Adventure Travel Memoirs

Updated June 6, 2026
Rochester Public Library RPL Staff
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Adventure Travel Memoirs

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Wild : from lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Strayed, Cheryl
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe--and built her back up again. A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Century At...
The Sun is a Compass : A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds
Van Hemert, Caroline
Paper Book
For fans of Cheryl Strayed, the gripping story of a biologist's human-powered journey from the Pacific Northwest to the Arctic to rediscover her love of birds, nature, and adventure. During graduate school, as she conducted experiments on the...
A walk in the park : the true story of a spectacular misadventure in the Grand Canyon
Fedarko, Kevin
Paper Book
* Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award in Outdoor Literature * Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction * Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, Air Mail, Smithsonian Magazine, and Financial Times "A...
Blue highways : a journey into America
Heat Moon, William Least.
Paper Book
Hailed as a masterpiece of American travel writing, Blue Highways is an unforgettable journey along our nation's backroads. William Least Heat-Moon set out with little more than the need to put home behind him and a sense of curiosity about "those little towns that...
A walk in the woods : rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
Bryson, Bill.
Paper Book
A laugh-out-loud account of an outrageously rugged hike--by the beloved comic author of Lost Continent and Notes from a Small Island. Published in the 75th anniversary year of the Appalachian Trail. Father's Day merchandising.
Eat, pray, love : one woman's search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia
Gilbert, Elizabeth
Paper Book
One of the most iconic, beloved, and bestselling books of our time from the bestselling author of City of Girls and Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert. Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love touched the world and changed countless lives, inspiring and empowering millions...
The ride of her life : the true story of a woman, her horse, and their last-chance journey across America
Letts, Elizabeth
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER .The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Horse and The Eighty-Dollar Champion presents a "heartwarming and engaging folk-hero biography" (Kirkus Reviews) of a woman who fulfilled her lifelong wish to see the Pacific Ocean by riding...
The lost city of the Monkey God
Preston, Douglas J.
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. Named one of the best books of the year by The Boston Globe and National Geographic. An acclaimed journalist takes readers on a true...
In a sunburned country
Bryson, Bill.
Paper Book
Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out. This time in Australia. His previous excursion along the Appalachian Trail resulted in the sublime national bestseller A Walk in the Woods. In A Sunburned Country is his...
Nowhere for very long : the unexpected road to an unconventional life
Madia, Brianna
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER * USA TODAY! BESTSELLER In this beautifully written, vividly detailed memoir, a young woman chronicles her adventures traveling across the deserts of the American West in an orange van named Bertha and...
Tracks
Davidson, Robyn
Paper Book
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE Robyn Davidson's opens the memoir of her perilous journey across 1,700 miles of hostile Australian desert to the sea with only four camels and a dog for company with the following words: "I experienced that sinking feeling you get when you know...
Leave only footprints : my Acadia-to-Zion journey through every national park
Knighton, Conor
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "A delightful sampler plate of our national parks, written with charisma and erudition."--Nick Offerman, author of Paddle Your Own Canoe From CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Conor Knighton, a behind-the-scenery look at his year...
North : finding my way while running the Appalachian Trail
Jurek, Scott
Paper Book
From the author of the bestseller Eat and Run, a thrilling memoir about his grueling, exhilarating, and immensely inspiring 46-day run to break the speed record for the Appalachian Trail. Scott Jurek is one of the world's best known and most beloved...
The world walk : 7 years. 28,000 miles. 6 continents. : a grand meditation, one step at a time
Turcich, Tom
Paper Book
For fans of Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild and Suleika Jaouad's Between Two Kingdoms, the invigorating true story of a man and his dog who circled the globe on foot. "Gripping . . . The World Walk ...
The adventurer's son : a memoir
Dial, Roman
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER  "Destined to become an adventure classic." --Anchorage Daily News Hailed as "gripping" (New York Times) and "beautiful" (Washington Post), The Adventurer's Son is Roman Dial's extraordinary and widely acclaimed account of his two-year quest to unravel...
Dark star safari : overland from Cairo to Cape Town
Theroux, Paul.
Audiobook
Dark Star Safari
The catch me if you can : one woman's journey to every country in the world
Nabongo, Jessica
Paper Book
In this inspiring travelogue, celebrated traveler and photographer Jessica Nabongo―the first Black woman on record to visit all 195 countries in the world―shares her journey around the globe with fascinating stories of adventure, culture, travel musts, and human connections. ...
Dogtripping : 25 rescues, 11 volunteers, and 3 RVs on our canine cross-country adventure
Rosenfelt, David.
Paper Book
David Rosenfelt'sDogtripping is moving and funny account of a cross-country move from California to Maine, and the beginnings of a dog rescue foundation When mystery writer David Rosenfelt and his family moved from Southern California to Maine, he thought he had prepared for...
The last ride of the Pony Express : my 2,000-mile horseback journey into the Old West
Grant, Will
Paper Book
USA Today bestseller!  Cowboy and journalist Will Grant takes us on an epic and authentic horseback journey into the modern West on an adventure of a lifetime, boldly illuminating both our mythic fascination with the Pony Express, and how its spirit...
No summit out of sight : the true story of the youngest person to climb the seven summits
Romero, Jordan
Paper Book
Jordan Romero climbed Mount Everest at age thirteen--and he didn't stop there. In this inspiring young adult memoir, he tells how he achieved such great heights. On May 22, 2010, at the age of thirteen, American teenager Jordan Romero became the youngest person to climb to the...
A Paris year : my day-to-day adventures in the most romantic city in the world
MacLeod, Janice
Paper Book
Part memoir and part visual journey through the streets of modern-day Paris, France, A Paris Year chronicles, day by day, one woman's French sojourn in the world's most beautiful city. Beginning on her first day in Paris, Janice MacLeod, the author of the best-selling book, Paris Letters,<...
Before they're gone : a family's year-long quest to explore America's most endangered national parks
Lanza, Michael.
Paper Book
A longtime backpacker, climber, and skier, Michael Lanza knows our national parks like the back of his hand. As a father, he hopes to share these special places with his two young children. But he has seen firsthand the changes wrought by the warming climate and understands what lies ahead: Alaska's...
No barriers : a blind man's journey to kayak the Grand Canyon
Weihenmayer, Erik
Paper Book
2018 Colorado Book Awards finalist in the Creative Nonfiction and National Bestseller and Honorable Mention Award Winner in the Outdoor Literature category of the 2017 National Outdoor Book Awards (NOBA) -- "A beautiful book about family and finding a way to achieve more...
Turn right at Machu Picchu : rediscovering the lost city one step at a time
Adams, Mark
Paper Book
Mark Adams has spent his career editing adventure and travel magazines, polishing hair-raising tales about the exploits of famous explorers. So his plan to investigate the allegations against Bingham by retracing the explorer's perilous path to Machu Picchu isn't completely far-fetched, even if it...
The River of Doubt : Theodore Roosevelt's darkest journey
Millard, Candice.
Paper Book
At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, "The River of Doubt" is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt's harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth. The River of Doubt-- it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes...
Notes from a small island
Bryson, Bill.
Audiobook
After nearly two decades on British soil, the author takes a final jaunt through the heartland of the United Kingdom. As he travels by foot, train & bus, he encounters quirky age-old customs, charming architecture & salt-of-the-earth inhabitants
The salt path
Winn, Raynor
Paper Book
THE MULTI-MILLION COPY INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING GILLIAN ANDERSON AND JASON ISAACS "Polished, poignant... an inspiring story of true love."--Entertainment Weekly A BEST BOOK OF 2019, NPR's Book Concierge ...
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