With the COVID-19 restrictions, it's certainly a difficult time to be out and about as much as we would like.
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With a number of bushwalking areas declared 'no-go' zones, it looks like the best we can do is a sedate stroll around the neighbourhood streets.
Since social isolation means more time to hang out at home, I've opted to seek some visceral outdoor experiences by revisiting books that satisfy my cravings.
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn is a true story about an English couple who lose their house and livelihood and make the impulsive decision to walk the 630 miles of South West Coast Path from Somerset to Dorset through Devon and Cornwall.
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson describes his attempt to walk the 2100 mile Appalachian Trail that stretches from Georgia to Maine in the US. A modern classic of travel literature.
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer isn't your run-of-the-mill outdoor adventure. In 1992, Christopher Johnson McCandless hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter.
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. This harrowing and legendary tale about Ernest Shackleton's 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole reminds us of the resilience and courage of early explorers.
Shooting the Franklin by Johnson Dean is a cracking read about a group of mates who grew up paddling some of Tasmania's most famous rivers including the mighty Franklin. After an earlier failed attempt Dean and co completed the trail-blazing journey in 1958.
