Tramping Te Araroa

Sam Brakeley hiked the New Zealand's South Island from tip to tail along Te Araroa, The Long Pathway. Sam had recently found himself suddenly alone after the end of a ten-year relationship - an end he had mostly himself to blame for - and he was trying to figure out who exactly he was and just what came next. So he did what he always does in such situations: He headed into the great outdoors. Traveling along mountain ridges, river valleys, rural roads and ocean beaches, Sam had also brought along Captain James Cook's journals in order to explore the 18th century European discovery of New Zealand alongside his own 21st century one. Through an examination of the interactions of Cook and his men and the indigenous peoples inhabiting the islands, Sam explored what it means to be human. In doing so, he rediscovered some universal truths that allowed him (and by association, all of us) to move forward with the next step in his own life's journey. 

Tramping Te Araroa ranks with the best travel memoirs, stories in which the narrator's journey reflects something he is also searching for in his banged-up heart. Sam Brakeley is an exquisite writer-curious, fierce, at times tender. He's a tremendous guide on this journey through nature, history, and love. I would follow him anywhere. 

-Jennifer Finney Boylan

Author of She's Not There, co-author of Mad Honey

SAM BRAKELEY is an avid long-distance paddler, hiker and skier and has more than 10,000 self-propelled miles to his name. He's hiked the Appalachian Trail, skied Vermont's Catamount Trail, crisscrossed the north-east and Canada by canoe and is the 2015 North American Wife-Carrying Champion. He is the author of several other books including Skiing with Henry Knox. He lives in Vermont with his wife, Kate, and their two dogs, where he runs a trail-building company and writes.