Follow the Birds

There are a lot of travel/journey type books out there. Basically a person goes on some kind of adventure - climbs a mountain, road-trips across a country, etc. - then writes about their experiences. It’s a great type of book because if the writer is proficient enough, they can take you on the journey as well. Basically, the type of book you want to read during a pandemic. Usually these books, at least the ones that I’ve seen, are people who needed some kind of change in their lives, or went on the trip on a whim or something like that. They need a new experience.

What makes this book different from all of those other books is: 1) This is written by someone actually in the nature field, a biologist, and 2) someone from the area they are journeying through: The North American Northwest (Alaska and Canada basically). The journey the author has chosen is about a 7 month hike, paddle, and ski to the Arctic, starting in Washington State.

The reason this book works better than just any old travel journal is the specific expertise Van Hemert brings. She constantly brings up specific birds and what they’re doing, whether it be migrating (which is a big theme), defending their young, or making a deal for some food. This type of information would only get written down as ‘birds chirping’ or whatever in a less experienced person’s travel book. So the extra information is not only welcome, it’s encouraged because I learn something new and it plays into one of the main themes of the book.

Since this is a book about the journey, I won’t talk about what happens specifically, but the journey is full of excitement and danger. It can get a bit repetitive, but nothing that really overstays it’s welcome. She mixes the actual journey with personal details that fit together really well, and don’t seem forced in at all, especially because the journey itself required help from others ‘on the outside’, so it makes sense to include other people.

This is a really good quarantine book because it takes you on a journey with the right guide. You are going to learn something, either about birds, traveling, or the author herself. I’d give it a 4.5/5, but, more importantly, I’d recommend it to everyone. It’s like Chris Paul, or any good point guard.