Out Now!
Don't Forget the TP:
Lessons Learned the Hard Way in Algonquin Park
If you’ve been following along here at All of Algonquin for any length of time you’ll probably have noticed a bit of pattern in how I start my posts. I write long introductions, that kind of feel like maybe they aren’t at all related to what’s coming next, then bring it home with a segue that might work, or might not.
We’re not doing that this time.
Why aren’t we doing it this time? Because this post is way too exciting to ease into. I wrote a book. Like, a real book that isn’t just stapled together pieces of ketchup stained 8×11 paper. Don’t Forget the TP: Lessons Learned the Hard Way in Algonquin Park is the story of my last decade of tripping in Algonquin, and it’s available now.
And I can’t wait for you to read it. If you want to get straight to the book and skip the rest of this (entertaining and informative!) post, you can click that big ol’ button directly below. Otherwise, keep going. I bet I can convince you to click the next one. Or the one after that. (There’s a lot of buttons).
Hi there! Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy and feel free to subscribe if you do! A quick note for anyone receiving this through an email subscription. First of all, thank you for subscribing. Secondly, this post looks better when viewed through the website. This link will take you there: Don’t Forget the TP Book Launch (And, if you don’t already subscribe, there’s a subscription sign up at the bottom of this report!)
Wait, what? You wrote a book?
Yup. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I’ve always enjoyed writing (see, for example, this entire website) and I’ve always thought it would be pretty cool to have a book out there with my name on the cover. During COVID I wrote a rough draft of a book on Algonquin that, frankly, wasn’t very good. It was part trip report collection, part guide book, part attempt to focus on anything other than what felt like a world that was slowly (and then quickly) imploding. As things got back to normal I put the draft in a drawer and, mostly, forgot about it.
But not completely.
Every once in a while I’d dust off the draft and try and make it work. It never did. The thing I was working on was basically a Frankenstein’s monster of multiple books, stitched together haphazardly and inadequately. Then, this past June, the light bulb went off. I realized that I’d been writing the wrong thing the entire time. I wasn’t particularly interested in writing another Algonquin guide book or how-to trip book, and my trip reports were already out there and easy to find. Besides, I’m the last person who should be telling people how to trip. I’ve made so many mistakes and bad calls out there you could probably fill a book.
Oh.
I realized that while I shouldn’t be telling people what to do, I could certainly pass along the things I’d learned not to do. As soon as I hit on that framing, it was like a dam broke. I started writing and I didn’t stop. The majority of Don’t Forget the TP: Lessons Learned the Hard Way in Algonquin Park was written in about ten days at the start of July while my family was out of town. I wrote nights and weekends and it felt less like I was writing a book than it did like I was copying down a thing I’d already written (that was literally the case for parts. While those earlier drafts weren’t very good on the whole, there were chunks that fit very well with this version).
Nice origin story Peter Parker. What’s the book about?
The book is organized into 17 chapters. Each chapter revolves around a trip I’ve done, or part of a trip, and focuses on a lesson (or lessons) I’ve learned from those trips. Some of them are seemingly benign. The book opens with the story of the one and only time I forgot to pack toilet paper. Others are a bit weightier. Trying to outrun a thunderstorm on Kioshkokwi Lake remains the biggest mistake I’ve made on a canoe trip, and it’s the chapter that closes out Part One.
Part One?
The book is broken down into three parts that form a confidence/competence arc. The first section deals with my early trips, when I was absolutely brimming with unearned confidence and making mistakes on pretty much every trip. The second section is about earning confidence. I was still making mistakes, but at least I was starting to learn from them. The final section is earned confidence. The trips where things actually worked out as planned, and not just because I got lucky.
Okay. That sounds pretty good. Where do I buy it?
The book is available on Amazon right now. That’s the best place to get it. If you live in or near Toronto or Ottawa you’ll have a copy of it in your hands within a couple of days. That’s pretty exciting. In fact, if I were you, I’d put in that order right now. Every minute you wait is another minute before you’re reading about the time the Nipissing River beat me up. Or the time the Tim River beat me up. Or the time the Aylen Effing River beat me up. Or the time … well, you get the picture. The book is absolutely filled with Algonquin rivers getting the best of me.
Anything else I should know? Any special, picture related features that seem pretty cool?
What an oddly specific question, but yes! Each chapter includes a QR code at the end that links to pictures related to the stories in that chapter. (Don’t worry, the pictures in the TP chapter are only loosely related).
Sweet. I’m in. And thanks for putting in all those buttons. Made buying it super easy.
Awesome! And thank you! Writing Don’t Forget the TP was a blast and I’m thrilled to be able to share it with everyone. If you’re reading this post it very likely means you’re someone who has been following along with me for a while. Thank you so much for your support. I hope you enjoy the book and would love to hear what you think of it. Until next time, happy paddling (and reading!).
Thank you (in advance) for picking up a copy of Don’t Forget the TP! Hope you enjoy it or at the very least now have an alternative to pack in your bag in case you do forget the TP at some point. For more Algonquin content, subscribe below. You’ll receive trip reports as they’re published as well as some occasional extras, like the annual Moosie Awards. You can also hit the home button below to see the rest of what All of Algonquin has to offer (after you’ve finished reading the book, of course) including campsite reports, gear reviews and more.