Quick Review: How to get to THE NORTH POLE …and other iconic adventures

Tim Moss, an adventurer who has traveled around the world using 80 different types of transportation and who has supported over 100 expedition worldwide, has come out with a new book, How to Get to the North Pole: . . . and Other Iconic Adventures (Kindle Edition). The book centers around seven adventures: crossing a desert, getting to the north pole, rowing an ocean, cycling around the world, sailing the seven seas, getting to the south pole and climbing an unclimbed mountain. To help him write the book, he consulted over 50 explorers.

After a brief introduction covering gear and funding, Tim details the seven adventures using a common format that includes a general overview, the history of exploration in the area, different options for doing the trip, specific equipment needs, costs, difficulties and training ideas.  Each chapter also covers practical needs, such as “Where do you go to the loo.” Peppered throughout are tales of adventures, fun facts and ideas about the next great adventure.

What I like about the book is that it’s easy to pick up, skim and find something interesting, and then come back to later and find something else interesting. For adventurers interested in one of the seven trips detailed in the book, it would be a great overview of getting ready for planning, and for armchair adventurers, it has enough details to give you an idea of what’s involved. It’s a fun coffee table book that your friends will pick up and thumb through.

The biggest omission from the book in my opinion is that lack of a chapter devoted to something like “How to canoe across a continent,” “How to paddle the Mississippi River,” or even “How to kayak around a continent.” Paddlers have to be satisfied with “How to Row an Ocean.” Still, it’s a fun book.