By Ahmet Abdulaziz ….
More than fifty years ago, I had come across a newspaper story about how a young man had travelled most of the world, without spending anything. He was a Pakistani, from the same city where I was born. The newspaper had been publishing his adventures on a weekly basis in the weekend edition, and I had become crazy to go out for some adventure like that.
At that time I was a teenager, and was carrying out my studies which I had to continue. I had never thought of leaving my education unfinished, so under those circumstances, my only way out was to keep on reading the weekly account of his adventures.
The story of that guy was really fascinating, as he had left his school early, because he wanted to travel the world. He left home with a small amount of money in his pocket. He spent some really bad days while hitchhiking in Pakistan and then in Iran. With the help of people here and there, he managed to reach Greece, after crossing through Turkey.
In Greece, he got a job on a vessel. From that particular point, the real adventure had started. He started working on the vessel, which was going to Germany from Greece. Indeed the work was difficult, but he had already decided to overcome all difficulties. On the other side, his earnings were all being saved, since while onboard he was not having any expenses at all.
He reached Germany, and travelled a lot there, but still not spending much. He again managed to get a job on another vessel, which was going to the USA. Once again the same story repeated. The journey took more than a month, and when he stepped into the USA, he had a good amount of money in his pocket. He spent a good deal of time in the USA, and travelled a lot. He kept on exploring America, doing petty odd jobs to meet expenses.
Then a time came, when he again took a job on another vessel, which took him back to Europe.
He kept on travelling in different countries in the same way for years. After finishing seeing one country, he had been getting a job on some vessel to reach another part of the world, with a handsome amount of money in his pocket. He had seen most part of the globe over a span of ten years.
That weekly story in the newspaper, played the main part in making me an adventure enthusiast. Though I did not see most parts of the globe, due to obvious reasons, but wherever I went I acted like him. But that was not all for me. My next inspiration was the hippies movement. In those days (early 1970s) I came across some hippies, and learned how they used to travel. For me the point was travelling to seek adventure. I never wanted to be a hippie, but I always wanted to go for adventure.
Still somewhere in my mind, I see myself travelling to see the world, without any finance in my pocket.
