I’m following the progress of the freeconomy guy Saoirse, who is attempting a walk to India, using no cash, and looking for the kindness of strangers, and a barter economy, to get him all that he needs on his journey.

He says: “My name is Saoirse and I am walking from Bristol in the UK to Porbandar in India without any form of money because I want my life to be my message. We live in a media packed world, where politicians and corporations market the talk, but don’t walk the walk. So one day I decided to, literally, walk the walk.”

So far he seems to have got as far as Portsmouth, and his site reports that he has been well supported by fellow freeconomy types.  His first big challenge will be getting across the channel, and then I suspect his road will become somewhat more difficult, as fewer people will have heard of him, or understand what he is doing.  On the other hand perhaps he will find that the kindness of strangers increases as he goes east, as this Guardian blog suggests… as an addendum to that, the writer of that blog talks mistily about the Cambodian buddhist monks who stand and beg, never asking, coughing, or etc.

The writer seems to ignore the fact that most people give to the monks not out of the goodness of their hearts, but rather out of superstition, and/or a hope that it will benefit them in a tangible spiritual way.

Anyway, his blog should chronicle most of his journey, apart perhaps from the wilderness parts…

I like the freeconomy concept, I’m sadly convinced though that we’re too far the other way for this to work in this current age, but we could certainly take some steps towards it.