Richard E. Byrd: Alone

He was a pilot and a naval officer. He was both an Arctic and Antarctic explorer. How many men have been to both the North and South Poles? Like Nicol Smith he traveled then returned to lecture to raise money for further adventure. Both wrote about their exploits. More here. He wrote 5 books I know of: Skyward, Little America, Discovery, Exploring With Byrd, and Alone. He's a surprisingly decent writer for an explorer.

"...I do not regret going. For I read my books—if not as many as I had counted on reading; and listened to my phonograph records—even when they seemed to intensify my suffering; and meditated—though not as cheerfully as I had hoped. All this was good, and it is mine.  What I had not counted on was discovering how closely a man could come to dying and still not  die, or want to die."