The Book tourThe Book tour
Brad Orsted - Take It Outside
Brad Orsted recounts his first sober book tour, sharing moving encounters with readers whose lives and recoveries were touched by his story. Through tales of Doc the rescue dog, packed rooms and late-night reflections, he reaches a key realisation about how healing can spread just as trauma does.
17:57•6 Nov 2026
Book Tour Roads, Sobriety Stories and Meat from Heaven
Episode Overview
- Sharing a recovery memoir in person creates space for others to speak openly about trauma and sobriety.
- Sobriety allows Brad to fully experience and appreciate the emotions, connections and energy of each event.
- Stories from readers, including a mother in recovery and her son, show how one person’s healing can support an entire family.
- A key reflection is that if trauma can pass through generations, healing can as well, and that shift can begin at any moment.
- Nature and wild places offer a sense of safety and identity for people dealing with PTSD, addiction and deep emotional pain.
“If trauma can be passed down generationally, then so can healing. And it can start right now.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This stop on Brad Orsted’s road trip through grief, recovery and wild country follows him on the book tour for *Through the Wilderness: My Journey of Redemption and Healing in the American Wild*. Told in Brad’s familiar, storytelling style, you’ll feel like you’re riding shotgun in the RV with Doc the rescue dog, who quietly steals every show.
From a packed launch at Elk River Books in Livingston, Montana – “standing room only, all the way to the door” – to Patagonia stores and small-town libraries, Brad talks through what it’s like to share his story of loss, addiction and nature-based healing face to face. The heart of this episode sits in the people who line up with books clutched to their chests.
A young woman whispering, “After I read it, I know if you can go through what you went through and make it, I can too.” A mum who says the book is the reason she’s sober, and her teenage son who quietly adds, “Thank you for giving us our mom back.” A combat veteran, unsure of who he is, who only feels safe healing “in thick, grizzly country”.
Brad reflects on how, at every stop, stories of trauma and recovery surfaced, often from those who looked the most composed. Driving under the Montana night sky, it hits him: “If trauma can be passed down generationally, then so can healing. And it can start right now.” This episode speaks strongly to anyone in recovery or supporting someone who is.
It blends hard-won sobriety, dark humour (including Doc’s “meat from heaven” beef jerky game), and deep respect for nature’s role in staying alive and alcohol-free. If healing can spread the way hurt does, what might that mean for your own story?
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