Nikki van Schyndel is not your typical grizzled survivalist. She is a contemporary, urban young woman who threw off modern comforts to spend nineteen months in a remote rainforest with her housecat and a virtual stranger.

Set in the Broughton Archipelago—a maze of isolated islands near northern Vancouver Island—Becoming Wild is a story of survival in the pristine wilderness of BC. Sometimes predator and sometimes prey, twenty-nine-year-old Nikki and her companion Micah fend off the harsh weather, hungry wildlife, threat of starvation and the endless perils of this rugged Raincoast. To survive, Nikki must rely on her knowledge of BC’s coastal flora and fauna, and the ancient techniques of hunting and gathering. In this remote world she learns to skin bears, make clothes from cedar bark and take great joy in gobbling a fish tail whole.

Told in a voice that is both familiar and vulnerable, Becoming Wild explores our innate longings to connect with nature and revert to a pure, Eden-like state.

Nikki van Schyndel studied with and taught under some of North America’s leading survivalists, trackers and primitive artisans and graduated from the Dominion Herbal College in British Columbia. Bold and original, Nikki shares her love of storytelling and secrets of the natural world with guests of Echo Bay EcoVentures, her unique, custom-tailored wilderness tour operation. She has gone from wild woman to forest dweller, now living in a log cabin that she built in the remote community of Echo Bay. She continues to have unimaginable intimate encounters with the wildlife that captures our hearts and feeds our fears.

Nikki van Schyndel's profile page

Becoming Wild is a must read for anyone concerned about the future of people and the natural world. Nikki van Schyndel’s incredible story tugs strongly at the heart of one of modern life’s greatest challenges: the massive disconnection of people from nature. Nikki’s deep calling to ancient knowledge, skills and authentic experience leads to powerful connections and reawakens ancient instincts, sensibilities and perceptions that are now mostly gone from modern people. After becoming wild, Nikki returns to post-modern life to discover how far away her known communities have gotten from this original relationship—as all people realize when they reconnect with nature. Nikki’s heartfelt and transparent self-discovery, reconciliation and renegotiation with self, others and the offerings of our world is a model all can benefit from.

Jon Young, author of What the Robin Knows (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), and founder of Wilderness Awareness School