14 books for explorers who love nature and the outdoors

Tatler Asia

3 days ago

2. 'Into the Wild' by Jon Krakauer
Above 'Into the Wild' by Jon Krakauer (Photo: Picador)
Through the story of Christopher McCandless, who ventured fatally into the Alaskan wilderness, Jon Krakauer explores the tension between idealism and reality in nature exploration. It offers cautionary insight for independent travellers who are tempted by the idea of total withdrawal into the wild.
Part biography, part investigative journalism, the book retraces McCandless's steps through North America, interviewing those he met and reflecting on his own youthful excursions. It raises uncomfortable but necessary questions about preparedness, privilege and romantic notions of 'authentic' nature. 3. 'Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage' by Alfred Lansing
Above 'Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage' by Alfred Lansing (Photo: Weidenfeld & Nicholson)
Drawn from personal diaries, this account of Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic survival story illustrates nature's brutal indifference and the human capacity to endure it. For those exploring extreme environments, it provides both inspiration and a reality check on the unforgiving character of true wilderness.
When their ship Endurance was trapped and crushed in pack ice, Shackleton and his crew survived against impossible odds. Lansing's meticulous reconstruction of their ordeal is suspenseful and unsentimental, a testament to leadership under conditions where nature dominates every decision 4. 'The Salt Path' by Raynor Winn
Above 'The Salt Path' by Raynor Winn (Photo: Penguin)
After losing their home and facing terminal illness, Winn and her husband walked the entire South West Coast Path of England. For travellers drawn to walking and the idea of healing through exposure to nature, this memoir shows how coastal paths can offer both physical challenge and quiet revelation.
What begins as an act of desperation evolves into an elemental lifestyle, shaped by tide, terrain and strangers met along the way. Winn's observations on the coastal ecology, weather and poverty offer depth beyond the standard 'journey of transformation' trope. 5. 'The Hidden Life of Trees' by Peter Wohlleben
Above 'The Hidden Life of Trees' by Peter Wohlleben (Photo: William Collins)
Peter Wohlleben offers a science-based yet accessible look into how trees form social networks, communicate and protect one another. For travellers who explore woodlands or ancient forests, this book provides a new lens through which to understand the ecosystems they're walking through, turning any forest trail into a richer, more connected experience.
A former forester, Wohlleben draws from decades spent among trees in the Eifel mountains of Germany. He blends peer-reviewed science with anecdote, explaining how trees 'nurse' their sick and warn each other of danger through underground fungal networks. 6. 'Braiding Sweetgrass' by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Above 'Braiding Sweetgrass' by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Photo: Penguin)
Blending indigenous knowledge with botany, Robin Wall Kimmerer reframes nature as something to be in relationship with, not just a destination. For those who travel in search of meaning in the natural world, this book offers a new way to approach landscapes—with reciprocity, reverence and curiosity rather than detachment.
As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and a trained botanist, Kimmerer is uniquely positioned to bridge scientific rigour with storytelling. Her chapters cover everything from mosses to maple trees, but the real subject is how to listen to nature's rhythms and responsibilities. 7. 'A Sand County Almanac' by Aldo Leopold
Above 'A Sand County Almanac' by Aldo Leopold (Photo: Oxford University Press, USA)
Aldo Leopold's land ethic, developed through seasons spent observing nature on his Wisconsin farm, is foundational to modern conservation thinking. For nature-seeking travellers, this book encourages a mindset shift, from passive consumption of scenery to active, ethical engagement with the landscapes they visit.
His essays—some lyrical, some philosophical—chart the life cycles of flora and fauna with precision. Leopold's influence can be traced in everything from wildlife policy to sustainable tourism. This is the book that reminds travellers: admiration without responsibility is not enough. 8. 'The Outermost House' by Henry Beston
Above 'The Outermost House' by Henry Beston (Photo: ONE)
Written in 1928 but enduringly relevant, Beston's account of a year spent in a remote shack on Cape Cod captures the rhythms of tides, birds and seasons with patient clarity. It's a quiet manual for how to be present in nature—a valuable companion for travellers who prefer solitary coastlines and aim to observe rather than conquer.
Beston's prose is attentive without being flowery, and his belief that 'we need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals' helped influence the modern environmental movement. It's an ideal choice for those interested in seasonal transitions and the beauty of sustained stillness. 9. 'No Impact Man' by Colin Beavan
Above 'No Impact Man' by Colin Beavan (Photo: Platkus)
Set in urban New York but deeply concerned with environmental footprint, this memoir chronicles Beavan's attempt to live without producing waste. For travellers trying to navigate sustainability on the road, it offers thoughtful provocations about how to move through nature without leaving damage in your wake.
From making his own toothpaste to banning elevators, Beavan's extreme (and often amusing) year-long project is more reflective than prescriptive. He confronts contradictions in eco-living without sermonising, and his lessons translate to choices made on trains, trails and across borders. 10. 'Underland: A Deep Time Journey' by Robert Macfarlane
Above 'Underland: A Deep Time Journey' by Robert Macfarlane (Photo: Penguin)
Robert Macfarlane travels underground—into caves, glaciers and catacombs—to uncover the stories beneath the surface of the Earth. For the traveller attuned to geology, history or climate, this is an ambitious, haunting reminder that nature isn't always visible, but it's always present.
The book spans the catacombs of Paris, Arctic ice cores and ancient burial sites, all connected by the concept of 'deep time'. Macfarlane's poetic style doesn't obscure the science; instead, it reveals how human narratives are shaped by what lies below as much as above. 11. 'The Lost City of Z' by David Grann
Above 'The Lost City of Z' by David Grann (Photo: Simon & Schuster UK)
This gripping blend of biography and jungle expedition traces British explorer Percy Fawcett's doomed search for a hidden civilisation. For travellers drawn to remote regions, especially rainforests, it's a sobering look at how nature resists conquest and how myth can cloud perception of the natural world.
David Grann follows Fawcett's footsteps into the Amazon, weaving in his own treacherous fieldwork alongside colonial ambition and scientific misjudgement. What emerges is a cautionary tale about hubris, obsession and the dangers of projecting Western fantasies onto ecologically complex landscapes. 12. 'Desert Solitaire' by Edward Abbey
Above 'Desert Solitaire' by Edward Abbey (Photo: William Collins)
Edward Abbey's unfiltered reflections from his time as a park ranger in the Utah desert cut through sentimentality and reveal the stark, political and ecological truths of wilderness preservation. Travellers exploring arid or protected regions will find it both a provocation and a defence of leaving nature wild.
First published in 1968, the book is at once a celebration of desert landscapes and a polemic against industrial tourism. Abbey rails against the encroachment of roads and air-conditioned buses into sacred terrain, arguing that real wilderness demands discomfort, risk and solitude. 13. 'In Patagonia' by Bruce Chatwin
Above 'In Patagonia' by Bruce Chatwin (Photo: Vintage Classics)
Bruce Chatwin's fragmentary, literary portrait of southern Argentina and Chile is more inquiry than itinerary. For travellers curious about how geography shapes myth, identity and history, it's a vivid mental map of a place where nature still exerts a narrative pull.
With obsessions ranging from Welsh exiles to prehistoric fossils, Chatwin reveals Patagonia as a psychic as well as physical space. His style—elliptical, indirect, literary—may frustrate conventional travel writing fans, but it rewards those open to seeing landscapes through cultural and mythic dimensions. 14. 'The Overstory' by Richard Powers
Above 'The Overstory' by Richard Powers (Photo: Penguin)
Though a novel, Richard Powers' sweeping narrative treats trees not as setting but as protagonists in a centuries-long ecological drama. For nature travellers who seek narrative depth in the environments they walk through, it's an invitation to consider the living history around every root and branch.
The interlocking stories span time, continents and species, with scientific precision and emotional power. Powers incorporates real-world forestry research and activism, challenging readers to see trees not as background, but as dynamic, central forces in human history and fate.