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Wander: A Memoir of Letting Go by Ryan Benz Review: An Award-Winning Trail Memoir Worth Reading
Ryan Benz's *Wander: A Memoir of Letting Go* chronicles his 2,000-plus-mile thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail — from Georgia to Maine — as a deliberate act of leaving behind a conventionally successful but personally hollow life. Published in September 2023 by Permission to Dream Publishing, the memoir has earned the 2024 Readers' Favorite International Book Award, the 2023 Royal Dragonfly Book Award, and the B.R.A.G. Medallion Award, and is an Amazon bestseller. It is designed not only as a personal account of physical and emotional transformation, but also as an invitation for readers to examine their own relationship to purpose, authenticity, and the natural world.
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Readers navigating the exhaustion of a conventionally successful life who are drawn to journey-based memoirs that balance physical adventure with honest inner reckoning — particularly those who found resonance in books like Wild or Eat, Pray, Love.
Worth it if
You're open to a memoir that uses a 2,000-mile Appalachian Trail walk as a lens for examining presence, purpose, and authenticity — and you value emotional honesty over trail logistics or a neatly packaged self-help arc.
Skip if
You're primarily after a granular trail narrative — detailed terrain, gear, and logistics — or if you've read widely in the transformative-journey genre and find the "leaving success to find meaning" premise too familiar to sustain interest on its own.
What readers & critics say
The Independent Book Review praises the memoir's life lessons for encouraging readers to find their own version of wandering, noting the book's message extends well beyond the Appalachian Trail itself. Retailer descriptions across multiple booksellers characterise it as "raw and authentic," emphasising its focus on physical and emotional perseverance over polished inspiration.
Sources: Independent Book Review, Barnes & Noble4.6from 1,275 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
In This Review
- What Works & What Doesn't
- What the Book Is and What It Recounts
- Significance and Place in the Genre
- Strengths: Authenticity and Dual Purpose
- Limitations and Fit for Audience
- Who Should Read It
What Works & What Doesn't
What Works
- Winner of the 2024 Readers' Favorite International Book Award, the 2023 Royal Dragonfly Book Award, and the B.R.A.G. Medallion Award — among the more decorated indie memoirs of its release cycle
- Described by Barnes & Noble as 'raw and authentic,' the memoir prioritizes honest emotional reckoning over a polished, feel-good arc
- Designed with dual purpose: it tells Benz's personal story while functioning as a roadmap that the Independent Book Review notes can inspire readers to find their own version of wandering
- Grounded in a specific, concrete journey — 2,000-plus miles from Georgia to Maine — giving its themes of self-discovery a clear physical and narrative backbone
What Doesn't
- Readers seeking detailed trail reportage — terrain, logistics, gear — may find the memoir weighted more toward inner reflection than outdoor specifics
- The broad premise of leaving conventional success to pursue authentic meaning is well-worn in the genre, so the book's distinctiveness rests on voice rather than structural originality
A multi-award-winning adventure memoir that doubles as a call to examine how one chooses to live, Wander earns its accolades through specificity of experience and clarity of intent.
What the Book Is and What It Recounts
Back cover with synopsis, memoir description, black-and-white photograph, and barcode.
Wander: A Memoir of Letting Go is Ryan Benz's account of walking the entire Appalachian Trail — more than 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine — as a conscious departure from a life that, by his early thirties, had left him feeling empty and exhausted despite outward markers of success. The book documents both the physical demands of the trek and the internal reckoning it produced. Benz frames the journey not as a search for a self that had gone missing, but as a path back to presence and purpose after losing himself, as he has described it, "somewhere in the pace of modern life." The memoir traces that arc from dissatisfaction through perseverance to transformation, grounding its broader themes in the concrete details of trail life and the relationships and encounters that shaped the journey.
Significance and Place in the Genre
Adventure memoirs built around transformative journeys have a well-established readership, and Wander has been compared by reviewers to titles such as Wild and Eat, Pray, Love — books that pair physical odyssey with inner reckoning. What distinguishes Benz's contribution, according to a review at Independent Book Review, is its emphasis on the lessons that travel surfaces when a person takes the time to reflect on them rather than simply accumulate miles. The memoir has gone on to anchor a wider body of work for Benz, including speaking engagements, workshops, a nationally touring school assembly program, and a TEDx talk titled The Quiet Rebellion of Being Yourself — evidence that Wander functions as a foundational statement rather than a standalone project. Its recognition with the 2024 Readers' Favorite International Book Award, the 2023 Royal Dragonfly Book Award, and the B.R.A.G. Medallion Award places it among the more decorated self-published and indie memoirs of its release cycle.
Strengths: Authenticity and Dual Purpose
The book's most discussed strength is its refusal to package the Appalachian Trail experience as tidy self-help. Barnes & Noble's product description characterizes it as "raw and authentic," and the Independent Book Review calls it "an inspirational tale of transformation" — language that points to a voice more honest about struggle and uncertainty than the genre's more aspirational entries. Benz does not present the hike as a cure; he presents it as a process, one marked by physical and emotional perseverance as well as discovery. Equally notable is the memoir's structural double purpose: Wander is written to tell one man's story while simultaneously functioning, in the publisher's framing, as "a roadmap" for readers who may never set foot on the trail. The Independent Book Review notes that the life lessons described in the book encourage readers to find their own version of wandering — whether that means a long-distance trail or a walk in a local park — making the memoir's scope wider than its Appalachian setting might initially suggest.
Limitations and Fit for Audience
Readers who come to Wander expecting primarily a granular trail narrative — detailed accounts of terrain, gear, and logistics — may find the memoir's emphasis tilted more toward inner reflection than outdoor reportage. The book is explicitly designed around themes of self-discovery, authenticity, and reconnection with nature rather than technical hiking detail, which is a deliberate choice but one that self-selects its audience. Additionally, the memoir occupies well-trodden thematic ground: the professional-leaves-conventional-success-to-find-meaning arc is a familiar one, and readers who have consumed widely in the transformative-journey genre will recognize the broad shape of Benz's story before reaching the trail's end. The distinctiveness lies in the specifics of his voice and experience rather than in the novelty of the premise.
Who Should Read It
Wander is most naturally suited to readers drawn to the intersection of adventure writing and personal development — those who found resonance in journey-based memoirs and are open to a narrative that moves between the physical and the philosophical. It also speaks directly to anyone navigating what Benz describes as the exhaustion of a conventionally successful life that no longer feels meaningful. Beyond that core audience, the memoir's broader reach — into schools, speaking circuits, and youth programming through Benz's subsequent work — suggests it resonates with younger readers and educators looking for a contemporary, accessible account of self-determination. For that audience, Wander delivers a documented, award-recognized account of one person's decision to choose a harder, truer path.
Frequently Asked Questions
is Wander: A Memoir of Letting go by Ryan Benz worth reading
For the right reader, yes — the review at Independent Book Review calls it "an inspirational tale of transformation," and its 2024 Readers' Favorite International Book Award, 2023 Royal Dragonfly Book Award, and B.R.A.G. Medallion make it one of the more decorated indie memoirs of its release cycle. The caveat is that it works best for readers drawn to the intersection of adventure writing and personal development rather than those expecting a technical trail guide.
what is Wander: A Memoir of Letting go by Ryan Benz actually about
It's Ryan Benz's account of thru-hiking the entire Appalachian Trail — more than 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine — as a conscious departure from a life that, by his early thirties, had left him feeling empty and exhausted despite outward markers of success. Benz frames it not as a search for a missing self but as a path back to presence and purpose after losing himself, as he puts it, "somewhere in the pace of modern life."
is Wander: A Memoir of Letting go by Ryan Benz similar to Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Reviewers have compared Wander to Wild (and Eat, Pray, Love) because all three pair a physical odyssey with deep inner reckoning. What sets Benz apart, according to the Independent Book Review, is his emphasis on the lessons that travel surfaces when a person takes time to reflect on them rather than simply accumulate miles.
does Wander: A Memoir of Letting go by Ryan Benz have a lot of hiking and gear detail or is it more of a self-help book
Lean toward self-help in spirit: the review notes that readers expecting granular trail narrative — terrain, gear, and logistics — may find the memoir's emphasis tilted more toward inner reflection than outdoor reportage. That's a deliberate choice by Benz, which self-selects its audience toward personal-development readers rather than hardcore hiking enthusiasts.
is Wander: A Memoir of Letting go by Ryan Benz good if you've never hiked the Appalachian Trail
Yes — the memoir is explicitly structured as a "roadmap" (in the publisher's own framing) for readers who may never set foot on the trail. The Independent Book Review notes that the life lessons in the book encourage readers to find their own version of wandering, whether that's a long-distance hike or a walk in a local park, making its scope much wider than its Appalachian setting might suggest.
is Wander: A Memoir of Letting go by Ryan Benz just another "quit your job and find yourself" memoir
The professional-leaves-conventional-success-to-find-meaning arc is familiar territory, and the review is upfront that readers who've consumed widely in the transformative-journey genre will recognize the broad shape of Benz's story. The distinctiveness, per the review, lies in the specifics of his voice and experience rather than the novelty of the premise — and Barnes & Noble's description characterizes it as "raw and authentic" rather than packaged self-help.
who is Wander: A Memoir of Letting go by Ryan Benz best suited for
It's most naturally suited to readers navigating what Benz describes as the exhaustion of a conventionally successful life that no longer feels meaningful, as well as fans of journey-based memoirs like Wild and Eat, Pray, Love. Beyond that core audience, Benz's subsequent school assembly program and TEDx talk — The Quiet Rebellion of Being Yourself — suggest the book also resonates with younger readers and educators looking for an accessible, contemporary account of self-determination.
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
- 1
independentbookreview.com
- Further reading
- 2
- 3
booksamillion.com
- 4
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