Worlds to Discover

Kayak Adventures One Inch above the Water

Kayak adventurer Jim Payne can’t stop running away from home. After solo trips on American and English waterways, recounted in One Inch above the Water (2008) and Discovering England (2012), Payne shares four more harrowing and humorous adventures in Worlds to Discover:

Facing angry bulls and breached dams on the Connecticut River;
Navigating alligator-infested swamps on the Chattahoochee River;
Outguessing rapids and quicksand on Chile's Bío Bío River;
Dodging towboats and exploding fish on the Ohio River.

Through thick and thin, Payne stumbles onto a new theory: "If you want to learn from your mistakes," he says, "you need lots of them."

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“Bill Bryson is in the super star league of amazing writers, but Jim Payne more than makes up by the quality of his experience, his observations, and also good writing. Highly recommended - very enjoyable.”
“Never could I picture myself undertaking a journey....Until Now. This book is part adventure, part travelogue, part comedy, part drama, part social commentary. I want to go where he went and meet the people he met.”
“Had trouble putting it down and I am not really a kayaker. Payne is a fine writer and his travels, insights and observations are a treat to read.”
“It's not easy to lead an interesting life, but it's even harder to write about one! Not only do I feel as if I took his trips with him,... I can hear him gently encouraging me to make my own adventure.”

About Jim Payne

Retired professor and veteran kayaker, Jim Payne has written dozens of accounts of solo kayak trips in the U.S. and abroad. With fierce determination to face his fears, and the willingness to laugh - and learn - from his mistakes, Payne shares surprising discoveries, astute observations, survival instincts, and countless social encounters that highlight the regions he visits and human nature overall. Read more »

The 'Travelblog'

In Amsterdam, finally

When I came out to Arnhem on the train, I was praising the rail system to the skies. Lovely silent--you can hear a conversation at the other end of the car. Double decked. Read more »

Consumer Safety in Holland

My trip has evolved from kayaking to visiting Dutch towns. The River Ijssel is about as unscenic and anti-kayakable as it could be, plus the great problems coming ashore...Read more »

News & Events

2/10 Worlds to Discover available on Amazon Kindle

4/16 Holland presentation and slideshow (4/16/2022)

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More Kayak Adventure Memoirs

Enjoy more engaging and riveting accounts from Jim Payne's One Inch above the Water book series.

One Inch above the Water: Running away on America's waterways shows us a side of America we’ve never seen. We’ve had tours of America by automobile, van, motorcycle, and on foot; now it’s time to see the river side. Payne’s journeys take us on the country’s famous rivers, including the Potomac, Columbia, Hudson, Saint Lawrence, and Mississippi, on the Erie Canal and Lake Champlain, and on the Atlantic Ocean along the Florida Keys. The memoir also details the journey of a man in his late 50’s rebelling against the adventure-is-over mentality and, through many struggles, celebrating the spirit of youth regardless of age. more »

Discovering England: from One Inch above the Thames lures readers into American adventurer Jim Payne's kayak voyage, which turns out to be so much more. While paddling England’s historic Thames River from its rural headwaters to the metropolis of London, curiosity gets the better of him. Soon he’s poking into castles, sleeping in ruined cathedrals, facing down Henry VIII, and making friends who take him home and tell him what the English really think. The result is a personal discovery of England’s people, history, culture, customs, and even its amusing quirks. more »

Payne has written dozens of books, including works on Latin American politics, foreign policy, the U. S. Congress, taxation, welfare and voluntarism. He also penned a series of allegorical works on political philosophy, disguised as children’s books (the Princess Navina series and Take Me to Your Government). Find these and other books at Lytton Publishing online »