Wilder Journeys: True Stories of Nature, Adventure and Connection

by Laurie King (Editor), Miriam Lancewood (Editor)

Environmental writer Laurie King and internationally bestselling author Miriam Lancewood present a collection of narrative non-fiction stories and poems on the human connection with nature.

Follow the call of the wild with these incredible true stories from an international group of nature lovers, nomads and adventurers.

In these pages, you are invited to share the wisdom they gained on their wild journeys. You will walk across the Australian desert with American explorer Angela Maxwell; live with Hamza Yassin and a family of eagles in Scotland; survive for 10 years in an Australian forest with Gregory Smith; hunt in the wilderness with Miriam Lancewood in New Zealand; chart Karl Bushby's passage through the formidable Darien Gap; and set up a surf school for people of colour in California with David Malana.

With beautiful illustrations, a foreword from explorer Belinda Kirk and contributions from leading poets, including David Whyte and Fatimah Asghar, this book will inspire you to get out of your comfort zone and connect to your wild, animal soul.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Travel, Adventure, Essays, Autobiography

223 pages, Hardcover

Published March 14, 2023

Reviews

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of essays and poems about the connection of humans to the natural world. I found the quality of the different stories too varying for me, some of them I really couldn't enjoy. That's a logical problem in a collection like this, but in this one it is really off-putting. I couldn't really relate to most of the stories either. Three stars for the stories I did resonate with.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to read.

[Fern Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Wilder Journeys’ is an eclectic anthology of travel and nature writing from a wide range of writers. There is a mixture of poems, short stories, memoir pieces and essays covering a range of continents and subjects.

One of the things I really love about anthologies is it gives you a chance to discover writers that you wouldn’t have otherwise. Reading several of the stories I found I wanted to know more about the people who had written them and learn more of their adventures. While there was no section of the book I didn’t enjoy stand out pieces for me was an essay by wildlife camera man Hamza Yassin who wrote about eagle fledglings and drew links between their experience and his own both as a refugee and following his dreams. Another interesting tale was of one person’s adventure through South America which involved spending several days floating down a river (without a boat) to make their way!

While I read this book cover to cover it would be really well suited as one to instead dip in and out of, choosing a story at random.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Stacey Lunsford · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of writings by various people around the world who engaged in extreme adventures to connect to the wider world suffers from the uneven quality of the writing. It was clear that some of the writers had more experience than others. Those less experienced could have done with a little more editing.

There was also a certain amount of sameness to the entries. That may be down to the common sense of awe that can be experienced by people in both a religious and a non-religious context which has been widely reported on in social science and psychology articles. The ineffable quality of such experiences leaves us all with too little vocabulary to express ourselves in the way we might wish.

The personal experiences are interspersed with poems on nature and connection. The story I enjoyed the most was David Malana's about the inspiration for his Color the Water community. The accessibility of his story resonated more than the stories of people summiting Everest, floating down a river through territory contested by revolutionaries and the Colombian government, or living a hunter-gatherer existence in New Zealand.

Overall, I thought the book could have used a wider variety of stories to illustrate more ways in which people have found a new connection to nature.

[Erik Rautenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. Makes you think about life and some of the struggles we all have.
Each chapter brings a new voice and their respective challenges that only nature seems to be able to sooth.

Pleasant surprise and I highly recommend it to all who are interested in finding out a little about life themselves.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The good thing about this book was how it made me want to get outside. The slightly annoying thing was wondering if you have to be super extreme and give up all of society and humanity to truly connect with nature. (No, but some of these stories might make you think so.) Did all of these writers become "rewilding facilitators?"

[Naomi B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book of some extreme and other simpler stories. A good book to my coffee table collection to remind me to go outside!

[Windy · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It rained hard on the day I went to live in the forest; fitting weather for a life that had felt like an endless storm”.

Don’t you love it when you find a book that genuinely speaks to you? Especially when it comes to you unexpectedly but at just the right time for you to fully receive it? This book of nonfiction short stories and poetry totally took me surprise. It’s filled with diversity, heartfelt retellings of solo adventures, unconventional living, self discovery and leaning into nature. I read this a few weeks ago, while we were planning the next leg of our travels from Canada to the US and Mexico. I found it very sobering and it left me feeling quite reflective about my own adventures and excited for our future endeavours.

While I enjoyed the entire book, I have a few favourite pieces:

🏔 Waking Up on Everest by Sophie Sung-Bin Hilare

🥾 Desert Solace - a story about a solo hike through the Australian desert by Angela Maxwell

🗺 Becoming Caiman - a story about crossing the Darian Gap by Karl Bushby

🛶 One Oar Stroke at a Time - a solo sailing exposition crossing three oceans by Roz Savage

🔥 The Journey - a poem by Dave Whyte

Many thanks to @wilder.journeys @netgalley and @watkinspublishing for this wonderful ARC opportunity. I truly loved this read and already plan to gift it to some special friends.

[Paul Brunning · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those books that it's hard to rate with a crude 1-5 star rating. So I did enjoy most of it, but being an anthology with each chapter by a different author you get a lot of variety. I like travel and nature writing, and that's mostly what this is. It was a good relaxing bedtime read which usually left me thinking interesting nature thoughts as I drifted off to sleep. What was noticeable was the religious Mother Earth themes that come out in many of the pieces - sometimes using overly religious language to describe their connection with the natural world. Romans 1:25. Most of the short poetry that interspersed the main prose chapters was forgettable. Some of the author bios were pretentious to the point of being hilarious, e.g. 'Denise is a creative practitioner, ceremonialist and experiential facilitator with over 20 years' experience in creating and holding safe spaces for powerful transformation. Her passion is for the deep-embodied remembering that is encoded within our beings using music, dance, prayer and landscape as access points.' WHAT??!?!?

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of true tales and poetry advocates healing, wisdom and adventure through reconnecting with nature. This gentle book is packed with beautiful descriptions of the wonder of the natural world, be it South American jungle, the Australian outback or remote Scottish islands.

The chapter at the beginning of the book, “One Day in a Wilderness Life” by Miriam Lancewood, describes complete contentment in the New Zealand wilderness. It sets the scene for the rest of the book. “Waking up on Everest” by Sophie Sung-Bin Hilaire is an inspirational, deep thinking piece.
Hamza Yassin, a Sudanese-British wildlife cameraman, presenter and current star of Strictly writes a stunning chapter about the behaviour of eagle baby chicks being observed.

“I walk far more gently in the world nowadays”, is the key message from once hermit Gregory P Smith from Australia, appreciating what nature gave in his time of need. This book had so many moments for the reader to reflect.

I loved this book. It is refreshing and restorative

[Jude Clay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories in this collection were well written and all of them were really interesting. The level of detail felt unusual - for example the story of reaching the summit of Everest was very intimate and almost took us step by step with the climber - and I loved that about this collection. However, perhaps because the writers are adventurers first and writers second, the ethical message included in each chapter felt a bit like a blunt tool. I think I would have got the idea that their world-views had expanded through contact with nature from their stories alone, I didn't need each one of them to spell it out to me.

There were also a couple of stories that were so opinionated they felt blinkered and I wanted to be able to challenge the writers to perhaps widen their world view a little! Sometimes it's nice to have your own opinions challenged by what you read though so, although it annoyed me, it might not neccessarily have been a bad thing!

Overall, this was an interesting and entertaining read, but I don't know if I'll be recommending it.

[Mks Bookcorner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you, NetGalley, Laurie King, and publishers for gifting me a copy of Wilder Journeys in return for my honest opinion.

3.5/5 stars

This is a book of short stories that go into the human connection to nature. These true stories share the wisdom they gained on their wilderness journey.

I love short stories, due to the fact that you can find lots of new authors. One of the aspects that I don't like is that you might love one story but hate the next which can hurt a rating. Which happened to me with this collection. Another aspect that I found off-putting was when the authors blatantly told us what each of their messages was. The stories were great and we were able to get the message ourselves. This could also be that I'm assuming, that these are adventurers first and writers second.

If you enjoy short stories based around adventures and the great outdoors, I would highly recommend this collection.

[Clare Hudman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Snuggled in my bed I luxuriated in reading about other people's adventures each night. I can't imagine how much determination some of these people had to draw on to deal with their challenge in nature. Roz Savage doing 10,000 oar strokes a day meant she was able to row across the 3 biggest oceans - on her own - with a very tenuous line of communication. That is phenomenal. Actually David Malana's chapter about his connection with nature, his adventure, which led to setting up a surf school for people of colour has equally stayed with me. I loved his writing... his ability to convey self-doubt and awkwardness around approaching a stranger to offer advice. But because he did - I won't spoil it. My copy is no longer with me but on its own wild journey with my neice. She is a young wild adventurer so no doubt the book will be returned with muddy thumbprints and a leaf for a bookmark.

[Morgan Ferne · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book the pages are filled with delicious detailed reminiscing-like stories of people’s wild and transformative journeys. As well as great stories and poetry pieces each is written so well and seems to conjure magnificent scenes in my mind with just a few lines. I seem to live these quests in my head as I read, from reaching submits, to waiting patiently for rare birds to fledge, I continue to be captivated and inspired.

Reading this carefully, created master piece has inspired me to consider going on a wild journey myself. I long to feel true connection to nature and maybe even getting close enough to Mother Earth to feel her heart beat, like I would imagine so many of the authors In this book have.

Laurie, your poetry feels and reads like the nectar brewing in a fresh morning flower; sweet and ready to be tasted. Your Epilogue concludes the book just as sweetly as your poetry.

- Morgan ( we met on a wild adventure of my own )

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should start by saying I am probably not the intended audience for anthologies. The short story is not my preferred literary work and I often want the collections to be more cohesive than they are. That said I did find many of the stories shared a similarity inherent in the vein of deep awe that comes from being in extreme nature. Some of the stories were better written than others, some were better edited, but they all had something that will appeal to a nature lover. A good book to toss in your pack and ponder while in the outdoors yourself. Thank you NetGalley and Watkins Publishing for providing me with an ARC and a chance to review this anthology.

[Maggie's Book Collection · Rating 4 out of 5]

The majority of the stories in this anthology were wonderful and inspirational, a few I found were less so but still worth a read.

I was especially touched by the short stories by Hamza Yassin and Gregory Smith. I was impressed by the way the human spirit can be enhanced by an intimate relationship with part or all of the natural world. This really came across in these particular stories.

Overall the book is definitely worth reading because the good stories are very good indeed.
#Netgalley

[Lisa Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were really great. I particularly liked Color the Water:Winston, Waking Up on Everest, and My Eagle Brother. A few I really thought were written poorly and I didn’t quite get the message. I didn’t like hardly any of the poems. Overall it was ok and I would suggest skipping the slow or less coherent parts. I liked the theme of feeling connected to nature. I didn’t connect to the survivability undertone and needing danger to feel alive and connect to our more primal nature.

[Gem ~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really inspirational and deep-thinking collection of stories, poetry and prose regarding so many aspects of being in the wild and connecting with nature in all kinds of ways.
I think this book will connect on so many levels with readers and anyone who craves adventure or feels part of something much bigger than themselves

[Hayli Netterlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of adventures and personal journeys through wilderness. From jungles to mountains and landscapes in between. Different voices and lessons learned made this a very interesting read. There were times that there was an obvious political lean which gets annoying, but the stories were beautiful nonetheless.

[Otone · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection by multiple writers, with some accounts being more arresting than others (an odd mix of colossally over-privileged lives and under-privileged lives). I enjoyed Hamza Yassin’s entry very much, of course, a tale that was also highlighted in his BBC documentary. Also, maybe this was just me, but I detested the font of the book! Sans serif is so hard to read on the printed page.

[Kate Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The natural world as a healing power with the ability to bring us back to our true selves. This collection of writings is inspiring and well put together. Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

[Vix S · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very pleasant collection of essays, easy to read from the comfort of your own home while these incredible adventures go out and explore every corner of the planet. Some beautiful writing and some wild experiences.

[Bookwormbadger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this collection of nature / wilderness themed poems and extracts from memoirs by a range of interesting people, all of whom have spent significant time in wild places. I found it inspiring reading.

[Annarella · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a mixed bag with some very interesting food for thought and some parts just so-so.
I think it must be read a bit at a time.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

[The Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed most of these stories. So much wisdom in these pages. I need more adventures in my life.

[Kalindi Fonda]

To the sea, i cried.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Within the pages of Wilder Journeys, you will find a series of non-fiction essays and poems about the human connection with nature, assembled by Laurie King and Miriam Lancewood.

Recently Strictly Come Dancing winner Hamza Yassin has his own chapter, in which he describes the season in which he watched and photographed a family of sea eagles in Scotland. Other, more extreme, chapters describe the experiences of those who survived in the wild for years or crossed the Australian outback.

Inevitably, some of these stories fired my imagination more than others. I found most too extreme to identify much with, even though I’m at my happiest outdoors.

Not a book that particularly resonated with me, but likely to inspire other lovers of the nature and outdoors.
Thank you to NetGalley and Watkins Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review