Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

Adventure is one of those words that brings imagination and creativity to the forefront. Long road trips to the mountains for a weekend of skiing in Breck. Switchbacking through the rugged terrain of the Colorado Rockies. Rafting the rushing white waters of the Arkansas River. Traversing the ups and downs of the Pacific Crest Trail. Adventure brings out our inner child and creates a space to just exist in the beauty of nature.

We live in concrete jungles ripe with skyscrapers and smog. Angry business people speed walking to their next meeting. Airport terminals, subway stations and Uber rides. We fill our days with work, chores, kids practices and the next Netflix hit show. But what if we chose to live differently? What if we chose adventure, not as a phase to be experienced while young, but a lifestyle to be lived out every day? The following adventure audiobooks are, in my opinion, the best audiobooks to spur on our childlike sense of adventure. I recommend purchasing Audible.com to enjoy each of these selections!

Affiliate Links Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links in this blog post are affiliate links. This means that if you click on the link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

11 Best Adventure Audiobooks

We Stood Upon Stars by Roger W. Thompson

This is a book that our family is currently going through as we seek to instill adventure into their already creative imaginations. We Stood Upon Stars offers a captivating look at the true tales of the author’s forays via numerous short stories into adventure throughout the United States. Thompson walks us through various adventure stories such as seeing the bright stars in the darkness of Joshua Tree National Park, exploring Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota,  and encountering various campgrounds through Yellowstone National Park. 

What makes this book so intriguing to me, though, is that he doesn’t merely tell true stories of his adventures. He explores the nuance of finding God in each of these places. He uses his own experience with adventure to link the vastness of God’s creation with the beauty of His grace and sovereignty. As you read, you’re captivated by the grandeur of the wilderness and mountains he describes while also becoming entrenched in the greater message of discovering the adventures God places in front of us. 

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Jon Krakauer is my favorite authors. From Into Thin Air and Into the Wild to Missoula and Eiger Dreams, every New York Times bestseller he authors is fantastic. However, Into Thin Air is an absolutely enthralling true story of his ascent to the summit of Mt. Everest in early Spring 1996. Having read or listened to it 4 times, it almost gets better every single time. In 1996, Jon Krakauer along with several other climbers attempted to summit the highest point in the world, Mt. Everest. At 29,092 feet, it is the highest point in the world. Led by Rob Hall’s Adventure Consultants and Scott Fisher’s Mountain Madness, Krakauer and the other climbers encountered a deadly mountain storm that ultimately took the lives of 6 people. Into Thin Air describes the ordeal with incredible detail. 

The story explains the immense danger of summiting Everest. Further, it dives into the backgrounds of each of the climbers and the inner turmoil one faces as they determine whether their lives are worth the risk of summiting Everest. Krakauer does an amazing job of taking the reader to Nepal and placing them on the mountain with the climbers. You will laugh, cry, grit your teeth and sit on the edge of your seat at various times throughout the story. If you want a book you can let roll over the course of a long drive, this is it. 

A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson is one of the most unique authors out there. He doesn’t just write adventure books. He’s written about science and history as well. However, the first book I read of his, and still my favorite, was A Walk In The Woods. This book details his experience hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine in the mid-90’s. While not exactly a perfect companion, his buddy “Katz” provides endless chuckles in his attempt to hike the over-2,000 trail with the author. Let’s just say they’re not exactly best friends. 

What Bryson does so well in this book is explain his stories with such clarity. You can picture and imagine yourself in his shoes as if you are the one hiking the trail. Humorous and witty, A Walk In The Woods inspires those of us who have dreams of one day doing something so epic, we write a book about it. This may not be the best book to listen to on a family road trip. However, it certainly is one that is ideal for a long ruck or a……..walk in the woods. 

Endurance by Alfred Lansing

This is the longest book on the list. However, it is no less interesting. “Endurance” is a captivating narrative that recounts the ill-fated Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton in 1914-1916. The book details the incredible story of Shackleton and his crew as they set out to cross the Antarctic continent in pursuit of the South Pole. Unfortunately, they end up stranded on ice floes for over a year after their ship, the Endurance, became trapped and eventually crushed by the ice. Despite facing unimaginable hardships, including harsh weather conditions, scarcity of food, and the constant threat of starvation and exhaustion, Shackleton’s leadership and unwavering determination helped ensure the survival of his entire crew. The story of “Endurance” is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of teamwork in the face of adversity.

As you read the book, it’s difficult to imagine that the stories are real. Stories of starvation and freezing temperatures seem as if they were simply made up. There are so many life lessons from this book on leadership, communication, adventure, enduring suffering and human resilience through adversity. The audio version of is just as good as the written version. 

Meateater’s Campfire Stories by Steven Rinella

If you’re familiar with Steven Rinella, you know he’s a dude’s dude. A hunter, fisherman, and meat eater. Rinella not only hunts for pleasure, he hunts for food. His respect for the outdoors and mother nature, including the animals that provide food for his family, is explored in this enthralling book. I actually did listen to this book over several weeks while sitting around a campfire in the dead of winter when we lived in Colorado. There’s something about listening to an adventure book around a campfire while staring at Pike’s Peak that stirs the imagination. 

Meateater’s Campfire Stories explores all sorts of tales fear such as coming face to face with a grizzly bear or mountain lion. He describes the time he was able to witness the Northern Lights in full array. Further, we hear about his experience he calls “the hunt of a lifetime” and the numerous lessons he learned in the process. His stories have so much application to daily life because he’s not a celebrity. He’s just a guy that loves to hunt and tell stories about it. This is a fantastic book to get your adventure juices flowing. 

Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer

Another classic by Jon Krakauer, Into The Wild explores the life and tragic death of Christoper McCandless, or Alexander Supertramp, as he would be later known as. Into The Wild attempts to uncover the unique mind of an early 20’s pioneer-of-sorts. McCandless had grown tired of living the suburban life in Georgia, so he set off on an epic adventure across the across before settling in the woods of the Alaskan Wild where he spent his final days. 

The first time I read Into The Wild, I was taken aback by the carelessness McCandless showed with his life. Then, as I read it again, he was seeking something so much deeper than just simply living. He truly wanted to feel alive. He found this in Alaska. His story is equally sad and inspiring. We are inspired to truly live in the way God calls us to, which is free. Conversely, he was a tortured soul bound by his inability to see beyond his own past. 

Microadventures by Alistair Humphries

“Microadventures: Local Discoveries for Great Escapes” is a book by Alistair Humphreys that encourages people to embrace adventure in their everyday lives, even if they have limited time, resources, or experience. The concept of microadventures revolves around the idea of finding adventure close to home, exploring nearby landscapes, and immersing oneself in nature without the need for extensive planning or travel. In the book, Humphreys shares practical tips, inspiring stories, and creative ideas for embarking on microadventures. He emphasizes the importance of stepping outside one’s comfort zone, trying new activities, and cultivating a sense of curiosity and wonder about the world.

Humphreys outlines various types of microadventures, such as camping in local parks, hiking along nearby trails, cycling to a nearby town, or even sleeping under the stars in one’s backyard. He also encourages readers to embrace the seasons and weather conditions, recognizing that each offers its own unique opportunities for adventure. This was the absolute perfect book to read during the “COVID months” of summer in 2020. Meaningful adventures were few and far between. However, microadventures were right in front of us. We simply had to say yes. 

Wild At Heart by John Eldredge

If you’re a mid-30’s Bible-believing dude in America, you’ve probably read this one. This is yet another book I’ve read multiple times. It’s funny that there is a distinct pattern for those that read Wild At Heart. The first time it’s read is in high school and college, and it doesn’t mean that much to you. Then, you re-read it as a mature adult in your late 20’s or early 30’s, and you finally discover and understand what Eldredge means when he says all men desire three things. 

1. A Battle To Fight
2. A Beauty To Rescue
3. An Adventure To Live

This book has been seminal in my maturation of a man seeking battles, the beauty and adventure. As you listen to Eldredge, you are immediately inspired by his eloquence talking about the adventures we seek as men. He details the different things men desire in pursuit of something greater than themselves. 

The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter

Michael Easter is an up-and-coming author who has written a couple of books that are equally as good. His second book, The Scarcity Mind, is a fantastic sequel The Comfort Crisis. Easter explores how the comforts that we choose to encounter day in and day out have taken away our desire and even ability to seek adventure in our lives. He argues that the comforts with the foods we eat, social media we peruse and habits we form are physically and emotionally killing us. Easter explores the idea of doing hard things often in order to choose a non-comfortable and non-conforming life. 

What I like most about this book is the push to do hard things. Easter talks about the idea of an ancient Japanese tradition called a Misogi. Simply put, a Misogi is a tougher-than-normal adventure of physical pursuit that you are equally likely to fail or succeed. Whether that means hiking through the Mojave desert or sailing in the middle of the Atlantic ocean or even just running a marathon for the first time, a Misogi pushes you beyond your limits to uncover more about yourself than you ever have before. 

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

Greenlights is a brutally honest memoir written by Matthew McConaughey that describes his life, tragedies, adventures and sins all at the same time. Maybe it was the fact that I listened to this book driving the entire family through the Western mountains of Wyoming and Utah in an RV. Nonetheless, the stories he tells are partly unbelievable and partly aspirational. Any time you read, “I was naked banging my drum high as a kite on peyote when I suddenly heard a knock as the door”, you begin to wonder if you’re living life the right way. 

While McConaughey certainly tells of his adventures, and they are plentiful, he also unveils his struggles with Hollywood and his upbringing, the beauty of finding his one, true love and the desires and hopes he has for his family. Incredibly authentic, Greenlights just has a way to make you feel as if he’s your friend. And let’s face it, who doesn’t want to be friends with Matthew McCounaughey?

Conclusion

The books I’ve mentioned are all books that I can personally vouch for as I’ve ready many of them multiple times. Some people say listening is not reading. On the surface, that’s true. They win. However, when you can audibly hear a story your mind is taken to a place it cannot go by simply reading. Don’t get me wrong, do both. Read and listen. However, sometimes we just need to allow our minds to rest and allow the imagination to run wild with thoughts of pursuit and adventure. The 11 books I’ve mentioned all create a sense of purpose of adventure in us that we can then choose to create a life full of freedom and adventure. 

Related Posts

• Book Summary: The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter
• Microadventures: Local Discoveries for Great Escapes
• Voice of God: Uncovering His Voice in Nature
• Men Reading The Bible | Why Study The Truth of Scripture?
• Wild At Heart Book By John Eldredge: Book Summary