I believe in sleeping outdoors, surrounded by tall fir trees, darkness and cold. Lying on my back and looking up at the stars, watching my breath form thin clouds. Something happens when you’re surrounded by an infinite room.

Twenty years ago, Markus Torgeby traded his hectic urban lifestyle for the serenity of a small hut in the forests of Jämtland, northern Sweden. He ended up living there for four years, in solitude and perfect harmony with nature. Today, he and his wife Frida along with their three children live in a house Markus built with his own hands, near the site where he once survived on nothing but oatmeal, brook water and the forest’s pantry. Nature is their living room and behind their house stands Markus’ old wilderness hut, where one can sleep when so inclined.

In Under the Open Skies: A Practical Guide to Living Close to Nature, Markus gives an inspirational account of his and his family’s outdoor lifestyle and how it has in turn helped them find a balance in life. The book is also brimming with practical advice: Why is reindeer skin superior to synthetic sleeping mats? How does one most effectively dry a couple of wet socks? Which kind of grass is the gentlest on your behind when doing your business in the wild?

Under the Open Skies: A Practical Guide to Living Close to Nature is a groundbreaking, everyday-philosophical source of inspiration for experienced adventurers and wilderness rookies alike.