Caroline Van Hemert

I told my husband about this book--a couple chose to take a 4,000-mile journey via boat, raft, canoe, foot, and skis across Alaska and the Arctic. He said, "Yeah, I wouldn't do that." Neither would I, which prompted me to say, "And that is why I love you."

But we do love a good adventure story. This book has that down, which allowed me to live vicariously through Caroline Van Hemert and her husband, Patrick. I didn't find the author insufferable as can happen when an outdoor enthusiast speaks to an indoor introvert such as myself. Van Hemert is also a biologist who has studied birds, so not only did we learn about what it takes to camp in the Alaskan wilds, but we also learned about the birds and other wildlife (bears!) along the way.

Along the way, the author looks back on her life and her relationship with her husband and ponders her future. I appreciate sharing that journey with her, and there is a nice surprise in the afterword.

I also appreciated the photos included with the ebook. What a beautiful place! That I will never visit! But I can in a book!

Here are some recommendations of other books:
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Out of Africa by Isak Dinseson… (mehr)

“We all need to know that, somewhere, it’s still possible to lose ourselves in the wilderness.”

Invigorating, emboldening, and beautifully written. The Sun is a Compass presents a perfect blend of adventure/travelogue, personal memoir, and scientific observation as Van Hemert reflects on her youth, her relationships with her family members and spouse, and her stunning achievement in trekking 4,000 miles from the Washington coast to the Alaskan Arctic. Van Hemert’s journey and rediscovery of her passion for nature and ornithology is harrowing and breathtaking as she reflects on the stifling she’s begun to feel in a lab environment and contemplates the future that awaits her husband and herself. The wilds of the North that she experiences and describes are stunning in their stark splendor, unfathomable vastness, and unflinching indifference towards human life, all of which add to the sheer exhilaration of the journey. A thoughtful exposition, a remarkable story, and without a doubt a book worth savoring. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be in the mountains.… (mehr)