Trials of a Tourist

     Here is a much younger version of myself demonstrating the drawbacks of being an international tourist. Beginning in my early twenties, I've been using my vacations to see the world. I've crossed Asia on a bus and Africa and South America on trucks, and so far, have clocked up 83 different countries. This does not include airport stopovers, but does include a day trip to Greenland and two visits to Easter Island. From that, you may conclude that I did my best to see the out-of-the-way places before the other tourists took them over and, especially in my younger, bachelor days, preferred to travel cheap, even if it meant travelling rough. In short, they were the sort of holidays where the amenities tended to be, shall we say, less than first class. "You could write a book about it!" my companions would say.
     So that is why I have, in fact, decided to pen an amusing account of my adventures - one in which chapters about my quirky experiences are interspersed with general descriptions of the negative aspects of travel.

The Adventures of Leon and Theophila

     The first time I met Esther Philippi, she told me how she had been born in New Guinea of missionary parents and taken home from the hospital in a string bag, and I was so impressed, I married her. I knew that her parents came from two different nations, and that they had had extraordinary experiences, but I didn't realise just how extraordinary until I was called to be M.C. at their fiftieth anniversary celebration.