My Year Without Matches : Escaping the City in Search of the Wild

In the tradition of Wild and Tracks, one woman's story of how she left the city and found her soul. Disillusioned and burnt out by her job, Claire Dunn quits a comfortable life to spend a year off the grid in a wilderness survival program. Her new forest home swings between ally and enemy as reality – and the rain – sets in. Claire's adventure unfolds over four seasons and in the essential order of survival: shelter, water, fire and food. She arrives in summer, buoyant with idealism, and is initially confronted with physical challenges: building a shelter, escaping the vicious insects and making fire without matches. By winter, however, her emotional landscape has become the toughest terrain of all. Can she connect with her inner spirit to guide her journey onwards? Brimming with earthy charm and hard-won wisdom, My Year Without Matches is one woman's quest for belonging, to the land and to herself. When Claire finally cracks life in the bush wide open, she discovers a wild heart to warm the coldest night. “A brave and adventurous book … Claire's writing is full of life and profound surprises.” – Anne Deveson Claire Dunn worked for many years as a campaigner for The Wilderness Society and is now a freelance journalist, writing for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, while studying postgraduate psychology. Claire is a passionate advocate for “rewilding” our inner and outer landscapes, and she facilitates nature-based reconnection retreats and contemporary wilderness rites of passage. She currently lives in Newcastle. In the tradition of Wild and Tracks, one woman's story of how she left the city and found her soul.

Disillusioned and burnt out by her job, Claire Dunn quits a comfortable life to spend a year off the grid in a wilderness survival program. Her new forest home swings between ally and enemy as reality – and the rain – sets in.

Claire's adventure unfolds over four seasons and in the essential order of survival: shelter, water, fire and food. She arrives in summer, buoyant with idealism, and is initially confronted with physical challenges: building a shelter, escaping the vicious insects and making fire without matches. By winter, however, her emotional landscape has become the toughest terrain of all. Can she connect with her inner spirit to guide her journey onwards?

Brimming with earthy charm and hard-won wisdom, My Year Without Matches is one woman's quest for belonging, to the land and to herself. When Claire finally cracks life in the bush wide open, she discovers a wild heart to warm the coldest night.

‘A brave and adventurous book ... Claire's writing is full of life and profound surprises.’ —Anne Deveson

‘An entertaining look at how Dunn survived for four seasons in a 'hundred acres of baking scrubland’ —Sun Herald

‘With earthy, expressive honesty she shares her struggles [and] the swooping highs of crafting life out of a block of unforgiving scrub... by sharing such an intimate journey, Claire has given us all a gift.’ —WellBeing Magazine In the tradition of Wild and Tracks , one woman's story of how she left the city and found her soul. Disillusioned and burnt out by her job, Claire Dunn quits a comfortable life to spend a year off the grid in a wilderness survival program. Her new forest home swings between ally and enemy as reality #8211; and the rain #8211; sets in. Claire's adventure unfolds over four seasons and in the essential order of survival: shelter, water, fire and food. She arrives in summer, buoyant with idealism, and is initially confronted with physical challenges: building a shelter, escaping the vicious insects and making fire without matches. By winter, however, her emotional landscape has become the toughest terrain of all. Can she connect with her inner spirit to guide her journey onwards? Brimming with earthy charm and hard-won wisdom, My Year Without Matches is one woman's quest for belonging, to the land and to herself. When Claire finally cracks life in the bush wide open, she discovers a wild heart to warm the coldest night. 'A brave and adventurous book ... Claire's writing is full of life and profound surprises.' #8212;Anne Deveson 'An entertaining look at how Dunn survived for four seasons in a 'hundred acres of baking scrubland' #8212; Sun Herald 'With earthy, expressive honesty she shares her struggles [and] the swooping highs of crafting life out of a block of unforgiving scrub... by sharing such an intimate journey, Claire has given us all a gift.' #8212; WellBeing Magazine Disillusioned and burnt out by life as a city 'greenocrat', Claire Dunn quit her job, her partner and her comfortable life to embark on a year-long wilderness survival skills program on the mid-north coast of NSW. Her new forest home became both ally and enemy as reality, and not just the voracious insects, soon bit. Claire's story unfolds in four parts, structured by the seasons and the order of survival: Shelter, Water, Fire and Food. After arriving at her wilderness location in summer, buoyant with idealistic enthusiasm, Claire struggles with shelter building, matchless fire-making and other physical challenges - the heat, the cold, getting lost and a terror of the dark - until the wilds of her emotional landscape threaten to unravel her. Part adventure tale and part personal quest, My Year Without Matches is the story of one woman's search for belonging until an unexpected friendship emerges and the beauty of the bush opens to reveal its wild heart Disillusioned and burnt out by life as a city 'greenocrat', Claire Dunn quit her job, her partner and her comfortable life to embark on a year-long wilderness survival skills program on the mid north coast of NSW. Her new forest home became both ally and enemy as reality, and not just the voracious insects, soon bit. Claire's story unfolds in four parts, structured by the seasons and the order of survival: Shelter, Water, Fire and Food. After arriving at her wilderness location in summer, buoyant with idealistic enthusiasm, Claire struggles with shelter building, matchless fire-making and other physical challenges-the heat, the cold, getting lost and a terror of the dark-until the wilds of her emotional landscape threaten to unravel her. Part adventure tale and part personal quest, this is the story of one woman's search for belonging until an unexpected friendship emerges and the beauty of the bush opens to reveal its wild heart