7 Of The Best Books Like Wild By Cheryl Strayed

---

“How wild it was, to let it be.”

---

If you’re looking for books like Wild by Cheryl Strayed, you’re probably searching for more than just a hiking story. Wild continues to resonate with readers because it blends wilderness adventure with raw grief, healing, and hard-won self-discovery. It’s a memoir about walking the Pacific Crest Trail, sure – but it’s also about rebuilding a life from the ground up. Thankfully, there are plenty of memoirs that capture the same blend of solo travel, emotional reckoning, and transformative journeys in nature. From wilderness memoirs about long-distance hikes to powerful stories of women travelling the world solo and finding themselves along the way, join us at What We Reading as we present the most unforgettable books similar to Wild that will inspire your next adventure – on the page or beyond. 

---

Wild Summary

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered, and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State – and she would do it alone. 

Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humour, Wild wonderfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her. 

The Salt Path – Raynor Winn

Kicking off our list of books like Wild is Raynor Winn’s iconic travel memoir, The Salt Path. Mere days after learning her husband, Moth, is terminally ill, Raynor loses her livelihood, and the couple’s home is taken away. With little left and little time, the pair make the impulsive decision to walk 630 miles of the sea-swept South West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset, via Devon and Cornwall. Carrying just the essentials, they live wild in the ancient, weathered landscape of cliffs, sea, and sky. 

Yet, through every step, every encounter, and every test, their walk becomes a remarkable journey. Just like Strayed’s global bestseller, The Salt Path is a life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief, and the remarkable power of the natural world.

---

Check Out The Best Books Like The Salt Path

---

Walking The Amazon – Ed Stafford

In April 2008, Ed Stafford began his first attempt to become the first man ever to walk the entire length of the River Amazon. Nearly two and a half years on, he had crossed the whole of South America to reach the mouth of the colossal river. Ed’s journey demanded extreme physical and mental strength. Often warned by the natives that he would die, Ed even found himself pursued by machete-wielding tribesmen and detained for murder. 

But Ed’s journey was an adventure of purpose. Gaining unprecedented access to indigenous communities and witnessing the devastating effects of deforestation firsthand, his story of disappearing tribes and loss of habitats concerns us all. Ultimately, though, Walking the Amazon is an account of a world-first expedition that takes readers on a daring journey along the world’s greatest river, and the most biodiverse habitat on Earth. 

Becoming Odyssa – Jennifer Pharr Davis

After graduating from college, Jennifer isn’t sure what she wants to do with her life. She is drawn to the Appalachian Trail, a 2175-mile footpath from Georgia to Maine. Though her friends and family think she’s crazy, she sets out alone to hike the trail, hoping it will give her time to think about what she wants to do next. What follows are four months of the most physically and emotionally challenging of her life. 

With every step she takes, Jennifer transitions from an over-confident college graduate to a student of the trail, braving situations she never imagined before her thru-hike. Similar to Wild, the story is full of unexpected kindness, generosity, and humour. And when tragedy strikes, she learns that she can depend on other people to help her in her time of need. 

Breaking Trail – Arlene Blum

A legendary trailblazer, Arelene Blum defied the climbing establishment of the 1970s by leading the first all-female teams on successful ascents of Mount McKinley and Annapurna and by being the first American woman to attempt Mount Everest. At the same time, her groundbreaking scientific work challenged gender stereotypes in the academic community and led to important legislation banning carcinogens in children’s sleepwear. 

With candour and humour that any fans of Wild are sure to recognise, Breaking Trail recounts Blum’s journey from an overprotective childhood in Chicago to the tops of some of the highest peaks on the planet, and to a life lived on her own terms. Like Wild, this book is a moving testament to the power of taking risks and pursuing dreams. 

Wild By Nature – Sarah Marquis

One of the most lauded books like Wild, Wild by Nature, is the story of National Geographic Explorer Sarah Marquis and her epic ten thousand mile solo hike across the remote Gobi desert from Siberia to Thailand, at which point she was transported by boat to complete her hike at her favourite tree in Australia. 

Against nearly insurmountable odds and relying on hunting and her own wits, Marquis survived the Mafia, drug dealers, thieves on horseback, temperatures from subzero to scorching, life-threatening wildlife, a dengue fever delirium and a life-threatening abscess. For Marquis, her story is about freedom, being alive, and being wild by nature. 

Girl In The Woods – Aspen Matis

Girl in the Woods is Aspen Matis’ exhilarating true-life adventure of hiking from Mexico to Canada – a coming of age story, a survival story, and a triumphant story of overcoming emotional devastation. 

In this inspiring memoir, Aspen charts her journey, a five-month trek that was ambitious, dangerous, and transformative. A nineteen-year-old girl, alone and confused, she conquered desolate mountain passes and met rattlesnakes, bears, and fellow desert pilgrims. Told with elegance and suspense, Girl in the Woods is a beautifully-rendered story of eroding emotional and physical boundaries to reveal the truths that lie beyond the edges of the map. 

Rowing To Latitude – Jill Fredston

Jill Fredston has travelled more than twenty thousand miles in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. With her ocean-going rowing shell and her husband, Doug Fesler, in a small boat of his own, she has disappeared every summer for years, exploring the rugged shorelines of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Spitsbergen, and Norway. The pair have battled mountainous seas and hurricane-force winds, dragged the boats across jumbles of ice, been serenaded by humpback whales, and revelled in the calm moments between. 

Rowing to Latitude is a lyrical, vivid celebration of these northern journeys and the insights they inspired. A similar novel to Wild, it is a passionate testimonial to the extraordinary grace and fragility of wild places, the power of companionship, the lure of discovery, and the challenges and joys that come with living an unconventional life. 

---

Check Out These Great Travel Books To Inspire Your Next Adventure

---