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happyhobbit1's review against another edition
5.0
“Dare to do” by Sarah Outen
Bought this kindle book (plus audible add on read by the author which is excellent!) after watching the film doco of Sarah’s journey yesterday. The film was inspiring yet honest and raw so I think the book will make an impression too.
Started reading (listening!): 2nd October 2020
Finished: 17th October 2020
My review: 10/10 - listened to the audio version read by the author, it was awesome. Inspiring, honest, raw, fun in parts, challenging in others. I also really appreciated reading an adventure by a woman, especially a queer woman, and really found it refreshing and powerful as many of the adventure stories I’d read in the past had been by straight men.
Bought this kindle book (plus audible add on read by the author which is excellent!) after watching the film doco of Sarah’s journey yesterday. The film was inspiring yet honest and raw so I think the book will make an impression too.
Started reading (listening!): 2nd October 2020
Finished: 17th October 2020
My review: 10/10 - listened to the audio version read by the author, it was awesome. Inspiring, honest, raw, fun in parts, challenging in others. I also really appreciated reading an adventure by a woman, especially a queer woman, and really found it refreshing and powerful as many of the adventure stories I’d read in the past had been by straight men.
catrionabikes's review
4.0
I'm in this book! How often will I ever say that? Just this once I imagine. It completely took me by surprise that Sarah described our day on the road out of Homer.
This is a fun read, even though most of the time it sounds pretty dang arduous and miserable. I really enjoyed Sarah's perspective on meeting people and experiencing all the different cultures, economies and terrains along the way.
I enjoyed Sarah's "can do" attitude, though it's actually more of an "if I can, you can" attitude.
This is a fun read, even though most of the time it sounds pretty dang arduous and miserable. I really enjoyed Sarah's perspective on meeting people and experiencing all the different cultures, economies and terrains along the way.
I enjoyed Sarah's "can do" attitude, though it's actually more of an "if I can, you can" attitude.
ahrocks187's review
4.0
As someone who is personally interested in ultraendurance running and cycling events, books about incredible adventures such as this one always go down well with me! It certainly didn't take much to have me adding this to my loan pile during a recent trip to the local library.
In my opinion it takes a special person just to have the imagination to conceive an idea such as completing a global journey such as this. I've ready books about cycling the world, but the oceanic segments were also bypassed thanks to planes. So the idea of joining that up by rowing and kayaking is to me pure genius.
Having an idea like that and actually doing are two very different things, so full credit to Sarah (and of course her support team) for having the audacity to make this happen. In my opinion the two failed ocean voyages, along with the changes in route forced upon her, just make this feel more real - it just doesn't seem right that on a journey of this magnitude everything would go according to plan. But I imagine that the failures along the way just make the triumphs even sweeter.
This book truly was inspirational to me, giving me the courage to pursue my own fledgling dreams (having entered a 300km cycle ride and my first ultramarathon this year I certainly need all the support I can get). I'll be honest it's perhaps the most well written book I've ever read, hence the 4 star rating, but the subject more than makes up for that. I can't imagine there was too much time for writing among all the chaos of her journey, and a book will never be able to fully capture an experience such as this, it just has to be lived for yourself.
So thank you to Sarah for sharing your journey with us, inspiring me and I'm sure many others to dream big (although not quite this big) and have our own epic experiences in the future!
In my opinion it takes a special person just to have the imagination to conceive an idea such as completing a global journey such as this. I've ready books about cycling the world, but the oceanic segments were also bypassed thanks to planes. So the idea of joining that up by rowing and kayaking is to me pure genius.
Having an idea like that and actually doing are two very different things, so full credit to Sarah (and of course her support team) for having the audacity to make this happen. In my opinion the two failed ocean voyages, along with the changes in route forced upon her, just make this feel more real - it just doesn't seem right that on a journey of this magnitude everything would go according to plan. But I imagine that the failures along the way just make the triumphs even sweeter.
This book truly was inspirational to me, giving me the courage to pursue my own fledgling dreams (having entered a 300km cycle ride and my first ultramarathon this year I certainly need all the support I can get). I'll be honest it's perhaps the most well written book I've ever read, hence the 4 star rating, but the subject more than makes up for that. I can't imagine there was too much time for writing among all the chaos of her journey, and a book will never be able to fully capture an experience such as this, it just has to be lived for yourself.
So thank you to Sarah for sharing your journey with us, inspiring me and I'm sure many others to dream big (although not quite this big) and have our own epic experiences in the future!
readingisadoingword's review
5.0
A great, adventurous read. Sarah Outen's journey was both physical and mental and both were impressive.
halfmanhalfbook's review
4.0
Sarah Outen’s previous endurance challenge was rowing across the Indian Ocean, as described in her book, A Dip in the Ocean. For most people this will be enough, but not for Sarah. On the 1st April 2011 she embarked from Tower Bridge in a kayak in her latest venture, London2London, the aim of which was to circumnavigate the globe purely by human power; rowing, cycling. First, she had to kayak to France across the channel. So begins an adventure that was to take four years, one bike, one kayak and two rowing boats.
This journey was long, tough and relentless and she had to battle tropical storms, hurricanes, loneliness, ill health and depression. It was physically and emotionally draining too, but Outen is made from tougher stuff; quitting was not an option. It was not entirely solo as she was joined on parts of it by Justine, a world renowned paddler, for the kayaking, and her partner for the bitterly cold ride across North America. The ocean rows though were solo. These were the most risky too, as she pitted her energy and tenacity against the might of the sea. On top of all that, Sarah fell in love too. Her rowing set another raft of records and achievements for her amazing journey. She was the first woman to row from Japan to Alaska, first to kayak the Aleutian archipelago and the first to cross the mid Pacific from West to East under her own steam.
However, this is much more than a tale of a journey round our planet. This is Sarah’s story of being able to dig deep when it feels that everything is against you, having the doggedness to continue even when plucked from a battered rowing boat in the middle of a vicious storm and having that inner strength to get up and carry on. As hard as it is to physically do, the mental drain is equally telling, thankfully the strong team behind her, as well as the kindness of people from all round the globe carried, pushed and cajoled her into completing this quite frankly amazing achievement. Even though she is a better adventurer than author, it is a compelling read.
This journey was long, tough and relentless and she had to battle tropical storms, hurricanes, loneliness, ill health and depression. It was physically and emotionally draining too, but Outen is made from tougher stuff; quitting was not an option. It was not entirely solo as she was joined on parts of it by Justine, a world renowned paddler, for the kayaking, and her partner for the bitterly cold ride across North America. The ocean rows though were solo. These were the most risky too, as she pitted her energy and tenacity against the might of the sea. On top of all that, Sarah fell in love too. Her rowing set another raft of records and achievements for her amazing journey. She was the first woman to row from Japan to Alaska, first to kayak the Aleutian archipelago and the first to cross the mid Pacific from West to East under her own steam.
However, this is much more than a tale of a journey round our planet. This is Sarah’s story of being able to dig deep when it feels that everything is against you, having the doggedness to continue even when plucked from a battered rowing boat in the middle of a vicious storm and having that inner strength to get up and carry on. As hard as it is to physically do, the mental drain is equally telling, thankfully the strong team behind her, as well as the kindness of people from all round the globe carried, pushed and cajoled her into completing this quite frankly amazing achievement. Even though she is a better adventurer than author, it is a compelling read.
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