On Roads That Echo: A bicycle journey through Asia and Africa


Charlie Walker - 2019
    The two-and-a-half-year journey spanned the mountains and deserts of former Soviet Republics, Afghanistan on the fearful brink of foreign withdrawal, and remote corners of the Congolese jungle. From hiking through sandstorms in the Gobi desert to barrelling down rapids in a dugout canoe, this perilous adventure, and Charlie’s many encounters along the way, gives insight into the past, present, and future of often-overlooked places during periods of great change. 'A first class adventure by a first class adventurer - packed with compelling incident and insight.' - BENEDICT ALLEN ‘An epic adventure, told candidly and vividly. Charlie’s words make me want to go back and experience these places with the same depth.’ - MARK BEAUMONT. ‘A mammoth journey that makes me yearn for the formative freedom of the open road.’ - ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS

Landscape Photography On Location: Travel, Learn, Explore, Shoot


Thomas Heaton - 2016
    It is packed with stories and anecdotes from behind the image. There are tips on using social media to get your images seen by millions. The book offers advice on hiking, travel and the great outdoors as well as useful information on technical subjects such as where to focus and shooting RAW. After reading this book, not only will your photography start to improve, but you will be inspired to get up and out at dawn and stay out until dark. This book is for the beginner as well as the seasoned professional. Travel, Learn, Explore, Shoot.

Mercenary


Paul Bennett - 2010
    HE’S AN EX-MERCENARY WHO WANTS TO SEE JUSTICE DONE. WHATEVER IT TAKES . . . AND THAT USUALLY INVOLVES BREAKING A FEW THINGS.Johnny Silver's brother, Carlo, the head of an investment bank, disappears along with ten million euros.DON’T MESS WITH HIS FAMILY.Johnny, an ex-mercenary on the run, is persuaded to come out of hiding to track him down. The trail leads Johnny into the world of gambling, prostitution, drugs, and human-trafficking to a crime that shocks the core of a man who thought he’d seen everything.Sometimes even the most cynical man discovers something that shakes him.Perfect for fans of Mark Dawson, Frederick Forsyth, David Baldacci, J.B. Turner, and Rob Sinclair.WITH A PLOT THAT TWISTS AND TURNS AS IT MOVES AT A DAZZLING PACE, MERCENARY IS A STORY NOT TO BE MISSED.

Lost in the Wilderness


Mair Rubin - 2015
    The men who live through the plane crash must make their way toward the mountains separating NWT from the Yukon Territory while surviving off the land, facing tragedy and the wild, and uncompromising land and animals they come across. This is a story of extreme survival, and a rescue attempt that is beyond belief.

Chronicles of a Motorcycle Gypsy: The 49 States Tour


Tiffani Burkett - 2018
    Fortunately (or unfortunately?) losing her comfortable office job was the perfect opportunity to do exactly that. At 28 years old, single, unattached, and now unemployed, she took her 2015 Yamaha FZ-07 and built the nimble sport bike into a make-shift adventure motorcycle. She packed it full of camping gear, and set off on an adventure that she had always dreamed about. The problem? Tiffani had scarcely traveled outside her long-time home in Los Angeles, let alone with nothing but a tent and hope to keep her safe. Chronicles of a Motorcycle Gypsy is an inspiring tale of confronting fears, insecurities, and self doubts for the sake of following your heart, all while discovering the many wonders of the 49 continental United States. Tiffani encounters some of the best and worst of humanity, meets a friend that eventually makes her journey a little less lonely, and puts all of her riding skills to the test, struggling with everything from her first time riding a sport bike in deep sand to getting caught in a blizzard in the Colorado mountains. It's a big world outside the racetrack! Originally published as a Travelogue in Motorcyclist Magazine as Girl Meets World, this full length memoir contains the untold stories and the details that were a little too racy for the blog. If you loved Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman's Long Way Round and Ted Simon's Jupiter's Travels, you'll love Chronicles of a Motorcycle Gypsy!

A Slender Thread: Escaping Disaster in the Himalaya


Stephen Venables - 2000
    This is the story of his arduous and almost miraculous survival, and of the brilliant, committed teamwork which brought him to safety.

Camino: Laughter and Tears along Spain's 500-mile Camino De Santiago


John H. Clark III - 2014
    With encouragement from family and friends, never having traveled outside the United States, the self-proclaimed homebody from Texas hopped on a plane at age 53 alone and headed for the Iberian Peninsula. It wasn’t just the beginning of a month-long journey, but also, as he would discover, the beginning of a new life. Facing fear, regret and reality When he arrived in Pamplona, home of the famous San Fermin Running of the Bulls Festival, Clark immediately began to regret his decision. To put it bluntly, he was scared to death. Possessed by an obsessive mind, he could not shake the idea that he was all alone in a foreign country, some 5,000 miles and an ocean’s distance away from home, about to go on a very long walk with nothing but a backpack full of basic supplies. His first impulse was to simply pack up and go back home, but somehow, though full of anxiety, he survived that first sleepless night in a hotel room near the Plaza del Castillo, and began his trek the following day. What did he discover? What happened to John Clark on his 500-mile pilgrimage? Did he make it? Find out when you crack open this colorful, insightful, and revelatory memoir full of tears and triumph. Be inspired as you experience this harrowing and heartwarming coming-of-age story that proves it’s never too late in life for a new adventure.

Summit 8000: Life and death with Australia's greatest mountaineer


Andrew Lock - 2014
    Andrew’s story is one of extraordinary passion, self-motivation, perseverance and resilience, as he leads us through his sixteen-year odyssey to achieve the Grand Slam of Himalayan mountaineering. We are taken through the victories, the near-misses and the great tragedies. The intense human drama of the expeditions infuses the book—sometimes funny, sometimes fierce and always fascinating stories about survival, climbing rivalries and mountaineering politics. The remote and stunning landscapes and cultures that Andrew encounters on his journeys add rich texture to his tale, culminating in his 2014 trip to Everest, where he was witness to the deadliest avalanche in the peak’s history. Ultimately, we learn ‘why does he do it?’ Why does anyone take on such a challenge, knowing how easily they might be killed? Andrew’s story is both candid and inspiring.Andrew Lock is the most accomplished high-altitude mountaineer in Australian history. He is the only Australian, the first person in the Commonwealth, and just the 18th man in the world to climb all fourteen of the world’s 8000-metre mountains. His achievements encompass eighteen summits of those 8000-metre peaks, including Mt Everest (twice) more than four times that of any other Australian, placing him in a select group of the world’s best alpinists. Additionally, Andrew accomplished the first Australian ascent of six of those mountains, a record that can never be broken. Andrew Lock is a professional motivational and keynote speaker. He can be found at www.andrew-lock.com.

Everest: It's Not About the Summit


Ellis Stewart - 2016
    Throughout it all Ellis Stewart shows a sense of humility and compassion sharing a heartfelt and emotional twenty year journey. From the streets of northern England through to the valleys and high mountains of Nepal, Stewart shared his story with thousands of followers on social media, winning over the hearts and minds of many. A ground swell of support sent Stewart to achieve his dream, not once but twice. Nobody could have anticipated the events that would follow. Events that would define Stewart in ways he couldn't possibly have imagined. Stewart is not your stereotypical mountaineer. Through the steps he took and his entrepreneurial spirit he was able to fund almost entirely the costs for two Everest expeditions without corporate assistance. In the summer of 2015 Stewart began to write his story of being caught up in these two tragic seasons on Everest. In this very book, he writes very candidly about not only his experiences on the mountain but also what drove and propelled him towards Everest in the first place. Not able to entice a publisher to take the project on, Stewart wouldn’t take no for an answer and decided to self-publish the book. After launching a massively successful crowdfunding campaign Stewart was able to pay the editing and printing costs to release this book as a paperback, which he did to rave reviews in late 2016. Due to popular demand Stewart launched another campaign to bring the book out in the hardcover format. Again this was a success. Everest: It’s not about the Summit, invites you into an intoxicating world, one where the margin between success and failure is brutally slim. This is a moving book with tragedy and commitment to a cause as a very central theme. It is a real story about real people. Whether it’s your usual genre of book or not doesn't matter as it's basically a cracking story. You don’t need to be a climber to enjoy this book at all. It has universal appeal and is a true inspirational cliff hanger for all. This book should be on the bookshelf of all active and armchair mountaineers alike. Amazon Review Epic. One of the best. This book is epic. It is up there and stands side to side with other mountaineering adventures like Into Thin Air, The Climb and Touching the Void. What this book does best though is convey the dreams and raw emotions of a man whose aspiration has always been to climb Everest. But it is also about adaptation to what life throws at you. If you are feeling down or dejected in anyway and want to be lifted. Read this book. Amazon Review I have just finished reading this book and I was blown away by Ellis’s story. I have read numerous other books about Everest expeditions and, like many other people, Jon Krakauer's account of the tragic1996 season started me on a trajectory to learn more about the trials and tribulations this mountain presents, from both a professional mountaineering perspective and as a commercial enterprise - albeit from the comfort of my sofa! The question one really has to ask when reviewing a book on a well documented subject is: “Why read this one?”. My answer is this: Many accounts of Everest expeditions tend towards ‘the macho’, ‘the personal achievement’ and ‘the surmounting of odds’ in terms of central narrative and descriptive style, whereas this is a deeply

Moments of Doubt and Other Mountaineering Writings


David Roberts - 1986
    The articles are composed of three types: Adventures (Roberts' own climbs and outings), Profiles (other adventurers), and Reflections (meditative essays about the meaning of the whole business). Roberts ranges the globe (Africa, Alaska, New Guinea) and introduces unique personalities (Reinhold Messner, John Roskelly, Don Sheldon). He also recounts how his own love of writing and the useless pastime of climbing combined to produce the bread and butter of his career today.Popular with audiences far beyond active mountaineers, Roberts sets himself this challenge: "For me, the abiding puzzle of adventure writing lies in keeping, on the one hand, a sense of proportion about the absurdity of most of our antics in the outdoors, while staying alert, on the other, to the majesty of spirit which at their best those antics demonstrate."RUNNING TIME ⇒ 10hrs. and 39mins.©1986 David Roberts (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Fragile Edge: A Personal Portrait of Loss on Everest


Maria Coffey - 1990
    Such clarity and honesty are seldom seen in mountain writing." - Greg Child, author of Postcards from the LedgeCritically acclaimed Fragile Edge won the coveted the International Literary Mountain prize for Maria Coffey's eloquently written story of how climbing tragedies affect those who are left behind. This is a powerful story describes how she survived the loss of her long-time partner, dealing with the sorrow and confusion, anger and healing.With openness and honesty, Coffey describes her love affair with elite British mountaineer Joe Tasker, who perished with his climbing partner Peter Boardman while attempting Everest's then-unclimbed Northeast Ridge in 1982. She relives her experiences, first within the hard-partying mountaineering scene and then during her long journey to understanding and acceptance of the tragedy that cost her the man she loved. She gives us an insider's view of the life of a world-class mountaineer and recounts her deeply moving pilgrimage with Boardman's widow across Tibet, a journey that retraced Tasker and Boardman's steps to their abandoned Advance Base Camp at 21,000 feet on Everest.

Loopers: A Caddie's Twenty-Year Golf Odyssey


John Dunn - 2013
    The lifers - as in "caddies for life" - that plied the loops were an ensemble of misfits and degenerates that made the caddy yard look more like an OTB parlor than anything near a country club.  But Dunn came of age in those yards and on those courses, and after an eye-opening experience caddying in Aspen during college the magnetism of the game and the lifestyle proved irresistible. One adventure after another kept him coming back summer after summer, until - out of college - he found himself migrating with the seasons, looping at some of the most exquisite and exclusive golf locations in the world; Sherwood, Augusta, Bandon Dunes, Shinnecock, and St. Andrews to name a few. Dunn criss-crossed the country on his own big loop; working inside the privet hedges while camping on the mountains; following the back roads and stumbling across unexpected moments of profound natural beauty; embracing the freedom of what he calls the last vagabond existence in America, all while trying to decide whether to quit the loop and get a real job. Maybe next season...

Hell of a Journey: On Foot Through the Scottish Highlands in Winter


Mike Cawthorne - 2000
    On one level it is a vivid and evocative account of a remarkable trek - never attempted before - on another it celebrates the uniqueness of the Highlands, the scenery and ecology of 'the last wilderness in Europe'. The challenge Mike Cawthorne set himself was to climb all 135 of Scotland's 1,000-metre peaks, which stretch in an unbroken chain through the heart of the Highlands, from Sutherland to the Eastern Cairngorms, down to Loch Lomond, and west to Glencoe. His route traversed the most spectacular landscape in Scotland, linking every portion of wilderness, and was completed in the midst of the harshest winter conditions imaginable. Acclaimed on its first publication in 2000, this edition contains an epilogue in which Mike Cawthorne reflects on his trek and wonders what has changed since he carried it out. He warns that 'wild land in Scotland has never been under greater threat'. Hell of a Journey is a reminder of what we could so easily lose forever.

Himalayan Quest: Ed Viesturs on the 8,000-Meter Giants


Ed Viesturs - 2003
    It is an unparalleled showcase of both the heartbreaking tragedy and the ineffable joy Viesturs has experienced while striving at the limits of human endurance.At the center of this extraordinary account of his mountaineering adventures are Viesturs’s own awe-inspiring photographs from the top of the world. This collection of images will show readers the deadly beauty and haunting menace of the Himalaya. A unique, inspiring, and spine-tingling glimpse into the rarified world of the extreme climber, Himalayan Quest will appeal not only to Viesturs’s significant fan base (fondly known as Edophiles or Edheads), but also to outdoor aficionados and armchair adventurers everywhere.

Unchained: One Woman, One Bike, One Dream... One World


Rubina Soorty - 2019
    She is daunted by busy dangerous roads, wild animals and the possibility of getting lost. And yet in 2013, completely unprepared and unsure if she can make it to London 60 miles away, she sets off around-the-world with her bicycle, Percy, and her mother's ashes.Unchained is a deeply personal travelogue about an around-the-world bicycle tour and the journey within. The story gradually unfolds as she crosses beautiful but unfamiliar lands with a fully loaded bicycle whilst struggling with the recent loss of her mother and her feelings of love.Ruby's journey, that takes her cycling across 5 continents, is a story about the ups and downs of the road, the highs and lows of life, trusts and betrayals, the loving kindness of nameless strangers, and a slow realisation of our deep connection with nature and the oneness of humanity. But above all, it is a tale of love.