Innocence Abroad

About the Book

Finally earning a university degree at age 63, Irv Thomas found himself qualified – as a college student – for a superb opportunity to live and work abroad, in one of several major cities, for an entire half-year. London was the natural choice, as he had never been abroad and always yearned to experience England.

But getting the opportunity was no guarantee of getting the job, in a program geared to youngsters and a country still deeply enmeshed in ageist attitudes. Thus began the incredible adventure that lasted 19 months, and ultimately saw Irv through twelve countries on the Continent and a full circuit of the main British Isle, along with that rigorous winter of hard-scrabble residence in London.

For Irv wasn’t funded to withstand the London cost-of-living. Neither had he the wherewithal for paid lodging along his route of travel, come the following summer, nor any second-language skills for the international challenge of it. In other words, it was a seemingly harrowing adventure all the way. But with a free-soul panache born of the challenge, itself, he always managed to land on his feet.

This is a book of rolling, non-stop adventure, not unlike the knightly quests of ancient fable. Yet, everything in it really happened – though at moments it becomes almost unbelievable.

At the same time, it is a book of profound insight into life’s way, and how it can be approached so as to optimize that precious blend of freedom and security that is so difficult for most to find. Seemingly always at the edge of imminent disaster, Irv is seldom fearful for his well-being. He radiates a sense of inner guidance, and an implicit trust in it, learned from long practice of living at life’s edge. This is truly the heart of the book, emerging here and there as a thematic harmony, to the melody of an unbeatable adventure.

About the Author

In the vernacular of the times, Irv Thomas dropped out of the rat-race world at age 44 in 1971, and proceeded to live life on the edge of poverty and providence. Publishing the donation-funded ‘sporadical’ Black Bart Brigade, for several years, he re-shaped his work life around non-commercial principles, and gradually became a dedicated student of consciousness and reality – with actual experience the arbiter, instead of just thinking about it. Irv lives in Seattle, today, maintaining his accustomed low profile. His writings can be found on the web at http://irv.popco.com/beginning.htm