‘Some books are like express trains. You start reading them and find that you are hurtled along in the story and can’t put it down till the end of the journey. This one is a cycle tour, not only of Europe, but also of the author’s memories. The two are linked throughout. It is a slow journey through many time zones, to be enjoyed at leisure.

One place links the narrative – an old signal box somewhere in the Somerset countryside…The author remembers a particular childhood event and intersperses the memories with extracts from his journals written during his extensive travels in Europe. The result is a pot-pourri of people, animals and place, which leads the reader into a gripping childhood mystery…

Along the way he touches on many topics of interest to Glastafarians, from spiritual pilgrimage to permaculture, from Auschwitz to wildlife, and always the feeling of being beyond national boundaries, together as human beings searching for meaning and what makes a satisfying life. The reader is left with the impression that he has probably met this man somewhere, that he has been down the same roads, that life is full of endless possibilities and coincidences. An uplifting and thought-provoking memoir. FREE STATE – The Journal of the Free State of Avalonia