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Gale Straub

Gale Straub is a podcaster, photographer, and writer who founded and hosts the She Explores podcast, which launched in June 2016 and has released 200+ episodes. She is also a published author, with her book She Explores: Stories of Life-Changing Adventures on the Road and in the Wild published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Straub got her start in the outdoor and travel space.
On LuvemBooks, we've reviewed She Explores.
1
Books Reviewed
Cover of She Explores: Stories of Life-Changing Adventures on the Road
She Explores: Stories of Life-Changing Adventures on the Road

4.7/5

reader rating · 585 ratings

She Explores: Stories of Life-Changing Adventures on the Road and in the Wild, published by Chronicle Books in March 2019, is Gale Straub's anthology of stories from 40 diverse women who have taken their lives outdoors — into vans, onto trails, and across open roads. Rooted in the She Explores digital community Straub built after her own year-long van road trip in 2014, the book pairs personal narratives with travel photography, illustrations, and practical tips. It is a wide-ranging collection designed to inspire women at every point on the outdoors spectrum, from committed nomads to first-time solo hikers.

Reviewed May 14, 2026

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Authors Like Gale Straub
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Pamdiana Jones

Travel & Adventure
When in ROAM brings a comedic voice to solo travel adventures across the globe, sharing Straub's focus on women navigating unfamiliar, wild terrain on their own terms.
1 book reviewed
When in ROAM: A Comedy Travel Adventure Memoir
B

Barry Hoffner

Travel & Adventure
Barry Hoffner’s Belonging to the World mirrors Gale Straub’s theme of travel reshaping the inner self, charting a single traveler’s journey across every country on Earth.
1 book reviewed
Belonging to the World: A Journey from Grief to Connection in Every
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Lon Chenowith

Travel & Adventure
Lon Chenowith's Five Million Steps follows an Appalachian Trail trek, offering a long-distance hiking narrative for readers drawn to the backpacking journeys in Straub's collection.
1 book reviewed
Five Million Steps: Faith Adventures along the Appalachian Trail
John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck

Memoir
Short Stories
Travel & Adventure
John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley in Search of America offers a road journey of self-discovery for readers drawn to travel and life on the road.
2 books reviewed
Of Mice and Men
Travels with Charley in Search of America
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Kate Harris

Memoir
Travel & Adventure
Kate Harris's Lands of Lost Borders shares the solo-woman-in-the-wild spirit of She Explores, chronicling a Silk Road bicycle journey in a single sustained voice.
1 book reviewed
Lands of Lost Borders: A Journey on the Silk Road
K

Kevin Fedarko

Travel & Adventure
Kevin Fedarko's A Walk in the Park delivers a full-length wilderness expedition told with humor and honesty for readers seeking a longer outdoor adventure narrative.
1 book reviewed
A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure