Times: Penniless pilgrim's walk to India falls foul of the French
Papadillos
February 29, 2008
Penniless pilgrim's walk to India falls foul of the French
Mark Boyle was a man with a dream. He was so convinced that a world without
the evils of money is possible that he set out to walk from Britain to India
without spending a penny in order to prove it.
But Mr Boyle, who hoped to reach Gandhi's birthplace within two-and-a-half
years, had reckoned without one sizeable stumbling block: the French.
Specifically, the 28-year-old businessman and his two travelling companions
had failed to consider the likely reaction when they arrived in Calais and
attempted to blag their way across the proud Gallic nation without being
able to speak French.
Stranded in the port town just a month into his journey with little more
than an extra pair of sandals to his name, Mr Boyle turned tail and returned
home to England. Adding insult to injury, he had to "touch money" in making
the trip.
The former head of an organic food company is part of the Freeconomy
movement, which wants to rid the world of money altogether.
Explaining the motives behind his 9,000-mile trip before he set off, he
said: "For 28 years I've been part of a world where money means security.
That's 28 years of knowing where my next meal is going to come from, 28
years of knowing I can have a roof over my head. But it's also been 28 years
of insecurity, fear, complacency and non-momentary living."
And so, in late January, he began his "pilgrimage" to India's west coast,
hoping that it would demonstrate his faith in humanity.
But this noble plan hit the buffers almost as soon as he and two companions
had crossed the Channel.
Writing on his blog, Mr Boyle said that the optimistic philosophy behind his
project had somehow got lost in translation: "Not only did no one...speak
the language, they also see us as just a bunch of freeloading backpackers,
which is the complete opposite of what the pilgrimage is really about."
"That really scared us, and given that we now were pretty much out of food,
hadn't slept in days and were really cold, we had to reassess the whole
situation."
It soon became clear that not learning the local lingo was a fairly major
mistake: "We spoke to a few people who were willing to talk and they said
that France would not go for this unless we could speak fluent French, which
none of us could.
"The advice was to make a beeline for Belgium as folk said they would be
more likely to want to speak some English."
The problem with that, however, is that the nearest sizeable town in Belgium
was some 170km away, and all the three had to sustain them during the trek
was three tins of soup, a bag of trail mix and a chocolate bar.
"As it was unlikely that we would get a chance to help or be helped by
French people in the journey getting there, the task looked daunting to say
the least."
For a few happy moments it looked as though salvation had arrived in the
form of an interview on a French radio station.
The interview was a success, and Mr Boyle hoped the listening public would
come to his rescue after learning that his intention was to offer his labour
and friendship in return for food and water. But those hopes were dashed
when he discovered that the chat would not be on air for up to a week.
"Deflated, we sat down and thought about what on earth we were going to do.
Head off on the three-day hike to Bruges with practically no food and hope
the situation there got better, or to call it all off."
And so, with a heavy heart, My Boyle decided to return home and help people
in the UK.
"Sitting in the station, I decided to make a decision. I decided to go back
home and to continue the pilgrimage in my own community in a sense," he
said.
"The disappointment I felt at making that decision is something I cannot
explain fully in words, you have to believe me. It felt like the dream was
over."
"But to the day I die I know that was the best decision I could have made
with what I knew and felt.
"I have touched money to get back here and I want you all to know that."
Mr Boyle now plans to walk around Britain - where the need to speak French
is less pressing - instead.
He said: "What we are going to do is walk from town to town asking people
'Can I help you?'"
Al Bundy
Papadillos wrote:
> From Times Online
> February 29, 2008
> Penniless pilgrim's walk to India falls foul of the French
>
>
> Mark Boyle was a man with a dream. He was so convinced that a world without
> the evils of money is possible that he set out to walk from Britain to India
> without spending a penny in order to prove it.
>
And what a dope he is! He was not going to spend any of HIS money.
Everybody can't live off of handouts. A few must produce something
that society values.
GI.Ja...@gmail.com
Well said, Al. My first thought was how the heck did he get across
the channel without paying passage??
Rod Speed
It is possible to swim across that.
Ishtar
Replacing money with barter is hardly going to change anything much.
It goes much deeper than that.
There are ten *Forbidden Subjects* which nobody will touch.
-Pete
"I Still Miss Someone"
http://www.network54.com/Forum/57466/thread/1193285565/last-1193285565/I+Still+Miss+Someone
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