (unread) books I have on my bookshelves, and it is good to revisit them sometimes (perhaps to appease the "let's go book shopping" gods?--as I am trying not to buy many books for a while, and it is amazing how you forget what you already have on hand, so it is almost like getting a new book).  I tried to choose titles I probably have not yet shared here, as I am sure I have made similar lists in the past:

1. Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland, Dorothy Wordsworth--This title thanks to Dorothy W.  I don't own it, but my library does and I have looked at it--and have always meant to check it out.
2. West With the Night, Beryl Markham--I read this when I was in high school and loved it.  I think enough time has passed to call for a reread.  I love books about strong, independent women.
3. Road Through Miyama, Leila Philip--Since I am getting very interested in Japan (thanks to Sword and Blossom) this one appeals to me.  Philip spent two years in a small Japanese village studying with a master potter.
4. Journey with Elsa Cloud, Leila Haadley--An account of the author's travels through India with her estranged daughter.
5. Desert Places, Robyn Davidson--"Inspired by an enchanting encounter with camel herdsmen at a Hindu festival in Pushkar, travel writer Davidson took a magazine assignment to accompany the nomads of Rajasthan (a region in western India) on their yearly migration cycle."  I loved her book Tracks.  All I can say is she is one strong and daring woman!
6. C'est la Vie, Suzy Gershman--I have heard mixed reviews of this one, but I love anything about France and have been in the mood for ages to read something good.
7. Passenger to Tehran, Vita Sackville-West--I am sure when I bought this years ago I had no idea who Vita Sackville-West was, so this was quite a find for me when I dug through my shelves.  This is an account of Vita and her husband Harold's visit to Persia.  My copy is an oversized paperback complete with lots of B&W photos.
8. Oleander Jacaranda, Penelope Lively--I think this is more autobiographical than anything else, about Lively's childhood in Egypt.  It sounds quite exotic, so it works for me just as well as a straight forward travel narrative.
9. Homage to Barcelona, Colm Toibin--This seems almost as much a history book as a travel narrative. 
10. Metro Stop Dostoevsky, Ingrid Bengis--I have had a bit of a fixation with anything Russian since I was in high school.  Bengis took a teaching position in Post-Cold War Russia--I'm curious about her experiences.
11. Time for Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople, Patrick Leigh Fermor--At the moment I am leaning heavily torwards reading this one (my copy is not the same as the above photo--I like the NYRB copy, but it is crazy to buy a book I already own just because  I like the newer cover better).  In the 1920s Fremor decided to set out walking from London to Constantinople.  This is the first book of two recounting his travels.  In this book he gets as far as Hungary.  The narrative continues on in Between the Woods and the Water (I have that one, too).
12. Untangling My Chopsticks, Victoria Abbot Riccardi--More on Japan.  This time the author sets out to study of kaiseki, a highly ritualized form of cooking that accompanies the formal tea ceremony.
13. Short Residence in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, Mary Wollstonecraft--I want to read this eventually (as well as finish the Mary Tomalin biography that I started ages ago). These are letters she wrote during her travels in Scandinavia.

Just looking at the books and writing something about them makes me want to pick one (or more up) to read right now.  Do you have any favorites?  Considering how much I am always looking for books with a seafaring theme you would think I would find something written about sailing or traveling along a coast.  I may have to investigate and see what's out there.