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greatfateofcat's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.5
I love the easy flow of the book. It makes micro adventures seem ACTUALLY attainable and doesn't emphasize buying all the best and new gear, just starting with what you already have and using common sense.
marquettelaree's review
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
harlando's review against another edition
2.0
I thought this was a good concept, but not a great book. A micro adventure is a short trip taken near one’s home and is usually an outdoor excursion. I want to do more of that, and will think about the concept often. However, the author’s recounting of his own adventures aren’t very engaging.
jackjpaton's review against another edition
5.0
Beautifully produced and formatted book containing a lot of exciting micro adventures for everyone to have a go at. Also has some really invaluable advice and guidance about the logistics of doing such a project.
steffski's review against another edition
3.0
Love the concept! Felt like the same idea over and over again and lots of it was "get on a bike and camp."
jason_pym's review against another edition
3.0
Suggestions for ‘gentle and generic' outdoor adventures around the UK, for people who want a break from the 9-5.
The first two thirds of the book are example adventures, and revolve around the main message of the book, which is finding arbitrary reasons for a trip. This section was very repetitive and felt padded out, the whole thing could have been cut by at least half. There are three main categories: Land (finding the source of a river, visit your parents' birthplace), water (swim in a river, kayak along the coastline) and a set challenge (catch a fish and eat it, enter a race, build a shelter).
The last third is useful notes, though there's not much here you can't find online or in a Scouting guide, it's strangely more inspirational than the adventure section. This covers things like kit, dealing with ticks and midges, campfires and cooking, cloud spotting and star gazing.
If you're interested, more of a book to borrow than buy.
The first two thirds of the book are example adventures, and revolve around the main message of the book, which is finding arbitrary reasons for a trip. This section was very repetitive and felt padded out, the whole thing could have been cut by at least half. There are three main categories: Land (finding the source of a river, visit your parents' birthplace), water (swim in a river, kayak along the coastline) and a set challenge (catch a fish and eat it, enter a race, build a shelter).
The last third is useful notes, though there's not much here you can't find online or in a Scouting guide, it's strangely more inspirational than the adventure section. This covers things like kit, dealing with ticks and midges, campfires and cooking, cloud spotting and star gazing.
If you're interested, more of a book to borrow than buy.
katalac33's review against another edition
2.0
I read this book thinking it would help me to find ways to get outside more and to explore more adventures around me. This is a great book of you are looking for adventures and live in England. It also does get you thinking about how to recreate these in the town you are in even if not in England. I liked the pace of the book and I liked the way it was written, there is a bit of humor. There are a ton of tips and tricks at the end, I think I would have liked to have those at the beginning.
schishkabob's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
2.75
I read it for the 1000 hours outdoor podcast book club . As people mentioned, it is very geo specific and I also feel not very applicable to other places. I can imagine being hit by anti homelessness or trespassing laws in the USA. Also, as a woman, I feel like the author doesn’t share the same outlook and perspective regarding safety. I did get a couple of ideas out of the book including taking a map of nyc where I live and letting my son choose where to explore. But sometimes it was hard to get through the book
finesilkflower's review against another edition
4.0
I like the concept of finding adventure where you are, rather than glamorizing big travel adventures. It's better for the environment and more accessible to more people (including people limited on time or money, people with disabilities and responsibilities). As a person with a full-time job, not a ton of disposable income, and a number of physical and health restrictions, I'm unlikely to do a lot of adventure traveling, but I still crave the outdoors and a connection with nature. A lot of the general principles Humphreys suggested made sense to me, including:
- Go somewhere new, be curious when you get there. That's the principle of adventure; the other specifics don't matter.
- Start small, but do start.
- The most delightful parts of your journey will be things you don't expect.
- The hardest part is getting out the door.
- Though the journey is more important than the destination, drumming up a destination can help with that initial hurdle of getting yourself going. Any excuse will do; the book is full of suggestions such as walking or biking a journey you'd normally take by transit or car; making a circle of a defined radius around your home; touring important landmarks from your/your family's history; visiting the highest peak, oldest tree, or another local landmark in your area; or pointing to a random spot on a map.
The book straddles an awkward line between how-to and travel book; most of it is essays/travelogue about Humphreys' microadventures in the London area, and then there is a section of light camping advice. For me personally, a bit more variation in the microadventures would have helped drive the point home that this is something anyone could really do. They are meant to be varying challenge levels, but even the easy ones seemed too hard to me. Almost all of them involve sleeping in a random field in a bivvy bag. Although Humphreys stresses that anyone can adapt the spirit of microadventure to their own situation, I found it difficult to generalize from the essays. Unlike Humphreys, I live in a place with harsh weather, little public transit, and no lawful "right to roam." I'm also not fit or outdoorsy. I'm sure he'd have ways around these issues, but I found myself coming away from the essays with more of a feeling of "well good for him" than "I can too!" I understand that travel is antithetical to the idea of a microadventure, but perhaps an anthology of different contributors would have made it easier to see how to adapt the principles to different types of locations and abilities.
- Go somewhere new, be curious when you get there. That's the principle of adventure; the other specifics don't matter.
- Start small, but do start.
- The most delightful parts of your journey will be things you don't expect.
- The hardest part is getting out the door.
- Though the journey is more important than the destination, drumming up a destination can help with that initial hurdle of getting yourself going. Any excuse will do; the book is full of suggestions such as walking or biking a journey you'd normally take by transit or car; making a circle of a defined radius around your home; touring important landmarks from your/your family's history; visiting the highest peak, oldest tree, or another local landmark in your area; or pointing to a random spot on a map.
The book straddles an awkward line between how-to and travel book; most of it is essays/travelogue about Humphreys' microadventures in the London area, and then there is a section of light camping advice. For me personally, a bit more variation in the microadventures would have helped drive the point home that this is something anyone could really do. They are meant to be varying challenge levels, but even the easy ones seemed too hard to me. Almost all of them involve sleeping in a random field in a bivvy bag. Although Humphreys stresses that anyone can adapt the spirit of microadventure to their own situation, I found it difficult to generalize from the essays. Unlike Humphreys, I live in a place with harsh weather, little public transit, and no lawful "right to roam." I'm also not fit or outdoorsy. I'm sure he'd have ways around these issues, but I found myself coming away from the essays with more of a feeling of "well good for him" than "I can too!" I understand that travel is antithetical to the idea of a microadventure, but perhaps an anthology of different contributors would have made it easier to see how to adapt the principles to different types of locations and abilities.