Going Alone: Women's Adventures in the Wild

by Susan Fox Rogers (Editor)

While many dream of solo adventure, these talented and adventurous women show how it’s done. Whether hiking in Nepal, caving, sailing through choppy ocean waters, or discovering Alaska on foot, the women in these essays eloquently convey not only the thrills of the solo adventure, but also examine the complicated motivations and fears that can accompany such journeys. With its thoughtful exploration of numerous themes—trust and intuition, danger and invincibility, challenges and rewards—and its celebration of adventure, Going Alone explores the many ways that women find fulfillment, and is sure to provide ample inspiration for those contemplating their own forays into the wild.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Womens, Adventure, Nature, Essays, Wilderness

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 22, 2004

About the author

I am the author of MY REACH: A HUDSON RIVER MEMOIR, to be published by Cornell University Press in September 2011. In this memoir, I explore the Hudson River from my kayak. As I encounter snapping turtles and great blue heron, visit crumbling ice houses and cement factories, you will learn about the rich natural and built history of this river. In the process I also tell my own story of family and loss.
In addition to MY REACH, I am the editor of eleven book anthologies including Solo: On Her Own Adventure, Going Alone: Women's Adventures in the Wild and Alaska Passages: 20 Voices from Above the 54th Parallel, and Antarctica: Life on the Ice. I teach creative writing at Bard College--the creative essay, nature writing and a course on the Hudson. I live in the village of Tivoli."

Reviews

[Jenny]

This book of short stories of women facing the greatest fears of their lives-- being alone and surviving the wilderness gave me strength to test myself by doing a night hike to see the sunrise alone in Mt. Hood National Forest. If you need a kick in the butt, this is for you! Inspiring!

[Leslie Zampetti]

Rogers' collection of essays from women who journeyed solo in the wild is interesting enough, but there's not enough variation amongst them to make for truly intriguing reading. Given the dearth of outdoor stories by and for women, it's worth a look.

[Kasey]

Anthology of stories about women spending time alone outside in the wild. It was refreshing to hear different voices on why they go and what they get out of doing things alone, and to hear the fears and doubts that are ubiquitous but so often not shared. Of course I enjoyed some stories more than others, mix of 3 and 4 star review. Overall I do feel inspired to get outside and am ready for summer. Also, I started reading The Comfort Crisis as well when I was midway through this book, which was a nice pairing of science and a man’s perspective to be read alongside women’s personal stories.

[Linds Roberts]

There were some beautiful pieces in this collection and I am so glad I read it this past fall. HOWEVER, this collection seems to be made up of a majority 0f White women's stories, which began to feel very lopsided. I went looking for more wilderness writing by people of color and found Colors of Nature, Trace, Black Nature, and some other books I'm looking forward to.

[Brave]

3.5 stars, rounded up, because the essays that I really loved, I really loved.

A solid collection, though I'd love to see a more recent/updated version of this. Speaks deeply to my soul, as a woman who goes alone more often than not. Would recommend if it interests you.

[Tiffany]

According to Goodreads, I started this book back in 2019. I decided to finally finish it. It's written by women far beastier than me, but it's nice to read about how the other half lives every once in a while.

[Anna]

I read this book SO sporadically over the past 3ish years maybe even way more?? It joined me on many solo adventures and inspired many more to come :)

[Nola]

This is a collection of essays about various outdoor adventures by women alone. I’m not sure I quite see the point of the alone part of the criteria. It certainly limited the stories available and made them seem forced. There was one absolutely charming story that conveyed the writer’s character and place in life with affection. It told of both her first backpacking trip alone and her most recent. The first trip was a charming fiasco underpaid by the idiocy and fearlessness of youth where she was lost in the desert for 8 days without food and water. Her most recent backpacking trip was a chance to reflect on a mature appreciation for spending time alone in the wilderness as part of a full and balanced life, always so difficult to achieve. I also liked the Alaskan connection in a few of the stories.

[Emily]

I've done five or six multi-day solo backpacking trips now and this is the book I needed to tell me it was really okay, I could do it. Going Alone is a collection of essays, some better than others, for multiple sports and skill levels, so you've got one woman soloing for several days up Half Dome and another going on a day ski with her Siberian Husky, a PCT hiker, a sailboat, and one woman's hilarious story of her first night in the woods out back of her house when she was nine. I'm planning to double-hike the Mantario Trail in two weeks and rereading this for courage. Enjoy it, take it for what it is, then get out there.

[Arlene]

This is not a good book to read right after reading Into the Wild. No way close to the story telling and after reading the struggles of Into the Wild, this is cake walk. The shark story was a turn off as I have sailed and boated in the Carribean and could not feel for this woman. These stories were too short. Couldn't get into the women's psyche. But I am jaded since I just read Into the Wild.

[Daisy]

It was good in parts, it was not as good in other parts, but that is what happens with books of personal essays written by multiple authors.

I don't rock-climb, so the essay on rock climbing alone was too technical for me; I love the idea of bicycling through France on my own; and I think a lot of kids can relate to sleeping out in the backyard at some point - they just don't usually do that alone.

One copy available on Gutenberg's Books.

[Hella Comat]

Stories by women who have hiked, kayaked, biked and more on their own. I liked the stories of biking in France (lots of getting lost but being found by kind locals) and hiking the Pacific Coast trail (18 weeks and didn't finish!). Not so much the caving (exploring and charting unknown parts of an extensive cave system) or hiking in Antarctica (granted a short hike on her own) because I'd never attempt those - too scary and cold!

[Jeanine]

Really enjoyed this book of stories by women who have gone on adventures alone.

[J]

Wow. I want to know and be each one of these amazing, daring women. I loved the short story of the woman who fell downhill skiing and survived overnight by making an ice cave. Crazy!