Seeking self-determination at the ends of the earth: Eva zu Beck’s ‘The Wilder Way.’

On this episode of Fully Booked, internationally beloved YouTube adventurer Eva zu Beck joins us to discuss The Wilder Way: A Memoir of Adventure, Freedom, and an Uncharted Life (Gallery Books, June 2). In a starred review, Kirkus calls her standout debut “an inspiring, action-packed journey to find one’s self through perilous adventures in exotic, far-flung destinations.”

Zu Beck has produced, filmed, and presented content for global platforms including the BBC, Deutsche Welle, and Euronews. She hosts the National Geographic TV series Superskilled, a show exploring human potential in remote locations worldwide. Originally from Poland and educated at Oxford University, she now lives a nomadic life, continuing to push boundaries and inspire others to live more wildly and freely.

Here’s a bit more from our starred review of The Wilder Way: “Similar to Cheryl Strayed’s Wild (2012), zu Beck’s debut memoir begins when the unhappily married Londoner blows up her life with substance abuse and infidelity to strike out on a grueling, long-distance hike in the remote wilderness to find herself. But true to the title, zu Beck takes it much further. She spends the next decade (so far) traveling around remote parts of the world….Along the way, she explores ways that travel morphs her worldview….Zu Beck ultimately proves to be a captivating storyteller, especially when recounting her immersive adventures working at a horse camp in Mongolia, living with an Indigenous family in the Passu Cones mountains of Pakistan near the Chinese border, or riding out the Covid-19 lockdown on a remote island in Yemen.”

In a wide-ranging conversation, zu Beck shares her lifelong dream of becoming an author, and how film and social media provided alternative ways to tell stories. We talk about the benefits of reading, the delights of writing, and the rewards of finding ways to express herself in English, her second language. We discuss the Everest Base Camp trek that kicked off her career in extreme traveling; why she chose to write her memoir in the Arctic Circle; the realization that she was actually writing a book about freedom, and much more.

At the end of our interview, zu Beck recommends two books to listeners—one actionable, one inspiring. Follow @kirkus_reviews on Instagram, DM us the title of one of those books, along with your email and location, and you’ll be entered in a drawing to receive a $100 Visa gift card, courtesy of Kirkus. The giveaway is open to legal residents of the U.S. who have reached 18 years of age or older at the time of entry.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

Sebastian and the Belgian Koala by Jill Charlotte Thomas, illus. by Parks Sadler

Death and All That Follows by Javier Piñol Serra

The Lodge Women, Their Men and Their Times by Emily Lodge

Fully Booked is produced by Jessica Lockhart and Megan Labrise.