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Ben Fogle has had a life for which the word extraordinary is barely adequate. He has rowed across the Atlantic, walked to the South Pole, run the Sahara and skated across Sweden. He has encountered WWII plane wrecks in deepest darkest Papua New Guinea, flesh-eating diseases in Peru and snakes in Venezuela. He has repatriated East Timorese refugees back from West Timor and filmed in refugee camps in Sudan. He got lost in a minefield in Argentina and caused a 747 to dump 200k of fuel before making an emergency landing in Rio de Janeiro. He has chased armed burglars from his house using a sledge, survived a tropical illness that required two months of chemotherapy and been bitten by a rabid dog.So how did a cripplingly shy, geeky, perenially homesick, spotty boy end up achieving all this? Ben's still not entirely sure himself, but this glorious book will undoubtedly strike a chord with anyone who puzzles about their life, and how to live it differently. This is not just another tale of derring-do and adventure. Rather it's a book about defying expectations, conquering shyness, battling laziness and, just occasionally, winning.… (more)
User reviews
He is an adventurous and spirited guy, and he has done all sorts of things, from walking to the Antarctic, the world longest race, rowed the Atlantic
It was a nice easy read. He writes from the heart, and, as he says he wears this on his sleeve then you are pretty aware of just how he feels. He describes some of the scrapes and very nears misses that he has had, and is some ways he is lucky to be alive. I would have preferred that the timeline of events in the book was more consistent, as it does tend to jump around a lot. Other than that it was ok, and a good solid three stars.