A while ago, I finished reading Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum (1900). This engaging memoir was written shortly after Slocum returned from his more than three year journey over the briny seaways of the globe.

Beginning in 1893, he worked for over a year rebuilding a sloop he named the Spray in Massachusetts. In the spring of 1895, he set off on what would become the first solo circumnavigation of the globe. He faced long periods of isolation, extreme weather and storms, dangerous passage through the Strait of Magellan, pursuit by pirates, attacks by natives in Tierra del Fuego, and the challenges of navigation and maintaining and repairing nautical equipment.

His voyage eventually covered around 46,000 miles. His longest stretch of isolation aboard his ship at sea was 72 days; in addition to the many months at sea, he relates numerous stops in many ports and at a multitude of islands. His adventures and the people he encounters are described in a lively and vivid manner, making the book a memorable and highly enjoyable read. Slocum’s love of nature, people, and the freedom of travel and exploration makes one want to follow in his footsteps.

“I had already found that it was not good to be alone, and so I made companionship with what there was around me, sometimes with the universe and sometimes with my own insignificant self; but my books were always my friends, let fail all else. Nothing could be easier or more restful than my voyage in the trade-winds.”