Books by Alastair Humphreys
Alastair Humphreys is a British adventurer, author and blogger. He spent over 4 years cycling round the world, a journey of 46,000 miles through 60 countries and five continents. More recently Alastair has walked across southern India, rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, run six marathons through the Sahara desert, completed a crossing of Iceland, busked through Spain and participated in an expedition in the Arctic, close to the magnetic North Pole. He has trekked 1000 miles across the Empty Quarter desert and 120 miles round the M25—one of his pioneering microadventures. He was named as one of National Geographic’s Adventurers of the Year for 2012.
“The whole of Britain is divided up into Ordnance Survey maps, so I bought the local map of where I live. It covers 20 kilometers by 20 kilometers. Once a week I went out to a place I chose at random on the map. That randomness was really important to me, because otherwise I would just have gravitated to the sorts of places I always like going to. So I’d use an online random number generator to pick where on the map I had to go. Then I’d go there, usually on foot, but occasionally by bike, with my camera. Having a camera was also quite important to me, because that forced me to slow down and be observant. My challenge was quite a conceited one, which was to see everything in that square, every street, every footpath, every bit of woodland.” Read more...
The best books on Local Adventures
Alastair Humphreys, Travel Writer
The Girl Who Rowed the Ocean
by Alastair Humphreys
Schoolgirl Lucy wants a real adventure and decides to row across the Atlantic. She has wonderful experiences (shooting stars, dolphins, sea turtles, whales, storm petrels, bioluminescence), and terrifying ones (storms, gigantic cargo ships). She learns to assess risk, and that even when she cannot control the situation she can choose how to react. This is an inspiring book about what we can achieve if we take that crucial step that commits us to turn a dream into reality, and how even a distant goal can be reached by chipping away at it little by little. The novel is interspersed with pieces of homework written by Lucy’s classmates, who follow her journey and do research on the ocean. The fact that the author has actually rowed across the Atlantic makes for a realistic and engaging story.
Ages 8-12
Great Adventurers
by Alastair Humphreys
Great Adventurers is a lovely book for children by the British adventurer Alastair Humphreys. This book has been reviewed for us by Alex, who is 12 years old:
Interviews with Alastair Humphreys
The best books on Local Adventures, recommended by Alastair Humphreys
Wonderful as it would be to climb Mount Everest or row across the Atlantic, not all of us will get the chance to go on an epic adventure. But that doesn’t mean we can’t go exploring. Alastair Humphreys, the British adventurer, explains the concept of ‘local adventure’ and recommends books that give a feel for what it’s about and why it’s worth pursuing.
The Best Books by Adventurers, recommended by Alastair Humphreys
One morning in early June, Laurie Lee said goodbye to his mum at the garden gate and went off on an adventure. Is now the moment for you to do the same? Bestselling author and adventurer Alastair Humphreys recommends five books written by adventurers that can’t fail but inspire you to ‘go simple, go solo, go now.’
Interviews where books by Alastair Humphreys were recommended
The best books on Local Adventures, recommended by Alastair Humphreys
Wonderful as it would be to climb Mount Everest or row across the Atlantic, not all of us will get the chance to go on an epic adventure. But that doesn’t mean we can’t go exploring. Alastair Humphreys, the British adventurer, explains the concept of ‘local adventure’ and recommends books that give a feel for what it’s about and why it’s worth pursuing.
