This non fiction (and a couple of vlogs) may appeal for some who love tramping, being in nature, or adventure.
BOOKS
Wild boy
by Brando Yelavich
New Zealander
Yelavich (in his 20s) attempts to circumnavigate New Zealand’s Steward Island (the Rakiura track and more) solo. This adventurer became the first to circumnavigate Maui te ika and Te Wai Pounamu a few years earlier at the age of 19.
More info: https://www.wildboyadventures.com/
Bewildered
by Laura Waters
Australian
Waters completes the Te Araroa trail (walking from Cape Reinga to Bluff). From Melbourne, she and a friend start the walk, who finishes it? Complete with the lure of a love story, and mapping her journey with anxiety, this tale shares the 6 month tramping expedition with her readers.
More info: https://aotearoabooks.co.nz/bewildered/
Tough Women: Adventure Stories
compiled by Jenny Tough
Around the world
Tough compiles an extraordinary and inspiring collection of stories from women who have achieved the unimaginable, from leading an expedition (in conjunction with NASA) on the North Pole in -40 degrees for a month, to formidable cycling races travelling down the centre of the US from Canada to Mexico, to taking on Albanian corporates as activists in kayaks saving the last uninterrupted mountain-to-sea-river in Europe. One take away is further researching these courage women, as most (if not all of them) have been filmed or photographed doing these amazing feats.
More info: http://jennytough.com/tough-women-adventure-stories
This one wild precious life
by Sarah Wilson
Australian
A book about climate change, asking us – what are we doing to play our part in reducing waste, and helping to address climate change, whilst sharing physical and emotional adventures of what feels like a decade.
More info: https://www.sarahwilson.com/this-one-wild-and-precious-life/
VLOGS
Long White Gypsy
featuring Michelle
New Zealander
Michelle tramps (solo) as a way to address her struggles with mental health which was first impacted upon her diagnosis of Graves disease. Her vlogs are ‘real’, capture the actual trail she is tramping, and are abundant, inspiring and informative for anyone wanting to walk (or run?) the same trail.
To view: https://longwhitegypsy.com/
Ryan Purvis
North American
One of his YouTube followers has this to say: Your videos are like mini movies, and so well done. They are wonderful escapes from the world.
Here’s a ‘short doco’ where Purvis walks Earnslaw Burn in Aotearoa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWf_835VBb8
To view more: https://ryanpurvis.co/
ReviloNZ
featuring Jesse Wiltshire
New Zealander
Wiltshire is a home caregiver from Papamoa, New Zealand. His “films are slow-paced and meditative, with little dialogue or music – he says they’re more documentary than blockbuster ( August 2020 ‘Wilderness’)”.
To view: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEusgkR3fOmIdrhuu6rUE3w