Explorer Memoirs

Spirit touches us in every moment of our existence; only most of us are caught up in the dramas that we have created in our lives, blinding us to a reality far greater than anything we can imagine with our rational minds. It is simply a matter of awareness. Though we often feel lost and abandoned in a cold and uncaring world, the truth is that we live in the illusion of our own self-created exile, away from the Source of our being which has never stopped loving us - unconditionally.

In 1963, the world followed the first American Mount Everest Expedition, and watched as "Big Jim" Whittaker became the first American to stand on top of the world. He returned home a hero. My Old Man and the Mountain is Leif Whittaker's engaging and humorous story of what it was like to "grow up Whittaker" - the youngest son of Jim Whittaker and Dianne Roberts, in an extended family of accomplished climbers. He shares glimpses of his upbringing and how the pressure to climb started early on.

In May of 1973, a group of eight divers embarked on an exploration of a sink hole in Australia, since named The Shaft. Unfortunately, their expedition took a horrifying turn. Only four would return alive.

When Dr. Richard Greenberg, accompanied by his wife and three children, set out for a scenic day hike on the Nā Pali Coast of Kaua'i, he had little idea that the dream-like setting would soon be the backdrop of a living nightmare. With an unforeseen change in the weather, Dr. Greenberg and his family soon found themselves fighting for their lives. In this harrowing retelling of the unexpected events of that day and the journey that followed, Dr. Greenberg shares a miraculous story of disaster and rescue, of strength and faith, and of grief and recovery.

A restless child of the 1960s, Marilyn yearns for love, hippiedom, and escape from her controlling mother. At fourteen, she runs nearly a thousand miles away to Vancouver, British Columbia, eventually landing herself in a Catholic home for troubled girls. At sixteen, she’s emancipated, navigating adulthood without a high school diploma, and craving a soulmate. When she falls in love with Jack, the grad student living next door, life finally seems perfect. The two embark on a cross-continental bicycle trip, headed for South America, but before they reach Mexico, tragedy strikes.

Whether you’re facing your own hip replacement surgery or want to train for something like a triathlon, or you simply find yourself facing extreme challenges in your own life, this book is your guide to putting steel in your bones and doing what you may never have thought was possible.

This is an incredible story of adventure, human ingenuity, persistence, and resilience that shows firsthand what it is to adventure as a woman in the most dangerous of circumstance, what it is to be truly alone in the wild, and why someone would challenge themselves with an expedition others would call crazy. For Marquis, her story is about freedom, being alive and wild by nature.

In early 2003, a young Wall Street investment banker named Bo Parfet set out to accomplish something very few had done before - climbing the highest mountain on every continent. He was not a professional climber, but what began as a casual interest would soon become a lifelong passion and in just over four years, Bo would overcome the odds and conquer all of the mountains - Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Denali, Vinson Massif, Elbrus, Carstenz Pyramid, Kosciusko, and Everest - with courage, unbridled passion, and determination.

In 1948, a young Australian mining engineer named Ben Carlin set out to do the impossible: circumnavigate the globe, by land and sea, in a single vehicle. The vehicle in question was an amphibious jeep developed by the U.S. Army, which Carlin christened Half-Safe, after a deodorant slogan. It was a mechanical mongrel that was supposed to move with equal ease across land and water but in practice wasn't much good for either one. Undaunted, Carlin and his wife Elinore set off across the Atlantic Ocean with dreams of fame and fortune, and of carving a small notch in history.

In his second memoir, a true crime story, David Alan Arnold takes us on a life and death adventure in his helicopter as an aerial cameraman for Ice Road Truckers and Deadliest Catch. He also gets into adventures at home, when he picks a fight with an organized crime ring that took over a school bus stop. David's town has so few residents that good people are afraid to speak about the crimes, for fear of reprisal.

Take That Leap recounts Nigel's unanticipated adventures as an entrepreneur, emerging philanthropist, and avid outdoorsman. Get inside his head as he negotiates deals with the big boys and wrestles with the myths surrounding work-life balance and being an entrepreneur. Be there with him through the crazy challenges of simultaneously launching a start-up and a family all the way through to the even zanier challenges of becoming a steward of Pachamama (Mother Nature).

Ta książka powstawała w drodze – w schroniskach i barach, w cieniu drzew i chwilach przerw u studni. Jest zapisem podróży do Santiago de Compostela. To opowieść o wydeptywaniu własnej drogi w świecie, który nie wierzy w Boga, ale ufa horoskopom, jodze i ceremoniom kakao. Grzegorz Kapla spotyka na Camino wierzących i takich, co idą dla sportu. Niektórzy dźwigają ze sobą jakieś prośby albo wdzięczność, idą przeżyć przygodę, schudnąć, poznać kogoś, zapomnieć o kimś lub odnaleźć samego siebie.

Överstelöjtnant Kim Yong har oerhörda privilegier med nordkoreanska mått mätt. Han äger en importerad bil och kan åka var han vill i landet. Men förräderianklagelser raserar hela Yongs tillvaro. Han döms till Nordkoreas mest ökända arbetsläger, nr 14 i Hamgyong-provinsen–en värld av våld och tortyr. Medan han tvångsarbetar i en gruva två kilometer under marken blir dagsljus Kims enda lyx. Allt eftersom månaderna går blir han bekant med politiska fångar, omänskliga lägervakter och en apokalyptisk hungersnöd.

La hija del guerrillero y la loca es la poderosa memoria de una niña exiliada en la Ciudad de México a causa de la guerra en su país natal.

Discover the remarkable life of Daniel Boone... Daniel Boone is one of those figures in American history whose life often intertwines with myths and legends. While numerous tall tales surround this American adventurer, many of his greatest feats are actually true. They are not merely artifacts of folklore—they genuinely happened. Daniel Boone really did blaze a trail through the Cumberland Gap into the western frontier. He really did become initiated as a member of the Shawnee (who gave him the name “Big Turtle”), and he really did serve under Revolutionary War General George Rogers Clark.

In this riveting memoir, renowned mountaineer Lou Dawson shares a tumultuous coming-of-age journey, from the flatlands of Texas to the Colorado mountains, steeped in the counterculture revolution of the 1960s. Amidst the towering peaks, Lou discovers an enduring love for alpine sports: rock climbing, topping summits, skiing powder snow. However, as the avalanches fall and lifestyle choices veer, his pursuit of adrenaline becomes a poignant struggle for meaning in a culture where nothing succeeds like excess.

Après la publication du Cri du Kalahari, les zoologistes Delia et Mark Owens retournent en Afrique pour poursuivre leurs recherches. Dans la vallée de la Luangwa, région reculée de la Zambie, ils découvrent un éden sauvage, d’une beauté saisissante, où ils choisissent d’établir leur campement. Dans cet habitat naturel préservé, les hippopotames sillonnent encore les rivières et les éléphants se nourrissent des fruits des arbres.

The time of the American mountain man was not to reach its peak until the mid-19th century, but the man who served as the prototype for the cultural genre hailed from an earlier age in which the new United States had scarcely established its most basic structural tenets. A member of the original Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery commissioned by Thomas Jefferson, John Colter’s multiple journeys to the northwest country of present-day Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho were first-time events in the development of the continent.

No verão de 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton parte a bordo do Endurance em direção ao Atlântico Sul. O objetivo de sua expedição era cruzar o continente antártico, passando pelo Pólo Sul. Mas, a apenas um dia do ponto de desembarque planejado, o Endurance fica aprisionado num banco de gelo no mar de Weddell e acaba sendo destruído. Através dos diários e entrevistas com alguns membros da expedição, Alfred Lansing reconstrói as dificuldades que a tripulação do Endurance enfrentou.

On May 22, 2010, at the age of 13, American teenager Jordan Romero became the youngest person to climb to the summit of Mount Everest. At 15, he became the youngest person to reach the summits of the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents. In this energizing memoir for young adults, Jordan recounts his experience, which started as a spark of an idea at the age of nine and, many years of training and hard work later, turned into a dream come true.