If you’re a hammock aficionado, we know you’re probably dreaming up the next travel adventure where you can hang your hammock and relax after a day of hiking, climbing and other outdoor fun. As fellow travelers and adventure enthusiasts, we know that there are guide books and websites galore out there to help you plan. But beyond the typical travel guide, there are lots of great adventure stories that may be of interest, as well. Which books will inspire you the most, and be the next best thing to taking your own brave and improbable journey? We’re so glad you asked.
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts reached instant classic status…well…more or less instantly upon its release in 2002. Potts’ gorgeous prose is both a how-to and a call to action for anyone who’s dreamed of long-term travel, especially those who’ve decided wistfully that it may be out of reach. Vagabonding has been the nudge many people have needed to stop making excuses and start preparations to hit the road and wander, for months or years at a time.
The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard and Endurance by F. A. Worsley are captivating first-person accounts of expeditions to Antarctica in the second decade of the twentieth century. Life-or-death stakes with relatively primitive technology have been keeping readers of these books on the edges of their seats (and hammocks) for decades, and with good reason.
The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander is an enthralling contemporary (1998) supplement to Worsley’s book, and includes jaw-dropping photos which had not been previously published. Once you’ve seen pictures of the ship, The Endurance, helplessly trapped in ice, you will never forget them or the story.
On the Road and The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac brought the idea of a new kind of road trip into American consciousness and literary history. In Kerouac’s “spontaneous prose” style, the former documents four cross-country treks fueled by sex, drugs, and jazz, undertaken by the alter egos of the author and his muse, the notorious Neal Cassidy. The Dharma Bums begins mid-adventure with a freight-hopping scene. Much of the book is devoted to riveting and lyrical descriptions of hiking and mountain-climbing trips with a thinly disguised future Pulitzer Prize winner for poetry, Gary Snyder.
A quick reminder: when you find that these books have filled you with so much inspiration and verve that all you can do is to pack your bags and head for the airport, don’t forget to put your hammock in your luggage. It would be lonely without you.
1
