Travel Instincts

Broke from day one, Jensen fearlessly points his extended thumb eastward and begins a six year odyssey around the world. Traveling in the pre-Internet age, Jensen sometimes loses touch with family, friends--and common sense. Adrift in foreign lands, and on seas, he is forced to navigate by instinct as he finds himself in exciting, exotic and unsettling circumstances. Jensen enjoys tastes of he lounges on deserted islands with the love of his life; hobnobs with the wealthy, including an ex-prime minister in Australia; and is occasionally rewarded with breathtaking scenery, spots of historical significance, and moments of profundity and clarity. The joys, however, are balanced by bitter woes as he survives a nasty foot injury while sailing the Pacific, separation from loved ones, hepatitis, malaria, and a constant need for cash. He hangs out in Goa before crossing Central Asia, recovers in Germany, works on an Israeli kibbutz, then returns to Germany for four seasons in a rural mountain village. Jensen finally returns to his hometown jubilant, but quickly faces new challenges. At times heartbreaking, hilarious and philosophical, Travel Instincts chronicles a rare adventure around the world--and within the heart.