The Adventurist
My Life in Dangerous Places
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4.6 • 11 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
The Adventurist is one man's story, a story that will change the way you think about travel, survival, where you have been, and where you are going.
Enter the world of Robert Young Pelton (if you dare), adventurer extraordinaire, author of Come Back Alive and The World's Most Dangerous Places (required reading at the CIA), and host of his TV series, Robert Young Pelton's The World's Most Dangerous Places.
A breakneck autobiography, The Adventurist blasts across six continents and spans four decades of hard-core living with its dispatches of mayhem, adventure in exotic locales, survival against formidable odds, memories of the pivotal events, and memorable portraits of the people that have shaped Pelton's obsessive spirit.
Be shelled with the Talibs on the front lines of Afghanistan; hang out with hit men and rebels in the Philippines; survive a plane crash in Borneo; narrowly escape a terrorist bombing in Africa; dance with headhunters in Sarawak; crew with pirates in the Sulu Sea; explore the events that led Pelton to his unusual calling (including how he honed his survival skills at "the toughest boys' school in North America"); and, perhaps most important, discover Pelton's secret mission--to understand the hearts and minds of the people he meets.
The Adventurist is a real book about the real world, an inspirational read that takes you places you might never willingly go.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this jumble of exploration tales, Pelton (The World's Most Dangerous Places) combines biographical anecdotes, travel log entries, personal musings and philosophical realizations. Tests of survival begin early on when his parents enroll him in the "toughest boys school in North America," where he partakes in grueling excursions in the wilderness of Alberta, Canada. Painful but crucial childhood memories are often interlaced with accounts of his defiant journeys to the world's most dangerous places. One wonders why he seeks out outrageous peril, such as walking through minefields in Afghanistan, dancing with headhunters in Sarawak, communing with pirates on the Sulu Sea or simply visiting Algeria. He counts among his global acquaintances Robin Hood-like ruffians, freedom fighters and terrorists, including Taliban members in Afghanistan and hit men in the Philippines. His thirst for adventure appears insatiable. But behind Pelton's wild exploits lies something deeper--the search for meaning in life: "I am happy running, at high speed, through danger, past even the most remote and unseen places. There is something here that is deeper than religion, a timeless window to what makes life worth living." Pelton's self-assurance can be supercilious, but the denouement of each episode brings personal reflections imbued with humility.
