Lacking motivation? Finding it hard to peel yourself off the sofa and hit the trail/track/tarmac? Then a good old fashioned adventure story might be just what the doctor ordered.

I have to admit I have a bit of a problem. For some people it’s shoes, clothes, or gadgets. For me it’s adventure books, I just can’t get enough. Stanfords Travel Bookshop in Covent Garden is my personal equivalent of a crack den.

The ‘fix’ can take many forms, from mountaineering disasters to reaching the South Pole, or hopping round the world on one leg (ok that one hasn’t actually been done yet, but it probably will). These stories always have the same effect, of making the hairs on my neck stand up, my heart beat faster, and triggering that addictive sensation of wanting to pack my bags and head straight out of the door to start an adventure of my very own.

No one adventure story is the same. Some are deeply moving, of triumph against all the odds, whilst others remind you that mother nature can be cruel, merciless and doesn’t always reward those who try the hardest. I thought I’d compile a short list of some of my favourites, in the hope that if you’re feeling a bit jaded or uninspired as the days get shorter, these might help you rediscover your spirit of adventure.

Bear Grylls Facing Up

I bought this book back in 2001, when Bear Grylls was just a guy with an unusual name who had become the youngest person to summit Everest at the age of 23, just 18 months after breaking his back. It was impressive stuff, but I didn’t think we’d be hearing much more about him. How wrong I was…

Pete Goss Close to the Wind

In this book, Goss is determination personified. He puts every last ounce of energy and scrimps every penny to enter a boat into the Vendee Globe yacht race, then when he finally makes it and enters the lead, has to decide whether to realise his dream or turn back in hurricane conditions and risk his life to rescue a team mate. I won’t tell you what happens next, but let’s just say the man is a damn hero.

Sebastian Junger The Perfect Storm

The author of this book, Sebastian Junger, didn’t intend to write a book about a storm, though he did hope to become an author. He had been working as a tree trimmer in Boston and had sustained a leg wound, leading him to go and recover upstate in Gloucester, Massachusetts. As fate would have it, he got caught up in events of late October 1991 as they unfolded, getting to know the families involved and piecing together what might have happened to the fishing boats which never came back. Junger also tells the stories of other crews caught up in the disaster, and the heroic efforts of the US Coast Guard tying to rescue them, as well as the meteorological detail of how this once in a lifetime storm came to be formed. Let’s just say, the film doesn’t even come close, even if it did have George Clooney in it…

Sir Ranulph Fiennes Beyond the Limits

This is a man who never gives up. Age 55, when most mere mortals might be thinking of slowing down and spending more time in the garden, Fiennes decided to trek to the North Pole. Alone. Unsupported. He achieved his, but lost a third of his body weight in the process. More recently in 2009, he summitted Everest age 65 following two failed attempts and a spot of heart by-pass surgery. He may be slightly mad, but he’s also a legend.

Got any recommendations of your own? Share which travel and adventure books have rocked your world in the comments section below

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