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The Jolly Pilgrim Review by Ben Bailey

In 2005, Peter Baker left London on an open-ended trip across Europe with a bike, a tent

and a bag of books. Two years later he returned with a self-styled moniker, a shedload of

stories and a fully-formed theory of life, the universe and everything.

Most of Baker’s journey is recounted through the emails he sent to friends and family at the

time, but as he makes his way around the globe, the book gradually builds into much more

than a simple travel diary. What follows is a mishmash of local history, reflections on world

affairs and accounts of conversations with some intriguing characters.

Despite his philosophical turn, this Jolly Pilgrim likes to party with the best of them. Upon

reaching Istanbul, he slides into a month-long bender which sees him swimming the

Bosporus in near-zero temperatures while his friends are jailed for attempting to climb the

dome of the Aya Sofya. It’s harebrained stuff, but the author has a knack of weaving these

episodic encounters into a worldview that’s both expansive and decidedly optimistic.

By the time he decamps to South America, the travelogue gives way to a series of ‘global

musings’ on history, economics and religion. His take on humanity is that we’re still figuring

out how to live in harmony with each other and the planet. “We’re a species of hyper-

intelligent tool-using omnivores,” he says. “With apparently bottomless ingenuity and

imagination.”

Instead of despairing at the prospect of ecological disaster, the Jolly Pilgrim encourages the

reader to take the long-term view. The critical issues of today don’t seem nearly so daunting

when they’re seen as a limited and specific phase in history. Evolution has landed us at this

juncture with no instruction manual. End of days? Exciting times, says the Pilgrim.

Original review:

http://positivenews.org.uk/reviews/jolly-pilgrim/