Customer Reviews

Homelands

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've read many journey tales over the years, perhaps spurred on by my reading Marco Polo and trips to Venice and across Turkey while in the Army. Having just completed law school and returned home to start a career, I wanted some information about kayaking to inform a trip I wanted to take down the Des Moines river from the source in Minnesota to the confluence with the Mississippi.

Byron Rick's book pleasantly surprised me, because it was exactly the kind of adventure I was looking for and I can so clearly understand where he is coming from at this life stage. Since my wife and I are also preparing to purchase our first home and raise a family, the book was all the more enjoyable.

The history of the people and development along the Inside Passage is well researched and adds a great deal of context to our understanding of the trip, while the language used to describe the sights along the way clearly conveys the sense of awe and wonder Byron and Maren experienced.

Daily accounts of experiences while kayaking the inside passage. I found the entire book engaging and interesting. However, it does not offer deep or wide coverage of kayaking or the cultures or natural history of the inside passage (fine by me). Little tastes of these topics throughout the book. This surprised me given the length of the bibliography. Many interesting interactions with people living in these areas. I highly recommend this book for those interested in travel/adventure non-fiction. As mentioned by previous reviewers, much text is devoted to descriptions of travel from point A to point B but we have no map.

I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy not only an exciting kayaking trip down the inside passage from Alaska to Washington, but also a fine piece of writing that was colorful and relaxing. Fellow armchair adventurers will appreciate this close look at the history, ecology, and landscape of this rugged coast. The author does not weigh down the landscape with excessive introspection yet his commentary personalizes the journey just enough to enjoy the couple's companionship through the experience. A great way to enjoy some time in a far-away place.

Byron did an excellent job of taking the reader along on his paddle....spiritually, mentally, and physically. He appreciation for the land and it's people was quite evident and gives the reader a new perspective and greater understanding of each. I appreciated Byron's honesty about spirituality and his insights. Very thought provoking!

Would suggest having a map of the Inside Passage handy to follow their travels as you read.

Byron and Maren sound like wonderful people, and I admire thier spirit of adventure and commitment and respect of the land. I think I expected a lot more action in the story. I would have liked this more had they included pictures of the landscape, themselves, some of the people they had met, and a larger map. I understand their desire to protect the places they stopped, but, being an east coaster who "day kayaks" for four or five hours at a time, I wanted a bigger and better glimpse of such a worthy adventure.

I have sailed and paddled the Inside Passage from time to time over the last 24 years. I am an avid reader of true outdoor adventures. I usually judge a book by its ability to hold my interest and ultimately to motivate me to leave the comforts of home and to take a stoll down "the road less traveled." I have been eyeing my kayak and checking my gear since finishing Homelands. When the ski season is over, I'm packing my kayak and heading north. My only regret is that I do not have the luxury of duplicating the entire trip.

The author provides an engaging and captivating description of this courageous undertaking in a journal format. This format serves the book and pace of the adventure well. The poetic language used to describe characters, places and events is excellent and conjures memories that parallel my own experiences along the British Columbia coast. The author has done an excellent job of capturing the flow, feeling and character of this region. This is not a Fodor's on kayaking the Inside Passage but rather an adventure of the soul and mind, at water level, along one of the most rustic, beautiful and inhospitable coastlines in America.

An interesting book, but I wanted more detail about the writer's daily life while on the sea. I found it frustrating to be brought to the edge of what appeared to be an exciting passage, only to be let-down by a single non-desriptive paragraph. I may have missed the explanation as to why there were no pictures of the trip, or even a reliable map -- also found this frustrating and confusing as I'm not familiar with the area. A better model for how to write and include the reader rather than only document a journey is Alvah Simon's *North to the Night*.

All in all, if one is familiar with the area and concerned with the socio-economic and evironmental issues of such an area, they will find this book an interesting read. But, unfortunately, one that will not keep you enthralled nor stay with you long once finished.

Having sailed the Inside Passage a number of times, including the summer of 1996 when I encountered Byron and Maren while aboard "Cecilie" and then reading "Homelands: Kayaking the Inside Passage" this summer past, as I sailed it again, I now see the Passage differently than I did before. Byron's insights opened my eyes wider, while at the same time, made me envious of his and Maren's vision. The book is so beautifully written, it left me inspired to look more closely at my surroundings (not only in the Passage)and think more clearly about who and what has been there before me. Out of hundreds of books read, this ranks in my top ten on any subject and "Homelands" covers many.

There are many "how to books" on all aspects of sea kayaking. Byron's book captures the why of this mode of travel. To me it did not matter where the paddle took place but that it re-activated the feelings, the fears, the frustrations, the joy of travels by kayak in wild, almost unpopulated areas. Of walking beaches without human foot print and living day by day with the weather & tides; of seeing how little one needs to live. It is the connection with the past and what has been lost. It is this essence that I hold to and try to take with me in my "real" life.

I enjoyed this journey both as an excape from work and an reminder that you take take the wild landscape for granted. I certainly didn't want the trip to end (or the book) though by the time modern life intruded, I either wanted to go back or escape the degradation it brought. Finally, the historical and scientific information was well-woven into the fabric of the narrative. Good job.