A Dip in the Ocean : Rowing Solo Across the Indian

Four-thousand miles of unpredictable ocean, 500 chocolate bars, 124 days of physical exertion, three Guinness World Records, and one incredible journey. On April 1, 2009, brave 23-year-old Sarah Outen embarked on an ambitious solo voyage across the Indian Ocean in her rowing boat, Dippers. Powered by the grief of the sudden loss of her father and the determination to live life to the fullest, Sarah and her tiny boat successfully negotiated wild ocean storms, unexpected encounters with whales, and the continuous threat of being capsized by passing container ships. Along the way she broke two oars, ate 500 chocolate bars, and lost 20 kg of bodyweight before arriving in Mauritius. She became the first woman and the youngest person to row solo across the Indian Ocean. Life-affirming, funny, and poignant, Sarah's salty tale of courage and endurance will inspire the taste of adventure in everyone.

The Raven's Gift : a Scientist, a Shaman, and Their Remarkable Journey Through the Siberian Wilderness

A noted scientist and kayak adventurer undertakes a journey of spiritual healing. Jon Turk has kayaked around Cape Horn and paddled across the Pacific Ocean to retrace the voyages of ancient people. But, the strangest trip he ever took was the journey he made as a man of science into the realm of the spiritual. In a remote Siberian village, Turk met an elderly Koryak shaman named Moolynaut who invoked the help of a Spirit Raven to mend his fractured pelvis. When the healing was complete, he was able to walk without pain. Turk, finding no rational explanation, sought understanding by traversing the frozen tundra where Moolynaut was born, camping with bands of reindeer herders, and recording stories of their lives and spirituality. Framed by high adventure across the vast and forbidding Siberian landscape, The Raven's Gift creates a vision of natural and spiritual realms interwoven by one man's awakening.

Have Mother, Will Travel : a Mother and Daughter Discover Themselves, Each Other, and the World

A mother, a daughter, and a life-changing adventure around the world . . . Their bestselling memoir, Come Back , moved and inspired readers with the story of Mia Fontaine's harrowing drug addiction and her mother, Claire's, desperate and ultimately successful attempts to save her. Now it's a decade later and Claire and Mia each face a defining moment in her life, and a mother-daughter relationship that has frayed around the edges. At fifty-one, Claire's shed her identity as Mia's savior but realizes that, oops, she forgot to plan for life after motherhood; Mia, twenty-five and eager to step outside her role as recovery's poster child, finds adult life isn't all it's cracked up to be. Determined to transform themselves and their relationship once again, the pair sets off on a five-month around-the-world adventure. What awaits them is an extraordinary, often hilarious journey through twenty cities and twelve countries'one that includes mishaps, mayhem, and unexpected joys, from a passport-eating elephant to a calamitous camel ride around the Pyramids'and finally making peace with their tumultuous past in the lavender fields of France, where they live for the last four months of the trip. Seeing how self-possessed and community-minded twenty somethings are in other countries broadens Mia's perspective, helping her grow, and grow up. Claire uses the trip to examine her broken relationship with her own mother, a Holocaust survivor, and to create a vision for her second act. Watching her mom assess half a century of life, Mia comes to know her as Claire has always known Mia, as all mothers know their daughters, better than anyone else, and often better than themselves. Wiser for what they've learned from women in other cultures, and from each other, they return with a deepened sense of who they are and where they want to go'and with each embracing the mature friendship they've discovered and the profound love they share. Alternating between Claire and Mia's compelling and distinct voices, Have Mother, Will Travel is a testament to the power and beauty of the mother-daughter relationship, one that illuminates possibilities for our own lives.

Call of the White : Taking the World to the South Pole : Eight Women, One Unique Expedition

An inspirational account of eight women on one very unique expedition. Felicity Aston challenged women in many countries, asking if they could ski to the South Pole, as she set out to create the most international all-female expedition ever to ski to the Pole. The team would not be experienced explorers but "ordinary" women who want to inspire others to follow their dreams. She received more than 800 applications and led a team from places as diverse as Jamaica, India, Singapore, and Cyprus, some of whom had never even seen snow or spent the night in a tent before joining the expedition on one of the toughest journeys on the planet. Eighty-mile-an-hour winds ripped through base camp, frostbite and injuries were an everyday occurrence, and deadly crevasses cracked beneath their feet. This is their story of newfound strength, persistence, and friendships.

We have a fascination with those who face the challenges of the north. Here are three books about such men, the first chronicling the story of Richard Proenneke in Alaska, an inspiration for naturalists. The second takes on the controversial flight of Richard Byrd to the North Pole. The third is the story of S.A. Andree who attempted to fly to the North Pole in 1897 in a hot air balloon.

One Man's Wilderness: an Alaskan Odyssey by Richard Proenneke

"This book made a big splash when it debuted in 1973. Keith based the text on the journals and photography of Richard Proenneke, who, after racking up years of 50-hour work weeks, did what many of us only fantasize about: he chucked it all and went to live in the woods. Now in his 80s, Proenneke still abides in the log cabin he built with his own hands and has become an icon for naturalists. Though few will follow Proenneke's lead, his story can be quite inspiring." (Library Journal)

Show Me a Hero: the Sin of Richard Byrd Jnr by Jeremy Scott

"Richard Byrd wanted to be the first man to fly to the North Pole. By telling one momentous lie he become an all-American hero, received the highest distinction his President could bestow, and secured a lifetime of celebrity. The cost to others of that race proved fatal, the price Byrd paid himself was no less than his own soul. This is the story of Richard Byrd, who claimed to have won the race to the Pole in 1926, and the consequences of the lie he told."

(Amazon)

The Ice Balloon: S.A. Andree and the Heroic Age of Arctic Exploration by Alec Wlkinson

"Wilkinson recounts the thrilling story of the visionary Swedish explorer S.A. Andree, who in 1897, at the height of the heroic age of Arctic endeavor, attempted to discover the North Pole by flying over it in a hydrogen balloon." (Syndetics)

Travel through the past with An Adventurous Woman Abroad.

"In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, travelling within North American borders or beyond to exotic locations was difficult at best and disastrous at worst. Mary SchÄffer, born into a Pennsylvania-based Quaker family in 1861, not only conquered international travel but also excelled as an explorer, surveyor and photographer in the backcountry of Canada's Rocky Mountains and the isolated communities of Japan and Formosa (now Taiwan). This book features over 200 of Mary SchÄffer's colourful, hand-painted lantern slides from the archives of the Whyte Musem of the Canadian Rockies. These unique works of art detail some of the indigenous people and breathtaking landscapes of the Rocky Mountains, along with tribal communities of Japan and Formosa." (By Syndetics)

And take a new look at the sinking of the Titanic just in time for the 100th anniversary of her sinking (April 2012).

How to Survive the Titanic or The Sinking of J. Bruce Ismay

"A brilliantly original and gripping new look at the sinking of the Titanic through the prism of the life and lost honor of J. Bruce Ismay, the ship's owner, in a unique work of history that raises provocative moral questions about cowardice and heroism, memory and identity, survival and guilt. (By Syndetics)

And to explore in the present day, why not check out Travel + Leisure magazine's most recent 100 Greatest Trips?

"An invaluable and inspiring compendium of the year's most distinctive destinations. Whether your dream is to escape to a thatched-roof safari camp in the heart of a South African game reserve; explore emerging wine regions in Macedonia; live out your own Roman holiday in an Italian bon vivant's penthouse; or find the best spot to enjoy a kleine Mokka in Vienna, 100 Greatest Trips points the way to the places you'll want to go next." (By Syndetics)

And for some armchair travel:

Chasing the Devil: A Journey Through Sub-Saharan Africa in the Footsteps of Graham Greene

"Butcher used Graham Greene's little-known 1935 travel book, Journey Without Maps, as his guide on the 350-mile trek from Freetown, on the coast of Sierra Leone, to the coast of Liberia. Greene's route took Butcher through the remote backcountry of both countries and brought him into contact with the people living there. Butcher weaves reflections on Greene's writing through his own reflections on the ways that each region has changed in the intervening decades. He compares the shabby and seedy Freetown, in spite of its well-maintained buildings, in Greene's Heart of the Matter, to what he sees as the city's current systemic post-war corruption, flat-lining economy, and beachfront swarmed by prostitutes. Through his captivating storytelling, Butcher leads readers along through the dangers and the exhilarations of this trip, and we learn with him the value of taking time to savor the true smell and taste of a place." (By Sndetics)

One Island One Ocean: Around the Americas Aboard Ocean Watch

This beautiful book, full of numerous colour photographs, documents the epic journey of the Ocean Watch as it completes the first circumnavigation of North and South America. "On May 31, 2009, a committed team of sailors, scientists, teachers, and conservationists joined forces on a voyage that was vast in scope and ambition but launched under the simplest of ideas: The continents of North and South America are a single island, surrounded by a shared ocean, and with a common set of challenges, communities, issues, and solutions." (By Syndetics)

What better way to take in all the sights and sounds of a country than by seeing it from two wheels - whether on a bike or a motorbike?

Take an armchair trip through South America with Dominic Gill or Glen Heggstad.

Take a seat : one man, one tandem and twenty thousand miles of possibilities

When Dominic Gill set out from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, by bicycle on June 16, 2006, it was to be no ordinary bike ride. His goal was to reach Ushuaia, the southernmost city in South America, nearly 20,000 miles away, and he was starting off with virtually no money in his pocket, barely enough food to last a week, and, worst of all, with thousands of miles between him and his friends and family.

Two wheels through terror : diary of a South American motorcycle odyssey Glen Heggstad's journey through South America involved kidnapping, violent protests, mechanical failures and inhospitable climates, not your average gentle ride through the countryside.

Another trek through South America!!

You can armchair cycle from Siberia to England on a three and a half year trek through Papua New Guinea, Australia and Afghanistan with Rob Lilwall or cross America by bicycle with two intrepid middle-aged women.

Bicycle Diaries, part travelogue, part journal, part photo album, a behind-the-handlebars celebration of seeing the world from the seat of a bike with 100 photos throughout.

Check these books out to see the world from the comfort of your own comfy chair!!

We have a beautiful new travel magazine, Afar, whose stated aim is "experiential travel, which connects you with the authentic essence of a place and its people, deepening your understanding of the world, its cultures, and yourself." In each issue, Afar sends a writer on a "spontaneous journey to a random destination". The March/April issue features a cross-country adventure in Bulgaria. It also features a journey through Turkey, its "11,000 year-old-ruins, bustling souks, and...rich modern culture". Other articles include "Argentina at a Gallop", the creative renaissance in Berlin, Opera Hotels and volunteer vacations.

Don't forget that Calgary Public Library has many travel magazines for you to explore, such as:

- Lonely Planet

- National Geographic

- National Geographic Traveler,

-Get Lost: Life's Ultimate Trip,

- China Pictorial

- Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel.

Those with primarily Canadian content include:

- Canadian Geographic

- Up Here: Explore Canada's Far North

- Outpost.

Back issues of these magazines can be borrowed in most cases.

These magazine are great sources of background information if you are going travelling and a wonderful way to see the world if you are an armchair traveller.