exploration
Wanderers, expeditioners, and people who couldn't stay put.
The Last Flight of Roald Amundsen
Why did the most meticulous explorer who ever lived climb into a prototype flying boat to rescue a man he openly despised?
The Blessing of a Good Thick Skirt
She fought a crocodile with a paddle, wore leeches like a fur collar, and insisted to her dying day that trousers were beneath her — so what, exactly, did the skirt save her from?
The Admiral and the Unicorn
A giraffe walked into the Ming court in 1414, and the Confucian scholars decided it was proof from heaven.
The Man Who Couldn't Do Anything He Did
What kind of person collects boats but can't swim, collects cars but can't drive, and flies six continents while terrified of planes — and what cartoon character did he accidentally become?
Peter the Hermit and the Donkey
What kind of person gets caught deserting during a famine, weeps, is pardoned, and then gets promoted to diplomat?
The Bucket List
A college dropout found him in four days with a bucket list.
The Man Who Ghosted the Most Famous Scientist on Earth
Alexander von Humboldt, the most celebrated scientist alive, wrote to the dictator of Paraguay personally. Francia made no answer. For nine years.
The Man Who Walked Into His Own Secret
He kept his route secret so no rival could reach the city first. More than a hundred people have since died trying to find him.
The Woman Who Walked to Lhasa
At fifty-five, she disguised herself as a beggar pilgrim and walked into the most forbidden city on earth.
The Man Who Couldn't Stop Walking
He left home for a sixteen-month pilgrimage and came back twenty-four years later.
The Woman Who Destroyed Her Own Discovery
She found exactly what she was looking for, then ordered it smashed and thrown into the sea.
The Man No One Could Stop
Burton pulled a javelin through his own face and kept fighting, but his wife burned forty years of his writing to save his soul.