AustLit

'When I first stepped out of the warmth and safety of my mother's kitchen on the stormy south coast of Ireland, there was no such tag as 'Backpacker'. I left home with just a few pounds in my pocket, my passport, and the naiveté of innocent curiosity. Like a blank slate, I was ready to be written on as I hitchhiked away across the world.

There are many and varied stories here: tales from the Highlands, the long and lonely roads through Europe, hitchhiking southeast to the Greek Islands, and dangerous times in the Middle East and North Africa. There are accounts of two overland journeys from Ireland to Australia - eastwards thru Afghanistan, India and Southeast Asia, and westwards via the Americas - north, central and south - and the Pacific Islands. The book begins with the travels of the Lincot Man in outback Australia sprinkled with accounts of early life in Ireland. There are more recent tales of rough travel through the islands of Indonesia and the Philippines - travelling with the locals on trains, terrible buses, and cockroach infested boats - to places 'where no human hand ever set foot!'

'There are several different aspects and colours to this book, humour mixed with a bit of gravitas, and I hope you will travel with me to the end—350 pages and thousands of miles of roads. If you’ve never read a book, ask your beloved to read it to you—I promise you more laughs than tears. Get out the atlas or follow me via the internet. ' (Publication summary)