Adventure stories

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, June 2021; written by Tammy Dinsmore.

Like many, it has been a while since I’ve traveled off the island. But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t “traveled” at all. A couple of books I’ve read recently have taken me to places that have been adventurous, fun, scary, dangerous, and has left me wanting a bit of adventure of my own.

In Blue Sky Kingdom by Bruce Kirkby I traveled to Tibet with Bruce and Christine and their two sons, Bodi and Taj to stay in a thousand year old Buddhist monastery high in the Himalayan Mountains in Tibet.

One morning while scrolling on his smartphone, dad, Bruce gets an eye opener when his son, Bodi complains that he hasn’t heard a thing that’s been said. It is at this moment Bruce and Christine decide to unplug and take the trip they have wanted to take for a long time. Before too long, their plans are set.

Travel to Tibet is somewhat unconventional. They decide not to fly, but to travel over land and sea. First, it’s a canoe ride down river to the nearest place with a train depot. From there it’s a train ride to Vancouver, B.C. where they catch a container ship to the east. They travel to South Korea and from there through China, India, and finally to Nepal. Transportation is by riverboat, train and then by foot through the Himalayas to get to the monastery. Bodi is on the autism spectrum, so that makes travel a little more challenging, but Bodi handles most of it like a champ, with only a few hiccups along the way.

It is while they are at the monastery that they learn to connect with Bodi and Taj and allow that this is how life will be.

I don’t have quite that much of an adventurous spirit, but it was interesting and fun to learn what is possible when you put your mind to it.

Next, in Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary, I was on a spaceship with science specialist Dr. Ryland Grace. Grace wakes up from a coma and doesn’t know who he is or where he is. His crew mates have not survived, so he is on his own…or is he? The Hail Mary is still shooting through space to its final destination, light years away from earth and Grace has a limited amount of time to figure out why the sun is losing energy, where that energy is going, and stop the devastating impact this could have on mankind if the problem is not solved soon.

It takes a few days for memories to start returning and to figure out the purpose of his journey to a star called Tau Ceti. While he is the science specialist and since there are no other crew members, he also has to figure out the workings of the Hail Mary. Then, with the clock ticking he has to figure out how to save earth.

The story weaves back and forth in time, from Grace working on the project on earth to being on the Hail Mary. There’s so much scientific information in this book, and even if you don’t understand some of it (like me), it’s still a fun and exciting adventure that will take you beyond our solar system.