Saturday, June 21, 2008

If the Pacific Ocean isn't your thing

(Even though Kristopher's post on Kon-Tiki made me want to read the book.)

Ever heard of the book Canoeing with the Cree by Eric Sevareid? I hadn't, until this NPR interview with Sean Bloomfield and Colton Witte.

In 1935, a seventeen-year-old Sevareid and his nineteen-year-old friend made the 2,250 mile journey from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay. By canoe. Inspired by Sevareid's memoir, which Sean's father gave to him when Sean was in seventh grade, Colton and Sean "just decided that we're just going to do it." So, after graduating from high school early, they set off this past spring on their own journey by canoe.

As for their inspiration, you can read parts of Canoeing with the Cree at Google Books.
How much easier it is to sit in a chair at home and read about "the things to do when camping." Things look so easy in print, but when the tent won't go up, when the beans tip in the fire, when the water won't boil and when it suddenly begins to rain in the midst of supper, then all the directions in the world won't help and it's every man to his own method. (12)

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