This book was both the final straw that tipped me over the edge as well as the huge bulldozer that pushed me to the edge in the first place. I've always wanted to travel, and admittedly Travels by Michael Crichton was what first led me decidedly down the path of doing rather than wanting. Unfortunately, it was still an abstract concept of the future - something to do after college, perhaps. I first read this book in one go until 6 AM on a school night senior year of high school, and that's when I started looking seriously into the idea of travelling as a near-future prospect.
I'm happy to announce that now, after one semester of college, I'm taking a leave of absence for the spring term to travel around the world entirely independently, with a 28L pack on my back. The benefits of this book are twofold - it's fantastic for convincing you to change your life, and it's invaluably helpful for getting you in practical terms to a point where you're able to accomplish that change. I revisited the book after making my decision to travel, and along with tynan.net (where Tynan's posted a fantastic gear post of things to bring abroad) this book has helped me more than any other piece of material I've ever come across.
Things I've learned from this book:
Anyone can travel. It's definitely true that it's far easier for college students (in fact, Harvard *encourages* us to go, and the entire leave-of-absence petition process took upwards of fifteen entire minutes), but I'm positive now that almost anyone can change their life in an instant and achieve greater even greater success than before, both financially and personally. I'll be working on an internet startup full-time while I'm abroad, for example - something that the constant pressures and commitments of Harvard simply wouldn't allow otherwise.
You can travel minimally. You can seriously fit everything you need into a small backpack.
Travel is safe. If you're respectful and open to the culture, chances are good that bad things won't happen to you as you imagine they will.
Travel is cheap. In fact, after reading other travel works after Tynan, I'm convinced that travel is even cheaper than the estimated $1500/month he figures - especially if you engage in long term travel, staying in a place for a couple to several months at a time to save on airfare and thoroughly immerse yourself in the local culture of a region.
Travel is now. Not only can anyone travel, but anyone can travel right now.
I hope this book helps you as much as it's helped me. Be open to it, and it will.