This much is clear to me. If I can’t change my own life in response to the greatest challenge now facing our human family, who can? And if I won’t make the effort to try, why should anyone else? So I’ve decided to start at home, and begin with myself. The question is no longer whether I must respond. The question is whether I can turn my response into an adventure. After realizing the gaping hole between his convictions about climate change and his own carbon footprint, Kurt Hoelting embarked on a yearlong experiment to rediscover the heart of his own home: He traded his car and jet travel for a kayak, a bicycle, and his own two feet, traveling a radius of 100 kilometers from his home in Puget Sound. This “circumference of home” proved more than enough. Part quest and part guidebook for change, Hoelting’s journey is an inspiring reminder that what we need really is close at hand, and that the possibility for adventure lies around every bend. Spurred to fully embrace his eco-convictions, Hoelting set out on a yearlong experiment to travel no further than 60 miles while using only public transportation, his bike, his kayak, and his feet. Based in the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest, the wilderness guide, meditation teacher, and commercial fisherman was amply prepared for this new way to appreciate the circumference of home. What could have been a simple green guide to local living is deepened by Hoelting’s keen observations, wry sense of humor, and willingness to consider a region’s past and present when assessing its future. From biology to geology to the cultures of multiple nations, he cuts a broad swath through a relatively small area, all the while marveling at how tired, wet, and hungry one can become when immersed in the elements. More reflective then any rant against modern living, Hoelting’s unique study of what local really means is accessible to any urban dweller. And once again we learn that there really is no place like home. --Colleen Mondor EnergyTimes.com, 4/20/10 “If you’ve been wondering what practices could bring you closer to an earth-friendly lifestyle, reading The Circumference of Home would be a good place to start.” Curled Up with a Good Book, June 2010 “A wilderness guide and commercial fisherman, Hoelting is in a better position than most to track the rapidly growing damage to ecosystems. No doubt this firsthand knowledge makes him more keenly aware of how our actions impact the planet and future generations…Lest you fear that The Circumference of Home is another guilt-trip that you don’t need or want, rest assured that Hoelting doesn’t write with the sort of condescension that comes so easily from those who make remarkable sacrifices for a cause…[It’s] not a how-to or a list of simple steps for saving the planet. It is an exploration of personal responsibility and discovery in the 21st century.” Taste for Life , June 2010 “[A] must read for men…Wonderfully engaging and written in the best tradition of American nature writing, The Circumference of Home is an inspiring guide.”  January , 6/19/10 “A unexpectedly poetic story of one man’s personal mission for change”  Mother Nature Network, 7/26/10 Sailing Home: Using the Wisdom of Homer’s Odyssey to Navigate Life’s Perils and Pitfalls “Beyond the disturbing news of climate change looms the inescapable fact that we are all personally, viscerally, involved. How to understand this. What to do. The Circumference of Home is one man’s answer. Hoelting’s love for the landscapes and seascapes of his native Pacific Northwest transforms the grief of global warming into an adventure of the body and spirit. Written in the best tradition of American nature writing from H. D. Thoreau to Gary Snyder, this wonderful book will bring you deep pleasure—and hope.” Booklist , 5/1/10 “What could have been a simple green guide to local living is deepened by Hoelting’s keen observations, wry sense of humor, and willingness to consider a region’s past and present when assessing its future. From biology to geology to the cultures of multiple nations, he cuts a broad swath through a relatively small area…More reflective then any rant against modern living, Hoelting’s unique study of what local really means is accessible to any urban dweller.” Letting Everything Become Your Teacher “[A] moving and brave narrative of place, perception, and participation. . . . all this in the service of awakening to our predicament as a species, against the backdrop of one person deciding to radically explore his relationship to the living planet we call home and the mounting fever it is suffering because of us. The circumference of this circle includes us all.” Scott Russell Sanders, author of A Conservationist Manifesto “Kurt Hoelting—fisherman, carpenter, mountain climber, storyteller, and Zen adept—is well-equipped for this adventure. He emerges from his low-carbon year feeling more fit spiritually as well as physically, and