Forty-seven years later, I am finally writing the story and savoring the beautiful pictures and memories from my 1978 “Wander of Wonder”in Europe and on the Hippie Trail across Asia.  This memory book/blog captures the highlights of my trip even though many of the experiences and sights remain beyond description. 

Purpose of this Blog/Book: Travel is not about the destinations–travel is about the journey itself which is as much going “inward and upward” as it is going to specific physical places.

Why am I putting this blog/book together?  My primary motivation is simply to relive this amazing experience in as much detail as possible.  It is very satisfying to carefully sift through my two large boxes of trip memorabilia, journal, letters, and pictures.  Each item brings a distant memory, friendship, or laugh into sharp focus (once the cobwebs clear). My secondary motivation is to leave a printed book for my children and grandchildren and, hopefully, for future generations that brings to life an experience I have cherished and benefitted from greatly for forty-six years.  This trip “made all the difference” in my life.  My intention is not to say “see what I did”—instead, my intention is to say, “consider taking a break from the traditional path society and your family has you tracking for your life and risk dedicating extended periods of your life to a non-traditional search for your soul.”  Traditional society and religion crushes your soul towards the simple end of making you a “useful and busy citizen”.  Each of you has infinite potential to be so much more than “useful and busy citizens” if you will consciously take time to touch the flowers of your soul and simply be mindfully aware of the understanding that follows. Travel is not about the destinations–travel is about the journey itself which is as much going “inward and upward” as it is going to specific physical places.

The “Travelin’ Jones” and the Arts of Vagabonding and Pilgrimage

I also want to remind my children and grandchildren that the “Travelin’ Jones” runs deep in our family genetics—we were born to travel and travel is, I believe, essential to completion.  By my eighteenth birthday, I had visited 48 of the 50 US states and a dozen foreign countries.  As I pass my seventieth birthday, I have enjoyed so many wonderful trips since my around-the-world trip in 1978: completed Himalaya treks in Sikkim and in Bhutan along the Tibetan border, an 81-day pilgrimage walking three Camino routes across France and Spain, a three week Buddhist pilgrimage across Bhutan, and long-distance hikes across England, up the coast of Scotland, around Mont Blanc, a lot of backpacking trips in the Western US, and traveled in and toured most of the countries in Europe and Asia plus a good start on Africa and South America.  A photo journal of my 81-day pilgrimage on the Camino is in a separate book and on my blog site: Camino2018oviatt.wordpress.com It includes detailed recommendations and reflections on everything from packing essentials, health and footcare, and the importance of spiritually connecting as one travels–in short, the “art of vagabonding” and the “art of pilgrimage”.

One of my theme songs about the spirit of travel is Jimmy Buffet’s “Changes in Latitude”:

I took off for a weekend last month
Just to try and recall the whole year.
All of the faces and all of the places
Wonderin' where they all disappeared.

It's those changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same.
With all of our running and all of our cunning
If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane.

Reading departure signs in some big airport
Reminds me of the places I've been.
Visions of good times that brought so much pleasure
Makes me want to go back again.

If it suddenly ended tomorrow
I could somehow adjust to the fall.
Good times and riches and son of a bitches
I've seen more than I can recall.

These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same.
Through all of the islands and all of the highlands
If we weren't crazy we'd all go insane.

Structure of this Blog/Book:  Some of my 1978 trip is more unique and more interesting than other parts.  In particular, the life of a young American backpacker in Western Europe probably has not changed all that much from 1978 to present at least in terms of major cities/sites, major museums, and even modes of transportation.  Likewise, photos of “major sites in Western Europe” are quite familiar to most and generally available to all.  Consequently, I am condensing the Western Europe portion of my trip which started February 25^th and continued until August 30, 1978 with three exceptions:  First, I include some detail about how and why I ended up quitting a fairly lucrative job on the spur of the moment, selling everything I had, and leaving for 10 months of backpacking around the world.  Second, my tour of the Soviet Union was both unusual for an American in 1978 and introduced me to a dystopian political climate and rich culture that was the source of lasting food for thought.  Third, I had a most extraordinary “tragic and magic” experience in Norway on Mid-Summer’s Night that shook me to my core and, through an almost unbelievable intervention by the Goddess of Synchronicity, caused me to meet the true love of my life—a Norwegian citizen to whom I have been married for 42 years, had three beautiful children and enjoy four amazing grandchildren.  My children and grandchildren should take note of just how unlikely it was that this family actually came together—that is one of the great lessons I learned on my Wander of Wonder—the Goddess of Synchronicity always provides exactly what you need when you need it…..if you are open to her. 

Travel to Embrace Life’s Continuous Change–Nothing Remains the Same

The “Hippie Trail” portion of my trip–from August 31st to December 23rd–was quite unique in 1978 and has been impossible since then. Starting in 1979, wars and revolutions resulted in many of the borders being closed to overland travelers and, in particular, to Americans.  I believe the entire “Hippie Trail” experience warrants telling through more extensive excerpts from journals and aerogrammes.  Again, my emphasis here is not so much on how unique my trip was as I want my children and grandchildren to understand my belief that there are and always will be truly “unique and rare” experiences available to you if you simply devote the time and resources to discovering them and to experiencing them.  Henry David Thoreau’s quote about “marching to the beat of a different drummer” has become trite BUT it remains so important for the personal, moral, and spiritual development of each new generation.  Life changes every moment and for every generation and the key is to remain aware of each present moment rather than getting lost in regrets about yesterday or fears about tomorrow. Americans increasingly devote insane portions of their lifespan numbing their awareness with shallow entertainment, shallow employment, shallow multi-tasking of insignificant “to do’s”, shallow addiction to electronic devices, and mindless distraction—that waste of the gift of humanity is truly the definition of “sin”.  At least for a few significant periods of your life, devote your time, attention and discipline to exploring new cultural, physical, spiritual and mental boundaries and, even more important, to exploring your own mind and mindfulness so you experience the fact observed by Ralph Waldo Emerson that “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”  Travel is as much about “traveling away” from your traditional lifestyle and about “traveling inward and upward in the present moment” as it is “traveling to” a physical place.

Beyond the above considerations, I decided to use a traditional chronological “travelogue” approach along with a table of contents organized by destination. Most of the pictures are my own; however, I have added a few photos and other images from the internet where helpful to fill in the gaps after I sold my camera in Calcutta for travel money.

Acknowledgements: All Who Traveled the Hippie Trail Share a Bond

A special acknowledgement and thanks to Richard Gregory who has compiled very comprehensive, accurate, and interesting summaries of the “Hippie Trail”, the “Magic Bus”, and related topics. His works were of particular help to me as I dusted off my two boxes of memorabilia and pictures from a trip made 46 years ago and started planning how to write this summary. I also looked at other blogs, books, and articles about the Hippie Trail. Hopefully, I have only borrowed from them on a very general level. I do want to acknowledge how helpful those works were in helping me pull the trip together, remember names of specific hotels and other details, etc. All of us who traveled the Hippie Trail share a bond and it is in that spirit that I acknowledge and thank you for the work you did ahead of me. Thank you.