Freeconomy Blog
Thu
14 Feb
Healing body...and then there were two!
| 11 comments |
Things have taken a real turn around for the better this week since hitting Brighton. My body seemed to suddenly come out of shock mode and start to walk again, I've met lots of amazing people and the weather has been so beuatiful, meaing I got four days of beautiful coastline sunshine!
I left Brighton on Monday with a beautiful soul I met over the weekend, and after doing 40km to Eastbourne met a great guy in town who offered me some food and shelter. We thought that shelter wasn't far away at first, but after hitting the road it turned it was another 32km, meaing that I ended up walking 72km that day almost non-stop between 8am and 1am. My body is starting to forgive me though.
Spent the next day with people I met and took off on a beautiful walk around the surprisingly beautiful Hastings the following day. Was so great to get away from the cars for a while and the scenery between there and Rye is magical. I suppose that's why Sir Paul lives there.
The big news of the week though is that the original fun revolutionary, Eric Mutch, is coming to join me from Dover onwards. He was interviewed by the BBC a few weeks ago I remember saying he loved the idea of this walk but would never be able to do it himself. Now two weeks later I have trouble holding him back. He is a practicer of 'fooling' and is now the archetypical fool walking off the edge of the cliff. The fool is always the wisest one though. Welcome aboard Eric!
If anyone wants to meet in Dover before I leave I will be getting in there Friday 15th myself and then meeting some people at 11am on the High St (at the corner of another street begininng with 'L', can't remember exactly!). Tonight I will be wandering the streets of Ashford if anyone is around!
What else have I learned this week? There's a Shaftesbury avenue in every town in the country. And a Claremont Rd. Very strange. Oh and that people truly are wonderful.
Lots of love, will write more in dpeth at first chance but it is so hard to keep on top of emails and blog so will be in touch to all as soon as I can.
Comment on this Post:
Angie Glazebrook comments ...
Good luck on your journey, you are doing a great thing. Thanks for having faith in humankind, it seems not many of us have faith in the human race anymore!!!
Godspeed.
Ahmed comments ...
I pray that Allah (God) blesses you with a peaceful and content journey over the next two and a half years, it really is a remarkable endeavour
shyz freida mai comments ...
ok matey - wow another fool on the walk! - thats great !- my little fool is itching to join you both from Dover! We will set out fri night or sat morning ..let us know when your walking the water so we can catch you before you go ... katie walked up kinder scout (wearing a weighty pack) with sam her brother and gordon her dad today and gord says she has made great improvements in her fitness lately so were ready to let her come along - she is so ready to fly the coop!
It will be much easier for us to catch you in Dover than to find you in France - I hope were not delaying you Pilgrim! ring us darlin - my mobile is 07944750960
Much love to you - see you soon - x
Tom in Tehran comments ...
What you’re doing is fantastic, this is the world I want to see.
I’ll be keeping an eye on the site so you can be sure of some help in Tehran.
Best of luck crossing the channel,
Tom,
Tushar comments ...
Hi
I’m from India.I’ve been reading your blog lately and really appreciate your endeavor. First things first-I really dunno what kind of haloed idea of India you have. Ok we had Gandhi-he was a fantastic soul and he’s my idol too but and that is a very big BUT. I regret to say this- India has not followed his ideals-he’s at best in every Indian’s pocket and not in his heart. His toothless grin on the Indian currency jeers at the fact that we have failed him.. I fail to understand why you have to undertake such an arduous journey? Yeah, you could call it a pilgrimage, but what for? Indians are not all that you’ve read. There is a saying that goes in Hndi "Mera bharat mahan par sau mein se 99 baiman" i.e My India is great ,though, out of 100 , 99 are unreliable..
Most of my friends in the west have a very distorted view about India. They still have the notion of an exotic India- the land of snake charmers. I agree your ’pilgrimage’ has a very different objective, but I feel if you want to explore India, board onto the next flight to take an enriching experience back home. The country as such is fantastic- a treasure trove of cultures bound to create a single nation. But if you just want to experience poverty, I’d recommend you to rather serve in the slums of Kolkata or Mumbai. Man, you’re really wasting two precious years of your life- to get what?????......what do you expect when you cross the Indian border? People hugging you & taking you onto their shoulders? To tell you frankly, most of us... ’the educated lot ’ would probably read a newspaper with your story with initially some curiosity,but later with indifference. I can say this because when i told my friends about you in school they passed it off as a story of a crazy foreigner with nothing else to do. This attitude is partly because of our watching British/American shows like fear factor, mind freak, who dares wins etc. where a bunch of ppl with perhaps nothing else to do eat cockroaches, swim in crocodile infested swamps and risk their lives.
It’s not like that you won’t get shelter and food here...I mean pp are not that bad. But your pilgrimage is not worth it. Ppl here won’t probably understand your message to the extent you want. So, you still have time to ponder over it.
I really laud your courage and your will power. Man, you really have grit, to be able to do that. Thumbs up!
Please don’t take my view as sadistic ’coz I love my country and its people. Neither am I discouraging you to visit. You are welcome with open arms. But it’s just that if you take such a long and treacherous journey, the end should not leave you disgruntled. Think about it . Best of Luck! May God be with you! If you have any queries feel free to write back at tushar16032000@yahoo.com. I’d be waiting for a reply. Bye!
Tushar Khanna
paul brown comments ...
I guess that the idea is more the journey than the destination. More about the sacrifice in reaching that destination. Chosing Ghandi as a role model is admirable even if his legacy has been diluted down to being almost meaningless in India’s drive to ape the excesses of Western consumer culture. Maybe this journey and the publicity surrounding it will give more people in India the impetus to evaluate their choices in life just as it seems to be doing in the UK at present. I, for one, will draw inspiration from the journey to redouble my efforts to consume less, waste less and try and live up to my mantra that the planet is my home and all it’s occupants my neighbours.
shantiatma comments ...
Just a note on the last comment. I don’t really think people have lost faith in humanity. It’s civilization that they have lost faith in. Daniel Quinn spoke about it as far back as 1992, and now Derrick Jensen. It’s civilization, and the madmen at the wheel, not humanity. Humanity is as great as the greatness and beauty of nature that made it. Native Americans were beautiful humans before they were forced to become civilians, as were(and are) Aborigines and several other indigenous humans not yet tainted by civilization.
Andrew Japp comments ...
Read about you in the Guardian yesterday and am very impressed with your mission and dedication, I couldn’t agree more. If you two are passing through Paris and need a place to stay do not hesitate to get in contact, andrewjapp@hotmail.com. Good luck
Sam C comments ...
Best of luck my friend. I like the sound of freeconomy but I fear I don’t have anything worth exchanging!
Katie and Sharon - Nottingham comments ...
Pilgrim - call or txt me on 07944750960 were coming down to dover - need to meet up so Katie can join you!
andrea comments ...
Hi Tushar,
I read your text and I do understand the point you’re trying to make. However I’d like to comment on 3 points in response to it.
Firstly, regarding the question “Yeah, you could call it a pilgrimage, but what for?” In each corner of the globe, including India and Brazil (where I’m from) there are lots of people who already truly believe in "giving just for the sake of it". This is the main principle of the free-economy and the walk is giving these people hope. It’s like saying "You’re not alone, don’t give up, let’s keep together and we’ll become stronger”. It’s also inspiring people who feel attracted to the idea but are scared of being taken advantage of/ridiculed, to go beyond that and give it a try. Another purpose is to make people aware that there is actually an alternative (in my opinion much better) for our high-consume orientated society. If people will think about it or not, it’s up to them.
Secondly, I don’t understand why you think the pilgrims are going on this journey to experience poverty, it’s actually the opposite. They want to prove that, wherever you’re in the planet, richness is less to do with money and more to do with love and kindness. They’re fully aware that most of the population don’t get it yet and some never will. However, these pilgrims have found their mission and there is nothing better to do with your life than follow your mission.
Finally, the walk isn’t about the destination, it’s about the journey. I believe the reason India was chosen as a destination has nothing to do with it being poor (or not) an exotic country (or not) or having people behaving like Gandhi (or not), but because it’s the birthplace of one of the most enlighten person of the last century.
Best wishes
Andrea
