The most recommended books about circumnavigation

Nala's adventure shows how the love of an animal can change the trajectory of a man's life. Dean set out to explore the world on his bike. Along the way he met and fell head over wheels (!) with a kitten, whom he named Nala. Something about the piercing eyes and plaintive meowing of the bedraggled little cat proved irresistible. He couldn't leave her to her fate, so he put her on his bike and then, with the help of local vets, nursed her back to health. Soon on his travels, they forged an unbreakable bond -- both curious, independent, resilient and adventurous.

Another engrossing book that I’ve read several times, by a professor of English at the University of Louisville. Ridley relates the amazing true – but little known – story of Jeanne Baret, the first woman to sail around the world. She did it disguised as a man in order to accompany her lover, a botanist called Philibert Commerson on a plant collecting expedition back in the 18th century. When they got to Brazil, Baret discovered the vine bougainvillea, which the pair named after the expedition leader, Count de Bougainville (with Commerson, of course, taking all the credit) and she endured incredible hardships keeping her identity secret from the male crew during the arduous voyage. Dried specimens of her finds can still be seen today at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris.

Trim was the ultimate ‘adventure cat’. Matthew Flinders was the ultimate navigator and cartographer. Together they circumnavigated the globe 1799-1804 and shared many daring and dangerous sea voyages. If you love both history and cats, I can highly recommend this book which celebrates the bond between a remarkable man and his equally remarkable feline companion.

While I enjoyed reading One Girl One Dream and have unconventional ideas like the author, I’m torn about a child sailing the world instead of going to school.

Laura sailed single-handedly around the world when she was 14, finishing at 16. This fascinating achievement made her the youngest circumnavigator in the world. 

The first chapter is a page turner; the subsequent ones are written like a diary. I am usually not a fan of this style, but because her story remains an exciting and courageous feat from beginning to end, it kept me wanting to learn more. It was also fun to read Dutch words and traditions, because I grew up in Belgium. 

I wouldn’t call Laura’s memoir a high-quality narrative or good writing, but it held my attention and that means something for this picky reader.

I read Monisha Rajesh’s earlier travel memoir, Around India in 80 Trains, while planning my own train journey in India. In this one, she circumvents the entire globe (technically more than once in terms of mileage). It’s the kind of book I wish I’d written myself because I would love to do a train journey like this! I love Rajesh’s descriptions of the places she passes through and the people she meets along the way, and of course, how it changes her to see the world through this lens.

This book entertained me from the beginning until the end.

I applaud the author’s learning curve, increased happiness, and sense of belonging as the story progresses. Her circumnavigation brought back memories and made me feel like a kindred spirit, because her personality traits, passions, priorities, and thought processes are similar to mine. My favorite parts were her wildlife encounters. 

I also recognized myself in Jackie’s experiences and musings – from being in a mixed-culture relationship, learning to sail from our partner, leaving our home country for good, departing our adopted country after becoming a resident, needing our own challenges and jobs, getting seasick, and not spending money on ourselves to her statement that life is not about luck but about choices.

We both take our readers on a journey of courage and discovery that is inspiring, thrilling, and thought-provoking.

This is the book that sparked my desire to see the world by sailboat and made me believe that I could chase my big ocean adventure dreams.

I love the authenticity of Robin’s storytelling and his courage to brave the ocean despite being so young and inexperienced. I related to his curiosity for the world, his desire for true love, and his voyage as a rite of passage in the modern age. I definitely had a crush on him by the end of the book, and I sure wished his companion Patty had written a book too!

Captain Liz Clark is who I would have wanted to be when I grew up, had I found her story in my teens.

There were almost no strong female role models that I could point to as a girl who inspired me, and illuminated a path of an adventurous woman. Captain Liz Clark built her own sailboat and decided to take on the entire Pacific Ocean on her adventures to find love, connection, and a relationship to nature and her own pure heart.

I clutched this book to my heart and took it with me everywhere for a month. Then I wrote Captain Liz to option it, so we can make a TV show about her life, because we need her story on screen!

Eighty Days takes readers behind the scenes of the lives of Bly and Bisland, two successful women who made a name for themselves during the late 1800s. It reveals the private women behind the public personas during an era when women were expected to mind house and home.

Here's another book that made me feel deeply the dramas of another time and place. Yes, I learned in school about European world explorers who sought adventure and riches as they searched the "new world," but this book struck me hard with both the hazards of their travels and the dangers they posed to the indigenous people they encountered in the Pacific Islands. Hampton Sides creates a feeling of immediacy as he unfolds a portrait of the experienced English explorer, Captain James Cook. This, Cook's final voyage, was undertaken apparently as he was undergoing an unfortunate personality transformation. An exotic story, both exciting and disturbing.