Whilst it’s always important to pack a great book (or load your kindle/other bit of reading tech) when you head off on your travels, reading can also get you in the mood for adventures. Inspiring stories can motivate you to be your best self, to explore, to discover, and to re-assess your priorities.

Here are a few of our favorite reads for adventure-lovers, some are thought provoking, some are awe-inspiring, all are guaranteed great additions to your library!

1. Seven Steps from Snowdon to Everest: Mark Horrell

Read one man’s 10 year journey from hill-walker to climbing Everest. Written from the perspective of an ordinary man (just like you or I… perhaps), this book could just inspire you to make that wild idea in the back of your mind a reality.

Read more about / purchase Seven Steps from Snowdon.

2. The Man Who Cycled The World: Mark Beaumont

Another great story about how determination and grit can help you to set a goal, and achieve it. This time from the point of view of Mark Beaumont’s record breaking 194 day solo cycling challenge.

Read more about / purchase The Man Who Cycled The World

3. A Walk In The Woods: Bill Bryson

One of the world’s most famed travel writers takes on the Appalachian Trail, with his friend Stephen Katz. An entertaining and honest reflection on a journey taken on under some persuasion! The book is also the subject of a 2015 movie.

Read more about / purchase  A Walk in the Woods

4. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry: Rachel Joyce

Unlike the preceding titles, this is a fiction novel, which chronicles the tale of the title character, who is in every sense an unlikely pilgrim. Anyone who has taken on a pilgrimage like the Camino de Santiago will love this tale, but likewise this is a story which speaks to all kinds of people, and perhaps we all have something of the unlikely pilgrim within us. A very sweet and heartwarming tale.

Read more about / purchase The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

5. One Man And His Bike: Mike Carter

Imagine you were cycling to work and just, well, kept going?! The story of a man who did just that, pedalling all the way around the coast of Britain, around 5000 miles! A wonderfully written tale of the highs and lows, and encounters with people and places, which are at the heart and soul of any adventure.

Read more about / purchase One Man And His Bike

We hope this small collection of ideas contains something for everyone, and of course inspires a little adventurous spirit!

New addition to the list

We have had the pleasure of welcoming a young adventurer, Rachael Moseley, on some of our walking trips in the past. Rachael began breaking records at the age of 9 by completing England’s Coast to Coast three times!

Rachael has since carved out quite the career as an explorer, and undoubtedly big things lie ahead for this young intrepid hiker. A book chronicling her travels and long-distance walking endeavors to date has just been published by Joyce Buxton, and is available on Amazon now!