Adventures of a Footloose Hippie

Adventures of a Footloose Hippie is George Eberhart's account of his 75-day trip through Europe in 1971, a time when many other fun-seeking 21-year-olds were taking to the road in search of enlightenment and entertainment. Combining journal entries written at the time with updates and context added 52 years later, this travel memoir is filled with tales of hitchhiking hazards, countercultural commentary, and sometimes humorous interactions with fellow travelers and random strangers.

The trip did not turn out the way Eberhart had originally planned. However, through both initiative and happenstance he was able to re-engineer it into an experience somewhat like the Grand Tour that upper-class students of the 19th century embarked on as part of their aristocratic education. The itinerary included England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, France, Spain, and Switzerland-but not the usual ports of call. For example, Eberhart spent five days as an official monster hunter at Loch Ness and visited Stonehenge before it was roped off.

Two additional narratives complete the set-a hitchhiking trip across the United States in 1969 and a car trip to California in 1970, both written at the time with the youthful enthusiasm of a budding writer.