Tracks

I loved this book because it was as much about the author's inner journey as it was the outer one. I loved both aspects of this book.

I love books that give you almost a window into the soul of the writer. Robyn shares her thoughts and experience so well as she makes her way solo 2,000 miles in the Australian Outback. I loved her bravery. This was an epic trip. As one of the first adventure books I had read, it got me hooked. This was a book that made an impact. 

This was the book that, more than any other, enticed me to adventure. Robyn, her camels, and Diggity the dog felt like my people—yes, the animals, too. Robyn was many things I hoped I could be: brave, tenacious, and integrous.

This book gave me the confidence to forge on with planning my journey long before I knew why I was drawn to making it. For me, Robyn’s approach exemplifies why we should follow our hearts’ irresistible pull, however unreasonable. If we cannot, at first, explain what motivates us, then so much the better—more to discover along the way.

Crossing the… show more.

I read Tracks when I was in a travel book club 35 years ago and the author’s adventure has stuck with me.

It’s the story of a young woman who crosses the Australian desert from Alice Springs to Hamelin Pool on Australia’s western coast. She undertakes the journey with her dog, and four camels and as happens on such quests, Davidson encounters myriad setbacks: extreme heat, no water, wild animals, and poisonous snakes.

The author does a great job of describing the beauty and harshness of the infinite desert and her surprise at the generosity of those she met. As… show more.

I love how this book begins, with Robyn Davidson arriving in the middle of nowhere with a half-baked plan to buy some camels and trek solo across the Outback. In this 1970s yet classic journey she has no knowledge of (cantankerous) camels and has never undertaken such a challenging trek through hostile terrain. Yet, her unwavering belief that she can do something others don’t think she can or should, inspired me the most. Women are so much more capable than we are given credit for.

I read this book in my twenties and then again in my forties and loved it just as much the second time. With her four camels and dog, Robyn Davidson trekked from Alice Springs westward across Australia’s desert all the way to the ocean. Her eight-month journey was often gruelling but just as often it was joyous and exhilarating. She endured sweltering heat, lecherous men, poisonous snakes, and more than once, her camels vanished in the night and she’d spend days searching for them. As she walks, she contemplates life while immersed in the staggering beauty of her surroundings. This… show more.